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V             o                      l              .                         70, N             O           N
December 15,1993


CONTENTS:                                                                                                December  15,  1993                                                                      &DMD
Meditation - Herman Hoeksema                                                                                                                                                                      Bc4RER
        The Excellency of the Knowledge of Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Editorials - Prof. David J, Engelsma                                                                                                                                   ISSN 0362-4692
        The Highly Favored Virgin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..~..~.~.~.~~~..~.............~.~.~...~...... 125
        Hoeksema Published by Reader's Digest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..*.................... 127                                                                  Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July, end August.
                                                                                                                                                                       Published bythe Reformed Free Publishing Association, Inc.,
Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..I...................II.I.III........................................                 128         4949 lvenrest  Ave., Grandville, MI 42416. Second Class
All Around Us - Prof. Robert D. Decker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128                           Postage Paid at Grandville, Michigan.
A Word Fitly Spoken - Rev. Dale Kuiper                                                                                                                                 Poetmreter: Send address changes to the Standard Bearer,
        Stars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..*..............................................*......................... 130                                P.O. Box 666, Grandville, MI 46466-0666.
When Thou Sittest in Thine House - Mrs. MarySeth Lubbers                                                                                                               EDITORIAL COMMITTEE
                                                                                                                                                                       Editor: Prof. David J. Engelsma
        The Reformed Family: Christmas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..*......**.*.*....... 131                                                Secretary: Prof. Robert D. Decker
Guest Articles                                                                                                                                                         Managing Editor: Mr. Don Dwzeme
        Faith or Fate - Rev. Jason Kortering . . ..d..................................,..,,., 133                                                                      DEPARTMENT EDITORS
        The Heavenly Song of Joy!- Rev. Jaikishin Mahtani ,,..........,........  135                                                                                   Rev. Wilbur Sruinsma, Rev. Ronald Cammsnga, Prof. Robert
                                                                                                                                                                       Decker, Rev. Ads denHartog, Rev. Barry Gritten, Rev. Carl
Special Article - Prof. Herman C. Hanko                                                                                                                                Haak, Rev. Cornelius Hanko, Prof. Herman Hanko, Rev. John
        Report of the Committee for Contact with Other Churches . . . . . . . . . 137                                                                                  Heys, Rev. Steven Key, Rev. Dale Kuiper, Mr. James Laming,
                                                                                                                                                                       Rev. George Lubbers, Mrs. MaryBeth Lubbers, Rev. Thomas
The Strength of Youth - Rev. Barrett L. Gritters                                                                                                                       Miersma, Rev. Audrsd Spriensma, Rev. Charles Terpstra,
        Renewing the Battle:                                                                                                                                           Rev. GlssVenBarsn.  Rsv. RonaldVenOverfoop, Mr. Benjamin
                                                                                                                                                                       Wigger, Rev. Bernard Woudenberg.
        Drama, Television, and Movies (6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..*.***....s........... 139                                                EDlTORfAL  OFFICE           CHURCH NEWS EDITOR
Book Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..*......................*......... 142    The Standard Bearer         Mr. Ben Wigger
News From Our Churches - Mr. Benjamin Wigger ,,,,,,..,..........~~~...,.,..,. 142                                                                                      4949 lvanrest               6597 46th Ave.
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        Although the meditation is not based on a "Christmas text," it is appropri-                                                                                    arttclss.  Contributionsofgenerallnterastfmmwrreadersand
ate. True celebration of God's sending His Son in Jesus the Christ consists of                                                                                         question6 for The Reader Asks department are welcome.
                                                                                                                                                                       Contributions will be limked to approximately 266 words and
the desire of heart to know Christ. This meditation by Herman Hoeksema is a                                                                                            mustbsnsat~wrlttenortypawrtttsn,andmustthsslgned.         Copy
reprint. It appeared originally in the December 15,1933 issue of the SB. It will                                                                                       deadlines  ers the first and fiiesnth of the month. All
                                                                                                                                                                       communications relative to the contents should be sent to the
commend itself to the attentive reader as an example of the genuinely experi-                                                                                          editorlel offlce.
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        Excerpts from Hoeksema's book of Christmas devotions, The Myste  y  of                                                                                         Permisslonlshsrebygrantedforthereprlntingofarticleslnour
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Bethlehem, have recently been published by the Reader's Digest Association in                                                                                          articles ere reproduced In full; b) that proper ecknmvtedgmsnt
its lavish Christmas publication, TheSfo  y ofJesus. See the editorial, "Hoeksema                                                                                      Is made; c) that e copy of ttis periodical In which such reprint
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Published by Reader's Digest." The other editorial examines the rightful place
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122lStandard  Bearer/December 15,1993


                    The  Excellent of the
                       Knowledge oYChrist

    Yea doubtless, and Icount all things       doctrine that is delivered unto you               Profoundly personal they are.
but loss for the excellency of the knowl-      from the fathers? Count it no gain as             I count all things but loss! Can
edge of Christ ]esus my Lord: for whom         far as a basis of confidence is con-          you say it? Can I?
I have suffered the loss of all things, and    cerned, for all these things cannot               I count them loss for the excel-
do count them but dung, that I may win         constitute your righteousness before          lency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ,
Christ.                                        God.                                          my Lord! Is it true when you and I
                         Philippians  3:8          If necessary youmaylose alI these         speak the words?
                                               things, and if it be but for Christ's sake        I have suffered the loss of all
    Rejoice in the Lord!                       you lose nothing.                             things; I count them but dung, refuse,
    Serve God in the spirit, through               And you may, you ought to, count          things undesirable to have, better to
the Spirit; glory in Christ Jesus only         them, yea, and all other things with          throw away; and all this, that I may
and trust not in the flesh.                    them, but refuse, if to possess them          win Christ, that I may be found in
    And oppose all who would de-               should prove a hindrance in the gain-         Him, may know Him, that I by any
prive you of this rejoicing in the Lord;       ing of Christ!                                means may attain to the resurrection
who glory in the flesh; who put their              For, one thing is important and           from the dead....
confidence in the righteousness which          just one thing: that you gain Christ!             Is it true for me, for you?
is of the law; who insist upon a mere              And one thing is above all things             Is He my Lord?
mutilation of the flesh as a ground of         precious, of incomparable value -                 And yours?
righteousness before the Most High.            the excellency of the knowledge of                     *  *  *  *  $  +  *
    They are dogs; call them so.               Christ Jesus!                                     KnowingHim!
    Evil workers are they; do not hesi-                 al-****+*                                Jesus Christ, my Lord!
tate to consider and to treat them as              My Lord!                                      Wholly in accord with the inten-
such.                                              Do not miss the personal note.            sity of his feelings and the keen joy of
    And be not deceived by their               Fail not to read it in that very same         possessing this knowledge of Christ,
claim of being the circumcision; their         form in which the Spirit of Christ            so incomparably excellent to him that
circumcision is a meaningless cutting          elicited this confession from the heart       he gladly suffers the loss of all things
of the flesh, a mere mutilation, and           of the apostle.                               for it, the apostle refers to Him as He
has no other value before God.                     And so reading it, apply it as a          stands revealed in all the precious-
    Reject their doctrine of righteous-        criterion to the condition of your own        ness of His person through His three-
ness by works, by the law, by out-             heart and soul, to the course and             fold name.
ward forms and rites. Evenifit would           direction of your life in the midst of            Jesus, Christ, Lord!
seem that you might claim a certain            the world; apply it by repeating the              It is as if, now that he is speaking
right to confide in the flesh, do it not.      words of the apostle with the ques-           of the unspeakable blessedness, ex-
Are you circumcised the eighth day?            tion in mind and heart: Are they still        cellency, preciousness of the object of
Are you a Hebrew of the Hebrews, of            true if I put my I instead of Paul's?         his knowledge, he would fain express
the generations of the people of God,              Not a dogmatic statement of the           all His fullness, exhibit all His beauty,
blameless according to the law and             truth are these words. You cannot             showatonce thatthereisnothinginall
according to the standard of ecclesi-          read instead: "Doubtless the knowl-           the earth to be desired above Him,
astical rites, zealous in defending the        edge of Christ Jesus the Lord is excel-       beside Him; emphasize that it is but
                                               lent,andwellmayonecountallthings              folly to compare ought with Him;
                                               but loss and dung for its possession."        explain why a manmay lose all things
                                               Then you would miss the point. For,           for His sake and still count the loss a
The late Herman Hoeksema was pastor of         the text is a confession, a heart-cry.        gain; fix the matter beyond all doubt
the First Protestant Reformed Church of            And heart-cries are matters of            that all things may be considered
Grand Rapids, Michigan.                        experience.                                   dung, no matter how precious, how
                                                                                                 December 15,1993/Standard  Bearer/l 23


dear, how beautiful, how desirable          anointing we share, so that we also                   What soul-redeeming virtue is
they appear, when and in as far as          know, speak about, and glorify the                there in saying: Jesus Christ, &Lord,
they would be a hindrance to us in          Father, sanctify the Lord God in our              if I cannot say: my Lord?
gaining Him.                                hearts, and bring the sacrifices of                   0, the knowledge about Christ is
    The excellency of the knowledge         praise and thanksgiving,                                        necessary, doubtless.
of Jesus Christ, my Lord!                   fight the good fight in                      I                      How shall we know
    Jesus! The realization of God's         the midst of the world                 Ifwe                     Him, if we do not know
salvation!                                  even unto the end, that         truly know Him                  all about Him? The rev-
    The central, personal revelation        no one take our crown!            we will never                 elation of Him must fill
of Jehovah as the God of our salva-             Jesus! Christ! Lord!                                        our mind if He is to fill
tion, who redeems from the guilt of             My  Lord  - who              grow wea y of                  our heart. Our mind
sin and reconciles us with Himself          possesses His people             learning more,                 must apprehend Him if
through the blood of the cross, blot-       because He purchased             and still more,                our soul is to appropri-
tingoutthehandwritingofsinagainst           them with the price of            always more                   ate Him. If we truly
us, making peace; who delivers us           His infinite love; who             about Him!                   knowHimwewiUnever
from the corruption of sin, cutting the     leveled to the ground the                                       grow weary of learning
shackles of death in which we are           throne of the prince of                                         more, and still more, al-
held, opening our prison doors, lead-       this world in our hearts,                                       ways more about Him!
ing us out into liberty; who makes us       that He might establish His own do-                   Yet, to know all about Him is still
partakers of the highest good, the          minion of grace in our inmost soul;               a far cry from knowing Him.
only good, life eternal, the fellowship     whoisresponsibleforus,inlifeandin                     A learned man may know all
of friendship with the everBlessed;  to     death, now and in the day of judg-                about the ingredients of a splendid
know whom is to know the peace that         ment; whose will is our will, because             meal, so that he will be able minutely
passeth all understanding, the peace        He turned thembythe gracious power                to deterrnine the food value of every
that is rooted in the blessed conscious-    of His spirit.                                    last bit of it, though a cancer of the
ness that our sins are washed away              It is therefore the soul's keenest            stomach prevents him from partak-
and that they witness no longer             delight to say: my Lord!                          ing of it. Is there, then, not an ocean of
against us, and in the assurance that           Excellency of knowledge!                      difference between him and the poor
we are righteous before God; to know                 * *  *  *  *  *  *                       beggar who knows nothing about vi-
whom is to possess the only comfort             Knowing Him!                                  tamins, but whose hungry stomach
inlife and death, light in darkness, joy        Not of the excellency of Christ,              relishes the food and readily digests
in the midst of sorrow, life while we       but of the incomparable preciousness              it? Is the reading of a bit of the most
pass through the valley of the shadow       of the knowledge of Him is the apostle            beautifulpoetryglorifyingamother's
of death.                                   speaking.                                         love at all to be compared to the joy of
    Christ! God's Anointed!                     For that knowledge the apostle is             pressing one's own darling to the
    God's Prophet to us; God's Priest       ready to lose all things. That knowl-             heart? Will a reading on honey cause
inourbehalf;God'sKingoverus.  The           edge is so dear to him that, in the light         us to taste its sweetness, or an exposi-
thriceblessed Servant of Jehovah, who       of it, all things appear to lose their            tion on the power of fire warm our
speaks of God and glorifies Him, re-        value and are but refuse to him.                  home?
veals the Father and makes Him                  The knowledge of Him!                             Neither will a complete knowl-
known in all the riches of the counsel          How evident it is that knowledge              edge about Christ satisfy our heart.
of salvation; who is set over the whole     here is far more than an intellectual                 Aleamedtheologianyoumaybe,
House of God as the perfect and eter-       conception, than a mere image of the              or a thoroughly instructedlayman, so
nal High Priest, sacrificing, atoning,      mind, a cold assent to the truth con-             that you are able to instruct others in
reconciling, entering into the heav-        cerning Him. To know all about Him                the knowledge about Christ, yet you
enly sanctuary to abide, interceding        is still wholly different from knowing            may not know Him. Perhaps you
for the brethren, blessing them with        Him! Who would surrender all things               wrote ably on the Incarnation and
all the riches of grace; who battled        and give them up gladly, his name                 defended the two natures in unity of
alone and had the victory over the          and position, his treasures and his               divine person; you published articles
powers of darkness and, having be-          pleasures, his liberty and his very life,         in the defense of the doctrine of vi-
come obedient unto death, yea, the          for a mere intellectual apprehension?             carious atonement, and manifested
death of the cross, is highly exalted,      What virtue is there in knowledge?                that you were thoroughly schooled in
seated at the right hand of God,            What glory and what joy, what excel-              all the questions of Christology; you
clothed with all power in heaven and        lency and what comfort is there in a              explained, maybe a thousand times,
on earth to lead us on, to protect us       head full of knowledge about the                  the significance and power of the res-
against all the onslaughts of the en-       Christ, if the heart remains empty of             urrection, the glory of His ascension
emy, to give us the victory; whose          His grace?                                        and exaltation, the hope of His com-

