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                `i,J                      STANDARD
A Reformed                                 ~!IBII~ER
Semi44onthly
Magazine





                                                        See "Ke/ong and Net" - page 397



Vol. 70, No. 17                           -  '
June, 1994


     CONTENTS:                                                                                                         June,  1994
/                                                                                                                                                    I

     Meditation - Rev. Cornelius Hank0
            Self Examination . . . . . . ..~.~.~~~~~~~~~~......................~~~........~.................... 387
     Editorial - Prof. David J. Engelsma                                                                                                                  ISSN 0362-4692
            Synod of the PRC 1994 .,..`............................................................. 389                                                  Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July, and August.
     Letters I....,............................................................................................                             391           Published bythe Reformed Free Publishing Assoclatlon, Inc.,
     Open Letter to the Members of the PRC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392          4649  lvanrwt  Ave.,  Grandvllle,  MI  46416.  Second  Class
                                                                                                                                                          Postage Paid at Grandville, Michigan.
     All Around Us - Prof. Robenf D. Decker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393
     Contribution  - Rev. Russell J. Dyksfra                                                                                                              Postmasters  Send address changes to the Standard Bearer,
                                                                                                                                                          P.O. Box 663, Grandville, MI 46466g663.
            Missionaries Sent Out From Antioch (2) ,...............................*...... 394                                                            ELNTORIAL  COMMRTEE
     Guest Articles                                                                                                                                       Edlton Prof. David J. Engetsma
            Kelong and Net - Rev. Jason L. Kortering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397                        Secretary: Prof. Robed D. Decker
                                                                                                                                                          Managing Editor: Mr. Don Doezema
            Foreign Mission Work in the PRC - Rev. Russell  J. Dyksfra . . . . . . . 399                                                                  DEPARTMENT EDITORS
     Search the Scriptures - Rev. George C. Lubbers                                                                                                       Rev. WHbur Brulnsma, Rev. Ronald Cammmtge, Prof. Robert
            The God-Required Honor Due to Widowed Mothers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401                                                       Decker,  Rev. Aria denHartog, Rev. Barry Qrittars,  Rev. Carl
                                                                                                                                                          Haak, Rev. Cornelius Hanko, Prof. Herman Hanko. Rev. John
     Taking Heed to the Doctdne - Rev. Bernard Woudenberg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                                           Heys,  Rev.  Dale  wiper,  Mr.  James  Laming,  Rev.  George
            The Logic of Rhetoric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..~...~..~.....................................~....                      403           Lubbers, Mrs. Mary&h Lubbers. RevThomas Misrsma. Rev.
                                                                                                                                                          AudredSp&msma, Rev. ChariesTerpstm,  Rev..GlseVanBaren,
     Book Review .,,.......................................................................................                                 405           Rev. RonaldVanCvsrloop.  Mr. Benjamin  Wigger,  Rev. Bernard
     News From Our Churches - Mr. Benjamin Wigger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406                                     Woudenberg.
                                                                                                                                                          EDtTORUL  OFFtCE             CHURCH NEWS  EDtTOR
                                                                                                                                                          The Standard Bearer          Mr. Ben Wigger
        ihn Th/$ li~BU@ ,> n ,:                                                                                                                           4646 hmnre8t                 6597  4WAve.
                                                                                                                                                          Grandville,  Ml  46416       Hudsonville,  MI  46426
                                                                                                                                                          BUSINESS  OFFtCE L NEW  ZEALAND  OFFtCE
                                                                                                                                                          TheStandardBsarer           The Standard Bearer
            This issue continues the theme of missions that has been prominent in                                                                         Don Doerema                  do 6. VanHerk
                                                                                                                                                          P.O. Box 663                 66 Fraser St.
     the past two issues of the Sfun&rd Bearer with particular emphasis on                                                                                Grandville, Ml              Walnulomata. New Zealand
     foreign missions.                                                                                                                                      494664603                  NORTHERN tRELAND DFFKZE
                                                                                                                                                          PI-L  (616)  531-1460       c/o Mr. Jonathan McAuky
            Rev. Russ Dykstra has two significant contributions. One is "Missionar-                                                                           (616)  636-1776          164 Church Rd., Gtenwherry
                                                                                                                                                          FAX:   (616)  5313633        Sallymew, Co. Antrlm BT42  3EL
     ies Sent Out from Antioch." From Acts 13:1-4, Rev. Dykstra draws instruc-                                                                                                         Northern lretand
