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                                                                          See "The Bible Version of the Churches" - p. 221


February 15,1994


CONTENTS:                                                                                                 February 15, 1994                                                               &DMD
                                                                                                                                                                                           BHH?
Meditation - Rev. Cornelius Hank0
    The Unchanging Christ in an Ever Changing World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Editorial - Prof. David J. Engelsma                                                                                                                           ISSN 0362-4692
    The Bible Version of the Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..*....... 221                                 Sami.monthly, except monthly during June, July, and August.
Things Which Must Shortly Come to Pass - Prof. David J. Engelsma                                                                                               Published by the Reformed Free Publishing Association, Inc.,
    1. The End of the World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..**.....      223     4949  lvanrest  Ave.,  Grandville.  MI  49416.  Second  Class
                                                                                                                                                               Postage Paid at Grandville, Michigan.
Poetry - Mrs, Suianne  Looyenga                                                                                                                                Poatmrstor:  Send address changes to the Standard Bearer,
    Mephibosheth . . . . . . ..*........................................................................ 226                                                   P.O. Box 663, Grandville. MI 49466~0603.
Search the Scriptures - Rev. George C. Lubbers                                                                                                                 EDlTORlAL  COMMIlTEE
    Exercising Unto Godliness . . . . . . . . ..~......................~.......................... 227                                                         Editor: Prof. David J. Engelsma
Taking Heed to the Doctrine - Rev. Bernard Woudenberg                                                                                                          Secretary: Prof. Robert D. Decker
                                                                                                                                                               Managing Editor: Mr. Don Doezema
    The Problem of "Scholasticism" . . ..~..............................................                                                               229     DEPARTMENT  EDtlORS
Special Article - Prof. Herman C. Hank0                                                                                                                        Rev. Wilbur Brulnsma, Rev. Ronald Cammenga, Prof. Robert
    A Pastor's Heart (1) . . . . . . ..**..............................................................                                                231     Decker,  Rev. Arie denHartog, Rev. Barry Gritters, Rev. Carl
                                                                                                                                                               Haak, Rev. Cornelius Henko, Prof. Herman Hanko, Rev. John
The Strength of Youth - Rev. Wilbur G. Bruinsma                                                                                                                Heys, Rev. Steven Key, Rev. Dale Kulper, Mr. James Laming,
    The New Age Movement and Entertainment (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...*. 233                                                           Rev. George Lubbers, Mrs.  MaryBeth Lubbers, Rev. Thomas
                                                                                                                                                               Miersma,  Rev.  Audred  Spriensma,  Rev.  Charles  Terpstra.
Day of Shadows - Homer C. Hoeksema                                                                                                                             Rev. GiseVanBaren.  Rev. RonaldVanCverloop.  Mr. Benjamin
    The Creative Work in the Beginning (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236                                 Wigger,  Rev. Bernard Wwdenberg.
Report of Classis East - Mr. Jon J. H&ken ,~....~.............,..,,,,,...,...,,,.... 238                                                                       EDlTORlAL  OFFICE            CHURCH  NEWS  EDlTOR
                                                                                                                                                               The Standard Bearer          Mr. @en Wlgger
News From Our Churches - Mr. Benjamin Wgger ,,.~.,,,,.~.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,..... 239                                                                               4848 lvanrest                6597 46th Ave.
                                                                                                                                                               Grandvtlle,  MI  49416       Hudsonville,  MI  49426
                                                                                                                                                               BUSINESS OFFICE              NEW  ZEALAND  OFFICE
                                                                                                                                                               The Standard Bearer          The Standard Bearer
                                                                                                                                                               Don Doezema                  c/o B. VanHerk
                                                                                                                                                               P.O.  Box 603                66 Fraser St.
                                                                                                                                                               Grandville, MI               Wainuiomata, New Zealand
                                                                                                                                                                 4Q466-9603                 NORTHERN  IRELAND  OFFCE
                                                                                                                                                               PI4  (616)  531-1490         c/o Mr. Jonathan McAuley
    Several articles give instruction concerning the end-time, its dangers for the                                                                                      (616) 536-1776      164 Church Rd.. Glenwherw
                                                                                                                                                               FAX `(616) 531-3633          Baiiymena, Co. Antrim BT42  3EL
church, and the callingand comfort of the church in this time. The meditation                                                                                                               Northern Ireland
on "The Unchanging Christ in an Ever Changing World" points us to "the                                                                                         EDllORlAL  POUCY
                                                                                                                                                               Every editor is solely responsible for the contents of his own
changeless Christ" as "our only Refuge." The article, "The End of the World,"                                                                                  articles.  Contributionsofgensral  interestfromourreadersand
                                                                                                                                                               questions  for  The  Reader  Asks  department  are  welcome.
explains Matthew 24. Rev. Wilbur Bruinsma finishes his two-part series on the                                                                                  Contributions will  be limited to approximately 300 words and
new age movement, giving pointed, necessary warning against specific ways                                                                                      mustbeneatlywrittenortypewdtt~,andmustbesigned. Copy
                                                                                                                                                               deadlines  are  the  first   and  ftteenth  of  the  month.  All
in which the saints are being tempted to fall away.                                                                                                            communications relative to the contents should be sent to the
    Because the end depends upon the beginning, the article by Homer                                                                                           ediiorlal offlce.
Hoeksema on creation is important for faith concerning the end of all things.                                                                                  REPRINT POLICY
The article, part of a series on OldTestament  history, is alsoimportantinits own                                                                              Permissionlsherebygrantedforthsrephtingofarticleslnour
                                                                                                                                                               magazinebyoiherpublicatiffls,provided:  a)thatsuchreprinted
right as explanation of the origin of the world. Explanation that takes the                                                                                    articles are reproduced in full: b) that proper acknowledgment
opening chapters of Scripture literally (and, therefore, seriously) is especially                                                                              is made;  c) that a copy of the'periodical In which such reprint
                                                                                                                                                               appears is sent to our editorial offtce.
necessaryinour daywhenmanyhaveabandonedtheliteralinterpretationand,
with it, the doctrine of creation. See "The Creative Work in the Beginning."                                                                                   SUBSCRlPllON  POUCY
                                                                                                                                                               Subscription  price:   $12.66  per  year  In  the  U.S.,   $15.90
    The speech by Prof. Herman Hanko for an Officebearers' Conference of                                                                                       elsewhere.  Unless  a  definite raquest  for discontinuance  is
                                                                                                                                                               received,   it  is  assumed   that  the  subscriber   wishes   the
Classis West last year was entitled, "A Pastor's Heart." We publish the first                                                                                  subscriptiontomntinue,andhewillbebilledforrenewal. lfyou
installment of this speech in this issue. It is not only the pastors among us who                                                                              haveachangeofaddress,pteasenotiitheBusinessOffBeas
                                                                                                                                                               early  as  possible  in  order  to  avoid  the  inconventencs  of
will benefit from Prof. Hanko's answer to the question, "What is a true and                                                                                    interrupted delivery. Include your Zip or Postal  Code.
faithful pastor?"                                                                                                                                              ADVERTlStNG  POLtCY
    Items of specialinterest appear inboth the report of Classis East and "News                                                                                The SfandardBearefdoas  not accept commercial advertising
from Our Churches." Stated Clerk Jon J. Huisken informs us that Classis East                                                                                   of any kind. Announcements  of church and school events,
                                                                                                                                                               anntversariee,  obituaries, and sympathy resolutions  will  be
has approved the organization of a new Protestant Reformed congregation in                                                                                     placed for a $3.00 fee. These should be sent to the Business
Western Michigan. News editor Benjamin Wigger reports on significant                                                                                           OfficeandshwldbeaccDmpaniedbythe53.00fee.   Deadline
                                                                                                                                                               for announcements is at least one month prior to publication
activities in the churches regarding our Protestant Reformed Christian School                                                                                  date.
movement and regarding evangelism.                                                                                                                             SOUND VOLUMES
    I could not possibly fail to call the attention of our readers to the poem by                                                                              The  Business Cffioe will  accept  standing orders for bound
                                                                                                                                                               copk?eofthecurrentvolume.  Suchordersareftlledassoonas
Suzanne Looyenga, "Mephibosheth." Suzanne is writing some of the finest                                                                                        possibte  after completion of a volume year.
Christian poetry to appear in the religious press today.
                                                                                                                                                     - DJE     16mm  microfilm,  35mm microftlm  and 105mm  microfiche, and
                                                                                                                                                               artide   copies  are  available  through  University  Microfilms
                                                                                                                                                               International.
PWStandard  Bearer/February 15,19!24


                The Unchanging Christ
        in an Ever Changmg World

                                            promise, "I will be thy God and the         plete Savior. There is no other name
    Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and    God of thy seed after thee."                under heaven whereby we can be
today and for ever.                             The hope of the church of the           saved.
                         Hebrews 13:8       shadows was in the coming of the                       ***it***
                                            Savior. Abraham longed to see His               In this 20th century God has
    In the center of history stands, as     day. As he awaited the coming of            brought about amazing changes, in-
it were, the cross of Jesus Christ,         Shiloh, Jacob breathed the sigh, "I         ventions, and discoveries that boggle
whereby we are reconciled to God by         have waited for Thy salvation, Lord."       the mind.
His precious blood.                         Job found his comfort in this: "I know          Numerous conveniences are
    Immediately after our first par-        that my Redeemer liveth."                   brought into our homes.
ents, Adam and Eve, fell into sin God           These all died in faith, not having         Schools and offices are supplied
gave the promise: "I will put enmity        received the promise, but having seen       with machines that bring about an
between thee and the woman, and             it afar off. Poets sang of it. The types    entire change in their operation.
between thy seed and her seed; it           and shadows pointed to it. Prophets             We travel at the speed of some
shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt       spoke of it in ever clearer language.       500 miles an hour to any part of the
bruise his heel."                           Parentsgavetheirchildrensuchnames           world. Andman dreams of going still
    Our first parents, and we through       as Joshua, Hosea, and Isaiah, all of        faster.
them,lost everyrighttolifeandbless-         which mean "Jehovah saves." The                 Modern communication has
ing. We deserve only God's eternal          prayer continually ascended to              brought the whole world within our
wrath in just condemnation. But God         heaven, "0 that Thou wouldst rend           reach almost in moments.
showedmercybygivingusHisprom-               the heavens and come down." Or                  The world boasts: What we can
ise. This promise includes a twofold        again, "Rise, help and redeem us, Thy       imagine we can also do.
seed, the seed of the woman and the         mercy we trust." For all the hope of            Yet their way is a dead-end road.
seed of the serpent. In sovereign           salvation of all the saints was cen-        For God has written over all man's
goodness God will save out of a fallen      tered in the Deliverer who was still to     works: Apart from Christ all is vanity
human race a people unto Himself.           come.                                       and vexation of spirit!
He will have mercy upon whom He                 When the fullness of time came,             The unchangeable Christ is the
will have mercy, and whom He will           Jesus was born to Mary and was laid         Rock of Ages. Jesus is His personal
He hardens in their sins in righteous       in a manger. Angels brought the glad        name. Christ designates His position
condemnation.                               tidings to the shepherds: "For unto         of power and authority in heaven and
    We fell, asit were, into the arms of    you is born this day in the city of         on earth.
Christ. Our only hope of salvation is       David a savior, which is Christ the             He is the Second Person of the
in the promised Seed, the Seed of the       Lord."                                      holy Trinity, the Son, who rests in the
woman, born in the line of the genera-          The Scriptures give us a full ac-       bosom of the Father. He is the Word,
tions of believers, to whom is the          count of His earthly ministry, His          the revelation of all the fullness of
                                            suffering, death and .burial, His res-      God through the Spirit.
                                            urrection and ascension to heaven as            He stands foremost in the eternal
                                            the fulfillment of the promise.             counsel and will of God. For He is the
                                                Today the gospel goes forth to the      Firstborn of all creatures, as well as
                                            ends of the earth, gathering into the       the Firstborn among many brethren.
                                            fold those who believe and confess,         All things were made by Him, and
Rev. Hanko is a minister emeritus in the    "Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the        without Him nothing was made that
Protestant Reformed Churches.               living God." He is the only, the com-       was made. Heisbefore all things, and