124IStandard Bearer/December 15,1993


ing again to establish His Kingdom           appropriate Him; that you eat and                 Yet, do we not oftenmanifest this
forever.                                     drink Him by a true and living faith!         folly?
    But what if you cannot say: my                    Excellency of knowledge!                 How many of us are able to take
Lord?                                                 Knowing Him . . . that I may gain    the words of the apostle on our own
    What if the fire of the love of God      Him!                                          lips: "Yea, doubtless, I count all things
in Him is not kindled in your soul?                   Such is, then, the longing of our    butlossfortheexcellencyoftheknowl-
What if you never learned to cry out:        heart, the aspiration of our soul, the        edge of Jesus Christ my Lord: for
0 God, be merciful to me, a sinner?          direction of our life.                        whom I have suffered the loss of all
What if you never despised your own                   For, knowing Him1 realize that in    things and do count them but dung,
righteousness? What if you never             Him there are pleasures forevermore,          that I may win Christ"?
saw the guilt of sin from which He           there are treasures I never counted,              Tremendous heights of faith?
redeems, the corruption of sin from          depths of grace I never fathomed,                 Yet,soitwaswiththeapostle. All
whichHe  delivers, the power of death        riches of love I never tasted, heights        that was connected withhis ownrigh-
from which He liberates, the dark-           of glory I never climbed, a fullness of       teousness which was of the law, his
ness of sin out of which He leads into       joy I never experienced. Knowing              privileges as a Hebrew of the He-
the light, the profundities of misery        Him1 feel that I have only begun, that        brews, his name and position and
out of which He elevates the soul into       my knowledge of Him is only in part,          influence, his fellowship with the
the heights of Father's glory? What if       that I have not yet attained or appre-        brethren according to the flesh, his
you never saw Him as the fullness            hended that for which I am appre-             ecclesiastical standing-all  hadbeen
that fills your emptiness, as the righ-      hended of Him.                                counted but dung from the moment
teousness that justifies you, as the life             And knowing Him in part, I long      he hadbegun to taste the excellency of
that is your resurrection, as the Bread      to know Him in all His fullness!              the knowledge of Christ. And still he
that satisfies your hunger, as the wa-                Having a taste of Him, of His        counted all things refuse and was
ter of life that quenches the thirst of      knowledge and wisdom, His righ-               willing to lose all that pertained to his
your soul, as your Redeemer and              teousness and holiness, His peace and         earthly life, yea, that life itself, that he
Deliverer?                                   joy, His love and life eternal, I cannot      might gain Christ.
    Ah, then you never knew Him,             rest until I shall see Him face to face!          Awful heights of faith?
even though you know all about Him!                   And know as I am known!                  Yet, how true an evaluation! For,
Then your soul remains dark and                       That I may gain Christ!              what shall a man profit if he gain the
loves the darkness, thoughyourintel-                      * *  *  *  *  *  *               whole world and lose Christ? Or
lectual eye caught the light!                         The excellency of knowledge of       what would he lose if for Christ he
    Though you write expositions             Christ!                                       lost all?
about the fire of His love, your soul's-              Of the knowledge of Jesus Christ,        0, let the world take its dross, if
hearth remains cold and dark.                my Lord!                                      only I may gain Christ!
    For, this is to know Him, that your               How foolish to evaluate anything         Know Him more and more! Till
soul hungers and thirsts after righ-         at all as precious and desirable apart        I see Him face to face!
teousness and flees to I-Iim for salva-      from Him, beside Him, in compari-                 Jesus Christ, my Lord! 0
tion; that you see His fullness and          son with Him, or even in opposition
                                             to Him!




            The Highly Favored Virgin

    "No, but God's mother does."             sponse gave expression to Rome's              formed Protestants shouldbe clear as
    This was the answer given re-            exaltation of Mary, the mother of             to the truth about Mary. One is that
cently by the coach of the renowned          Jesus: "mother of God."                       current ecumenical efforts between
football  team of a Roman Catholic                    During the coming Christmas          Rome and Protestants urge the Prot-
university to the question whether he        season, Mary will vie with Jesus for          estants to recognize the special status
thought that God really had any in-          honor in the piety of Roman Catho-            of Mary. Another is that the feminist
terest in the outcome of the team's          lics.                                         movement among Protestants makes
upcoming game. The flippant re-                       There are other reasons why Re-      its appeal to Mary.

                                                                                               December 15,1993/Standatri  Bearen'


    Erroneous exaltation of Mary              the Messiah. Gabriel greeted Mary           vation. In giving birth to the Savior,
appeared early in the history of the          with the words, "Hail, thou that art        she herself saved the church.
church. Although the description of           highly favored, the Lord is with thee:           Rome's exaltation of Mary is no
her as "mother of God" was included           blessed art thou among women"               minor matter. Rome knows this well
in the Symbol of Chalcedon  (A.D.             (Luke 1:28). Mary is "highlyfavored."       and asserts its doctrine of Mary at
451) to guard against the heresy of           The Latin Bible has, "full of grace."       every opportunity in clear and force-
Nestorianism, which divided the               Mary has "found favor                                      ful language.
Christ into two persons, there was            with God" (v. 30). She is                             1       It is the doctrine of
already then an interest in glorifying        blessed among women,                By virtue         1 Mary that  exposes the
Mary herself.                                 as Elisabeth also ac-             of iis doctrine          gospel  of Rome as an-
    In the centuries between Chal-            knowledges in verse 42.              of Matw,         I other gospel than the
cedon and the Reformation, the cult           The reason is that Mary                                    gospel of God in Scrip-
of Mary grew so that by the time of the       will be the mother of the                             I ture. Bv virtue of its
Reformation Mary was on the fore-             Savior, who is the Son of         a false church.     1 doctrine'of Mary, Rome
ground and Jesus, only a dim figure in        God, by the wonder of L                     2  is a false church. The
the background. This was the case as          conception by the Holy                                     main controversy of a
regarded religious art, personal pi-          Spirit (v. 35). To this announcement,       Reformed church with Rome is
ety, and the worship of the church.           Mary responded, "Behold the                 Rome's doctrine of Mary.
    The Roman Catholic Church has             handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me              For Mary represents man and the
given official doctrinal expression to        according to thy word" (v. 38).             church. Man and the church cooper-
the erroneous exaltation of Mary.                 The explanation of Rome is that         ate with Godin salvation. The church
Rome holds the perpetual virginity of         there was a certain goodness and            cooperates with God in saving sin-
Mary. In 1854, that Church decreed            worth in Mary herself. God found in         ners by the performance of the sacra-
the Immaculate Conception of Mary,            her that she was full of grace. She will    ments. Each sinner himself cooper-
that is, that she herself was conceived       be blessed as one deserving of the          ates with God by the exercise of his
without original corruption. In 1950,         blessedness. She deserved to be the         free willin  consenting to grace andby
the pope declared the dogma of the            mother of the Christ.                       the doing of meritorious good works.
Assumption of the Virgin, that is, that           Accordingly, Mary cooperated                 Man and the church thus dis-
at the end of her life Mary was taken         with God to bring the Savior into the       place Christ as the only Savior and
up into heaven in the body.                   world. Mary was an active, contrib-         seize to themselves the glory of salva-
    In addition to "mother of God,"           uting, cooperating agent with God in        tion that belongs to God alone.
Rome gives her the titles  "co-               the Savior's birth and, thus, in the             Look at a medieval painting of
redemptress" and "mediatrix." Mary            entrance into the world of salvation.       the virgin and her child. Notice how
cooperates with Jesus Christ in the           God is the primary agent, to be sure,       Mary is at the center, how the rays of
work of redemption and shares with            but Mary is the necessary secondary         light focus on her. Exactly so does the
Him the office of mediator.                   co-worker with God.                         theology of Mary put man and the
    Rome requires the worship of                  God contributed the Deity, the          church where Jesus Christ alone be-
Mary ("Mariolatry") and dependence            eternal Son. Mary contributed not           longs.
upon her as an intercessor by praying         only the humanity but also a pure,               TodaymostofProtestantismisin
to her.                                       sinless humanity. She could do this         full agreement with Rome's theology
    The Second Vatican Council in             since she herself, according to Rome's      of Mary, even though some might
the early 1960s gave full approval to         doctrine of the Immaculate Concep-          still object to "Mariolatry." For the
all of this. In the face of the opposition    tion, was sinlessly conceived.              theology of Mary is the doctrine of
by the "separated brethren," Vatican              The Annunciation was a condi-           free will, human cooperation with
II called Mary by the most objection-         tional offer to Mary. God desired to        God in salvation, and a conditional
able and patently false title,                send the Savior into the world. But         salvation. It is the denial of grace.
"mediatrix."                                  He was dependent upon Mary's ac-                 It is also the denial of the truth
    It is well known that the present         ceptance of His offer. When Mary            about Mary. Mary was the object of
pope is the most devoted servant of           responded, "Be it unto me according         grace. Mary was the lowly maid to
Mary,havingconsecratedhimselfand              to thy word," she fulfilled the condi-      whom God showed free favor. That
the whole world to the "blessed vir-          tion that was necessary for the realiz-     was the address of the angel, literally:
gin."                                         ing of the divine promise.                  "Hail, you whom God has graced."
    Chief among the passages of                   It follows that Mary now has the        Mary was not a woman who was
Scripture appealed to by Rome in              exalted status given her by Rome:           good and worthy of herself, but one
support of its exaltation of Mary is          "Queen of Heaven"! "Mediatrix"!             towards whom God had a favorable
that which records the announcement           "Object of worship"!                        attitude. God's attitude of favor to-
to Mary that she will be the mother of            For she cooperated to bring sal-        wards humans is always undeserved.

126lStandard  Bearer/December 15.1993


Men and women are unworthy be-                Mary didnot cooperate with God.         Incarnation.
cause of sin - their guilt and their      This contradicts the basic idea of the          Indeed, Mary was blessed. Gra-
depravity. This is the glory of grace.    virgin-birth: man is excluded. Mary         ciously, God privileged her to be the
Grace excludes all worth.                 did not help plan the coming of the         mother of the Messiah. She was not
    This was true of the grace of God     Christ. On the contrary, she was            the "mother of God." God has no
to Mary too. The specific reference of    astonished at the thought. She was          mother. She was the mother of Him
His grace was her privilege to be the     not an active contributor. On the           who was and is God as to His (one)
mother of the Savior. There was noth-     contrary, she was passive, helpless,        person. But she was not the mother of
ing in Mary to deserve this. There        impotent: How can a virgin have a           His Godhead. Rather, He had His
was nothing in her herself to distin-     child? The power of the Highest must        manhood from her. Scripture does
guish her from other women. She           come upon her and overshadow her.           not call Mary the "mother of God."
was a sinner by nature, prone to hate     She herself beautifully expressed her       Filled with the Spirit, Elisabeth called
God and the neighbor. Grace gave          passivity: "Be it unto me."                 Mary, "themother of my Lord" (Luke
her her unique, blessed position.             Yes, she assented to the word of        1:43).
Grace chose her. Grace accomplished       God, as does the church and as does             Her honor, she derived from her
her being in the line of David. Grace     every believer. She assented in faith.      son by mere grace.
addressed her in the Annunciation.        But this too was God's gracious work            To God alone is the glory of salva-
Grace accomplished the wonder of          upon her. God came with a promise,          tion.
the Incarnation in her womb.              a sovereign declaration of His will.            For God alone brought salvation
    Mary was an instrument, a ser-        He never said, "If you will agree,          in Jesus Christ.
vant, a handmaid, of the wonder-          accept, or fulfill the condition, then I        This Jesus Christ is the only Sav-
working, saving God. Through her,         will proceed to the `infleshing' of the     ior and Mediator.
He brought into the world the person      eternal Son in your womb." But He               This is the message of Christmas.
of the eternal Son united with the        said, "Behold, thou shalt!" The word            This is the message of the gospel.
human nature derived from Mary.           of promise created Mary's faith and                                                n
This was the necessary Mediator.          its response, even as it realized the                                         - DJE