                                                                                                                                                          EDITORIAL  POLICY
     tion for the mission calling of the church today. There are "four elements in                                                                        Every editor Is sol&y responsible for the contents of his own
     the church of Antioch found in a church that desires to be used by Christ in                                                                         artkles.  Contributionsafgeneralintemst~mwrreademand
     missions."                                                                                                                                           questions  for  The  Reader  Asks  department  are  welcome.
                                                                                                                                                          Ccntrtbuttons will ba limited to appmximately  306 words and
            In his capacity as secretary of the Foreign Mission Committee of the                                                                          mustbensatiywiktenortypewrNen,andmustbssignd. Copy
                                                                                                                                                          deadlines   are  the  first   and  fmeenth  of  the  month.  All
     Protestant Reformed Churches, Rev. Dykstra reports on the work and plans                                                                             ccmmunicattons  relative to the contents should be sent to ths
     of the  committee.  The FMC is investigating work in  Ghana,  Africa. It is                                                                          ednorlal0tn00.
     proposing to synod 1994 that a committee visit Ghana once again on behalf                                                                            REPRINT POUCY
     of full-time work there by a missionary. Read "Foreign Mission Work in the                                                                           Permlss~~isherebyg~tedfortherepdntlngofarticlesinour
                                                                                                                                                          magsrinebyotherpubliwtiaw,pmvided:e)thatsuchmprinted
     PRC."                                                                                                                                                ertkles are mproduced In fun; b) that proper actmcwisdgmsnt
            In an article that delivers even more than its intriguing title promises                                                                      is made: c) that a copy of the perkadicat in which arch reprint
                                                                                                                                                          eppeam IS sent to cur edaorlal of&s.
     ("KeZ&g  and Net"), Rev. Jason Kortering discusses methods of missions.
     Drawing on his experience in Singapore, where his labors as minister-on-                                                                             SUBSCRIPTION POUCY
                                                                                                                                                          Subacriptkn   prke:  Sl2.Oiper   year  in  the  U.S.,   $15.66
     loan involve him in work with the lost, Rev. Kortering calls on the congrega-                                                                        ekewhere.   Unless a definite  request for discontinuance  is
                                                                                                                                                          reoetved,  tt  Is  assumed   that  the  subscriber   wishes  the
     tions to be active in missions with both keZong  and net.                                                                                            su~dptiontomntinua,andhewillbebilledfwrsnewal.  lfycu
            Not all the articles this time are on missions. Be sure to read Rev.                                                                          havsachan(leofaddress,pleesenotifymeBusiMl8sOfficeas
                                                                                                                                                          early  as  possible  In  order  to  avold  the  lnconvenlsnce  of
     George Lubbers' careful exposition of the apostle's exhortation in I Timothy                                                                         interrupted delNery. Include your zip or Postal Code.
     5:3-7 concerning an important aspect of the life of the congregation, "The                                                                           ADvEmlaNQ  POLICY
     God-Required Honor Due to Widowed Mothers."                                                                                                          The  StsndanfSeererdoes  not accept commercial advertising
            The editorial highlights the agenda of the 1994 synod of the PRC. This                                                                        c4 eny kind. Announcementa of church and schooi events,
                                                                                                                                                          anntvemarks,   obituaries, and sympathy   resotuticns will be
     keeps our people informed and enables them more intelligently to pray for                                                                            placedfora53,Wtw..mewshwMbesenttothe  Business
     the synod, vital expression of the unity of the churches. Members in West-                                                                           DffkeMdshouldbe-penledbytheS3.Wfee. Deadllns
                                                                                                                                                          forwncunwmMteIsatleaatulemonthpriortopuMkatkn
     ern Michigan are urged to attend the pre-synodical worship service at Faith                                                                          date.
     Church in Jenison on Monday evening, June 6. The sessions of synod are                                                                               SOUND VOLUME6.
     open to the public.                                                                                                                                  The  Budnew  Cffka will  accept standlng  orders for bound
                                                                                                                                                          coptesofthewrrentvoiume. SuchordersareRlledassoonas
            Our readers are reminded that the SB appears only once a month in                                                                             poaslt4e  after tmnp4tkn  bf a volume year.
     June, July, and August.
                                                                                                                                        - D J E           16mm  mluofllm,  35mm mtcroftlm  and lffimm microfiche, and
                                                                                                                                                          arttde   copies  are  available  through  University  Micro5lms
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     386lStandard  Bearer IJune,  1994