                                                                                             February 15, W94lStandardBearerl219


by Him all things consist, both in             and remarriage, homosexuality and           we shall be filled with His glory in an
heaven and on earth. And He is the             abortion are, not only openly prac-         ever increasing measure, changed
Head of the church. For it pleased the         ticed, but even condoned, if not en-        from glory to richer and still richer
Father that in Him should all fullness         couraged.                                   glory, to the praise of His glorious
dwell.                                               Violence and crime have in-           Name!
    We have redemption throughHis              creased to epidemic proportions. The            In the meantime, as we make our
blood, even the forgiveness of sin and         innocent hide behind locked doors in        pilgrimage through this present evil
right to eternal life. For He trium-           fear for their lives, while criminals,      world, and the way grows more dif-
phantly conquered all the powers of            even teenagers, multiply their of-          ficult, even well nigh impossible, we
darkness - Satan, sin, and death -             fenses,virtuallywithoutpunishment.          still have the assurance: "I will never
through His death on the cross and                   Heresy grows and spreads sorap-       leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Heb.
His resurrection from the dead. He is          idly that anyone who still defends an       13:5).
Lord over all, with a Name above all           infallibly inspired Scripture, six days         When we experience the perilous
names. Every knee must bow and                 of creation, andpredestinationis con-       times of which Scripture warns, when
every tongue must confess that Jesus           sidered out-of-date, a fanatic, a detri-    Satan and the powers of Antichrist do
Christ is Lord to the glory of the             ment to society.                            their worst, we can still say, "The
F a t h e r .                                        The measure of iniquity is rap-       Lord is my Helper, and I will not fear
    All power is given unto Him in             idly fillingup. And God's judgments         what man shall do unto me" (Heb.
heaven and on earth.                                          are increasing in a like     13:6).
Every creature that stirs                                     proportion.                      For our eternal security rests in
must serve Christ's pur-                                            World    shaking       the changeless Christ, to the praise of
pose toward the coming                   Our Lord             events follow one upon       the glory of the grace of our God now
of His kingdom. Even               shouts louder              another. The Berlin Wall     and-forever. d
the hearts of kings are in               than ever:           falls. The Soviet Union
His hand. He turns them                   Behold,             collapses. A hurricane
according to His will.            I come quickly.             brings destruction near
    The Lord reigns out                                       Miami. The Mississippi
of Zion. He gathers, de-                                      plains areflooded. Dev-
fends, andpreservesHis                                        astating fires spread
church, and no one can prevent Him.            along the west coast. Terrorism and
InHimis allour salvation. Heblesses            warfare spread through many parts
us with every spiritual blessing by            of the world. Not to mention the rapid
His Word and Spirit. Christ, our               spread of AIDS everywhere. Our
eternal Lord and King, who carries             Lord shouts louder than ever: Be-
out the counselof Godunto oursalva-            hold, I come quickly. Hold that which                   An Inquiry info the
tion, causes all things, even the pow-         thou hast!                                              Spiritual Character
ers of darkness, to serve His purpose.                      *******                                           of  the
To God be the glory!                                 "Rock of Ages, Cleft for me, let                   Revival of 1859
          *Et*****                             me hide myself in Thee."                                         bY
    The apostle Paul warns us of per-                TheunchangingChristisouronly                    Rev. William Hamilton
ilous times that are coming for the            Refuge.         '                                         is still available
people of God.                                       He is the only, the complete Sav-                      from the
    We see evidences of it wherever            ior for body and soul, for time and                   Reformed Book Outlet
we turn.                                       eternity.                                                   3505  Kelly
    Tremendous changes are taking                    We belong to Him. We are mem-                   Hudsonville, MI 49426.
place in the home. Husband and wife            bers of the family of God as sons and
both go out to work; children are              daughters, heirs of salvation. Be-                        Please include
brought to a nursery or are left to shift      holding ourselves in the mirror of                            $7.OOUS
for themselves. Single-parent homes            God's Word we are changed into the                      plus $1.25 postage
are no longeruncommon. The bitter              likeness of Christ, in true knowledge,                  when you send in
consequences are evident through-              righteousness, and holiness, to know,                       your order.
out the world.                                 love, and serve our God in intimate                         Thank you.
  .. God is banished. His law is de-           communion of life.
spised. Man determines for himself                   When our Lord returns we shall
what is right and wrong. Such sins as          be like Him, partakers of His divine
sexual promiscuity, living together            nature in as far as that is humanly
outside of the marriage bond, divorce          possible. Dwelling in God's house,

220/Sfandard  Bearer/February 15,1994


                          The Bible Version
                              of the Churches

    The Protestant Reformed                doctrinal expression for the sake of           Third, it has amajesty andbeauty
Churches (PRC) use the King James          "making the Bible intelligible to the      of style that are fitting for the Word of
Version (KJV) of Holy Scripture in         man on the street" will change the         God.
their worship services, catechism          great, doctrinal words of the Bible, so        `Another reason why the PRC con-
classes, and other official meetings       that the reader is ignorant of such        tinue to use the KJV is that no modem
and activities. They use the KJV ex-       words as "justification," "sanctifica-     English translation is superior. Most
clusively. All of the many Christian       tion," "predestination," and the like.     modem translations are unsatisfac-
schools established by the members         Another version may subtly promote         tory.
of the PRC use the KJV. Overwhelm-         the feminist agenda. Yet another will          The version that is being touted
ingly, the PR people read the KJV in       encouragethepeopleofGodtotalkto            inevangelicalandReformedchurches
family worship and in private devo-        and about God like cocky illiterates.      in North America is the New Intema-
tions.                                         Everyone of these dangersisreal.       tional Version (NIV). This version
    This is a rare thing today. There          It should also be evident to all       must be unacceptable to the church
are many individuals and several ex-       that it is both proper and beneficial      and believer that confess the verbal
tra-ecclesiastical organizations that      that the saints use one Englishversion     inspiration of Scripture and are con-
promote the KJV. But there are few         of Scripture. The use of one version is    cerned to maintain sound doctrine.
churches that use it. There are far        helpful, if not necessary, for knowing         First, the translators of the NIV
fewer denominations that have it as        Scripture thoroughly. It is essential      employed the method of "dynamic
their exclusive English version.           for memorizing Scripture, especially       equivalence" in translating. This
    Altogether apart from the ques-        by the children.                           theory permitted them to depart far
tion, "Which English version?" it              There are reasons why the PRC          from the very words that the Holy
should be plain to everyone that the       use the KJV. For one thing, as Re-         Spirit inspired and to express what
matter of a good, sound, clear version     formed churches we are not given to        they supposed to be the thought in a
of the Bible is of fundamental impor-      change. We are especially  hesitant to     text in freely chosen words and
tance to the church. Because of the        change in a matter of such impor-          phrases of their own. It was this that
central place of the Bible in a Re-        tance as the versionof Holy Scripture.     caused Christian Reformed theolo-
formed church, a good version will         The notion that the church must con-       gian Sierd Woudstra, himself no ad-
bless andbuild up every aspect of the      stantly be changing her Bible, her         vocate of theKJV, toremarkabout the
life of the congregation and its mem-      songbook, and her liturgy is anath-        NIVthatitis"soimpreciseastomake
bers.                                      ema to us. This is unsettling to the       it difficulttoteachfrom.... WhenIuse
    By the same token, a bad version       saints. Some change is necessary. But      it for Scripture reading from the pul-
will work evil in the church. The          if immutability is a virtue of God,        pit, I have become reluctant to add,
versions made by Rome and by the           constancy is not a vice in His church.     `Thus says the Lord' II ("A Teacher
Jehovah's Witnesses will introduce         Divine wisdom tells us, "Meddle not        Looks at the NIV," Banner,  April 10,
their respective heresies into the         with them that are given to change"        1989, pp. 8,9).
church. A modem version that trans-        (Prov. 2421).                                  Second, the NIV contains errors
lates loosely will obscure basic bibli-        Second, and most importantly,          of translation that have serious impli-
cal teaching, making it impossible to      the KJV is a faithful, reliable, and       cations for the faith and life of the
prove specific doctrines and to op-        generally cleartranslationof the Word      church. One such erroneous transla-
pose particular errors. A version that     of God as we have it in the original       tion with serious doctrinal implica-
deliberately sacrifices faithfulness to    languages of Holy Scripture.               tions is the translation of the word in

                                                                                               February 15,1994/Standard  Bear&?!21


John 1:14 and 3:16, as well as in other           bond of marriage, and opens the way            This is not permitted even though as
places in John, describing Jesus as               to grievous sin on the part of the             far as I know there has never been a
God's "only begotten" Son. The NIV                members of the church who take their           synod&l decision declaring the KJV
translates the word as "one and only"             instruction from the NIV.                      tobetheonlyapprovedversioninthe
Son. The omission of "begotten" is                     A third reason for rejecting the          PRC. Use of the same version of the
serious. First of all, this is the mean-          NIV as the modem replacement of
                               .                                                                 Bible, like use of the same songbook,
ing of the Greek word. But, second,               the KJV in a Reformed church is the            use of the same translation of the
the doctrine of the eternal generation            fact that the NIV bases itself in the          creeds and liturgical forms, and use
of the second person of                                          New Testament on a              of the same catechism materials, be-
the Trinity, and with this                                       different Greektext than        longs to the unity of the church as
the truth of the Godhead                                         did the KJV and, in fact,       expressed and maintained in the de-
of Jesus, rests largely on              A modern
                                        A modern                 than did all the Bibles of      nomination.
this word in the gospel                   version
                                          version                the Reformation. This               A congregation, or individual,
and first epistle of John.                                       recently discovered text
                                    that translates
                                    that translates                                              convinced that a change is needed
Jesus is God because He                                          has significant weak-           would overture synod to study the
is begotten out of the                     loosely
                                           loosely               nesses. For one thing, it       matter, in order either to adopt a
very being of God the                will obscure
                                     will obscure                omits sizable sections of       different English version or to ar-
Father. The confession              basic biblical
                                    basic biblical               the New Testament, in-          range for a new translation of Scrip-
at Nicea that Jesus is "of              teaching . . . .
                                        teaching . . . .         cluding Mark  16:9-20           ture. Such a significant matter as this
one substance (being)                                            and John 7:53-8:ll. The         would demand the wisdom of the
with the Father" was                                             NlV remarks in all these        multitude of counselors. In such an
based on the biblical                                            places, "The most reli-         important matter, the churches would
teachingin John that Jesus is the "only           able early manuscripts and other an-           have to act together, that is,
begotten." Omit "begotten," and you               cient witnesses do not have . . . . II Also    synodically.
have seriously weakened the doctrine              this Greek text weakens the teaching               But this is merely hypothetical.
that Jesus is God. Besides, it simply is          that Jesus is God and, therefore, the          The fact is that the members of the
not true that Jesus is the "one and               doctrine of the Trinity at certain key         PRC are grateful for the KJV and for
only" Son of God. Every elect be-                 places in the New Testament. One               the untold blessings that they have
liever is a son or a daughter of God.             example is I Timothy 3:16. Where the           received and still do receive from
Jesus has many brothers and sisters.              KJV correctly has, "... great is the           God through this precious English
    An error of translation, due to the           mystery of godliness: God was mani-            version, God's Word.
liberties that the translators felt free          fest in the flesh," the NIV translates,            They are thankful also that the
to take with the text, with serious               "He appeared in a body." (This says            prizing of this version is not merely a
implications for the lives of the mem-            nothing about the mistake in translat-         personal matter with some or even
bers of the church is that in I                   ing "flesh" as "body.")                        most of them, but an ecclesiastical
Corinthians 7~15. The text is impor-                  TheKJVisthebestavailabletrans-             matter. The KJV is the beloved Bible
tant for divorce and remarriage. Re-             lation of Scripture in English.                 of the Churches. 0
ferring to a believer who has been                    It is not the position of the PRC                                         - DJE
deserted by an unbelieving husband               that the KJV is inspired Scripture in
or wife, the apostle wrote, as the KJV           the only form that may ever be used
correctly translates, "A brother or a            by the English-speaking church. It is
sister is not under bondage in such               conceivable that the Churches would
cases." With supreme indifference to              someday decide that the language of
the very word inspired by the Spirit,            the KJV is unclear to the contempo-
the NIV translates, "A believing man             rary reader. They might have refer-
or woman is not bound in such cir-               ence to the archaic terms, e.g., "con-
cumstances." Whereas the apostle                 versation" forbehavior, "wottest" for
was teaching that the believer aban-             know, and the like. They might think
doned through no fault of his or her             that the "thee" and "thou" pronouns
own is not in a state of spiritual sla-          withtheirpeculiarverbforms,"wast,"
very, the NIV teaches that desertion              "hast, " "wouldest," and all the rest,
dissolves the marriage bond, so that             should be changed into modern
the deserted believer is free to di-             forms.
vorce and remarry. This mistrans-                     If ever a change of Bibles would
lation by the NIV brings Paul into               be made,  it' would be made
contradiction with the teaching of               synodically. No congregation is per-
Jesus, who teaches an unbreakable                mitted to replace the KJV on her own.

222IStandard Bearer/February 15,1994


                1. The End of the World

     The 24th chapter of the gospel             predicting the destruction not only of        you, This generation shall not pass,
according to Matthew is Jesus' pro-             the temple but also of the entire city of     till all these things be fulfilled." On
phetic teaching about the end of the            Jerusalem. They remembered His                the other hand, the chapter speaks of
world. It is one of the most important          weeping over Jerusalem and His                an event that is still future as far as we
chapters in the Bible on the truth of           warnings of judgment impending on             are concerned who live in the 20th
the last things.                                that city, as that is recorded in the last    century-the end of the world. This
     Jesus gave the doctrine in Mat-            part of chapter 23. So, they ask Him:         is plainbeyond all doubt in verses 27-
thew 24 in response to a question put           "Tellus, whenshall these thingsbe...?"        31, which foretell the coming of the
to Him by His disciples, the question               In their question, however, the           Son of man in the clouds with His
of verse 3: "Tell us, when shall these          disciples connected the destruction           angels and with the great sound of a
things be? and what shall be the sign           ofJerusalemwiththeendoftheworld:              trumpet. And Jesus speaks of these
of thy coming, and of the end of the            When shall these thingsbe? and what           two  events as closely related;  Matthew
world?" This question came up be-               shall be the sign of thy coming, and of       24 speaks of the destruction of Jerusa-
cause of that which Jesus had said in           the end of the world?" As an answer           lem and of the end of the world as
verse 2: "See ye not all these things?          to  this question, a question linking the     constituting one reality.
verily I say unto you, There shall not          destruction of Jerusalem and the end              The question is: "How are the
be left here one stone upon another,            of the world, Jesus gave the instruc-         destruction of Jerusalem and the end
that shall not be thrown down." The             tion found in Matthew 24.                     of the world related?" The destruc-
disciples had called Jesus' attention               Were the disciples correct when           tion of Jerusalem is a type of the end of
to the beauty, majesty, and size of the         they saw in Jesus' prophecy of the            the world.
temple in Jerusalem. It was amagnifi-           destruction of the temple a reference             Anyone in the least bit familiar
cent structure. It was some 40 years in         also to the end of the world? They            with the Bible knows that the use of
the building. The stones which Jesus            were. This is plain from the fact that        "types" is common. The Old Testa-
said would be thrown down were                  Jesus did not point out that they were        mentking,David,wasatypeofChrist
huge, nearly 40 feet long, 20 feet high,        mistakenin their thinking. He didnot          Jesus; as indicated a little later in
and  10  feet wide. Besides,the temple          say, "Just a minute. I am talking             Matthew 24, the flood in the Old Tes-
was lavishly adorned. But Jesus                 about the destruction of Jerusalem,           tament was a type of the destruction
prophesied that this temple would be            not about the end of the world." On           of the wicked at the second coming of
destroyed, and destroyed so com-                the contrary, throughout Matthew 24           Christ. So with the destruction of
pletely that not one stone would be             Jesus speaks of two distinct realities.       Jerusalem. Not only was it a signifi-
left upon another. The disciples, of            On the one hand, He speaks of the             cant event in its own right, but it was
course, understood that Jesus was               destruction of Jerusalem. It is simply        also an event that God Himself de-
                                                impossible to understand the chap-            signed to represent beforehand the
                                                ter, if one does not recognize this. For      end of the world. It is not surprising
                                                example, we read in verses 15,16 of           that the disciples associated Jesus'
With this article, we begin a series of         an"abominationof desolation" stand-           prophecy of Jerusalem's destruction
studies by Prof. Engelsma on the main           ingin the holy place, at which time the       with the end of the world, for the Old
topics of eschatology, fhat is, the doctrine    people in Judea  must flee into the           Testament prophets had repeatedly
of  thelast things. Thesestudies werefirst      mountains. Also, verse 34 cannot be           done this. Throughout the OldTesta-
given some years ago as radio messages          understood unless one keeps in mind           ment, the Holy Spirit revealed the
for "The Reformed Witness Hour. " This          that Jesus is referring to the destruc-       end of the world under the figure of
will explain the style of the articles.         tion of Jerusalem: "Verily I say unto         the destruction of Jerusalem.