             Hoeksema Published by
                             Reader's Digest

    In time for Christmas, the            tified as "a Protestant theologian,"        would have been amused. The im-
Reader's Digest Association has pub-      Hoeksemaisquotedat somelengthin             portant thing is that he, being dead,
lished The Stoty  of Jesus. This lav-     two different places in the book from       continues to bear witness to the truth.
ishly illustrated book is divided into    his devotional work, The Myste y of         The sphere of his witness widens. If
seven chapters: "The Messiah"; "The       Bethlehem. One excerpt has to do            the world lasts, Hoeksema will in-
Nativity"; "The Hidden Years"; "His       with the announcement to Zacharias          creasingly demand and receive atten-
Ministry on Earth"; "The FinalDays";      ofthebirthofJohnandwithZacharias'           tion, I am convinced, in spite of the
"Savior and Redeemer"; and "Jesus         dumbness. The other treats of the           efforts of the Reformed community
Among Us."                                naming of John.                             to silence him.
    The text combines the telling of          It is ironic that, whereas the Re-          The Story of Jesus includes no
the story of Jesus by the editors, ap-    formed community for the most part          other Reformed writer.
propriate quotations of Scripture, and    has determined to ignore this gifted            Those interested in buying the
articles drawn from a wide range of       exegete, poetic devotionalist, and or-      book must order from Reader's Di-
writers. Interspersedarepoems, reli-      thodox theologian, Reader's Digest          gest, Pleasantville, NY 10570, or call
gious paintings, and informative          publishes him to the world's end.           l-800-934-0977. The price is $34.96.
pieces on various people, places, and         "H.H." keeps strange company                Better yet, read, or re-read,
particulars that come up in the his-      in The Stoy of Jesus.  He appears           Hoeksema's The Mystery of Beth-
tory of Jesus.                            with the likes of Pearl S. Buck, Albert     Zehem  itself during this Christmas
    Herman Hoeksema is one of the         Schweitzer, Mahatma Gandhi, and             season.  0
writers included in the volume. Iden-     Bishop Fulton J. Sheen. Hoeksema                                              - DJE
                                                                                          December 15,1993/Standard  Beareti'l27


n Anti-law Mentality?                          should be done by your good minis-          theperfectjusticeof God'slaws? Why
                                               ters.                                       should any God-fearing Christian be
    I was saddened by two letters of               Is the civil magistrate free to in-     embarrassed by the perfect laws of
reaction (SB, 11/l/93)  to the excel-          vent his own laws of justice, or is he      God?
lent articles by Rev. Ronald Cam-              bound by the sovereign Law-Giver of             Thank you, Rev. Cammenga, for
menga on the sin/crime of sodomy               heaven and earth? Professor                 sticking to your guns! "Teach me, 0
(the more biblical and legal term). It         Engelsma's excellent editorial of Sep-      Lord, the way of thy statutes, and I
seems that the anti-law mentality that         tember 1, 1993 ("A Holy Nation")            shallobserveitto theend" (Ps. 119:33).
characterizes most churches today has          correctly assumes that the civil gov-                          (Rev.) Norman L. Iones
even found a home in our beloved               ernment is held accountable by God                                        Pierre, SD
Protestant Reformed Churches.                  to obey His laws, not trample them
    One of your respondents was so             under foot as is presently the case in      RESPONSE:
bold as to impugn the good name of             our apostate nation.                            Denial by some members of the
the "Rushdoony crowd." While Dr.                        Hebrews 2:2 tells us that under    Protestant Reformed Churches that
Rushdoony may have taken some                  the Mosaic Law "every transgression         God today mandates the civil state to
positions that not all of us can agree         and disobedience received a just rec-       execute homosexuals is not a mani-
with in his thousands and thousands            ompense." Further, these morallaws          festation of an "anti-law mentality."
of pages of theological writing, it cer-       were "steadfast" ("unalterable"). See       All members of the PRC maintain that
tainly behooves those who love the             also Hebrews 10:28.  One of the laws        both homosexual desire and deed are
law of the Lord to at least show honor         of God had to do with the "recom-           sinful and that the impenitent homo-
to whom honor is due, especially to a          pense" (punishment) to be meted out         sexualmustbeexcommunicatedfrom
man who has courageously ex-                   to those convicted of sodomy (after a       the church. All ministers in the PRC
pounded the law of God and chal-               proper court trial, of course). That        teach this. All PR churches practice
lenged the deadly antinomianism in             punishment was death: Leviticus             this.
church and state. He has alerted thou-         20:13. Now who would suggest that                    A denomination of churches that
sands of serious Bible scholars to a           God'slawinthismatterwasnotwise,             sharply preaches the ten command-
heresy that has gutted the modem               not just, too severe (cf. Deut. 4:4-6)?     ments as the rule of the thankfullife of
evangelical churches.                          Does God have two different ethical         the redeemed and that firmly disci-
    To take umbrage at the simple              systems in the Bible? Doesn't 2 Timo-       plines (excommunicates) impenitent
biblical truth that the state is to pun-       thy 3:16 teach us that all Scripture is     sinners in their midst with the spiri-
ish evildoers, and in the case of              profitable for training in righteous-       tual discipline of the "keys" is a de-
sodomites to put them to death, as             ness (justice), a statement that refers     nomination that plainly honors the
Rev. Cammenga correctly stated in              to the Old Testament primarily?             law of God. 0
passing, indicates that more serious           Should not present-day legislatures                                           - Ed.
study andpreachingon the morallaw              pass laws that are in conformity with





H Whatever Happened to                         time high of 1,215,OOO in 1992. After       States. This substitute for matrimony
Marriage in the U.S.?                          a decade in which the number of             precedes the majority of all American
    Six of ten new marriages fail, vic-        divorces remained flat, they rose 2%        marriages. Most will end in divorce
tims of divorce or separation, accord-         last year. This can only be the begin-      or separation. "Marriages that are
ing to the National Survey of Families         ning of a new surge of divorce, as          preceded by living together have 50%
and Households of the University of            children of divorce now marry and           higher disruption (divorce or separa-
Wisconsin. Divorces reached an all-            follow the model of their parents who       tion) rates than marriages without
                                               knew only how not to stay together.         premarital cohabitation," reports the
                                                        Do the statistics given above      National Survey of Families and
                                               shock you? They ought to! But, read         Households. More and more adults
Prof. Decker is professor of Practical The-    on. Cohabitation, calledby some fi the      in this country never marry, another
ology in the Protestant Reformed Semi-         invisible cancer of marriage," has          result of millions living together un-
nary.                                          soared sixfold since 196Oi.n  theunited     married. In 1992,42 million adults

126lStandard  Bearer /December 15,1993


                                                                                                                                        1


had never married, twice the 21 mil-      truths must be preached in the             this. The Lutherans' proposal that
lion of 1970. Of 1OOunmaniedcouples       churches, taught in the catechism          they have some special status in the
who cohabit, 40 break up before they      classes, and brought to our members        new church was also rejected by the
marry. Of the 60 who marry, 45            who experience difficulties in their       delegates. Because the Lutherans are
divorce, leaving only 15 of 100 with a    marriages. Consistories must exer-         much smaller than the other two
lasting marriage. Thus cohabitation       cise discipline in the love of Christ      churches, they fear they will be lost in
has two negative effects: it sharply      where this commandment is trans-           the union. In the end, only six of the
reduces the number who marry, and         gressed. Our fathers and mothers           nineteen articles of the church order
dramaticallyincreasesthedivorcerate       must teach their children these pre-       were approved. The others will be
of those who do.                          cious truths. And in our marriages         debated at the next meeting in No-
    Those who suffer the most are the     we must provide our children with          vember.
children. Each year one millionyoung-     examples of what marriage in the                            REC News Exchange
sters see their parents divorce. Sixty    Lord is all about. Husbands will love
percent of children will lose a parent    their wives as Christ loved the church,
to divorcebefore they reach the age of    and wives will submit to their hus-        w Another Union of Churches
18. Another million children are born     bands as the church submits to Christ.     in the Works
out of wedlock each year, most of         Only then will our marriages reflect           Since 1962 theologians from the
them into lives of neglect and pov-       the great mystery of Christ and His        Evangelical Lutheran Church in
erty. Wrote Karl Zinsmeister for The      bride, the church. God commands            America (5.7 million members), the
American Enterprise,  "We talk about      His blessing there! In congregations,      United Church of Christ, the Presby-
the drug crisis, the education crisis,    in covenant homes! Of that we may          terian Church (USA), and the Re-
-and problems of teen pregnancy and       be certain. Disobedience to the sev-       formed Church in America (the com-
juvenile crime. But all of these ills     enth commandment brings a world            bined membership of the latter three
trace back predominantly to one           of woe!                                    churches is 5.2 million members) have
source -broken families."                             National &International        been meeting in an effort to achieve
    The churches in America are not                            Religion Report       theological consensus on issues that
helping much, according to the Na-                                                   have divided the Lutheran and Re-
tional Survey. Many pastors sidestep                                                 formed faith traditions since the Ref-
tough topics like chastity, cohabita-     n Together on the way                      ormation.
tion, and divorce, even though secu-           Such is the name (Samen op Weg)           The Evangelical Lutheran Church
lar evidence supports a biblical posi-    of aunificationprocessinvolvingthree       in America has taken a major step
tion on these issues.                     Dutch denominations. Meeting in            toward closer relationships with the
    It is no secret that in our own       early October, delegates from the          Reformed bodies. On August 30 the
churches pastors and elders are fre-      Netherlands Reformed Church (the           denomination's Assembly voted to
quently called upon to counsel those      state church in the Netherlands), the      work toward a 1997 deadline for
with marriage (sin!) problems. No-        Reformed Churches in the Nether-           achieving full communion with the
where is the biblical truth concerning    lands (the Gereformeerde Kerken in         three denominations. Full commun-
marriage, divorce, and the sin against    Nederland),  and the Evangelical           ion means that the members of the
the seventh commandment more              Lutheran Church in the Netherlands         four denominations could receive
beautifully summed than in the Hei-       decided by a 75% majority to call the      Communion in one another's
delberg Catechism, Lord's Day 41, Q.      new denomination, the United Prot-         churches, and their pastors could
108. What doth the seventh com-           estant Church in the Netherlands (De       preach and serve in each other's con-
mandment teach us? A. That all un-        Verenigde Protestantse  Kerk in Neder-     gregations.
cleanness is accursed of God: and that    land).                                         It will be interesting to see what
therefore we must with all our hearts         This name replaced the previous        kind of consensus is reached on the
detest the same, andlive chastely and     proposal to call the church the United     doctrine of the Lord's Supper. Will
temperately, whether in holy wed-         Reformational Church in the Nether-        the Lutherans give up their view of
lock, or in single life. Q. 109. Doth     lands. There `was strong support to        Consubstantiation? Or will the Re-
God forbid in this commandment,           call it the Evangelical Church, but        formed bodies adopt the Lutheran
only adultery, and such like gross        there was also some strong opposi-         view of the Holy Supper? Or will all
sins? A. Since both our body and soul     tion to this.                              four agree to disagree? 0
are temples of the Holy Ghost, he             The combined synod also worked                            The Church Herald
commands us to preserve them pure         on the proposed church order for the
and holy: therefore he forbids all        new denomination. There was an
unchaste actions, gestures, words,        attempt to get more confessional ele-
thoughts, desires, and whatever can       ments into the church order, but del-
entice men thereto.". These great         egates could not reach agreement `on

                                                                                         December 15,1993/StandatdBearedl29


                  The stars were created by God's Word of              we can do all things,and whose salvation is our
             power on the fourth day of the creation week,             reward.
             along with the sun and moon (Gen. 1:16). We                   Since there will be no sun or moon in the new
             ought not accept the view of scientists that the sun      heavens and new earth, neither will there be any
             is simply the closest star, and a rather small one at     night (Rev. 21:23,25),  we may say that there will
             that; God created the sun specifically to rule the        be no stars in the new creation either; for the glory
             day, and the moon and stars to rule the night. The        of God and the Lamb shall be the light of it. At the
             seed promised to Abraham is compared to the               end of the world, when the need for symbols and
             stars of the heavens for multitude (Gen. 15~5, etc.),     figures is past, God will roll up the heavens as a
             but God is able to count the stars (Ps. 147~4). The       scroll (Is. 38:4; Rev. 6:12-14),  the stars shall fall
             stars form one of Sabaoth's hosts, fighting in            from heaven (Matt. 2429) and shall be destroyed.
             behalf of Israel (Jud. 5:20). Stars cause wonder and          At this time of year, Christians everywhere
             humility when the believer contemplates them(Ps.          love to think on the Star. We remember that
             8:3); are reminders of God's mercies (Ps. 136:9);         wicked Balaam  could not but bless the Israel of
             praise their Maker (Ps. 148:3);  are useful for navi-     God, saying, "There shall come a Star out of Jacob,
             gation (Acts 27~20); and differ in glory from the         and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel" (Num. 24~17).
             sun and moon, and even from other stars (I Cor.           Accordingly, God announced the birth of the
             15:41).                                                   Christ to the wise men in the East with a star.
                  The Holy Spirit uses stars in the Scriptures as      Having seen "his star" (Matt. 2:2ff  .), they came to
             a figure for various spiritual entities. They stand       worship the "born King of the Jews." After they
             for the large number of angels that Satan drew            failed to find the King in Jerusalem, the star
             down with himself in his rebellion against God            reappeared and led them to Bethlehem and the
             (Rev.  12:4). False teachers are compared to wan-         exact house where Jesus lived. This star was not
             dering stars, probably comets, which do not keep          theconjunctionoftwoplanets,orabrilliantcomet,
             to God-ordained pathways but wander at will               or a nova, but a specially created star- a wonder
             (Jude 13). Strikingly, stars also stand for the           of God! What a fitting sign of the true Light that
             angels, or gospel ministers, of the seven churches        came into the world (John 1:7-g), who lightens the
             of Asia Minor (Rev. 1:20). The church of the old          Gentiles, is the glory of God's people Israel (Luke
             dispensation is described in Revelation 12:l as a         2:32), and gives light to them that sat in darkness
             woman with child (Christ), clothed with the sun,          (Is. 9:2; Luke 1:79).
             having the moon under her feet, and a crown of                What a perversion to call actors, actresses,
             twelve stars on her head. The church of God is            athletes, and such like, stars! Call them what they
             altogether glorious, and her crowning glory of            are: idok. Christ is the Star! His glory differs from,
             twelve stars represents the glory of Godin electing       and is infinitely greater than, the glory of all
             her, saving her, all by His wonderful grace. The          others. When Christ arises in our hearts,the dark-
             day star (II Pet. 1:19), the morning star (Rev. 2:28),    ness of death is driven out, and we have the light
             and the bright and morning star (Rev. 22:16)  are         of life which shineth unto the perfect day. Then
             references to Jesus Christ, and are promised to           the glory of God in Christ will radiate
             them who hold fast to the Scriptures, faithfully          everywhere,even through us! With the wisemen,
             overcome in battle, and wait for Christ's coming.         bow before His scepter, and offer Him royal gifts
             Christ is the truth of Scripture, the One in whom         of thanksgiving. CI

              Rev. Kuiper is pastor  of Southeast Protestant Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan.