       j!l&&!i  ,".
I





                                    Self Examination

                                                     But the point is, make your election          Our calling  is that powerful work
         Wherefore the rather, brethren, give        sure.                                     of our God's Spirit in our hearts
     diligence to make your calling and elec-                 *  *  *  *  *  *  *              whereby, through the preaching of
     tion sure;for ifye do these things, ye shall        Your election is that amazing         the Word,.we were transformed from
     never fall.                                     wonder of grace that God has chosen       death into life, from darkness into
                                  II Peter NO        you as His very own, and loves you        God's marvelous light.
                                                     with an eternal, unchangeable love,           You and I took no active part in
         Therefore....                               for no reason to be found in you, but     that, but were mere recipients. When
         Because you have experienced                only in sovereign good pleasure.          Jesus stood at the tomb of Lazarus He
     the power of our mighty God in your                 Out of the whole human race God       cried, "Lazarus, come forth," and
     hearts and lives....                            has chosen a people unto Himself as       powerwentforthfromHim,bringing
         Because you have been effica-               His cherished possession, to be re-       life into that decaying corpse, so that
     ciously called out of death into life,          deemed by the blood of His dear Son,      Lazarus awoke and came forth out of
     and even made partakers of the di-              to be renewed by His Spirit, and          the tomb. Even so, when the power-
     vine nature....                                 brought into His fellowship to adore      ful voice of Jesus penetrates into the
         Andbecause, besides all that, you           and praise Him forever. God chose         hidden recesses of our souls we hear
     are given exceeding great and pre-              an organism,:His  church, as a body       the voice of Jesus calling: "Awake,
     cious promises, be diligent to make             with Christ as its Head, and has cho-     thou that sleepest, arise from the
     your calling and election sure.                 sen each individual for his own place     dead!" Our Canons refer to this as a
         There may be someone in the                 in the body to serve in his own unique    supematural,incomprehensible work
     church who reveals nothing more than            manner to the praise of His name          of God in Christ Jesus, which is equal
     temporal faith, which may cause him             eternally.                                only to creation and the resurrection
     to be very exuberant about his newly                Since the rest of humanity by that    from the dead.
     discovered joy, yet when trials and             same sovereign will are reprobated to         As a newborn babe has the ability
     persecution beset him he falls away.            perish in their sins, we can only mar-    to see, even though it cannot as yet
     Or there may be someone who is born             velthemorethatweshouldbecounted           focusits eyes, so also at our rebirth we
     and reared in the church, but never             among that elect people. Why should       are given the potential, the ability, to
     actually possesses true faith, is spiri-        God choose me? I certainly am no          believe. In due time this ability is
     tually blind, and is barren, never giv-         better than the many thousands who        brought into an active believing,
     ing evidence of the fruits of grace.            are justly condemned to hell for their    whereby we learn to know our sin
         Youwhobyatrueandlivingfaith                 sins. I stand amazed at that bound-       and misery and embrace Christ with
     know Jesus Christ do not want to be             1essmercythattheeternalGodshould          all His benefits, to live a new and holy
     counted with either one of them.                have compassion upon me, the most         life in gratitude to God. We are called
     Wherefore the rather, give diligence,           unworthy. Don't you?                      out of death into life, to live before the
brethren, to make your calling and                       That election is the eternal and      face of God and to tell His praises.
     election sure.                                  certain ground of our salvation. Our          Therefore it is so very important
         To make your election sure you              Canons tell us that our election is of    that we give diligence to make our
     must make your calling sure. There-             unspeakable consolation to us. How        calling sure. Only then can we make
     fore your calling is mentioned first.           important it is that we are sure that     our election, the eternal ground of
                                                     we are among the elect, whose names       our salvation, sure.
                                                     are indelibly written in the Book of               *  Y  *  *  *  *  *
                                                     Life.                                         Does this imply that our calling,
                                                         To make our election sure, Peter      and therefore our election, is and re-
Rev. Hanko is a minister emeritus in tlze            tells us, we must make our calling        mains a grave uncertainty through-
Protestant Reformed Churches.                        sure.                                     out most of our lives? Is it an earmark