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     The correct interpretation of Mat-        destroyed. We are stilllookingfor the          word that means "age." They asked:
thew 24, therefore, will find the ful-         fulfiUment of Matthew 24.                      "Whatshallbethesign...oftheendof
fillment of the prophecy in the de-                  From the fact thatJesus made a           the age?" The "age" is our world as
struction of Jerusalem. But it will not        twofold prophecy, a prophecy of a              characterized and limited by time.
stop with that. It will find the ulti-         type and a reality, an important prac-         "The age" is all of earthly history,
matefulfUmentinthecomingofJesus                tical consideration is evident. At the         begun in creation and affected by sin
and the end of the world.                      time that Jesus spoke these words,             after man's fall. It is the great pan-
     In A.D. 70, Rome razed Jerusa-            both the type, the destruction of              orama of people and deeds that has
lem. Hundreds of thousands of Jews             Jerusalem, and the reality, the end of         beenunfolding down through the ages
were slaughtered, and the remainder            the world, were in the distant future.         and that is still unfolding today.
were scattered as slaves throughout            It would be about 40 years before                  There is going to be an end of the
the world. There was a literal fulfill-        Jerusalem was destroyed and more               age, an mnd of the world. The dis-
ment of Jesus' words in verse 2: Not           than 1,900 years before the world              ciples' question and Jesus' answer to
one stone of the great temple was left         would end. Incredible though it                it prove that the position of the evolu-
standing upon another. This hap-               seemed at the time, His prediction of          tionists and other scoffers who hold
pened during the lifetime of the dis-          the destruction of Jerusalem came              that all things always willbe develop-
ciples and their contemporaries, as            true. This guarantees the truthful-            ing as they have from the beginning is
Jesus said in verse 34. Prior to this          ness of His prophecy of the end of the         a lie. There will be an end, and that
event, many of the things took place           world, incredible as it may seem to us         end  will  be  cataclysmic.  It will be
thataresetforthinMatthew24. There              now. There will be an end of the               similar to the end of the temple and of
were wars. There was severe perse-             world. It will be preceded by every            Jerusalem. Verses 38 and 39 compare
cution. There were heretics and false          one of the signs mentioned in Mat-             it to the flood of Noah's day. The end
christs. There was even a certain              thew 24. This will occur at the per-           will not be on the order of a gradual
fulfillment of theprophecyof verse 14          sonal, visible, glorious,and  powerful         fading away of life, nor will it be the
that the gospel would be preached in           coming again of Jesus the Christ.              gradual, almost imperceptible, devel-
all the world, for by the time of the                In the minds of the disciples, this      opment of this age into a future golden
destruction of Jerusalem the apostle           coming of Jesus is of paramount im-            age, but it will be a violent, destruc-
Paul had finished his missionary la-           portance. They saw clearly the pro-            tive judgment of this age, a cosmic
bors inmost of the then-known world.           found truth that the meaning of the            upheaval, a universal conflagration.
    Nevertheless, that                                        end of the world is that        Itwillbea  wonder-tetiblebeyond
was not the reality that                                      Jesus comes. This is not        all description.
Jesus had His eye on in                                       always remembered by                Look around you. See you not all
                                    . . . the central
Matthew24. Ultimately,                                        us. Sometimes we be-            these things - these skyscrapers,
Matthew 24 was not ful-             significance              come engrossed in our           these cities, these civilizations, *this
filled then. Matthew 24                  of the end           study of the things that        creation itself? Truly, there shall not
itself makes this plain                                       must be expected in the
                                    of the world                                              be left here one stone upon another,
beyond the shadow of a                                        future - wars, natural
                                          is that                                             that shall not be thrown down.
doubt. The main subject                                       calamities, Antichrist,
                                           Jesus                                                  But the end of the age will not
of the chapter is the com-                                    and persecution -but            only be the cessation of the age. It will
ing again  of  Jesus Christ.              comes.              we forget the return of         also be the realization of a goal. We
This was the question of                                      Jesus, the goal of all these    use the word "end" in these two ways.
the disciples: "Andwhat                                       other things and the one        When someone dies, we say, "That
shall be the sign of thy coming? II This       thing that really ought to grip us. The        was the mnd of him," meaning that he
is the main thing of which Jesus               disciples did not make this mistake.           does not go on any further-with his
speaks. He prophesies the great event          Their question showed this: "What              earthly life. But we also speak of the
of the coming of the Son of man which          shall be the sign of thy coming, and of        end that someone had in mind, mean-
shall be like the lightening that comes        the end of the world?" they asked.             ingthegoalatwhichheisaiming. The
from the east and shines to the west;          They viewed the, coming of Christ              end of the world will be a stopping of
of the coming of the Son of man in the         and the end of the world as related.           all earthly things. History will cease;
clouds with power and great glory,             There will be one sign of both. Both           the heaven and earth will disappear;
visible to all men; of the coming of           will occur at the same time. They              time itself, at least as we know it now,
Himself with the hosts of angels, with         mentioned the comingfirst. The dis-            will run out. But that very moment
the sound of a trumpet, and at the             ciples rightly saw that the central sig-       will be the attainment of a goal, and
time when all the elect are gathered.          nificance of the end of the world is           this is the main idea of the "end of the
So wereadinverses27-31.  Thesimple             that Jesus comes.                              world." The world. does not merely
fact of the matter is that Jesus did not             When they spoke of the endof the         peter out. God has a purpose with His
come in A.D. 70, when Jerusalem was            world,  the disciples literally used the       creation and with the history played

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out in the creation. When everything        of the end abstractly, in terms merely      nearness.  But this concern must be
is ripe for that purpose to be realized,    of the-world, or even in terms only of      rooted in the desire of heart to fear
when the stage is set, the end shall        our salvation. Think of it, long for it,    God and walk in His ways faithfully
come, that is, God will fulfiIl the pur-    expect it as the coming of the Son of       even to the end. It must bring forth
pose that He has always had with this       man!                                        the fruit of alife  of spiritual watchful-
world.                                          But when? Thisis abumingques-           ness over against the many evils of
    This is great comfort for the Chris-    tion, is it not? Whenever a man specu-      the last days. Otherwise, a man's in-
tian. The world is not purposeless.         lates on the time of the end of the         terest in the last things is mere super-
History is not blind. There is a goal,      world, he never lacks an attentive          ficial curiosity. And Christ has no
and everything, even things that are        audience. Long after the rest of the        time for that.
in themselves evil and painful, for         sermon is forgotten, menwillremem-              Christ will go on to tell the dis-
example, war, moves towards that            ber that a preacher said that he thinks     ciples when the end shall be and what
end. Nor is this world ungoverned,          the end will come in forty years, or in     the signs are, but first He warns them
like some great ship, rudderless,           the lifetime of his grandchildren.          - and us - that the last days are a
tossed hither and thither before the        "When, when will the end come?"             time of trouble for the churchand that
waves of chance on the stormy sea.          The disciples of Jesus were curious         thhechurch  does well to view the end
God governs it by His eternal counsel       about this too. This was their ques-        in a practical, spiritual manner.
in which He has decreed its "end,"          tion, "Tell us! when shall these things         "Take heed that no man deceive
and by His almighty power by which          be?" And "what shall be the sign of         you. For many shall come in  my
He achieves that "end."                     the end of the world?" If we know the       name, saying, I am Christ; and shall
    What is this end? The coming of         sign, we will know when, and we de-         deceive many" (w. 4,5). There is a
Jesus Christ, the Son of man. The           sire to know when. With bated breath,       great danger for us in the last days,
coming again of Jesus in the body, the      we wait to hear Jesus' answer. But we       and that danger is  deception.  The
personal, visible, triumphant coming        are disappointed, for apparently Jesus      greatest danger for disciples of Christ,
described in verses 27-31, will put a       misses the point. The disciples ask,        that is, believing members of the
stop to this age, this present world.       "When?" and Jesus answers: "Take            church, is not physical, but spiritual.
After His coming, there wilI be no          heed that no man  deceive you."             It is the danger that theDevil, sin, and
more earthly history, but the everlast-         It is fascinating to note how Jesus     evil men fool one, so as to bring him
ing heavenly Kingdom. Also, His             frequently "missed the point" of ques-      to spiritual ruin. The instrument of
coming is that which deetemzines  the       tions that people directed to Him.          this deceit is the words of certain men:
end of the world. All things are ripe       You may remember the time His dis-          Beware lest anyone deceive you. For
for the end when they are ready for         ciples askedHim  whether there would        many shall come saying, I am Christ.
His coming.                                 be only a few who would be saved.           The danger isfalse doctrine, the preuch-
    Most importantly, the coming of         His answer was: You strive to enter         ing of alleged gospels, religious men,
Jesus is the goa of everything. The         in. Again, "Hemissed the point." Not        churchmen even. There will be many
glorious coming of the One who was          really, of course. As the great Teacher     such men, and there will be many who
crucified and rose again is the pur-        of God, Jesus not only knew the right       are deceived. Beware!
pose of God with the                                     answers, but He also               The message of deception that
world and its history.                                   knew  the  right questions.    the false prophets proclaim is this: "I
    For it will be the                                   He spotted misconcep-
                                  The greatest                                          am Christ." It is the denial that the
coming of the One who                                    tions in the questions         Jesus of the Scriptures is the one and
is the revelation of God,            danger              asked Him and cor-             only Servant of God and Savior of the
so that by His coming            for  disciples          rected them. In this case,     world, and the turning of the hopes of
God will be perfectly             of Christ . . .        Jesus stressed that the        men to other christs and saviors. This
justified and glorified.       is not physical,          doctrine of thelast  things    deceiving message is present in our
It will be the coming of                                 and the truth about the
                                 but spiritual.                                         day. It is everywhere. Many are
the Savior of the church,                                end of the world have          deceived unto their everlasting ruin.
so that the church will                                  practical significance.        It is the insistence of men that they can
be perfectly delivered.                                  The disciples may not          and will overcome their miseries, im-
It will be the coming of the One who        just be curious about the time. Nor         prove society, and save the world. It
renews the creation, delivering the         may you and I. The teaching of the          is the claim of almost every politician
brute creation, the world, from the         truth of the last things may never be a     and world-ruler that he, yes he, has
curse of sin, so that the world itself      matter of some teacher or preacher's        the wisdom, the ability, and the de-
becomes a new heavens and a new             spinning fine theories for the enter-       sire to redeem his nation. It is the
earth in which righteousness shall          tainment of others. It is necessary to      message of the pagan religions-and
dwell.                                      be concerned about the end. It is even      howmanymillionsarenotblindedby
    Never may we who believe think          required to be concerned about its          it? - that their gods and heroes are

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the savior. It is a message heardin the             So, "take heed."                       watchfulness drive you to the truth
Christian churches: Our unions and                  Do you concern yourself with the       and the preaching of'the  truth in the
mergers will bring peace and plenty             end of the world? Are  yolou  busy,        church: Jesus is the Christ; He saves by
to thesufferingworld;ourownworks                perhaps, discerning the signs? But         grace alone through faith alone; He
and will accomplish our salvation;              does this all move you to watchful-        establishes the Kingdom?
we will build the kingdom of God.               ness and prayers? And does this                Take heed. 0





                                     Mephibosheth

                   In Lodebar,  the Pastureless,
                          I languished, far,                                                Pure pity,
             Far from the courts that I had known                                Mercy as I'd never known
                  Near to Grandfather's throne.                                 Shone from that kingly face.
                       A dead dog such as I                                 He told me of a covenant he'd made
                              Could cry                                           With Father long ago -
                       And none would hear                                          David and Jonathan,
                           From Lodebar.                                       Whose love joined soul to soul
                   And who would understand                                             In a forever bond.
                      The wretched poverty,                                              I heard his words
                     The burden of infirmity                                  And his compassionate decree,
                        That swallowed us                                          But I felt only grace -
                      The day we fled in fear                                  The love he had for Jonathan
                    To this poor, barren land?                                     So freely given to me.