13OIStandard Bearer/December  15,1993


                                   The Reformed. Family:
                                             Christmas

                                             ye into all the world, and preach the         children of God. Nor must our chil-
The desire of all nations shall come....     gospel to every creature" is the call-        dren be led to believe this.
                              Haggai  2:7    ing of the church until Christ returns.           Irememberalittleschoolboylook-
                                             We know this. But if, and after, other        ing at a picture of many different
    We of Dutch descent have often           creatures have embraced the gospel,           children from many diverse foreign
been accused of being ethnically-ori-        what is my responsibility towards             lands, eachinhis colorfulnative dress:
ented Christians- to the exclusion of        such converted Christians?                    Eskimo, Mexican, Indian, Chinese,
almost allothergroups. "Ifyou'renot                 Sometimes, like the apostle Peter,     Swiss, Scats,  Japanese, Russian. He
Dutch, you're not much" is more than         we need a divine nudge to be re-              blurted out, "Lookat all these wicked
just a pithy saying for many of us.          minded that that which God hath               people!"
We're partial to names which end in          cleansed may not be called common                 Different faces, different colored
"sma" or begin with "Vander." We             (Acts 10:15).                                 skin, different dress, different hair
encourage our young people to date                  How sympathetic we should be           styles, all added up to one conclusion
and marry a "wooden shoe." We're             towards the New Testament Jewish              for this young chap: these people are
suspect of those who don't salivate          Christian who nearly 2,000 years ago          not like I am; therefore, they must be
over green soup, or who do not enjoy         bristled at the thought of  Gentile Chris-    wicked.
themid-daySundaymealofpotroast,              tians. Surely, this had to be a contra-           There is a little children's ditty
mashed potatoes, green beans, and            diction in terms! One could be a              which goes like this:
applesauce.                                  Gentile. Or one could be a Christian.
    Darker skin tones, different dress,      One simply could not be both.                     Jesus loves the little children,
peculiar eating habits, unusual sur-         Parthians, Medes, Cretes, Arabians,               All the children of the world;
names, are more than a little frighten-      Egyptians, dwellersinMesopotamia,                 Black and yellow, red and white,
ing to us. Detractors have claimed           Libyans - truly, these could not be               They are precious in His sight;
that this culture bias has put a crimp       elect children of God; for God would              Jesus loves the little children of
on our mission emphasis. We've been          not so "water down" His covenant.                   the world.
characterized as preferring our mis-                We can be more understanding,
sion work far, far away - and keep-          too, of the apostle Peter, a Jew to the           This is a silly song. Never teach it
ing it there - as if we really don't         very core of his being, who had to            to your child. Explicitly, it denies
want these different peoples to be a         receive a vision from God to bring            particular atonement. Implicitly, it
part of our church or community.             him to his spiritual senses concerning        teaches that Jesus just happens to
And if some do become members or             Gentile believers. At the conversion          have a fondness for children because
sister-church related, do we actually        of Cornelius, Peter is compelled to           they're young and "innocent." But,
have to interact with them? To preach        make this beautiful and timeless con-         onthe other hand, we must somehow
to those of different cultures and eth-      fession, "Of a truth I perceive that          instill within our youngsters, and
nic backgrounds is tolerated. Intel-         God is no respecter of persons: But in        ourselves, the universalscope of God's
lectually, we know this is the right         every nation he that feareth him, and         electing mercies. He chooses his
thing to do. The Great Commission is         worketh righteousness, is accepted            people from every nation. In our zeal
difficult to dismiss summarily. "Go          with him" (Acts 10:34,35).                    to uphold the biblical decree of elec-
                                                    Andifsuchaoneisacceptedwith            tion, we must be on guard lest we
                                             God, then, indeed, he is accepted with        narrow and confine God's decree
                                             me.                                           more than He does. We and our
Mrs. Lubbers is a wife and mother in the            We must never hoodwink our-            children must be impressed with the
Protestant Reformed Church of South          selves into believing that we, and            truth that God has elected to Himself
Holland, Illinois.                           only those exactly like us, are the true      a multitude that no man cannumber.

                                                                                               December 15,1993/StandardSearetll31


Abraham was taught this                                          electing mercies to ev-        Babe in Bethlehem. And, filling up
by God Himself at the                                            ery nation, even to the        the horizon behind the Wise Men
sacrifice of Isaac: "...I                 In our zeal            remotest islands of the        comes a host of believers  without num-
will multiply thy seed as                 to uphold              sea.                           ber from every race, and tribe, and
the stars of the heaven,                  the biblical               God announced the          nation, all wending their way to that
and as the sand which is                    decree               birth of His own dear          manger in the stall. Each in his own
upon the. sea shore..."                                          Son first to the Jews,         tongue chants the blessed words:
(Gen. 22:17). Who of us                   of election,           those humble shepherds         "Emmanuel, God with us." With
can count the grains of a                 we must be             of lowly birth watching        Simeon and Anna we take up the
mere handful of sand?                      on guard              over their flocks on that      child in our arms and embrace God's
Which of us can number             lest we narrow                lonely Judeanhillside so       Salvation. With the Eastern travelers
the myriad stars?                    and confine                 many years ago. But            we kneel and worship the Desire of all
    In Revelation 7:9 the                                                                       Nations.
                                     God's decree                looking beyond the
apostle John says: "Af-                                          shepherds, far away to-            How thankful I am that God did
                                          more than
ter this I beheld, and, lo,                                      ward the East, how             not limit His Christmas blessing to
a great multitude, which                   He does.              thrilling to see the magi,     one nation - just the Jews. What
no man could number,                           I                 Gentiles all, wearing          despair that would be for all of us in
of all kindreds, and                                             curiously-wrought              the Dutch enclaves of Grand Rapids,
people, and tongues, stood before the               clothing, embracing odd habits, and         and Zeeland, and South Holland, and
throne, and before the Lamb . . . . II              speaking a different idiom, traveling       Northwest Iowa, and....
    How necessary for all of us, adult              hundredus of miles over hostile terram 1        Oh, blessed Christmas!  0
believersandchildren,tobereminded                   through foul weather for this one com-
at this Christmas season of God's                   pelling purpose - to worship the I


                                     Christmas Now and Eternally
   Christmas has come as it does every year,
   And once again there are wishes of joy and good
          cheer.                                                         But let us look beyond the manger bed,
   Lest we be blinded by the world's glitter and glean-                  And see the Cross that lies ahead.
          ings,                                                          Born to die, the Ring of kings;
   We pause now to ponder Christmas' real meanings.                      Born to give us heavenly things.
                                                                         And then beyond the cross we see
   For in that manger - the incarnation -                                That death did not have the victory.
   Lies the hope of God's people in every nation.                        But this lowly Babe in manger bed
   Fulfilled here is the lamb's blood of the old dispensa-               Has gone on to heaven, as the church's Head,
          tion.                                                          Where in human nature at God's right hand
   Here lies the hope of glory - Israel's consolation.                   Our King, triumphant, waiting stands;
   Born in a stable - 0 what a lowly station,                            Where before our Father He intercedes
   God in our flesh in the state of humiliation.                         For our forgiveness and all our needs,
                                                                         Waiting to gather His ransomed bride home,
   Let's sing with the angels, "Glory to God on High!"                   There to commemorate Christmas around God's
   As we see our blessed Savior in lowly manger lie.                           throne.
   No glory in that cattle stall - to the human eye,
   Yet angelic choirs sing His praises from the sky.                     God of glory, God of might,
   So with the shepherds let us worship and bow down,                    Grant us favor in this night,
   For here has come the Christ, forsaking heavenly                      That we may celebrate Thy Gift aright.
          crown.                                                         That at Christmas, too, we may grow in knowledge
   Mere shepherds - unworthy -yet they heard                                   and grace
   From the heavenly chorus such a glorious Word.                        Until we finally are brought to see Jesus face to face.
   Wonderful gospel to them was revealed;                                That each in his station may glorify Thee
   The blessed message they kept not concealed.                          And prepare even now for Christmas eternally.
   Let us give our gifts as the wisemen  of old,                                                                     Viola DeBoer
   As they later came the Christ child to behold.                                                                     Doon, Iowa


132lStancfard Bearer/December 15,1993


                                     Faith or Fate
                                                                                                Rev. Jason Kortering


    A few words that have come to          tivals," Christmas, Good Friday, Eas-       kind of people turn to divination. Do
mean more to me while working in           ter are all presented to the public as       they really believe in it? Through vis-
Singapore are these taken from the         Rome observes them. This is under-           its to various temples, obtaining some
Form for the Lord's Supper: "... all       standable considering their ecumeni-         literature that was on display in these
those who invoke deceased saints,          cal spirit, their willingness to find a      temples, and reading a rather de-
angels, or other creatures, all those      common bond of fellowship among              tailed article that appeared in the pa-
who worship images, all enchanters,        all major religions, and even their          per recently, we found some answers
diviners, charmers, and those who          close religious identity with the hea-       to these questions.
confide in such enchantments." Such        then.                                            Divinationlotsarewoodensticks,
sinners are forbidden the use of the           This is an offense not only for the      much like chopsticks, which devo-
sacrament.                                 true believer, but most of all for the       tees believe can tell their fortunes.
    Amazing, isn't it, that in one         Lord whom we serve.                         They are placed in a brass can. The
breath our Reformed forefathers put            In this article we want to focus a      number of lots canvary from 50 to 100
apostate Rome in the same category         bit more on divination. The words of        in each can. One obtains the lot by
as the heathen. They both pray to the      the form for the Lord's Supper now          shaking the can containing the sticks
wrong sources for life and hope. It is     literally jump off the page as we read       (thesticksareabout12inchesinlength
noteworthy that, in the area of mis-       them six times a year: enchanters,          and the can about 10 inches), and,
sions, Rome's approach to the hea-         diviners, charmers, and those who           while shaking the can, repeating si-
then was less "offensive." (See Ro-        confide in such enchantments. The           lently the subject being questioned. If
mans 9:33 -Jesus is the rock of of-        stem and biblical warning that such         one seeks an answer about examina-
fense.) By their "natural theology"        people are not in the kingdom of            tions in school, he says "exams." If he
Roman Catholic missionaries could          heaven arouses within us a burden           is inquiring about selling the flat
approach the heathen idol worshiper        for our neighbors. We have had op-          (house), he repeats that. If the ques-
as if he were one who was "reaching        portunity to visit several Chinese          tion is a proposed marriage, then he
for the true God." In contrast, the        temples where this divination takes         repeats "marriage." The person
Holy Spirit describes him in Romans        place on a daily basis. How sad it is to    should also tell the god his name and
1:21-25 as committing an act of rebel-     see an aged Chinese woman with one          place of residence.
lion against the true God. Rome's          foot in the grave shake the can of               When the lot falls from the can, it
converts could substitute "saints" for     divinationlots and thereby try tolearn      is verified by the throwing of two
ancestors and thus avoid disruption        her future. Impressed on my mind is         wooden shells. If one of the shells
in their religious activity. The same      the sight of a young boy doing the          lands upright and the other upside
was true for the use of images in          same. He brings his stick to the "inter-    down, then the lot is confirmed. If
worship. Add to that the "accursed         preter" to learn, in all likelihood,        both shells land alike, the process
idolatry" of the mass, and we sorrow       whether he will do well inhis upcom-        must be repeated. After the lot is
that in the Name of Jesus, Rome leads      ing examinations. We have a small           confirmed, the person acts to obtain
people from one form of idolatry into      temple about a hundred feet from our        the lot's answer to his question. Each
another. This explains why the Ro-         apartment; it has a chair for the "me-      divination stick has a number. On the
man Catholic church represents             dium" to commune with the spirits of        counter toward the side of the temple
"Christianity" in so many counties.        ancestors. One cannot walk down             is a rack with holes. Each hole has a
Here in Singapore, the Christian "fes-     Serangoon Avenue in "Little India"          number, and inserted in the hole is a
                                           and not take note of the parrots with       rolled up slip of paper. This paper
                                           theirfortunecards,andthepalmread-           explains the "lot," whether the an-
                                           ers. They all seem to be doing a brisk      swer is good or bad. It is written in
                                           business.                                   Chinese and in poetic form. Thus, the
Rev. Kortering is a Protestant Reformed        Myinquisitivenesspromptedme             reading of the lot may leave the per-
minister-on-loan to Singapore.             to,ask, What really takes place? What       son in a bit of a quandary whether it

                                                                                           December 15,1993/Standad  Beared


is good or bad. But there are "inter-          ing deities if a person does not live       be asked, What good is it to me if1 am
preters" around the temple who can             properly. Such religion is that of          a Christian and God treats me this
be consulted for a small fee. They will        works. One must do right if he is to be     way? The old ingrained idea is still
explain the meaning of the lot and             accepted,andifhedoesnotliveright,           present, namely, that if I live right
give direct advice as to whether it is         his life will go bad, and his lot will      God will reward  me  with outward
good orbad and how toimprove their             indicate such disfavor of the gods.         good.
lot if it is bad.                              Hence, the interpreter will help a per-              We thank God that the gospel is
     Most recently some of the local           son who has drawn a bad lot. He will        the answer for all of us. Faith is not
temples have included English trans-           "counsel" him in areas of improve-          simply a matter of choosing a per-
lations of the Chinese lots. This has          ment. He will tellhim  that he cantum       sonal god; it is to believe in the only
caused quite a stir, since it allows           aroundbadluckby goingto the temple          true God. We have come to appreci-
those who are not proficient in their          to pray, doing charitable deeds, meet-      ate even more that the first command-
native language to read it in English.         ing the needs of departed ancestors,        ment is the doorway to the entire law.
They have it black on white, so they           and such like.                              Unless we have settled the question
can ponder it for themselves. As a                 What does this say to us?               about the true God, the rest of the
result, more school children are be-               We know that "enchanters, di-           commandments will remain un-
coming involved in this divination,            viners, charmers, and those who con-        settled. Once that is settled, the rest
and professional people are stopping           fide in such enchantments" are not          follows. If we know and trust the one
by the temples, as well as the usual           limited to Singapore. It may come to        only true God, we can worship Him
elderly Chinese men and women.                 expression in a more open and dra-          properly, we do not need dumb im-
     An example of such a translation          matic way in the Chinese temple. But        ages. We have the lively preaching of
follows. It is of lot number 68. "A            we must ask ourselves, How is this          the gospel. We have the privilege to
good home where peace and happi-               expressed where I live? Satan is cer-       use His Name aright and to keep His
ness abound. By deeds of merits will           tainly very active in this area of hu-      Day, the Lord's Day, holy. He is not
they achieve peace. The time is right          manlife. We do well tobecome  aware         an avenging deity for us; He is our
for marrying. The farm produces a              of the "familiar spirits" which abound      Father who is in heaven.
good crop of silk and harvest. A rem-          around us. Some of this takes on the                 Our Lord Jesus Christ makes all
edy to cure all illness." The interpre-        form of "psychic power." Fortune            the difference. In this season of the
tation of this lot is rated as "Good."         tellers abound in many forms. Divi-         year in which we reflect upon His
    Lying in the heart of every human          nation can even come in the form of         coming into our flesh, may the Holy
being is the desire to know the future.        fun and games, such as tarot cards          Spirit make Him dear to our hearts.
It is especially desirable to know             and Ouija boards.                           The manger led to the cross, which in
whether our present actions will be                The saints here are delivered from      turn led to the crown. At the Father's
favorable for the future or not. The           this horrible superstition. In varying      right hand, He is now gathering His
use of divination in this form is di-          degreestheymayhavebeeninvolved              church from all nations under heaven.
rectly related to the degree of sincer-        in such temple worship in their youth.      Soon we will be part of that great
ity of the devotee. How much a                 Some of them come from homes where          throng that no man can number (Rev.
person believes in the "gods" will             temple worship was part of their            7:9).
affect how much he trusts the lot. As          youth. Others come from homes                        Faith or fate, that is the question
is true in most cultures, the elderly          where such activity was laughed at as       we face.
seem more in the grip of such divina-          superstition. Generally these homes                  May God strengthen each of us in
tion than the youth. According to the          were more secular than religious.           the bond of true faith. n
newspaper article, one youngwoman                  Probably of a greater threat to the
interviewed had "decided to draw a             security of faith than the attraction of
lot out of curiosity, but said that she        divination itself is the ingrained idea
might do it again as the lot seems to          that if you live well the gods will                           5% Staf
reflect her state of mind and offers           reward you. Even for young Chris-                      tal&s tfiis opportunity
advice." Another man said, "I come             tians it is very difficult to throw this
to the temple once a month to draw a           off. Bybelievingin Jesus, they come to                to qtend to our readers
lot. It only acts as a guide; I will not be    know the true God. It is the duty of                       tfieir Widi for a
too depressed if I draw a bad one."            every Christian to serve God in all                   most GGzssedCfiri3~
    If the lot is bad, it is an indication     areas of life. If this is done and a
that the gods are displeased with the          young Christian still has difficulty in               as tagetfkr we ceL&ate
person. Connected with the worship             life, hardships on the job, family con-                 tfie wondrous euent
of the Chinese gods (and they abound           flicts, sicknesses, the question arises,
in numbers) is the basic notion that           How can God allow this to happen?                       of the Incarnation.
the gods show themselves as aveng-             WhathaveIdonewrong?  Itmayeven

EM/Standard  Bearer/December 15,1993


        The Heavenly Song of Joy!
                                                                                               Rev. Jaikishin Mahtani


    GZo y to God in the highest, and on      Christmas? Why did the angels in            swaddling clothes, lying in a man-
earth peace, good will toward men.           heaven rejoice? Do we know? Do our          ger" (Luke 2:11,12).  That which was
                              Luke 2:14      children know? Do our neighbors             promisedof oldisnowbeingfulfilled
                                             and friends know?                           for you this day. The Christ, the Mes-
    Christmas draws near. The                    The Scriptures clearly point to         siah, the Anointed One is here! This
church of Jesus Christ celebrates the        other times when great joy was found        day, the day for which you have long
birth of her beloved Savior, Jesus           in heaven. At the creation of this          waited by faith with all the saints, is
Christ, the Lord!                            world the morning stars sang for joy.       now come! Christ, your Lord, is here.
    The season is usually filled with        When one sinner repents, the angels         He comes as Savior. He comes not to
visits among families and friends, ex-       in heaven rejoice. Surely not only at       destroy you nor judge you in your
change of gifts, and words of cheer.         Christ's birth, but especially also at      sins. If He were, this message would
Tables are laden with food and drink         His resurrection and ascension to           be horror to you. But rejoice because
to make the festive season memo-             heaven the angels must have sung for        Christ the Lord comes to save you.
rable. Often the poor are especially         joy. And the day is coming when the         The same angel of the Lord had an-
remembered, and even the non-Chris-          heavenly host shall burst into a thun-      nounced earlier to Joseph in a dream:
tian seems moved to generosity. It is        derous anthem when Jesus returns            "Thou shalt call his name Jesus (Teho-
a time when carols are heard, and the        for His saints in the clouds of glory!      vah is Saviour): for he shall save his
Christmas message is proclaimed to               But what was the reason for this        people from their sins" (Matt.  1:21).
the world. Joy to the world, the Lord        particular song: "Glory to God in the           Let us note two accompanying
is come!                                     highest,andonearthpeace,goodwiIl            details in this announcement. They
    When Jesus was born in                   toward men"? We can read of the             are closely related to each other. Both
Bethlehem, the first carol of praise,        joyful occasion in Luke 2, beginning        are important details with much sig-
recorded in Luke 2:14, revealed that         at verse 8. The simple-minded and           nificance. Understanding them will
there was great joy also in heaven.          lowly shepherds were keepingwatch           help us understand the meaning of
Although we are not exactly told that        of their flock by night, when sud-          the heavenly song of joy. The first is
the message of the angels was in the         denly the angel of the Lord came            the announcement of the place of
form of a song, we do read that there        upon them and the glory of the Lord         Christ'sbirth,  ti . ..inthecityofDavid."
was heard "a multitude of the heav-          Himself shone round about them!             The shepherds were abiding in that
enly host praising God and saying,           They were sore afraid! Who wouldn't         same country of Bethlehem. It is here
Glory to God in the highest,and on           be? "Has the Holy Lord come to              that Christ must be born, according to
earth peace, goodwillto men!" Surely         punish us? Is it judgment day?" The         divine prophecy. Without doubt the
if the angels in heaven rejoiced at the      shepherds trembled. But the angel of        reference to the city of David points to
wonderful event of the birth of Christ,      the Lord immediately assuages their         thepromiseofGodtoHisownpeople.
it does us well to mark Christmas on         terror: "Fear not!" The shepherds           "Unto you is born this day . . . Christ
our calendars as a day of joyful wor-        need not be afraid! The angel had not       theLord." GodisfulfiEngHisprom-
ship and praise.                             come to announce judgment. Rather,          ise to His people. But there is more. 0
    It is to be feared that in the busy      it was a day of peace and joy! "For         yes, Christ may be born in the lowly
activity and the oftentimes worldly          behold, I bring you good tidings of         town of Bethlehem. But still, let us
celebration of Christmas, the mes-           greatjoy,whichshallbetoallpeople!"          remember, it is the city of David!
sage of the gospelitself is forgotten or     (Luke 2:lO).                                Christ must be born in the house of
misrepresented. Why do we celebrate              What good news did the angel of         David the king! In the royal line He
                                             the Lord announce first to the shep-        comes, for He comes as Christ, the
                                             herds in Bethlehem? Here it is: "For        Lord! It is the Ring of the Jews who is
                                             unto you is born this day in the city of    born. ItwillbeastheKingoftheJews
                                             David a Saviour, which is Christ the        that He will later die.
Rev. Mahtani is pastor ofTrinity  Protes-    Lord. And this shall be a sign unto             Now notice immediately in the
tant Reformed Church in Houston, Texas.      you; ye shall find the babe wrapped in      next verse: "And this shall be a sign

                                                                                             December 15,1993/Standard  Bearer/l 35


unto you; ye shall find the babe                  hearts sing this kind of song at Christ-       birth of the Savior? We are not told.
wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying               mas, and always, at the contempla-             But surely we can join to sing this
in amanger!" TheLordcomes  to you,                tion of Christ's incarnation? Notice, it       song, for it is sung in reference to the
but He comes as a babe lying in a                 is a carol of praise! First and foremost       mercy and salvation of God towards
manger! The significance of this de-              it is a song sung in adoration of the          man.
tail is clear. This shall be a sign unto          Almighty God! Glory, that is, praise,              "And on earth peace, good will
you. It will signify to you immedi-               be to God. God is to be commended,             toward men!" What is this peace of
ately that Christ, "though He was                 blessed, adored in all His works! The          which the angels sing? And what is
rich, yet for your sakes he became                angels on high sing, ascribing to Him          this "good pleasure of God towards
poor, that ye through his poverty                 the glory. They acknowledge God.               men," as we read in the original text?
might be rich" (2 Cor. 8:9). The pov-             They say that highest praise and glory         Surely the godly shepherds could tell.
erty of His lowly birth points to His             must be ascribed to God alone! They            Was not this the fulfillment of the
sacrifice and death as Savior! The                sing not to man first of all. No, not at       promise in Isaiah 9:6? "For unto us a
iniquity of His brethren who are poor,            all. They sing to the One who is God,          child is born, unto us a son is given, . . .
filthy sinners must be laid upon the              the sovereign Lord who has revealed            and he shall be called Wonderful,
suffering servant. On the one hand, it            Himself. But could it be that as they          Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Ev-
is Christ the Lord who is born in the             sing up to God thev are also looking           erlasting Father, the Prince of Peace!"
city of David. But on the                                          down on the earth? For        There He lay in Bethlehem! Prince!
other hand, He is lying in                                         isnotthe AlmightyGod          The Lord Himself! He is Christ, the
a manger! Behold your            It is to be feared                now come down in His          Lord!
Ring-Servant! What an                    that in the               Son, born of a woman,             But He is especially Prince of
amazing gospel! No                                                 lyinginamanger? Bow-          Peace. In the deep way of suffering
wonder the angels burst            busy activity                   ing before Him they           and death He would procure peace
out with praise!                          and the                  sing, "Glory to God!"         for His people. By the stripes which
    We are told it was at                oftentimes                And so must we who            He wouldbear onthe Cross,He would
this point in the an-                     worldly                  would properly cel-           take away the wrath of God against
nouncement that sud-               celebration  of                 ebrate Christmas. Our         the sins of His brethren. Reconciling
denly a multitude of the                                           Savior cannot be our          His people to God He would give
heavenly host joined the                 Christmas,                Savior except He be           them true peace. Yes,He is the revela-
angel of the Lord in that         the message of                   Christ, the Lord, the Son     tion of the God of Peace. He, being the
heavenly song of joy             the gospel itself                 of the living God! This       express image of the Father, comes to
(Luke 213). Is there re-          is forgotten or                  is the Rock upon which        reveal God's peace to His people.
joicing in our hearts this       misrepresented.                   the church is built (Matt.    There He lay - Peace on earth!
Christmas season? Do                                               16:16-l@.                         And how could the angels sing of
we with our children de-                     I                        We can learn from          peace on this darknight inBethlehem?
sire to celebrate Christmas in a man-             this heavenly song the proper cel-             Because Christ is also the revelation
ner that is God-glorifying? Do we                 ebration of Christmas. It will do us           of God's good grace. It is the grace of
desire that our rejoicing and celebra-            well to remember that the true joy of          God toward men about which the
tion be different from the sinful plea-           the angels at the birth of Christ cen-         angels sing. How can sinners be at
sures and worldly merry-making of                 tered upon the glory of God Himself!           peace with God? Can they climb the
the multitudes about us? Then let us              The angels incessantly praise and              ladder to heaven? Can they find
note that the angelic song of joy was             adore the thrice Holy One, but here            grace in the sight of God by their
sung in response to this announce-                the song is sung for us to hear. These         works of righteousness? No, in the
ment of the gospel! Not until webegin             ministering angels have something to           presence of God they can only stand
to understand the gospel declared by              teach us. We must be careful during            in terror on account of their sins.
the angel (and, yes, by the apostles              Christmas not to focus our attention           Besides, if it be of works, it cannot be
and prophets) can we truly join to                on anything less. The lesson is: "In all       of grace. No, it is God's good plea-
sing this heavenly song of joy our-               your singing, ye redeemed saints of            sure of which the angels sing. God is
selves. Yes, to take upon our lips the            God, sing: `Glory in the highest be to         pleased to show favor to His people.
holy song of the angels we need first             God alone!' M                                  On earth peace toward men of God's
to hear and believe the holy gospel.                  This is a heavenly song. It is sung        good pleasure. Yes, the angels sing of
Only then will we begin to sing as the            by the heavenly host. Can the re-              God's good pleasure towards His
angels did.                                       deemed saints find any reason to join          own! To them He sends good news,
    "Glory to God in the highest!"                in this song? Could it be that the             the gospel of peace!
Or, as we read it literally, "Glory in            heavenlyhostshereincludednotonly                   When this song of glory and peace
the highest to God!" Do we hear this              the angels but all the saints gone up to       and grace is sung, it is sungwith great
angelic song of joy? Do we in our own             heaven who rejoiced greatly at the             joy! Does Christmas particularly re-