                  And then the summons came:                                                And now,
                        "King David calls,"                                                Now I am far
                         They cried to me.                                                From Lodebar.
                 And I was carried to Jerusalem,                                    Inheritance restored,
                 Not even able to go up myself,                           I feast at table with my gracious lord -
              With these frail, useless legs you see.                                      Adopted son
              And when he called me by my name,                                         And honored guest,
                         "Mephibosheth,"                                    And I have lived to see my little one
                   My heart could scarce reply.                                          Within the palace
                          He was the king,                                   At Jerusalem, place of eternal rest.
                  Reigning in splendid majesty,                                 Gladly would I have served
                          And who was I?                                          For such a great reward,
                          Misshapen man                                     Gladly have labored with my hands
                     From Saul's ill-fated line,                                   For such a one, but he
                    Devoid of my inheritance,                                  Who has my God's own heart,
                          (And rightly so,                                    Bestowed a mercy undeserved
                    Saurs penalty was mine).                                       Upon Mephibosheth,
                               But oh,                                            On servant and on son,
                   The eyes that looked on me!                                     For Covenant's sake,
                                                                                        And we are royalty.

                                                                                                          Suzanne Looyenga

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          Exercising Unto Godliness
                                                              Lesson 11


     If thou put the brethren in remem-           nizedby God as belonging to the flock        makes the important point that, since
branceof these things, thou shalt beagood         ofGodthatwasboughtwiththeblood               Timothy has follcwed this manner of
minister of]esus Christ, nourished up in          of the Son of God on the Cross.              life and doctrine for nearly fifteen
the words of faith and of good doctrine,              These "brethren" must not be             consecutive years (A.D. 50-65), he is
whereunto thou hastattained. But.refuse           deceived by the very adversaries of          completely knowledgeable about the
profane and old wives'fables,  and exer-          the Gospel, called by the text "apos-        pure apostolic doctrine. In the KJV
cise thyself rather unto godliness. For           tates from the faith." And what must         we read, "But thou hast fully known
bodily exercise profiteth  liftle:  but godli-    Timothy do? Is he sent to seek the           my doctrine, manner of life...." In II
ness is profitable unto all things, having        agents of the demonic world to re-           Timothy 3:lO the Greek perfect tense
promise of the life that now is, and of that      pent? Agents and servants of the             is used. The text reads as follows:
which is to come. This is a faithful saying       demonic world cannot be renewed              "But thou hast closely followed my
and worthy  of  all  acceptation.                 untorepentance. (CompareHebrews              teaching.. . .N This could not be said
                          I Timothy 4:6-9         6:4-8 and Hebrews 10:26-31.)  To at-         about  any other evangelist. Besides, it
                                                  tempt to do this would be disobedi-          cannot be said of every evangelist
Putting the Brethren                              ence  to the will of God. The glorious       that God gave him the Spirit, "not of
in Remembrance of Faith                           task of an evangelist in this regard has     weakness, but of power, love, and
and Good Doctrine (v. 6)                          the same great design as does that of        sobriety." This was given in a special
    Thisisanurgentassignmentfrom                  all the other officebearers who are          manner with the laying on of hands
an apostle to an evangelist. It is the            calledtobebusyinaworkthatresults             by Paul in the midst of the brother-
call to holy duty. Timothy must dem-              in the perfecting of the saints. (Cf.        hood. (Cf. I Timothy 1:18ff.)
onstrate in his actions that he is a              Eph. 4:11-16.)                                   It is certain that Timothy under-
"minister." The title refers to all who               Evangelists also have an office          stood very well the character of such
are officially called to feed the "flock          that is very carefully circumscribed         arch-heretics as Hymenaeus, Philetus,
of God." "Flock of God" is the term               and limited. It is limited to the gather-    and Alexander, whose heresies and
used here for the men and women                   ing of the church and to the spiritual       words ate as a canker or gangrene
who are called the "brethren" by the              nurture of the "brethren." Only the          and whose teaching tookaway  a good
apostle Paul. It is a term of distinc-            brethrenareabletobeanchoredfirmly            conscience. (Cf. I Timothy  1:19, 20,
tion. This distinction is given to those          in the "words of faith and good doc-         and II Timothy 2:17.) These suffered
who have been foreordained of God                 trine." They can perform this exalted        shipwreck in the faith. Could these
to receive the Spirit of adoption; those          uministry~  only if they themselves          heretics have known the warning of
who are anointed with the holy anoint-            have "obtained" a thorough exper-            Jesus to the twelve disciples, "beware
ing of Christ -prophets, priests, and             tise and training in teaching and ex-        of the leaven of the Pharisees" (Matt.
kings.                                            horting.                                     16:6,12)? Did not the leaven of the
    In the text they are singled out as               It was to this class of evangelists      Pharisees and the Sadducees perme-
the  brethren. They are thus set apart            in the church that Timothy had at-           ate all the doctrine of these heretics-
as a class of men and women from                  tained. (Cf. verse 6.) The verb in the       Hymenaeus, Philetus, and Alex-
those who are not brethren in the                 Greek, translated in the KJV as "at-         ander? The Pharisees' doctrine of
Lord Jesus, and who are not recog-                tained," deserves careful attention.         work-righteousness denied the need
                                                  Let us try to see this. The verb in the      of the perfect redemption of God's
                                                  Greek means: "to follow behind               people by the blood of the Lamb. The
Rev. Lubbers is a minister emeritus in the        closely; to pay good attention to; to        leaven of the Sadducees was revealed
Protestant Reformed Churches.                     listen well."~ In II Timothy 3:lO Paul       in this denial of the resurrection.

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     Yes, Timothy was very aware of         Scriptures since he was a "child." He        sinners that they are those "having
these horrible heresies. Paul must          hadlearnedthesefirstfromhisgrand-            eyes full of adultery, and that cannot
have spoken often and repeatedly of         mother, Lois, and then from his              cease from sin, beguiling unstable
them already in the first sermon dur-       mother, Eunice. He had tasted the            souls: an heart they haveexercised with
ing the first missionary journey when       power of these Scriptures. He had            covetous (idolatrous) practices; cursed
Timothy was converted some fifteen          experienced that these Scriptures            children" (II Pet. 214). Read II Peter
years earlier. (Cf. Acts 13-15.) Timo-      were able to make one "wise unto             217-21.
thy knows intimately that only the          salvation through faith which is in              Turn again to I Timothy 4:6-9.
truth of the Gospel makes a sinner          Christ Jesus" (II Tim. 3:14-16).  This is    Was it not impossible for Timothy to
free. He knows that all other preach-       the bottom-line for Timothy as a ma-         do anythingbut exercise himself unto
ingismere Jewishproselytizingwhich          ture evangelist, a good minister of          godliness with every fiber of his be-
prevents a sinner from entering the         Jesus Christ, one who can be ad-             ing? As a well-informed and godly
kingdom of heaven-a proselytizing           dressed as a "man of God" (I Tim.            evangelist, could he do anything but
that makes the unbeliever far more a        6:ll). He knew the Gospel which              "refute" such profane teachings? Does
child of hell than he was before in his     powerfully works true godliness.             noteverygoodm.inisterofJesusChrist
unbelievingignorance. Timothymust               In these "last days" which Paul          cast away all that is profane and that
have learned that all the teaching of       vividly and graphically describes in II      which does not belong in the living
those who denied and departed from          Timothy 3:1-7 it is proudly asserted         confession of the church? That which
the faith were so many profane and          that men and women must seek"god-            is vile and blasphemous must be cast
old wives' fables - Jewish fables.          liness." There will be those who are         out because it violates the holy and
Even as a lad, when he believed the         "ever learning" to bring about a cer-        saving mystery of godliness, which is
Holy Scriptures, he must have known         tain morality in life and in govem-          as great as God is great in loving
that the religions of the Greeks (of his    ment. Yet, the very best that can be         kindness and mercy. Profane teach-
own Gentile father) were so many lies       achieved-is an impotent form of god-         ings that must be "refused" by the
when compared to the teaching of the        liness. It is a powerless godliness. All     good minister is that which blas-
God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,           fails because of a lack of the true          phemes God - a God which no vile,
i.e., the God of the burning bush. (Cf.     "exerciseuntogodliness." Atbottom            unsaved sinner can see and live (Ex.
Exodus 3:16; Matthew 22:28-33.)             it is all pure and! simple "ungodli-         34:19-23;  II Cor. 3:7-16).
    Refer to Matthew 22:23-28  and          ness."                                           Is it even conceivable to propose
notice how the "fable" concerning the           The Holy Spirit tells us in II Peter     that Timothy would try to demon-
woman who had seven husbands is             21 that false prophets privily shall         strate with rational grounds the error
used by the Sadducees to dispute the        bring in damnable heresies. They are         of those who "depart from the faith"
resurrection. Notice too how this           those that shall "deny the Lord that         and put a yoke of the law's bondage
fablewithersbefore Jesus' "searching        bought them," and thus bring upon            upon the "brethren"? Timothy is
of the Scriptures." With a careful          themselves  swift destruction.  These        called to reject these profane preach-
review and search of the Scriptures         God will not spare. These will be like       ers and their demon-inspired' teach-
this fabulous idea of the Sadducees         the world that perished in the Flood.        ings once and for all. He is to give no
concerning the resurrection is demol-       Theyareliketheevilangelswhowere              quartertothelieofthegreatLiarfrom
ished by Jesus' infallible use and ex-      cast down by God into hell. In His           the beginning.
planation of Exodus 3:16. "Godis not        righteous wrath God delivered the                There is another "exercise" unto
theGodofthedead,butoftheliving."            angels that sinned and put them in           godliness - an exercise unto moie
    Paul says, "Yes, Timothy, you           chains of darkness to be preserved           godliness. This exercise unto godli-
will prove yourself to be a `good           unto the great judgment (Jude 6).            ness can be seen both in the preaching
minister if you rebuke the errors of all    Among the ungodly are those who              and in the walk issuing from a pure
who depart from the faith when you          are exercising themselves from un-           conscience - a conscience that has
preach the full counsel of God with-        godliness unto more ungodliness.             been purified from dead works to
out flinching." (Cf. Acts 20:25-32.)        These are in the gymnasium of the            serve the living God, the God of
                                            false prophets who teach, let us eat,        Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This ex-
Exercise Thyself                            drink, and be merry. They have the           ercise is not an exercise in old wives'
unto Godliness (w. 7-8)                     fear of torment in their empty bold-         fables but it is an exercise in the gym-
    TimothyisinstructedbyPaulthat           ness. They flee from the preaching of        nasium of God. It is an exercise ac-
he must exercise himself unto godli-        the Gospel and the royal law of lib-         cording to which we receive God's
ness. This exercising is part of his        erty. (Cf. James 2~7.)                       sure promise-the peaceable fruit of
holy duty. When we are exercised                All that these, who once claimed         righteousness. Paul says that the
unto godliness this is done by the          that they were saved, can do is "exer-       bodilyexerciseoftheprofaneprofiteth
Holy Spirit through the inspired Scrip-     cise" themselves unto more ungodli-          little, but the true exercise of godli-
tures. Timothy had known the Holy           ness. The Holy Spirit writes of these        ness has a "promise" of God.

226Etandard  Bearer/February  15,1994


This is a Faithful Saying                    "little profit" with respect to exercise     concerning the view that Paul has
and Worthy of All Acceptation (v. 9).        spoken of here fit into the category of      reference to the physical self-mortifi-
    This promise of God is yea and           the "spiritual exercise" of those who        cation as practiced by the ascetic who
amen unto the glory of God the Fa-           are chastened of the Lord because            attempts by his rigid ascetic exercises
ther. Writing as a saved minister of         they are "sons" and not spiritual bas-       to liberate himself or herself from the
the gospel, Paul, the chief of sinners,      tards?                                       physicalcreationandthusliberatehis
wrote, "This is a faithful saying, and                                                    spirit from the imprisonment of the
worthy of all acceptation, that Christ       2. Does not the question persist,            "evil body"? Would the Holy Spirit
Jesus came into the world to save            What can be said about the little            permit the teaching that the "work-
sinners; of whom I am chief" (I Tim.         "profit" of those who do bodily exer-        religion" of theosophical-mystical
1:15). Paul wrote this as he looked          cise? To what does the bodily exer-          gymnastics has a little profit in this
forward across the entire first epistle      cise (somatikoos) refer? Does it refer to    world apart from the exercise unto
to Timothy. Using the same phrase in         physical exercise that we all need?          godliness? Does it not seem that all
I Timothy 49 Paul, who is counted            Does it refer to the Jewish abstaining       spiritual sobriety is lacking when the
worthy to be a minister, writes look-        from eating too much food? Does it           bodilyexerciseofpaganismandwork
ing back on the words we have stud-          refer to the practice of severemodera-       righteousness is permitted to have
ied in this lesson. In this instance the     tion in all things? Does the man             even a little place in spiritual exer-
apostle Paul gives an attestation con-       eating without moderation not suffer         cises? Could this exercise refer to an
cerning the spiritual unity between          the ill effects of eating too much?          exercisepermittedbyGodinthebattle
the words of faith and good doctrine.        Why did Timothy need to be admon-            against all ungodliness of the flesh as
                     . ..to be concluded     ished to drink a little wine for his "oft    Paul speaks  of this in I Corinthians
                                             infirmities"? Is Paul thinking about         9:19-27?  I welcome any good answer
Some Questions to Consider:                  bodily, self-inflicted exercises where       to this question which operates ac-
1. Isitnotatrivialmattertodevelop            everything is relative and basically         cording to the teachings in which one
an argument for or against bodily            meaningless?                                 is exercised unto sound doctrine of
exercisefromITimothy4:8?  Does the                                                        godliness.  0
                                             3. What should be our judgment