136lStandard  Bearer/December 16,1993


mind us of Gods gracious salvation          Yes, this heavenly song of joy is to be        rifying and praising God." But also,
in Christ? Does it bring to mind again      sungonlybyGod'speoplewhoknow                   "theymade known abroad the saying
the peace of Godin Christ Jesus which       their sins and find peace with God             which was told them concerning this
passeth all understanding? Does it          only in Christ. Such were the shep-            child" (Luke 217). While we, like
evoke greater worship and adora-            herds, the happy hearers. And surely           Mary,mustsurelyponderthesethings
tion? It must above all be sung with        this is the gospel of Christmas.               in our hearts (Luke 2:19), let us like
blessed joy! Rejoice in the Lord, 0 ye               One may ask, as he hears of the       the shepherds speak to each other,
saints! Ye people who confess Jeho-         angelic song of joy, "May I sing that          bow in joyful thanksgiving, and tell it
vah, be happy! In your singing, think       song? Is it for me, the announcement           abroad. Christmas is a time for mu-
upon this heavenly song! 0, we may          that was made?" The answer is given            tual encouragement amongst the
not have voices like the angels, but        in the passage before us. Christ came          saints,forunitedworshipandthanks-
redeemed hearts know how to sing            for His own. He came to the city of            giving in His house, but also for zeal-
with joy! If angels in heaven rejoiced      David as the promised Messiah of               ous evangelism.
at the birth of Christ, ought not we for    His people. Like the shepherds who                 May the song of the angelic choir
whom Christ came? The question we           first heard this song, the true people         be heard in joyful strains this Christ-
ask ourselves, our children, and our        of God are those who continue to               mas, so our friends and neighbors
neighbors is this: "Does our Christ-        rejoice in God and in His gracious             know why we mark this occasion on
mas joy reflect that heavenly song of       salvation.                                     our calendars. As we go up to the
joy?"                                                Let all the saints of God who hear    house of God with our children to
     Let us respond like the happy          this heavenly song of joy join in the          worship, may our praise and adora-
hearers who were abidingin the field.       praises of our great God! And how?             tion be filled with great joy.
0, how they rejoiced! For the angel of      Let us note the response of the first              And yes, when we realize that
the Lord came not to the rich but to        joyful hearers. When the angels finish         our great joy cannot be perfectly ex-
theselowly shepherds. The announce-         their song and depart from the shep-           pressed here on earth, let us take
ment was given not to the rich and          herds, they speak to each other: "Let          heart. We are waiting eagerly for the
mighty. The angels sang to Godin the        us go even to Bethlehem and see this           day when we shall join the angels to
hearing of lowly shepherds. Is not          thing" (Luke 2:15). In their joy they          sing the high praises of God with the
this characteristic of the gospelitself?    encourage each other to go witness             humble shepherds, and all the elect of
Did not Christ, the Lord Himself,           the Lord's promise. Surely when they           God. Then shall be accomplished the
come as a babe wrapped in swad-             find the babe lying in the manger they         purpose for which we were made,
dling clothes? Did He not teach us          bow with great joy and thanksgiving!           that is, joyfully to sing: "Glory in the
that He comes not for the mighty and        We read in verse 20 that, "with great          highest be to God, and on earth peace
great and righteous, but for the weak       rejoicing the shepherds returned, glo-         to men of God's good pleasure!" n
and for the despised and for sinners?



                                     Report of the
                 Committee for Contact
                    With Other Churches

                                                The workof the Contact Commit-             was at the invitation of the Consistory
                                            tee continues to be busy and impor-            of the Sheffield Independent Re-
                                            tant.                                          formed Church, of which Rev. Jerome
                                                Perhaps the most interestingpart           Julien is pastor. The Consistory of the
                                            of the work since the Synod of 1993            Sheffield Church had made plans for
Prof. Ha&o is secreta y of thecommittee     was the trip the Contact Committee             a conference of officebearers from
for  Contact with other Churches.           made to Ontario, Canada. This trip             independent Reformed churches in

                                                                                               December 15,1393/Standard  Beam'1  37


the area. We were invited to speak at      good. The price the people had to pay        at present depleted. We still owe
this conference. Our entire Contact        for secession from the Christian Re-         nearly $900.00 for the fiscal year of
Committee was able to attend.              formed Church was great; their sense         September 1992 - August 1993, and
        The conference was held on Sat-    of relief and well-being was strong.         we shall have to collect the necessary
urday, October25. Its purpose was to       We were received cordially and with          $10,000 in the coming year. While this
give the independent churches in the       openhospitality. May Godblessthese           may seem like a huge sum of money,
area an opportunity to become better       labors for the future.                       a little figuring will show that actu-
acquainted with our churches. To                       *  *  *  +  *  *  *              ally it is only between $8.00 and $9.00
accomplish this goal, Prof. Hanko               Our contacts with other organi-         per year per family. We urge our
spoke on the history of the Protestant     zations continue. Although Synod             people to give to this cause, that Rev.
Reformed Churches, andl?rof. Decker        authorized the Contact Committee to          and Mrs. Miersma may be supported
spoke on the distinctive doctrines of      send an observer to NAPARC  (North           along with the work of the church
the Protestant Reformed Churches.          American Presbyterian and Reformed           there.
Through these speeches we made an          Council) the week of November 7,                         *  *  *  *  *  *  +
effort to show that our churches stand     and although an observer was ap-                 Ourrelationships with  oursister-
historically in the line of the Calvin     pointed, unforeseen circumstances            church in Singapore have also been
Reformation, the Afscheidingof 1834,       made it impossible for us to accom-          very active. This is due in part to the
and the Doleantie of 1886; and that        plish this mandate of Synod. Synod           fact that Rev. Kortering is laboring
the doctrines which form the heart of      also authorized the Contact Commit-          there as minister-on-loan from Hope
our life as churches are the doctrines     tee to send observers to the Alliance        Protestant Reformed Church and
of sovereign grace and an uncondi-         of Reformed Churches. The Alliance           under the auspices of the Contact
tional promise of the covenant. We         is holding its meetings as this report is    Committee; and this activity is due,
attempted to do this by contrasting        being prepared; we will inform our           secondly, to the fact that we have in
what we believe with common grace,         readers of this activity in a future         our fellowship Mr. and Mrs. Cheah
the free offer of the gospel, and a        article.                                     FookMeng, who are under the care of
conditional and general promise of                     *  *  +  *  *  *  *              the Southwest Protestant Reformed
the covenant. Interesting and spir-             Our contacts with other denomi-         Church. Brother FookMeng is a stu-
ited discussions followed the              nations also continue. Because the           dent in our Seminary. The Cheahs are
speeches.                                  Evangelical Presbyterian Church of           a delightful couple and our Seminary
        Arrangements hadbeenmadeby         Australia has sent two of its students       is enriched by the presence of this
the Consistory  of the Sheffield Inde-     to our Seminary for study, and be-           brother.
pendent Reformed Church for the            cause Pastors Philip Burley and Chris            We need not report on Rev.
ministers of the Contact Committee         Colebom were therefore in this coun-         Kortering's busy activities, for news-
to preach in several of the churches on    try the latter part of August and the        letters are regularly distributedin the
the following Lords Day. This gave         early part of September to visit their       churches. Suffice it to say that, read-
both the ministers and the people of       students, the Contact Committee had          ing the reports which are submitted
these congregations an opportunity         opportunity to meet with these two           to the Committee, one wonders how
for some closer fellowship.                pastors. This meeting proved to be           Rev. Kortering is able to do all that is
        The excursion was enjoyable and    worthwhile, and it was agreed that           asked of him. But he and his wife (an
profitable. Most of the people in these    we would spend some time prior to            active participant in the work) would
churches are first and second genera-      the next Synod exploring ways in             be the first to say that they are
tion immigrants from the Nether-           which our two denominations could            strengthened daily by the hand of
lands, predominantly from the              have "less than sister-church rela-          God.
Gereformeerde Kerken (GKN). It was         tions," something for which the Con-                     *  *  * *  *  * *
interestingto leamin the course of the     stitution of the Contact Committee               This is also the opportunity to
discussions that the people had very       provides.                                    remind our people that we are re-
little, if any, differences with our                   Et******-                        sponsible for part of the financial sup-
churches on the questions of common            We have been in close touch with         port of the Cheahs. Synod has de-
grace and the free offer of the gospel.    our sister church in Wellington, New         cided that this money too is to be
Most of the discussion centered in the     Zealand for the past couple of months.       raisedbyspecialcollections. Already
doctrine of the covenant as believed       We take this opportunity to remind           such support is needed, for the Cheahs
and maintained in our circles. Many        our people that our churches are com-        have been here for over three months.
expressed the desire to discuss this       mitted to help this sister church finan-     Again, if the amount needed is bro-
doctrineinmoredetailatalatermeet-          cially. Our commitment comes to              ken down, it is not all that much. If
ing.                                       over $10,000 per year, money which           every family in the denomination
        The preaching of our ministers     is to be collected via special collec-       would contribute $15.00, this would
was well received; the fellowship was      tions in the churches. Our funds are         be more than sufficient for this year

138lStandard Bearer/December  15,1993


and all of 1994. We might add that we                gelicalReformedChurchofSingapore                               Ourchurch buildingisalmostready,
commend these causes also to our                     which we quote in full.                                    and we are now applyingfor a Tempora y
readers who are not of the Protestant                                                                           Occupancy Permit to make use  of the
Reformed Churches. The money                                              PRC in America                        church from December, 1993 onwards.
ought to be sent to our Synodical                    Dear Brethren in the Lord,                                     We pray that you would continue to
Treasurer,                                                   We received with joy and thanksgiv-                support us in prayer and would  like to
                 Mr. Joel Zandstra                   ing unto God your love gifts  of                           take this opportunity to share with you
                   5052  36th Ave.                   US$2,804.74  for our Church's building                     ourjoy in the buildingof  the Lord's house.
               Hudsonville, MI 49426.                fund. We thank you for the gift that you                                            Yours faithfuZZy,
        We have recently received a let-             have extended to support our church in                                                  Gabriel Choo
ter from the Treasurer of First Evan-                this area of God's work.                                       (Treasurer) for the Session of FERC




                   RENEWING THE BATTLE
                                      Drama, Television, and Movies



                                               .       .       .          _,       i                ....\(

                    When Joshua and the Isr~elites~first  came into the land of Canaan,, they obeyed God's command to
               - expel the inhabitants of the l&ids. Mostly, When they cam&o the city of Jerusalem, they faceda  problem,.
                It was inhabited by the Jebusites and strongly fortified, surrounded by walls, on a high, strategically -'
               located hill. `. After attempting-to take it, Joshua and the Israelites were convinced' that the city was
                invincibIe; They went on to other battles, leaving the Jebusites in their safe haven.
                    When David became king of Israel, many generationslater, the city was still not in possession of
               i God's Israel. Because David saw the importance of the city for the Kingdomof God, he gave command
                to take the city# and, promised leadership -m the, army to the fir&man  who led< his soldiers in
         . accomplishing that conquest. Ambitious Joab,.son  of Zeruiah,  climbedup through the water shaft (
               i has `"gutter"), leading the soIdiers,.mto  the -otherwise impregnable city, and defeated it for the L&l%
                people. JerusaIem  is now ,the city of David.                              `.  <          ._
                                                                                                    . .
         _         .<                          .                     (           .<.  :             .i


        The visible church of Jesus Christ           down her guard, allowing the attack-                       ingenious ways to enter her unex-
islike that city. Well situated, strongly            ers in the "water shafts." Or she                          pectedly.
fortified, she stands by Gods grace                  allows the walls to be scaled or                               Today, sadly, most of the visible
against the attacks of the wicked                    breached. Then, instead of church,                         church is wholly overrun by the en-
world. Her history is a story of war-                she becomes the possession of the                          emy. And once within the walls, the
fare. Herbiographyisamonument to                     enemy.                                                     enemy takes charge.
continuous struggle against assaults.                        At issue in the church's battle                        NowChristianmagazinesrecom-
Withoutletupherwallsarefiredupon.                    against television, movies, and (as I                      mend movies to the people, the same
        The visible church sometimes lets            have contended) also drama is the                          movies the secular magazines warn
                                                     church's defense against the enemy.                        against. Way back when the original
                                                     The enemy wants to enter the city, to                      M*A*S*H  came out, Time magazine
                                                     plunder, rape, and overtake her. The                       of January 26,1970,  warned, "An au-
Rev. Gritters is pastor of the Protestant            churchmust defendherself. Shemust                          dience should approach this film as it
Reformed Church  of  Byron Center, Michi-            be strong. She must be alert. She                          would a field of live mines." The
gan.                                                 must not allow the enemy to find                           Reformed Journal's  May-June, 1970,

                                                                                                                    December 15,1993/Stan&dBearetil39


review praised it, calling it "two of                In this, her renewed battle against     the same language is used when Paul
the funniest hours ever put on film."l        the enemy, the church must repair              teaches the New Testament church,
Already then the church seemed to be          her walls. The church must  rebuild the        "...come out from among them, and
falling over herself to make openings         walls. She may never let them fall.            be ye separate, saith the Lord..." (II
in the walls of defense.       By now,               The walls are the antithesis.           Cor. 6:17). Likewise, the church at
movies and television shows are                      An essential part of the church's       Ephesus is taught, "And have no fel-
watched with regularity by most               defense against her enemy is her sepa-         lowship with the unfruitful works of
Christians, so that an article like this      ration from her enemy. Between His             darkness, but rather reprove them"
one will be met with incredulity by           holy church and the wicked world               (Eph. 591).     And James, with his
many.                                         God has built a wall of separation.            characteristic bluntness, says, "Ye
     But the church must                                      We call that wall the an-      adulterers and adulteresses, know ye
be undeterred by how  - - i   t i t h e s i s .                                              not that the friendship of the world is
far many have departed           An essential part                Antithesis  is not a       enmity with God? whosoever there-
from holiness. Christ                    of the               WordfoundintheBible.           fore will be a friend of the world is the
promises to preserveHis           church's defense            But it's a word that has       enemy of God" (James 44).
own. The people of God           against her enemy            come to stand for anon-            As circumcision showed the sepa-
must never stop calling                   is her              negotiable biblical truth      rate character of the old covenant
each other to holiness.           separation from             found from Genesis to          people,baptismisthemarkofsepara-
To surrender now is un-                her enemy.             Revelation. The antith-        tion for the new covenant people. The
faithfulness to Jesus, re-                                    esis is the spiritual sepa-    Reformed  Be&c Confession  teaches
gardless of how hope-                                         ration and opposition          that by baptism "we are received into
i&s the battle seems. We have the             that God put betweenHis  holy church           the Church of God, andsepuratedfrom
victory in Jesus Christ.                      and the ungodly world, between His             alI other people and strange religions,
     AtissuehereisnotwhetherChris-            sanctified children and the children           that we may wholly belong to him,
tians ought to have televisions or            of the devil. God made this separa-            whose ensign and banner we bear"
VCRs. At issue here is not whether            tion already in Genesis 3:15 when He           (Art. 34).
Christianfamiliesoughttorentavideo            put "enmity" between the children of               For Christians today, although
on Friday night for their children.           Eve and the children of the devil.             the separationhas a physical aspect to
The heart of the issue is not even            That is, God put a positive, active,           it, the separation is spiritual. God's
ultimately what Christians and Chris-         mutual, hatred between the wicked              people may not try to escape the
tian families are watching and rent-          world and the church.                          wicked world, physically. Paul warns
ing (although it is directly connected               This explains the separate exist-       against that in I Corinthians 5, point-
towhattheywatch).  Atissuehereisthe           ence God gave to the nation of Israel          ing out that if you were to try to do
holiness of the church.                       in the Old Testament. Deuteronomy              that, you would have to live on an-
     This is my motive for writing.           33:28 says that "Israel shall dwell in         other planet ("for then ye must needs
The church must be alert, active, mili-       safety alone." LitemIly, the passage           go out of the world"). But Christians
tant, in her effort to maintain her           reads, "Israel shall dwell in safety in        must avoid all evil associations with
holiness.                                     separation. fl All through the old cov-        unbelieving persons, and avoid all fel-
     The question is, "Where is your          enant, the people were commanded               lowship with "unfruitful works of
heart?"                                       to be a separate people, remaining             darkness."
                                              unmixed with the heathen peoples                   I called the truth of the antithesis
THE ANTITHESIS                                that surrounded them.                          non-negotiable.     There may be no
     The enemy has not entered by a                  Israel's enemies knew this well.        compromises here. As soon as the
Watergate. The enemy has entered              Where King  BaIak of the Moabites              church believes she can give and take
over the crumbled walls that the              and his mercenary prophet, Balaam,             with regard to her spiritual separa-
church herself has allowed to fall into       couldn't succeed in cursing Israel,            tion, she not only disobeys God, she is
disrepair, or herself haswillinglybro-        prophesying against her (Num. 22-              threatened with a loss of her very
ken down.                                     24), they did succeed by integrating           identity. In the way of her separation,
                                              Israel with the Moabite women (Num.            she is safe. In that way, God says to
                                              25). For this, the anger of God was            her, "I will be your God; you will be
                                              kindled against Israel, and a plague           my people" (II Cor. 697ff.).
                                              destroyed twenty-four thousand of
1    See Rev. Gise VanBaren's  important      them, before righteous Phinehas
and controversial speech entitled "Ted                                                       OUR HOLINESS
                                              atoned for the people by spearing a
and Alice and Groppi . . . and Grace, or,                                                        Our call to be separated from
                                              fornicating Israelite and Moabite.
Common Grace-an Encouragement to                                                             unholiness is the real reason for con-
Worldliness" 
             inTheStundardBeurer,May                 The call to be separate is not only     cernwithregard to drama, television,
15,1971,47:363.                               for Old Testament Israel. Strikingly,          and movies. From the outset I have

14OlStandard Bearer/December X,1993


made that clear. In the first article I         that true conversion is "mortification       is too significant, the life we live with
said, "What is at stake? . . . . At stake is    of the old, and the quickening of the        God is too precious, to allow unholi-
holiness, without which no man shall            new man" (Q.83).                             ness in. We love God.
see the Lord." Regarding the con-                   So, first of all, holiness with re-
tent, I urged: "Every Christian who             spect to drama and television begins 1 CONCLUSION
loves hoEiness  ought to be horrified at        in the heart.                                         We may be tempted at this point
what jumps out at him . . . . fl Regard-            Second, holiness is not just a re-       again to instruct all of God's people,
ing the effects: "To sum up, the effect         sponse to evil. Living the antithesis        "throw out your televisions." Again,
of most television programs is simply           is not just saying "No" to worldly           that maybe necessary for some, maybe
a loss of holiness.  Spurgeon  was              living. On the contrary, holiness is         many. But that would be treating
right. If theatre-going (read: `movie           consecration to God, and the antith- ~ God's people as children, instead of
watching') becomes general among                esis is saying "Yes" to godliness. In        as the mature, Spirit-possessed people
professing Christians, it will soon             fact, rejecting the evil is done in order    of God that they are.
prove the death of piety (read: `holi-          that we may embrace the good; say-                    Instead, the call we give, the chal-
ness')." As to drama itself, I began,           ing "no" to worldliness opens the            lenge we issue, is this: Let us examine
"Acting out either the holy life or             way to saying "yes" to godliness. The        our lives in the light of God's Word.
sinful deeds of others is sinful and            negative is meaningless without the          Let us not say, "I think my television
mustviolatethesanctifiedconscience              positive.                                    and video watching is no problem."
of every Christian."                                It's even safe to say that an at-        What we have problems with is not
    But this was not only my concern.           tempt at holiness without the positive       the issue. Truth is, we often deceive
We saw that holiness, sanctification,           so smacks of legalism as to make it          ourselves.         "The heart is deceitful
antithetical living was the concern of          detestable. To be legalists with re-         above all things, and desperately
every church father whose judgment              gard to holiness is as deadly as being       wicked: who can know it?" (Jer. 17:9).
was against drama and theater.                  lawless. "Don't do this and don't do         "Who can understand his errors?"
                                                that; andifyoucomplywithourlist of           (Ps.  19:12a).  Let's let God be the
HOLINESS MUST BE                                don'ts, you must be a Christian, you         judge. Christians are concerned with
UNDERSTOOD                                      are living a holy life." To put it in        what their gracious God thinks.
    There are two errors that we can            terms of the parable we've been us-                   So let the Christian pray, with
make when we speak of holiness.                 ing, the church's defense                                       regard to television,
One is that we think holiness is simply         againsttheenemyandher                                           movies, and drama,
outward, putting away  things.                  maintenance of her walls            To be legalists
    The story is told (apocryphal?) of          is meaningless if she has            with regard                     Cleanse thou me
one man who became so disgusted                 no thoughts for her life              to holiness               fromsecretfaults. Keep
with what was on television that, in a          within the walls. The                is as deadly               back thy servant from
fit of anger, he put the butt of a gun          church separates herself          as being lawless.             presumptuous sins; let
through the picture tube. We're                 fromthewickedworldin                                            them not have domin-
tempted to be impressed by that. But            order that she may dedi-                                        ion over me: then shall
                                                                                                                I be upright, and I shall
what of the righteous anger that we             cate herself wholly to Jehovah God.                            -      _
                                                                                               be innocent from the great transgres-
should have with ourselves? The prob-           She is an enemy of the world so that           sion. Let the words of my mouth and
lemis not the television. The problem           she may be a "friend of God."                  the meditation of my heart, be ac-
is our own heart. Our own desire for                Consecration to our good God,              ceptable in thy sight, 0 LORD, my
holiness. Our ownlove for God. Our              our Savior, who has givenus  all things        strength, and my redeemer (Ps.
own hatred of the sin that we find in           in Jesus Christ. That's holiness. Love         19:12b-14).
ourselves. Holiness is mortification.           for God with all our being.                      Search me, 0 God, and know my
Holiness is controlling our own spir-               Is this where we fail? We love             heart:tryme,andknowmythoughts:
its. Living the antithesis begins in our        God. We love God's people. We love             And see if there be any wicked way
                                                                                               in me, and lead me in the way ever-
own hearts. Paul teaches the Galatian           God's Word. We love the life of                lasting (Ps. 139:23,24).
church, "And they that are Christ's             purity, for the honor of God. Is this            Lord, let my love for Thee be with-
have crucified the flesh with the affec-        where we fail? Is this why there is not        out hypocrisy; work in me abhor-
tions and lusts." And if that doesn't           the desire for separation from the             rence of that which is evil, and a
sound painful enough, he says to the            world as there ought to be?                    cleaving to that which is good (see
Romans, "If ye through the Spirit do                Here is the last line of defense.          Rom. 12:9).
mortify (put to death) the deeds of the         Let the enemy come all the way to the
body, ye shall live" (8:13). And to the         city. But let him not breach the wall.           Doing this, the people of God are
Colossians, "Mortify therefore your             The call of God to give ourselves to         safe.
members which are upon earth..."                Him body and soul is too important,              The safety is in the way of battle.
(3:5). The Heidelberg Catechism says            thewitnesstotheworldofholypeople             All our lives. In our own hearts. a