                                 The Problem of
                               "Scholasticism~'

    Study to show thyselfapproved  unto      extremely unjust, a ruthless and un-         diate resolution. Dr. Schilder, and all
God, a workman that needeth not to be        christian act. After all, there was a        who agreed with him, could be toler-
ashamed, rightly dividing the word of        war going on, with a very wicked and         ated no more, and without delay had
truth.                                       ungodly enemy overwhelming their             to be purged. One can hardly escape
                       II Timothy 2:15       land, while Dr. Schilder himself -           the conclusion that this was not so
                                             one of the few with the courage to           much amatter of conviction as the use
    There can be little question but         speak out against the evil of this en-       of an opportunity by some to rid
that the deposition of Dr. Schilder          emy - was in hiding and unable to            themselves of a man whose popular-
and hiscolleagues by the synod of the        speak in his own defense. Nor was it         ityhadprovedtobegreaterthantheir
Reformed Churches in the Nether-             an especially pressing matter, for it        OWL
lands, the Gerejormeerde  Z&ken, was         was over a doctrinal issue which had             Nor, for that matter, did they
                                             been under debate for decades, and           anticipate the consequences which
                                             about which a synod already in 1905          followed. Clearly they had underes-
Rev. Woudenberg  is pastor of the Protes-    had made allowance for both sides to         timated Dr. Schildeis following. For
tant Reformed Church of Kalamazoo,           be taught. And yet suddenly it was           quickly, in spite of the troubled times,
Michigan.                                    held to be a matter demanding imme-          sizable numbers of people were fol-

                                                                                               February 15,1994/Standard  Bearer1229


lowing him into the organization of a         the end they had to be reckoned with.      it was also to be found in their ten-
new denomination, what we now                     From the very start this produced      dency to be more involved in point-
know generally as the Liberated               a problem, one that remains to this        ing out the faults of their opponents
Churches. The loss of so many mem-            day, namely that of determining ex-        than in developing their own views
bers was certainly painful; but far           actly what it is regarding the cov-        positively, as, for example, their re-
more serious was the wound that               enant that the Liberated believe. Af-      peated tendency to label their oppo-
their unethical behavior inflicted on         ter all, it was a doctrinal debate over    nents, now including also us, as "scho-
themselves. It perhaps was not so             which this schism had taken place,         lastic" and "logicians," implying this
immediately apparent - in many                the matter of the covenant of grace;       to be some terrible sin. Now this
ways church life went on with the             and that for us was not something          might well seem to be but a passing
majority of their people as it always         new. It was a subject with which we        thought; but it has an importance
had, at least for a time -but with the        had been concerned from before our         worthy of our concern.
leadership something had happened.            origin as churches; in fact, it might          To begin with the word "scholas-
A spirit of apostasy set in which has         well be argued that the common grace       tic," we should note that it has several
left that denomination in our day vir-        issue had been a sub-point under it.       levels of meaning, each distinct in
tually a spiritual wilderness. Un-            As far as the covenant view of Dr.         itself; and, if we are to be accurate in
doubtedly there are still oases of spiri-     Abraham Kuyper is concerned, that          our expressions, each must be under-
tuality and doctrinal conviction to be        known as Presupposed Regeneration,         stood.
found among those churches, per-              and held by the synod that deposed             In the first place, the word "scho-
haps mostly in the villages; but to the       Dr. Schilder, we wanted nothing of         lastic" has a popular usage which
world they have become the picture            that - even if, superficially consid-      does little more than indicate that
of apostasy, a Laodicean church if            ered, we are often identified with it.     which is related to study and scholar-
such there has ever been.                     But, even more, we were opposed to         ship, sometimes, althoughnot always,
     And, in turn, what happened              the position most commonly held in         in a rather deprecating sense. And, as
there was not without effect for us on        the Christian Reformed Church, that        we have noted in the past, there was
this side of the ocean. As long as the        of Prof. Heyns, with whom Rev.             a good deal of this false scholasticism
war continued, everything was                 Hoeksema had done battle already in        among the Dutch Reformed during
wrapped in silence; we hardly knew            his seminary days. He taught that          the early part of this century, growing
what was happening, although what             God promises and gives grace to ev-        perhaps out of their fondness for
rumors did come through did not               ery child baptized in the church, en-      "common grace," or the view that
sound good. But when the war was              abling him to accept or reject the cov-    God is pleased with the learning of
over, the news began to flow with all         enant, but leaving it up to him. As far    this world even if it is done in unbe-
of its sad details. To say the least, we      as we were concerned, this was noth-       lief. Thus, to master the learning of
stood-aghast.                                 ing less than a form of Arminianism        this world was a cause for pride and
    The battle, we learned, had been          applied within the covenant of grace,      something that deserved respect in
especially over the doctrine of the           and perhaps had much to do with the        itself. It was indeed a form of super-
covenant - and concerning that we             fact that the common grace of the          ficial scholasticism which was wor-
felt no great affinity to either side. But    Christian Reformed Church was even         thy of being scorned.
the ruthlessness with which Dr.               more dangerous than that adopted               But generalities are usually dan-
Schilder and his companions had been          by the synod which deposed Dr.             gerous; and "scholastic" abilities are
ejected, and the impropriety of it all,       Schilder. But that was also where the      not always to be despised. After all,
was more than we could compre-                problem set in; for when the Liber-        Paul-himself urged Timothy, "Study
hend. It was much like what we had            ated Churches began to talkabout the       to show thyself approved unto God";
been through in 1924, only worse, to          covenant of grace they sounded more        and the fact was that bothDr. Schilder
the point where our hearts went out           like Heyns than anyone else. To be         and Rev. Hoeksema were scholars in
to Dr. Schilder and his newly formed          sure, they insisted they were differ-      their own right. To be sure, neither of
churches. We had differences, we              ent, and the fact that they rejected       them was inclined to make a show of
knew that; but it was believed that,          common grace seemed to indicate            it; and certainly they were not in-
with good-will and a willingness to           they were; but when it came to ex-         clined to presume that their scholas-
talk together as Christians should, we        plaining how that was, although Rev.       tic abilities automatically justified
could come to terms on that - and             Hoeksema pleaded in public editori-        their cause. But they were men of
sadly mistaken we were, due possi-            als and private correspondence for it,     scholastic ability, and no one should
bly as much to our men as theirs. For         the answer never really came.              disparage that. Humanly speaking
the moment, however, if ever there                Now, to a degree, the problem          neither of them could have done what
was a group of churches to which we           was that the Liberated Churches were       they did if that had not been the case.
felt drawn, the Liberated were it. But        rather naturally preoccupied with the          But thereis also another use of the
those differences were there; and in          synodicals who had ejected them. But       term, more substantial perhaps, wor-

230hStandard  Bearer /February 15,1994


thy of warning in a special way. Scho-      reason can ever arise to truthbyitself.     against the challenge of another stu-
lasticism was  a1 philosophy which          To him there was always but one way         dent. For it was thought that only
dominated the Middle Ages, particu-         of truth, that which comes directly by      when one was able todefendhis think-
larly through the influence of its chief    revelation from God, and is grasped         ing in accord with the strict rules of
advocate, Thomas Aquinas, the great         by faith alone. No one could have           logic was he ready to work profes-
saint of the Roman Catholic Church.         been more opposed to rationalism, or        sionally in any chosen area of life.
This philosophy of Scholasticism is         in this sense scholasticism, than he;           Now, in our modern  Post-
always to be rejected because of the        and yet, he has repeatedly been ac-         Barthian  world, it has become the
fact that it was rationalistic in its       cused of just that.                         popular thing to disparage suchinsis-
thought, whichis to say, Aquinas and            Nevertheless, there is another use      tence on logical thought as but a false
his followers taught that, while there      of the world "scholastic," or "scho-        remnant of that former age, and it is
are certain truths which are gained         lasticism," which we must also note.        disappointingthat apparently thelib-
only by revelation from God andmust             This word inits most basic mean-        erated  Churches also have joined in
be grasped by faith, there are also         ing arose in reference to schools of the    that, as we see with Dr. DeJong  in his
many other truths that can be arrived       Middle Ages and the method of study         articles in the CZarion  a while back:
at only through the intellectual activi-    followedin them. In those schools, or
ties of the mind. When those activi-        Universities, which arose in almost           It is only on the basis of this strict
ties are used, man is walking in the        every major city of the day, there was        logical scheme that Engelsma is con-
image of God, whose essential being         a method of study that centeredin the         vinced that we compromise the posi-
is pure intellect, and rises toward the     use of disputations and the logic on          tion of Dort. However, this scheme
Su?nnlum  bonum -the highest good.          which they were based. From the               of thought has been superimposed
By the use of his mind man comes to         very beginning, when children en-             both on Scripture and the confes-
                                                                                          sions. Basicallyitrepresentsascheme
participate in the being of the divine.     tered these schools - sometimes at            in which the Canons of Dort and the
    For us an understanding of this         ages as low as seven - they were              teaching of Scripture itself is made
philosophy and its dangers is of spe-       taught with a view to that. First it was      subject to the logical categories of
cialimportance, for we only too often       grammar, then rhetoric, and finally           human reason. (The Covenant and the
are accused of holding it. Because of       logic,eachforseveralyearsinastretch.          Children of Believers - A ReplyZ  )
his propensity toward logical and           Only then were they permitted to
systematic thought, Rev. Hoeksema           move on into their chosen areas of          And that is only the start. It is to this
has often been called scholastic and a      study, which they had to learn to           disparagement of logic that he re-
rationalist, even though there was          defend in disputations, or very for-        turns again and again, making it wor-
nothing more alien to his thought. If       mal logical debates, in which they          thy of our further consideration. Just
there was anything that his rejection       were expected to defend their chosen        exactly how does logic relate to Scrip-
of common grace included, it was            propositionsbylogicalreasoningover          ture and our Christian faith? 0
certainly any suggestion that human




                     A .Pastor's Heart (I)*

                                            Introduction                                to go about operating on a tumor of
                                                When the committee which plans          the brain. The other objection was
                                            these conferences approached me to          that, if someone were indeed going to
                                            speakon  the topic, "A Pastor's Heart,"     tell pastors how to go about their
    Prof. Hanko is professor of Church      I mildly demurred. My reasons were          work, it ought to be one who is as
Histo y and New Testament in the Prot-      two. Pastors who are actively and           actively involved in the work as they
estant Reformed Semina y.                   almost continually involved in pasto-       are. You are pastors, engaged in the
    *Keynote address given at the           ral work, it seemed to me, hardly           work of busy pastorates. I have long
Officebearers' Conference of Classis        need anyone to tell them about their        ago laid that work aside.
West in South Holland, IL on March          work. .One does not go to a skilled             Richard Baxter offered me some
2,1993.                                     neural surgeon to explain to him how        grounds for overcoming the first ob-