                                                                                                 December 15,1993/StandardBeareti141


                                             Antrim, the very village near which          earnest call to God's people to pray
                                             Rev. Ronald Hanko, missionary to             for revival. Perhaps those who now
                                             Ireland, now lives. It swept Ulster          long and pray for revival will under-
                                             and surrounding areas and was hailed         stand the wrong of it if they read
An Inqui y into the Spiritual Charac-        by all as a mighty work of God. It has       Hamilton's penetrating analysis.
ter of The Revival of 1859, by Rev.          since been counted among those                   Hamilton's analysis is complete.
William Hamilton (Hudsonville,  MI:          blessed works of the Spirit that came        He deals with the idea of revival as
ReformedBookOutlet,  1993)297pp.,            to England, Wales, and America in            such, but also treats related issues
$7.00 (paper). [Reviewed by Prof.            the 19th century.                            such as a lay ministry, women teach-
Herman Hanko.]                                   Rev. Hamiltonwas, however, not           ing in the church, revival meetings,
                                             impressed with the revival. Nor was          testimonies at public meetings, ecu-
        A few explanations are probably      he impressed with the joy and appro-         menical cooperation in revivals, reli-
in order before we briefly review this       bation with which it was greeted. He         gious excitement as found in revival
important book                               wasnotimpressedbyitbecause,ashe              circles, and visions which those un-
        While Rev. Gise VanBaren  was        says in his Preface, "No one, so far as      der the power of the revival claim to
working in the Covenant Reformed             I know, has brought it to the test of        have had.
Fellowship during the latter part of         Scripture. This, from the beginning, I           Yet these practical issues are
1992 and the first part of 1993, this old    regarded as absolutely necessary.. . ."      weighed in the light of more pro-
book, difficult to obtain, came to his           When Rev. Hamilton put the re-           found doctrinal issues: the doctrines
attention. It impressed him as an            vival to the test of Scripture, he found     of the church and the ministry of the
important bookbothbecause it spoke           it wanting in all respects. He could         Word, of the person and work of the
to current problems in Northern Ire-         find no good things about it by              Holy Spirit, of conversion and Chris-
land and Great Britain at large, and         Scripture's standard; he could rec-          tian assurance, of the law and its place
because it struck a note which is al-        ommend no part of it after every part        in the Christian life.
most impossible to find in any other         was tested by the only rule of faith              Hamilton's conclusion, after
book. The Covenant Reformed Fel-             and life. This revival stands con-           weighing all the evidence in the light
lowship agreed and thought it worth          demned.                                      of Scripture and the historic
printing. After much discussion, the             The book is important. It is im-         Westminster Creeds, is that the re-
Reformed Book Outlet in  Hudson-             portant, in the first place, because all     vival was not the workof  the Spirit at
ville, MI agreed to reprint the book         the revivals of the 18th and 19th cen-       all, that it was in fact a movement
and underwrite its costs, while the          turies were similar, if not identical, to    destructive of the Christian faith and
Covenant Reformed Fellowship                 the 1859 revival in Ulster. If that          church, and that it is, therefore, to be
would be chief distributor. We com-          revival in Ulster is to be condemned         condemned.
mend the Reformed Book Outlet for            on biblical grounds, the same is true             These things badly need saying,
their willingness to engage in this          of all similar revivals.                     andwe are grateful that abookwhich
work.                                            The book is important, in the sec-       says them is now available.
        The book has to do, as the title     ond place, because many both in Re-               The book can be obtained in
says, with revivals, particularly with       formed and Presbyterian churches             America from the
the revival in Northern Ireland in           look for the only possible salvation of              Reformed Book Outlet
1859. It is written by a man who was         the church today in some revival yet         3505 Kelly, Hudsonville, MI 49426;
a minister in the Irish Presbyterian         tocomeforwhichtheyeamestlypray.              or in the United Kingdom from
Church from 1836 to 1874, i.e., during       While this hope of revival may be            The Covenant Reformed Fellowship
the years when revivals were in full         stronger in the British Isles than in                     7 Lislunnan Rd.
force. He was a witness to them. He          America, it can also be found here.              Kells, Ballymena, Co. Antrim
did not, however, participate in them.       Just recently I have seen in an official       BT42  3NR, Northern Ireland. 0
        The revival began in Kells, Co.      publication of a Reformed church an

                                                                                          annexation, and obtain the final blue-
                                                                                          prints. Peace also hoped to begin
                                                                                          some of the preparatory work on the
                                             Congregational Activities                    site this fail.
                                                 In late October the village of Lan-          The building committee of Peace
                                             sing, IL approved a request from our         also asked for some help from their
                                             Peace PRC to run the village water           congregationinaratherunusualway.
Mr. Wigger is an elder in the Protestant     line to the south end of their property      They placed, in the back of church,
Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michi-       rather than the north end. With this         copies of a drawing of the sign they
gan.                                         approval Peace can now proceed with          planned to put up on the property.

142/Standard Bearer/December 15,1993


They asked for congregational help in      followed by a hot-dog roast.                an open house and refreshments at
determining the color scheme of that           On almost the same night the            the school.
sign. Members were asked to color          fathers and children of Sunday School           The students, under the direction
the drawing as they liked, and give it     age were invited to what has become         of Covenant Christian High's Stu-
back to a member of the building           an annual father and S.S.children's         dent Council, recently took part in a
committee.                                 hayride, sponsored by members of            Thanksgiving FoodDrive. The entire
    The Council of the Hudsonville,        the Grandville, MI PRC.                     student body of Covenant was di-
MI PRC received a formal request in            After a recent Sunday morning           vided into six groups and requested
late October from the members of           church service in which public con-         to bring in items depending on what
their daughter group, commonly re-         fession of faith was made by two            group they were in. Plans called for
ferred to as the "Georgetown Area"         young adults of the Kalamazoo, MI           the items to be separated, boxed, and
PR group, who have been meeting in         PRC, the congregation was invited to        delivered to needy families in the
theBauerElementary  SchoolinBauer,         stay for a few moments to extend            Grand Rapids, MI area.
MI since September, for formal orga-       congratulations to the two new con-         Ministerial Activities
nization. Accompanying this letter of      fessingmembersandtoenjoyrefresh-                Rev. W. Bruinsma, presentlyserv-
request were the signatures of 33 fami-    ments provided by Kalamazoo's               ing our churches as pastor of the First
lies and one individual. Twenty-seven      Young Adult Group.                          PRC in Holland, MI, has declined the
of these families plus the one indi-       School Activities                           call he received from the Loveland,
vidual are from our Hudsonville con-           Inanswer  to the question, Which        CO PRC.
gregation. Three families are from         comes first, a PR Christian School, or      Young People's Activities
the Grandville PRC, two from Faith,        a Mothers' Club to support it?" the             On Sunday afternoon, Novem-
and one from Southeast.                    answer, at least for the members of         ber 21, the Young People's Societies
    Indications from both the bulle-       our own PR School Society in                of the PR churches in West Michigan
tins and personal notes I receive from     Randolph, WI, is, "a Mothers' Club."        met at our Southwest PRC in
the Trinity PRC of Houston, TX point       One was recently organized there not        Grandville, MI for their annual
to a busy congregation. Recently the       only for mothers of school-age chil-        Thanksgiving Mass Meeting. Rev. R.
congregation was busy with the dis-        dren, but for all women of Randolph's       Cammenga, pastor of Southwest,
tribution of flyers inviting the com-      congregation. Plans call for the doors      addressed the young people on a
munity to their Thanksgiving Day           of this Christian school to open, D.V.,     Thanksgiving theme based on Hosea
Service, something that is not at all      in the fall of 1994.                        2:8,9.  0
common in the Houston area. Trinity            Prof. D. Engelsma was the fea-                       ~ood-firz7iu~ht
has also prepared a short note of          tured speaker at a recently concluded           "It pleases the Father that all full-
welcome, which they distribute to all      Christian School Open House and             ness should be in Christ; therefore
their visitors.                            Dedication program for our South            there is nothing but emptiness any-
    Since the arrival of Pastor Mahtani    Holland, IL PR Christian School. The        where else."
and his family in July, Trinity has had    program began at 7~30 at South Hol-                                       W. Gadsby
some 25 visitors to their services, an     land PR Church and was followed by
indication that some of Trinity's new
initiatives are having their desired
effect. What this all means for Trinity
in the future, only God knows the            RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
answer to that.                                The Council of Bethel Protestant
    Seminarian Doug Kuiper was in          Reformed Church mourns the loss of
the Randolph, WI PRC recently, fill-       a dear member of its congregation,                           NOTICE!!!
ing the pulpit for Randolph's pastor,              MR. BILL MEERSE,                        Each issue of the  Sfandarcf
Rev. S. Key. While there for that          and extends itssympathyto hiswidow,         Bearer  is available on cassette tape
Sunday he was also asked to lead the       Mrs. Gertie Meerse.                         for those who are blind, or who prefer
worship service at Continental Manor           In light of his many infirmities we     hearing the SBto reading it. This is an
(I assume a rest home) in Randolph.        take comfort that part of the glory of      excellent ministry of the Evangelism
    From our Pella, IA PRC we learn        heaven is that "God shall wipe all tears    Society of the Southeast Protestant
that this past summer's Sunday School      from their eyes; and there shall be no      Reformed Church. The reader is Ken
collectionsweredesignatedforl'ella's       more death, neither sorrow, nor cry-        Rietema of Southeast Church. Any-
new church steeple.                        ing, neither shall there be any more        one desiring this service regularly
    Our Byron Center, MI PRC re-           pain: for the former things are passed      should write:
cently held their first children's ac-     away" (Revelation 21:4).                                 Southeast PRC
tivitiesnightfortheyear. Allingrades           Rev. Ronald VanOverloop, Pres.               1535 Cambridge Ave. S.E.
4-8 were invited to attend a hayride                 Mr. Michael Jankovic, Clerk            Grand Rapids, Ml 49506

                                                                                           December 15,1993/Sfandard  Bearer043


        =pE
~~~~~~
                                                                                                                                        SECOND CLASS
      /g?~dJEgz~~                                                                                                                       Postage Paid at
                                                                                                                                        Grandvile, Michigan
      P. 0. Box 603
      Grandville,  MI 49468-0603


          WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                                                      SALE                                          NEW BOOKI
       On November 17,1993, our parents and                 Better to Marry by David J. Engelsma, 120                An Important Book Reprinted!
grandparents,                                               pages, paper, $9.95.                              An /nquiry into the Scriptural Character
        MR. and MRS. MENNO SMITS,                                Better to Marry is available at an intro-              of the Revival of 7959
celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary.                  ductory sale price of 25% off through January.                            by
We rejoice with them and thank God for their                Book club members will receive a 40% dis-                  the Rev. William Hamilton
faithfulness and loving Christian upbringing.               count through January.                                               published by
       "But the mercy of the Lord is from ever-                  To order, send $7.50 plus $1.50 postage              The Reformed Book Outlet
lasting to everlasting upon them that fear him,             (foreign, $2.50) to ,                                                 3505 Kelly
and his righteousness unto children's chil-                                          RFPA                               Hudsonville, Ml 49426
dren: to such as keep his covenant, and to                                  P.O. Box 2006                                       (616) 669-6730
those that remember his commandments to                               Grand Rapids, Ml 49501                   Cost: $7.00 plus 10% postage, 4% sales
do them" (Psalm 103:17,18).                                      Book club members will receive their                    tax (Ml residents only)
+z     Richard and Frieda Smits                             copiesautomaticallyand mayorderadditional                            distributed by
          Mark and Laura Moes                               copies at $6.00 each plus $1.50 postage              The Covenant Reformed Fellowship
          Jack and Valerie Krygsheld                        (foreign, $2.50).                                                7 Lislunnan Road
          Rick and fiance Mary Terpstra                                                                                         Kells, Ballymena
9 Carl and Trudy Smits                                                                                                          Northern Ireland
          Ross and Sue Rispens
            Blake, Jared, Brittany, Clark                                                                                         BT42 3NR
          Dan and Julie Lyzenga                             The  Farbers  by Gertrude Hoeksema, illus-                           (0266)  891851
            Benjamin, Danae, Luke, Mark                     trated by Terri Gleason VandeVegte,  203                Cost: f5.00 (includes postage)
          Mike and Lisa VanDrunen                           pages, cloth, $14.95.
            Michelle, Katie, Jonathan                            A collection of 101 entertaining and in-
          Carl and Debbie Smits                             structional stories about a Christian family's
          Joel and Debbie Smits                             everyday experiences,  The  Farbershas been
9 Clyde and Beth Rinsema                                    published by Heritage Christian School                                 NOTICE!1
          Sarah, Nathan, Rebecca                            Fundraisers and is available at $14.95 plus            Classis  East will meet in regular session
                                             Lansing, IL    $2.00 postage (foreign, 63.00) by sending         on Wednesday, January 12, 1994, at the
                                                            payment to                                        Southeast Protestant Reformed Church, Grand
         RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                                Heriiage Christian School Fundraisers          Rapids, Ml.
       The Council of Grandville Protestant                                3316 104th Ave.                                                         Jon J. Huisken
Reformed Church expresses its sincerest                                   Holland, MI 49424.                                                         Stated Clerk
Christian sympathy to our members, Mr. and
Mrs. Ken Vink and family, in the loss of Mrs.
Vink's  father,                                                                  NOTICEIll
          MR. GERRITT  VANDERLEE,                                                Celebraflon
and to Mr. and Mrs. John Vander Woude and                                            of fhe                         RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
family on the passing of Mrs. VanderWoude's                            Protestant Reformation                      The Doon Men's Society wishes to ex-
step-father,                                                     Wearehappytohaveavailablethetapes            press sincerest sympathy to fellow member,
            MR. HENRY WEEMHOF.                              of two outstanding lectures by Prof. David        EdwinVanGinkeland  hisfamilyinthepassing
May our gracious God comfort them by His                    Engelsma on "Luther, Reformer of the              of his mother,
Word, "And I heard a voice from heaven                      Church," held in Redlands  PR Church. Titles              MRS. MARY VAN GINKEL.
saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead                 of the two lectures were: "Luther, Man of              May they find comfort in these words:
which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea,                 Conviction," and "Luther, Theologian of the       "Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he
saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their             Glory of God." The two go-minute  tapes may       shall strengthen thine heart: Wait, I say, on
labours; and theirworksdofollow them" (Rev-                 be obtained, for $2.50 each, from:                the Lord" (Psalm 27:14).
elation 14:13).                                                     Hope PR Church of Redlands                                  Chester Hunter, Jr., President
                   Rev. A, Spriensma, President                         1307 E. Brockton Ave.                                       David Wiersma, Secretary
                       Mr. David Harbach, Clerk                           Redlands, CA 92374

144/Standard Bearer/December 15,X493