                                                                                             February 15,lQWStandard Seared231


jection. In-his book, The Reformed          from the other. On the pulpit, a min-                A pastor/minister is a steward.
Pastor (London: S. Couchman, 1808),         ister is a pastor. And in his pastoral           Paul, in I Corinthians 41, speaks of
Baxterbeginsbyremindingthepeople            labors, a pastor remains a minister.          himself andhis co-workers as "minis-
of God in general that they are called          I shall assume that you are all           ters of Christ and stewards of the
to "exhort one another daily." He           aware of this, but this stark truth is the       mysteries of God." This same idea,
then goes on to say:                        basis for everything I have to say.           though not specifically mentioned by
                                                Whenonetakesthetimetoexam-                name, is expressed in Hebrews 13:17,
    So ought ministers all the more to      ine the Scriptures, one is quite amazed       where elders are said to be those who
  do  this among themselves because         athowmany differentnamesare,given             watch over the souls of God's people
  we have the same sins to  mortify,        to those who hold this office of pas-         as those who must give account. Stew-
  and the same graces to be quickened       tor/minister. And each name, in its              ards are entrusted with things and
  and corroborated, as they have. We                                                         people who belong to another.
  have greater works than they have to      ownright, hassomethingtosayabout
  do, greater difficulties to overcome,     what a pastor's heart really is.                     A pastor/minister is an angel, as
  and no less necessity is laid upon us.        I shall very briefly mention these        John calls the pastors of the seven
  We have therefore need to be warned       names. The list is quite imposing                churches of AsiaMinor.  The meaning
  and awakened, if not instructed, as       -and, I may add, frightening. The                is not that pastors are as sinless as
  weIl as they (p. 1).                      order is arbitrary.                              angels, but that pastors hold divine
                                                A pastor/minister is an evange-              credentials as sent by Christ.
    I overcame the second objection,        list. "Do the work of an evangelist,"                A pastor/minister is a co-laborer
at least in my own mind, by thinking        Paul admonishes Timothy in II Timo-              of God. Two ideas come to the fore.
that it is good for each one of us, from    thy 45.                                          Pastor/ministers work in a small cor-
time to time, to step back from his             A pastor/minister is a teacher.              ner of Christ's domain along with
work, ponder it, compare what he is         Christ gave to the church upon His               others, and are, therefore, to put aside
doing with Scripture, and evaluate          ascensionpastor/teachers,asPaulre-               alljealousy, competition, struggles to
his labors in Scripture's light. But the    minds us in Ephesians 411.                       maintain their own turf, labors which
opportunity for a busy pastor to do             A pastor/minister is a shepherd,             are at odds with their fellow laborers.
this seldom comes, for the pastoral         as Peter expresses it in I Peter 5:2. He         But the genitive in II Corinthians 61,
problems which engage him press             must feed the flock of God. And all              "of God," means also to emphasize
upon him with unrelenting force, so         that is implied in the earthly figure of         that we all together belong to God
that for him to step back from them to      a diligent shepherd tending his sheep            whose work we do.
evaluate his work seems perilously          is carried over with                                              Apastor/ministeris
close to dereliction of duty. There is      force to the relation be-                                     a soldier of Jesus Christ.
then some advantage to hearing one          tween a pastor and his                                        He must, as a soldier,
who, by the pressing circumstances          congregation.                       The list is               endure hardship (II Tim.
of God's call, has been forced to step          A pastor/minister           a daunting one.               213). It is an apt descrip-
back. He just may have the eye to see       is an elder. Patrick                 One with                 tion of the work which
what one embroiled in the trials of the     Fairbairn is correct                                          you are called to do un-
                                                                            a pastor's heart
pastorate is unable to see.                 when he says that the                                         der orders from the Cap-
    And so I venture on the task with       chief idea of an elder is             must be                 tain of your salvation.
some trepidation.                           the idea of authority to        all these things,                 A pastor/minister is
                                            rule (A Treatise on the               and all                 a deacon. The term is
Rooted in His Office                        OfficeandDutiesofthe                at the same               specifically applied to
    To begin by expressing the obvi-        Christian        Pastor                                       ministersinICorinthians
                                                                                    time.
ous, one with a pastor's heart is, obvi-    [Audubon, NJ: Old                                             315 and carries with it the
ously, a pastor. A pastor holds an          Paths Publications,                                           connotation of one who
office. This office is created in the       19921 p. 40). He comes                                        ministers to the needs of
church by Christ; and one who holds         with the Word of God and the author-             others.
this office is called by Christ. Our        ity of his office, not to give advice or             A pastor/minister is a leader. The
Church Order defines those distinct         to discuss alternatives of action, but           epistle to the Hebrews uses this term
elementswhicharethenecessaryparts           with the stentorian word, "Thus saith            in 13:7 where the congregation is ad-
of the lawful calling. I need not enter     the Lord."                                       monished to "obey those who have
into that here.                                 A pastor/minister is an episcopos.           the rule over you."
    While in a certain sense a distinc-     He is one who oversees the life of                   The list is a daunting one. One
tion may be made between the work           those entrusted to his care. He does             with a pastor's heart must be all these
of the ministry of the Word and pas-        this, not as a busybody, meddling in             things, and all at the same time.
toral labors, this distinction must not     other people's affairs, but as one ap-               In summing up these names with
be so pressed as to divorce the one         pointed by Christ to this work                what they imply, James M. Hoppin

232jStandard  Bearer/February 15,1994


quotes from a letter written by F.W.            you those qualifications for office          minister's motives. He is not to labor
Robertson, which the latter addressed           which the apostle Paul lays out in I         out of themotive of pleasing men. He
to a friend newly ordained (The Of-             Timothy 3. You know them, and it             is a slave of Christ, owned by Him.
fice and Work of the Christian Minis-           would be repetitious to go over them.        He has only one to please, Christ to
ty, by James M. Hoppin, New York:                   There are other points made by           whom he belongs.
Sheldon  & Company, 1870):                      Scripture which, while presupposing            Putting it in a slightly different
                                                these and building upon them, give           way, Calvin writes in his commen-
        Most sincerely I congratulate  you      some insight into what is involved in        tary on John 7~18:
  on your prospect of a curacy,  but            beingapastor/ministerwithapastois
  much more on the approach of the              heart.                                           We are also reminded by it that no
  highest earthly honor,- the privi-                Thesecanberoughlydividedinto               man can faithfully discharge the of-
  lege of working for Christ,- and                                                             fice of teacher in the Church, unless
  welcome you to a participation of its         three groups: 1) those required of a           he be void of ambition, and resolve
  joys and sorrows. Perhaps the latter          pastor/ministerinhisrelationto.God:            to make it his sole object to promote,
  predominate here, but they are not            2) those required of a pastor/minister         to the utmost of his Power, the glory
  worthy to be compared to the joys             in his relation to himself; and 3) those       of God.
  which shall be revealed in us, if we          required of a pastor/minister in his
  sufferwithhim.  Ithinkthestrictness           relation to his sheep.                           Such faithfulness implies two
  of self-examination for ministerial               Inspeakingofapastor/minister's
  fitness is contained in that solemn,                                                       things: 1) A pastor/minister must
                                                relation to God, I take my starting
  searching question of our Lord, thrice                                                     know the will of Christ, which is con-
                                                pointinGalatians  1:lO: "For dolnow
  repeated, "Simon, son of Jonas, lovest                                                     tained in the Scriptures. He must be
  thou me more than these?" And if              persuade men, or God? or do I seek           wholly and completely given to it
  wecananswerfromourinmostsouls,                to please men? for if I yet pleased          with his entire being and in all his
  as Peter did, "Lord, thou lcnowest all        men, I should not be the servant of          work. 2) A pastor/minister must do
  things,thoulcnowestthatIlovethee,"            Christ."                                     all his work in complete dependence
  I believe the injunction which fol-               The apostle sets up a contrast           upon Christ, looking to Christ for
  lows, and the warning of martyr-              here between being a slave of Christ         strength for himself and for effective-
  dom, would be received with equal             and pleasing men. He presents them
  joy as our Master's will. I am sen-                                                        ness in his work.
                                                as mutually exclusive. If one pleases
  sible that it is a test that makes me                                                          How easy it is to forget this. How
                                                men, one is not a slave of Christ. And
  humble.                                                                                    easyitistohaveourfingerinthewind
                                                if one is a slave of Christ, one does not    to judge the prevailing gusts of popu-
Requiring                                       please men. It is as bad as that.            lar approval; to labor for the applause
Specific Gifts                                      Obviously, the apostle does not          of the balcony; to keep our eyes fixed
        What kind of gifts does it take to      mean to say that God's people may            on the people who can harm us unless
be a pastor/minister - that is, one             not be pleased with the work of a            we cultivate and curry their favor.
                                                faithful pastor. He looks at the matter
with a pastor's heart?                                                                       Such conduct is abhorrent to Christ.
        It is not my intention to set before    from the viewpoint of the pastor/                              . . . to be continued Q




                 The New Age Movement
                      and Entertainment (2)

                                                    The media and entertainment in-          the most popular form of leisure and
                                                dustries have become big business,           recreation in the 1990s. This can be
                                                and are a powerful means of shaping          said not only of the generation of the
                                                the thinking of our present society.         90s in general, but of the church of the
Rev. Bruinsma is pastor  of  First Protes-      This is true because the tools which         90s as well.
tant Reformed Church in Holland, Michi-         these industries use, those of radio             This was not always the case.
gan.                                            and television, are, without a doubt,        Though many of the older generation

                                                                                                  February 15,19WStandard  Bearan


  had a radio in their homes since their       That question has already been an-         of occult worship.
  childhood, their listening pleasure          swered for them by their own parents           But, you may say, my children
  waslimited. Thechurchthenfrowned             who have allowed drama into the            and I are ignorant of all of this non-
  upon the use of radio because it was         home. Instead, today's parents have        sense that the wicked attempt to teach
  thought to be a tool of the devil. But       gone one step farther and do not even      us. Surely, then, it does not influence
  those days are apparently long gone.         monitor what is being watched on           usifwedonotrecognizeanyofit! Ah,
  And that is not all bad, since the sin       television. With the advent of the         but it does influence us. Especially is
  was never in the thing as such. But is       VCR they even watch movies that            this true of the impressionable minds
  it not true that much that is aired on       according to the world's wicked stan-      of little children who believe every-
  radio today is inappropriate for the         dards are unacceptable for viewing.        thing they watch. If our families are
   sanctified listener? Yet, despite this      And as a result their children are         avid TV viewers, then we with our
  fact, many members of the church             offered as sacrifice to the gods of the    children have been exposed to much
   today do not exercise the discern-          heathen.                                   of the relativism, humanism, and self-
   ment necessary in the use of it.                Here is something new to think         gratification of New Age thought.
       And I am thinking not only of           about with respect to both television      Maybe we have even seen our chil-
  radio, of course, but also of television.    and radio: these have become the           dren imitating some of the atrocities
  The latter has in fact long ago dis-         chief means of spreading New Age           they view on television. If this is
  placed radio as the popular means of         thinking. The drama, the talk shows,       happening in our families, then New
  home entertainment. By the 1970s it          and even the news reports are influ-       Age proponents are accomplishing
  was a rare home that did not boast at        enced, for the most part, by New Age       exactly what they have set out to do:
  least one TV set. And.again,  though         ideals. Writers, producers,and direc-      persuade the younger generation to
   the television set in itself is not sin,    tors of television programs have be-       turn from God and the objective rule
  nevertheless, there is precious little       come obsessed with the "para-nor-          of His Word for their lives, and to
   discernmentexercisedevenin"Chris-           mal." Many programs on television          follow after man and His own values
  tian" homes.                                 alone, aside from the movies now           of right and wrong.
       Many youngchristianshavebeen            playing in the theater, are saturated          In addition to those programs
   so conditioned to television and radio      with the occult, something which           that overtly teach the occult and Sa-
   from childhood, on that almost every        God's Word condemns out of hand.           tan worship, there are many others
  program on them is accepted without          Scanning the TV reviews I see such         which promote the relativistic world-
  question as a legitimate form of enter-      programs as Star Trek: Deep Space          and-life view of the New Age: noth-
  tainment. After all, radio and televi-       Nine; Star Trek The Next Generation        ingis to be condemned. Bill Cosby-
   sion have been accepted by several          (top on the viewer ratings); High-         good program? What are the inter-
   generations of believers already. Our       landers; Raven; Quantum Leap;              ests and goals of this television fam-
  parents and grandparents have en-            Sightings; Superman; and Kung Fu.          ily? Are they compatible with the
  joyed  the radio, and the television has     This season there is a whole new           aspirations of a Christian family? Is
  for the most part always been ac-            wave of these programs: Babylon 5;         the ungodly music and the dancing
  cepted in our homes as well What             Tek War; Time Trax; the X-Files; Sea       on it acceptable too? Murphy Brown
, could be so wrong with the entertain-        Quest; and probably more. Most of          - there is nothing wrong with be-
  ment we find on them?                        these programs are aired at a time         coming pregnant and having a baby
       Despite the solemn warnings             when all of the family, young and old      out of wedlock? Are swearing, mur-
  given by the church on this subject          alike, can enjoy them.                     der, fornication, and rebellion against
  through the years, the vast majority             But what about cartoons? What          authority (all of which can be seen in
  of parents in the church today, along        about television for little people? All    almost every television program) no
  with young people and children,              under the guise of good, our children      longer violations of the laws of God?
  watch TV and movies. Some parents            are fed by the entertainment industry      There are movies made for TV intro-
  even go so far as to rent movies in          a steady diet of: Care Bears, Smurfs,      ducing homosexual characters and
  order that their children can have           Rainbow Brite, and My Little Pony-         presenting them as the average, ac-
  videopartiesintheirhomeswiththeir            all programs that stress the occult:       ceptable next door neighbor. These
  blessings. Every television program          magic, incantations, spells, and the       same programs condemn as narrow-
  is allowable, even for the littlest of       power of man. There are also avail-        mindedbigots those who oppose such
  children. And if these parents are           able such animated features as: Trans-     sins. There are movies which play so
  told from the pulpit that this is sin,       formers, He-Man and the Masters of         effectively upon the sympathies of
  they either become defensive or shrug        the Universe, She-Ra, Thundercats,         their viewers that by the end of the
  it off as the personal opinion of the        Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and          program those viewers are fully per-
  minister. These parents do not even          Power Rangers. All these blatantly         suaded that  -a particular woman did
  worry about the question of whether          teach the power of the occult, even        right by having an abortion. Com-
  drama is a legitimate art form or not.       Satan worship, using all the symbols       edies spoof those who remainvirgins

  234lStandard  Bearer /February 15,1994


until marriage, mocking religion and          to commit the most heinous of sins,         There are even mind-altering video
the laws of God. Talk shows and the           even the killing of God and the eradi-      games such as "Dungeons and Drag-
media are quick to condemn any per-           cation of Christianity. Trash metal is      ons," readily available for use by one
son who takes a strong stand against          obsessed with killing.and  suicide. It      of any age. All these are but a few of
abortion or homosexuality, especially         urges its listeners to show their ha-       the many items of entertainment mo-
if this is on the basis of biblical truth.    tred toward parents and those in au-        nopolized by the New Age Move-
There is no more right and wrong.             thority by murdering them. Party            ment. Let the child of God beware!
That is the New Age ideal, certainly          metal singers enjoy screaming about             Allowmetoissueanurgentwam-
not the faith of the Christian.               sex, drugs, partying, and living for        ing. There is nothing wrong with
     Ah, but we know better. We can           today. All heavy metal music is to be       entertainment. Solomon tells us that
stand against all this. We see it, but        condemned out of hand. It is evil. AlI      God has given us the things of this
we do not allow it to influence us. Do        who listen to it are sinning outrightly     world to enjoy. Neither am I an as-
our little children see it when they are      and ought to be disciplined for it.         cetic who wants to take away allplea-
watching TV? And do our junior high               But there is other music out there      sure from a person's life. I enjoy
students see it, especially if they have      too. It was prevalent in the sixties and    `having a good time with my family
watched TV from infancy on? Televi-           the seventies and is still heard today,     and the people of God. But my study
sion conditions, or programs, people.         songs which boast in the Age of             of the New Age has caused me to re-
When we are constantly exposed to             Aquarius and imagine a kingdom of           evaluate my own life and the life of
the themes of the New Age move-               man without God. "There's a Whole           the church in light of God's Word.
ment, our opinions are being shaped           New World" and "There's a Hero              Especially is this true of what we do
and our feelings conditioned. The             Inside of You" are a couple of recent       for recreation and entertainment.
result is that our reason may tell us         examples.                                   Jesus asks a probing question in Luke
something is wrong, but our feerings              Then there are also popular songs,      18%: "Nevertheless, when the Son of
are now telling us that it is right. It is    both country and pop, that glamorize        man cometh, shall he find faith on the
repeated over and over again on tele-         the sins of fornication and adultery.       earth?" Theinfluence of the New Age
vision and in the movies: if it feels         In these instances they teach us to         Movement is no little challenge which
right, then it is right; so do it! This is    follow our feelings. And all the while      we face. This movement has its grip
in part the reason some young people          we listen to these songs we are being       on our society, and even now it
(and adults too) enjoy their drinking         conditioned once again to accept the        reaches out to strangle the faith of
parties and fornication despite what          things that are sung about. Now, the        God's people in this world. We may
they have been taught by parents and          latest: combine music with the movie.       not simply go along with the fun and
church. Do not under-                                      Pay attention once to the      entertainment of this world because
estimate the danger of                                     background music when          it feels good. We must judge it ac-
television and movies!             When we are             listening to a simple pro-     cording to the objective standard of
New Age advocates                                          gram on TV, and deter-         the Word of God. We must follow
know of the power the               constantly             mine whether it is good        what God tells us is right and wrong,
television has, and they              exposed              or bad. Most of it, on com-    and put far from us everything that
use it to their advan-             to the themes           mercials and children's        would violate His Word and com-
tage. We must be aware           of the New Age            TV programs, is heavy          mands. We cannot stand in our own
of this!                            movement,              metal. Ought Christians        strength against Satan and this mighty
    Music, too, has de-                                    to listen to this? Can we      movement to establish the kingdom
veloped since we were              our opinions            really convince ourselves      of man. We must constantly equip
children; from the rela-        are being shaped           that it has no effect on us    ourselves with the Word of God. We
tively innocent tunes of        and our feelings           or on our children?            must study it diligently at every op-
Doris Day, Bing Crosby,            conditioned.                New Age influence          portunity. It will give us the neces-
andFrankSinatra,  to the                                   even reaches beyond tele-      sary knowledge to stand in these lat-
rock and roll of Elvis L                                   vision and radio. There        ter days.
Presley, to the music                                      are toy stores filled with         And we must pray feruently,  that
revolution of the Beatles, and so on.         every toy imaginable to entertain our       God sanctify not only our thoughts
Today we have heavy metal music. I            young. There are toys that teach oc-        but also our feelings, in order that
do not even call that music anymore.          cult practices to little children. There    what we feel is in line with what we
It is really noise that charades as music.    are toys that are out to make that          believe. Then we can be assured that
From my reading I understand,that             which is ugly and evil beautiful and        through Christ we will receive the
there are three types of heavy metal          good. For older children and young          victory over our enemies. Not even
music: Party metal, Trash metal, and          people there are video games avail-         the gates of hell can prevail against
Blackmetal. The last of these is purely       able, inside the`home and out, which        the church of Christ, the elect of God.
Satanic, calling upon Satan for power         actually teach them to fight and kill.          There are two passages of God's

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Word which ought to guide us in the         ness." The second passage is the one         are worthy of death, not only do the
entertainment we enjoy.., The first is      Paul gives us in the last verse of Ro-       same, but have pleasure in them that
Isaiah 5:20: "Woe unto them that call       mans 1: "Whoknowingthe judgment              do them."
evil good, and good evil: that put          of God, that they which do such things            God give us the grace to stand
darkness for light, and light for dark-                                                  against the New Age Movement! 0




                                                         Chapter 2
                           The Creative Work
                              `in the Beginning

     If we remember that creation is a          To the first of these questions we       this verse, namely, the heavens and
unique work of God, and therefore a         now turn.                                    the earth. Nevertheless, we must
history, and if we look upon the nar-                                                    understand the text not as a general
rative in Genesis not as Moses' con-        What Did God Create?                         heading but as a statement of the
ception, nor as derived from ancient            The text informs us in the first         veryfirstcreativeactofGod,bywhich
myth, but as God's own narrative            place, in verse 1, that God created          He gave being to the entire universe
with regard toHis own work, then we         "the heavens and the earth." In the          in its unfinished form, to the chaotic
shall recognize that the narrative is       second place, it goes on to tell us in       heavens and earth. That this is cor-
full of a merciful attempt on the part      verse 2 that the earth was "without          rect is evident from the fact that verse
of the infinite God to get into our         form and void." It informs us further        2 speaks of this "chaos" as existing, at
puny little minds a bit of the great        that "darkness was upon the face of          least as far as the earth is concerned.
work which He wrought; and we               the deep." And, finally, it refers to        And if, therefore, the creation of the
shall sit humbly at His footstool, to       that deep also as "the waters" upon          chaos is not meant inverse 1, thenit  is
learn of Him facts which we could           the face of which the Spirit of God          not mentioned at all; and then the
never find out, and truths of which         moved.                                       origin of that chaos of verse 2 is not
we could never conceive, and mys-               There is a question here, first of       recorded. Besides, the expression,
teries which mere humanmind could           all, concerning the general meaning          "in the beginning," literally refers to a
never probe.                                of the text in verse 1. How must we          mere, indivisible moment of time, and
    "In the  beginning God created the      understand the fact that God created         could hardly cover the entire six days
  heaven and the earth. And the earth       the heavens and the earth? Is this           of creation. We must understand,
  was without form, and void; and           statement of verse 1 to be under-            therefore, that in that very first mo-
  darkness was upon the face of the         stood, perhaps, as simply the heading        ment the chaos was created. The
  deep. And the Spirit of God moved         of the entire chapter, so that the entire    creation of the chaos and the begin-
  upon the face of the waters" (Gen.
  l:l, 2).                                  creation-weekand the entire creation-        ning of time are simultaneous.
    There are three closely related         narrativeisincludedinthisflrststate-             In the second place, we may no-
questions which must be answered in         ment? Or must we understand that             tice that the heavens are mentioned
the light of this passage. The first is,    the text refers to the first moment of       here together with the earth, while in
"What did God create?" The second           time and to the fact that God gave           the rest of the narrative the heavens
is, "How did God create?" And the           being to the chaotic, or unfinished,         are not further mentioned. There are
third is, "When did God create?"            form of the entire universe - the            interpreters who' understand that by
                                            unfinished heavens and earth?                the heavens in this connection are
                                                There are those who hold to the          meant simply the expanse above the
                                            former view and who conceive of              earth, or the firmament, which was
                                            verse 1 as a general heading. claiming       definitely separated from the waters
The late Homer Hoeksema  was professor      that the word "create" points to the         below on the second day. Theymain-
of  Dogmatics and Old Testament in the      finished product, and claiming that          tam that the reference here is not at all
Protestant Reformed Semina y.               the finished product is mentioned in

236lStandard  BearerFebruary  15,1994


to the heaven of heavens, the heaven       find the same ideas: "Behold, the           angels, the entering in of the church
of glory. Now although it is true that     heaven and the heaven of heavens is         down through the ages, the ascension
in the rest of the creation-narrative      the Lord's thy God, the earth also          of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the
the earth and the starry heavens only      with all that therein is." The same         casting out of the devil-to mention
are mentioned, and the heaven of           distinction is made in the address and      a few specific items.
heavens is not further mentioned,          in the third petition of the Lord's             5) That there are degrees of
nevertheless we cannot agree that in       Prayer: "Our Father which art in            heavens - the higher and the high-
verse 1 by "the heavens" is simply         heaven." And again "Thy will be             est. Christ is in the highest heavens.
meant the firmament, which was defi-       doneinearth,asitisinheaven"  watt.              6) That in the end, heaven and
nitely separated from the waters be-       6~9, 10). Matthew  l&10  speaks of          earth will be renewed and united for-
low on the second day, and not the         heaven as the abode of the angels:          ever.
heaven of heavens. We believe that in      "For I say unto you, That in heaven             Here, however, the two-heaven
Genesis  1:l the whole universe is in-     their angels do always behold the face      and earth - are presented as sepa-
cluded, and that this universe is de-      of my Father which is in heaven."           rated. And from this point on the
noted by the common expression in          And very often, in harmony with the         narrative limits itself to the descrip-
Scripture, "the heavens andtheearth."      narrative in Acts 1:9-11, the Scrip-        tionof the earth and to all that belongs
And to those heavens belongs the           tures speak of heaven as the place to       to the earthly creation.
heaven of glory, the central dwelling      which Christ ascended on the 40th               That earth is pictured as waste,
place of God in the universe, and the      day after His resurrection. Thus, we        without form, and void, or empty.
abode of the angels. Whether this also     haveagreatHighl?riest"thatispassed          And it is said that darkness was upon
implies that the heaven of heavens         into the heavens" (Heb.  4:14). And         the face of the deep, or the waters.
was finished already on the first day      again, U We have such an high priest,           The terms waste and void occur
and that the creation of the heavenly      who is set on the right hand of the         elsewhere in Scripture. Thus we read
spirits, the angels, was also completed    throne of the Majesty in the heavens"       in Isaiah 34:ll: "But the cormorant
on the first day, we cannot tell. There    (Heb.  8:l). And according to  He-          and the bittern shall possess it; the
are those who hold to this opinion.        brews924:  "Christisnotenteredinto          owl also and the raven shall dwell in
The narrative in Genesis simply gives      the holy places made with hands,            it; and he shall stretch out upon it the
us no further description of the cre-      which are the figures of the true; but      line of confusion, and the stones of
ation of the heavens; and beginningin      into heaven itself, now to appear in        emptiness." The same terms occur in
verse 2, which speaks of the earth         the presence of God for us." More-          Jeremiah 4:23. Both of these passages
being waste and void, all the atten-       over, it is from this heaven that the       picture the utter desolation of a de-
tion of the narrative is concentrated      Lord shall come again in the end of         populated and waste land.
upon the earthly creation.                 the world: "For the Lord himself shall          There are those who speculate, in
    Nevertheless, it is certain that in    descend from heaven with a shout,           this connection, that there must have
the beginning the entire universe was      with a voice of the archangel, and          been a previous creation which was
created,includingthatheavenofheav-         with the trump of God" (I Thess.            laid in ruins, and that this chaotic
ens. The heaven, or heavens - be-          4:16).                                      state in verse 2 does not refer to the
cause in the original the plural formis        About this heaven of glory we           first creative work of God. This is
used - is not merely the heaven of         may say, briefly:                           called the restitution theory. It places
our firmament. Scripture itself often           1) That it is certainly a place,       a long period of time between verses
speaks in other places of another          and not a mere condition or state. Just     1 and 3 of Genesis 1. According to this
heaven. Thus, for example, in I Kings      where this heaven of glory is cannot        view, the earth had originally been
8:23, in Solomon's prayer at the dedi-     be stated definitely, although the Bible    created the abode of the angels; but
cation of the temple, we read: "Lord       always pictures it as "above."              they fell, and their abode was made
God of Israel, there is no God like        Whether this means physically above         desolate; and this allegedly explains
thee, in heaven above, or on earth         the firmament we know not.                  the desolation described in verse 2.
beneath, who keepest covenant and              2) That this heaven was origi-          That desolation is not to be attrib-
mercy with thy servants that walk          nallythe abode of the holy angels, and      uted, then, to creation, for, they say,
before thee with all their heart." And     that now also it is the abode of the        God would not create anythingwith-
again, in verse 27: "But will God          church triumphant.                          out form and void. This entire view,
indeed dwell on the earth? Behold,             3) That it is a place of higher         however, is speculative; and it has no
the heaven and heaven of heavens           revelation of God than the earth is.        ground in the text whatsoever.
cannot contain thee; how much less         God's face is there, His throne, His            In the first place, the words "in
this house that I have builded?" And       dwelling place, His sanctuary.              the beginning" ought to be sufficient
in verse 30 of the same chapter                4) That heaven also, as well as         proof against such wild speculation.
Solomon speaks of U heaven thy dwell-      the earth, has a history. To that his-      If in the beginning God created the
ing place." In Deuteronomy lo:14 we        tory belong the fall of Satan and his       heavens and the earth, it certainly

                                                                                            February 15,1994lStandard  Bearer/237


 cannot be that prior to this beginning     "deep" and the "waters" do not refer         the earth, and Genesis simply tells us
 there wasstillanotheruniverse, which       to the finished and created waters as        that God created the heaven, in order
 was first ruined and out of whose          we know them today and as they               then to describe in detail the forma-
 ruins God created the present earth.       were separated and finished on the           tion of the earth and its creatures. But
Moreover, in Isaiah 45:18 we read           third and fourth days of creation; but       it is suggested even here, and con-
that God created the heavens and the        all these terms together refer to the        firmed in the Scriptures, that when
 earth, and "he formed it to be inhab-      earth as it was completely without           the earth is ready, we must not forget
ited." Hence, we must understand            any definite shape and finished form         that it is not the highest and not the
that the terms waste and void do not        and as it was in that sense a formless       final earth. God also created the heav-
refer to some long ages of a world that     mass of solid and liquid and gaseous         ens. And Scripture teaches us that all
previously existed and fell into ruin,      substances mixed together. They re-          things were created with a view to
but to the chaotic, or unformed state       fer to that one, shapeless, lifeless, un-    Christ and that all things are to be
of the present universe as it was im-       moving substance out of which the            united in Christ. Presently a wider
mediately after the "beginning" of          entire earthly creation was formed           separation comes between earth and
verse 1. And the meaning is not that        andbecame through the Word of God            heaven through sin. Then Christ
therewasimperfectioninGod's  work,          a harmonious and finished whole.             comes from heaven, the Lord from
nor that the earth was completely           Nor must we understand that the              heaven, to unite our nature to His,
empty andhadno substance and form           earthly creation continued to exist in       earth to heaven. He comes in order to
whatsoever. But the text means that         that unformed state for a relatively         remove the separation and breach
there were as yet no finished crea-         longer or shorter period of time. But        wrought by our sin. He makes recon-
tures. The creative Word of God had         rather, in that original chaos God im-       ciliation through His blood. More-
not yet given specific form to any-         mediately commenced to create the            over, He came in order to unite all
thing.                                      order which is depicted in the narra-        things in heaven and on earth in Him-
     In that same connection the dark-      tive of the six successive days, the         self. The day is still coming, there-
ness that is meant here is not the          order which was brought to manifes-          fore, when the present order of things
darkness of our present night, which        tation in our present well-ordered           must pass away, and when God in
is never absolutely dark and without        cosmos.                                      Christ will create all things anew, so
its reminders of the day; but it refers          Finally, we may note that already       that the earth is also heavenly, and so
to the absolute darkness, such as we        here there is a hint concerning the          that all things are one and in the
cannot evenimagine, which preceded          history that is to come. For in the          highest, heavenly sense perfect.
the creation of the light. And the          beginning heaven is separated from                            . . . to be continued U

                                                                                         with the disapproval of classis on the
                                            sionof Classis East. Classis appointed       grounds that material of this type
                       January 12,1994      the consistory of HudsonvilIe to serve       should come to synodby way of over-
                               Southeast    as its committee to effect this organi-      ture from a consistory or individual,
          Protestant Reformed Church        zation.                                      and synod would then appoint a com-
                                                 In addition to hearing the reports      mittee to deal with these materials.
     Classis East met in regular ses-       of the stated clerk, the Classical Com-          The third overture to synod was
sion on Wednesday, January 12,1994          mittee, and the churchvisitors, classis      from Donald Lotterman. Mr.
in the Southeast PRC. Each church           dealt with three overtures to synod.         Lotterman proposed that changes be
was represented by two delegates.           The first was fromHudsonville,  which        made to the decision of last year's
This session was chaired by Rev. G.         proposed a change in the wording of          synod relating to the examination of
VanBaren. Special welcome was given         footnote #4 of Article 38 of the Church      ministerial candidates from other
to the delegates  ad examina  from          Order. Hudsonville proposed that             churches. Mr. Lotterman proposed
Classis West, to the students of Cal        supervising consistories of new con-         that these ministers be members of
Kalsbeek's church history class from        gregations be given the right to form        one of our churches prior to their
Covenant Christian High School, and         nominations for officebearers for a          examination and that a sermon be
to Rev. R. Cammenga who attended            new congregation. This overture was          preached by these candidates the
as a delegate for the first time.           sent to synod with the approval of           evening prior to classis so that the
    The highlight of this meetingwas        classis.                                     public could hear him. Classis for-
the approval by classis of the estab-           The second overture was from             warded this overture to synod with
lishment of a new congregation in the       Rev. W. Bruinsma, who requested              its disapproval on the grounds that
Georgetown area of Western Michi-           that a synodical  Catechism Commit-          the matter of membership is not al-
gan. The delegates ad examina from          tee be re-established for the purpose        ways practical, and that on the sec-
Classis West concurredwith the deci-        of approving new catechism  materi-          ond matter of preaching, classis needs

238lStandard  Bearer/February 15,19!M


to arrive at its own independent judg-           Subsidy requests for 1995 were         to serve a three-year primus term as
ment regarding all aspects of the ex-        receivedfromKalamazoo  ($7,000) and        delegate  ad examina  and Rev. W.
amination.                                   from Covenant ($37,300). These re-         Bruinsma to a three-year secundus
        Classical appointments were          quests were approved and forwarded         term. Rev. D. Kuiper and Rev. G.
granted to the Georgetown group as           to synod for approval.                     VanBaren were elected as churchvisi-
follows (Evening service only): Janu-            Voting for synodical  delegates        tors, with Revs. Slopsema and
ary 23  - Gritters, January 30  -            resulted in the following: MINIS-          Woudenberg as alternates. Rev. B.
Spriensma, February 6  - VanBaren,           TERS: Primi-B. Gritters, K. Koole,         Gritters was elected to serve a three-
February 13 - Joostens, February 20          D. Kuiper, J. Slopsema, G. VanBaren;       year term on the Classical Commit-
- Bruinsma, February 27  -                   Secundi - W. Bruinsma, R. Cam-             tee. Classis re-appointed J. Huisken
Cammenga, March 6 -Koole, March              menga, M. Joostens, A. Spriensma, B.       for a three-year term as stated clerk.
13 - Kuiper, March 20 - Wouden-              Woudenberg. ELDERS: Primi-D.                   Expenses for this session
berg, March 27 - Slopsema, April 3           Doezema, G. Kaptein, T. Spriensma,         amounted to $1647.60.  Classis will
- Gritters, April 10 - Spriensma,            G. VanOverloop,  G. Wassink;  Secundi      meetnextonMay11,1994inHolland.
April 17 - VanBaren, April 24 -              - T. Hugg C. Kalsbeek, M. Kamps,                         Respectfully submitted,
Joostens, May 1 - Bruinsma, May 8            C. Kuiper, I'. Machiele.                                             Jon J. Huisken
- Flikkema, May 15 - Cammenga.                   Rev. 8. Woudenberg was elected                                    Stated Clerk



School Activities                            run than a building expansion. The         elders and two deacons.
        The Board of Covenant Christian      Society agreed andvotedto adopt the            While fiIling a classical appoint-
High School recently called a special        Board's proposal. The Lord wilhng,         ment to the Loveland, CO PRC, Pas-
meeting for the Society for PR Sec-          the expansion project should be com-       tor Mahtani of our Trinity PRC in
ondary Education for the evening of          pleted by this time next year.             Houston, TX was asked to show his
January 10. The Board proposed to                It is also interesting to note that    slides on Singapore and India after
the society that it be authorized to         the Association for PR Secondary           the evening service on the 16th of
proceed with final plans and con-            Education in the South Holland, IL         January.
struction of Phase II of Covenant's          areamayalsovote,atitsannualmeet-
long-range building expansion plan.          ing, on a proposal to purchase prop-       Evangelism Activities
This plan would include five class-          erty for a future school facility.             Late last year the Church Exten-
rooms, a music room, additional rest             The students of the Heritage           sion Committee of the Lynden, WA
rooms, storage, plus parking and             ChristianSchoolcollectedmoneythis          PRC sponsored a special congrega-
grounds improvements, including              past holiday season for the Randolph,      tional evening on Personal Evange-
another exit for traffic unto Wilson         WI PR Christian School. The money          lism. The purpose was to grow in an
Ave. Current estimates place the cost        collected was intended to be used for      appreciation of congregational in-
of this project somewhere in the range       the purchase of an overhead projec-        volvement in the mission calling of
of 1.1 million dollars. Covenant's           tor and accessories.                       the church. A handout was prepared
Board felt the time was right for this                                                  which contained a copy of Rev. R.
project to be implemented, since cur-        Congregational Activities                  VanOverloop's  paper on Active Con-
rent enrollment projections show con-            At its January meeting,  Classis       gregational Involvement, a list of ques-
tinued growth in student-body size           East gave the go-ahead for organiza-       tions for study and discussion, and
through the year 2000.                       tion of the group of families mee,ting     The 10 Commandments for Mission
        The Board also looked at the pos-    inBauer, MI (Georgetown) tobecome          Work, by Rev. S. Houck.
sibility of a dual-shift schedule for the    our churches' newest congregation.             The Evangelism Committee of the
students. This schedule would have           Classis also appointed the Council of      First PRC in Grand Rapids, MI has
six classes from 7:OO A.M. to 12:OO and      the Hudsonville, MI PRC to serve as        decided to feature a pamphlet of the
six classes from 12:OO to 5:00 P.M. But      a committee to see to that organiza-       month for their congregation's enjoy-
the Board discovered that this "solu-        tion.                                      ment. The pamphlet for the month of
tion" to Covenant's problem would                In keeping with that decision of       January was Knowing the True God, by
prove to be more costly in the long          Classis, the Council of Hudsonville        Rev. S. Houck.
                                             has tentatively set the date of Bauer's        The Reformed Witness Commit-
                                             organization for February 23 at the        tee of the Doon  and Hull, IA PRC,
Mr. Wigger  is an elder in the Protestant    Hudsonville PRC. Hudsonville's             along with the Edgerton, MN PRC
Reformed  Church  of  Hudsonville, Michi-    Council has also recommended that          has decided to discontinue the Bible
gan.                                         the group be organized with three          Study Meeting in Sioux Falls, IA due

                                                                                             February 15,1994/Standard  Bearer1239


                                                                                                                    SECOND CLASS
                                                                                                                    Postage Paid at
                                                                                                                    Grandvile, Michigan
      P. 0. Box 603
      Grandvile,  MI 49468-0603 _.~  -.  -


   to a lack of outside interest. The last       Doug Kuiper conducting the services          Minister Calls
   meeting was held at Calvin Christian          over Christmas. I can not help but               After Rev. Gritters' decline of
   School in Sioux Falls onDecember 20.          notice from the bulletins I receive          Loveland's call, Loveland formed
       The congregation and Council of           from both Alamosa and Loveland               another trio consisting of the follow-
   the Loveland, CO PRC continues to             that,.there are many weeks when              ing  pastor& Revs. R. Dykstra, C.
   support the work involved'tith  the           Loveland has arranged for preaching          Haak, and G. VanBaren.
   SanLuis Valley Mission in Alamosa,            in Alamosa, when they, in turn, are                    ~oodfor cniou~fit:
   CO. InDecember;  Loveland arranged            having services on the Lord's day led            "A faith that does not influence a
   for Rev. A. Spriensma and Seminar-            by one of their elders. I believe this       man's practice is not worthy of the
   ian Doug Kuiper to spend consecu-             shows just how committed Loveland            name."
   tive two-week periods there, with             is in this regard.                                                       JC.  RyZe  12



           CALL TO ASPIRANTS                     are listed in the seminary catalog avail-           TEACHERS NEEDED
             TO THE MINISTRY                     able from the school.                            Covenant Christian High School
        All young men desiring to begin              All applicants must appear before        of Grand Rapids, Michigan is accept-
    studies for the 1994 - 1995 academic         theTheological  School Committee for         ing applications for teaching positions
    year in the Theological School of the        interview before admission is granted.       for the 1994-l 995 school year. Those
    Protestant Reformed Churches should          In the event that a student cannot           interested in the position of choir or
    make application at the March 17,            appear at the March 17 meeting, no-          band director are also invited to apply.
    1994 meeting of the Theological              tification of this fact, along with a        Call Miss Agatha Lubbers at school
    School Committee.                            suggested interview date, must be            (616) 453-5048 or home (616) 458-
        A testimonial from the prospec-          given to the secretary of the Theologi-      2057, or Mr. Rick Noorman (616) 457-
    tive student's consistory that he is a       cal School Committee before this             6087. Applicants may also write the
    member in full communion, sound in           meeting.                                     school at
    faith, and upright in walk; a certificate        All correspondence should be di-                   1401 Ferndale S.W.             "
    of health from a reputable physician;        rected to the Theological School Com-              Grand Rapids, Ml 49504.
    and high school and college transcripts      mittee,
    must accompany the application.                         4949 lvanrest Avenue  `1.
    Before entering the seminary, all stu-                  Grandville, Ml 49418.
    dents must have earned a bachelor's                          Jon Huisken, Secretary         RESOLUTION OF SYMPATljY
    degree and met all of the course re-                    * * * * * * *                       The Adult Bible Society of Faith
    quirements for entrance to the semi-             The Prctestant  Reformed Seminary        Protestant Reformed Church extends
    iary. These entrance requirements admits students of any race, color, and                 our sympathy to the families of Harv
                                                 national or ethnic origin.                   and Marilyn Holstege, David Sr. and
                                                                                              Nancy Ondersma, Randy and -Sue
                                                                 NOTICE!!                     Dykstra, David Ondersma, Jr., and to
               " NOTICE!!!                           All students enrolled in the Prot-       Craig and Heidi Ondersmain the death
       Classis West of the Protestant            estant Reformed Seminary, who will           of their father, grandfather, and great-
   Reformed Churches will meet in the            be in need of financial assistance for       grandfather,
   Hope Protestant Reformed Church in            the coming school year, are asked to              MR. SIMON ONDERSMA.
   Redlands, CA on Wednesday, March              contact the Student Aid Committee                May the families take comfort in
   2, 1994 at 8:30 a.m., the Lord willing.       Secretary, Mr. Larry Meulenberg.             the words of Question and Answer 1
 -. All delegates in need of lodging or          (Phone [616] 453-8466.) This contact         of the Heidelberg Catechism, that I
. transportation from the airport should         should be made beforethe nextsched-          "am not my own, but belong unto my
   notify the Clerk of Hope's consistory.        uled meeting of March 17,1994,  D.V.         faithful Savior Jesus Christ...."
             Rev. Ronald VanOverloop,                            Student Aid Committee                        Rev. K. Koole, President
                              Stated Clerk                  Larry Meulenberg, Secretary                        Jan Talsma, Secretary

  24OlStandard  BearerlFetqary  15,1994