                                                                                                           June, 1994lStandard  Beam17387


of a child of God that he doubts his         receive it through faith is meant.            snow." All the gold and silver of this
salvation? Should I be asking myself               This does n&mean that I can rest        world can not atone for a single sin.
time and again, "Am I really saved?"         content because I accept all that is in       No animal sacrifice, no angel from
Does self-examination mean that I            the Bible to be true. Or because I            heaven, can pay the ransom for our
ask myself, "Am I a child of God?"           formally attend church and say my             sins. God performs the impossible.
     We must understand well that            prayers. Or because I am faithful to          He gave His Son. His Son gave His
this would be contrary to the pres-          my husband or wife, care for my               life. Christ now lives to bless us out of
ence and work of the Holy Spirit             family, pay my obligations, and live a        heaven. By His Spirit within us He
within us, and also contrary to true         decent, respectable life. All that may        assures,us of the forgiveness of our
faith wrought by Christ's indwelling         be true, but it may still also be true        sins and sanctifies us to a new and
Spirit..                                     thatIdonotlive"inthefaith,"Idonot             holy life, to the praise of our God.
     Faith is a sure knowledge. It is        live in the full assurance of being               In gratitude to Him we desire to
not a mere intellectual knowledge (as        God's elect.                                  live unto Him, even as we live by
important as that is), but a conviction            The question is, therefore, do I        Him.
of the heart. Job confesses: "I know         love the Lord my God with my whole                This includes crucifying the flesh
that my Redeemer liveth." And Paul           being? DoIloveHimmorethanIlove                and prayerfully guarding ourselves
assures us that he is "confident of this     my family and my earthly posses-              from the snares of temptation. Peter
very thing, that he which hath begun         sions? Does He have first place in my         urges us "to add to our faith virtue;
a good work in you will perform it           life? Do I seek to glorify His name in        and to virtue knowledge; and to
until the day of Jesus Christ."              all that I say and do? Do I put all my        knowledge temperance; and to tem-
     Besides that, faith is a hearty con-    trust in Him alone? Is it evident to my       perance patience; and to patience
fidence, trust, assurance. As David          family, amongmy  acquaintances, and           godliness; and to godliness brotherly
says: "My soul waiteth upon God,             at my places of labor, that I live close      kindness; and to brotherly kindness
from him is my salvation."                   to my God? Do others see in my daily          charity."
     Therefore Paul                                          walk that I am a-Chris-                   *  *  *  * *  *  *
does not admonish us                                         th?                               "For if ye do these things ye shall
to examine ourselves                                             We place ourselves        never fall."
whether we  have  faith,            What we see              before themirrorof God's          There are those within the church
but rather, whether we              as we stare              holy Word with the            who are spiritually blind. It is not all
are in the faith, (II Cor.        into the mirror            prayer, "Search me, 0         Israel that is called Israel. In due time
13:5).                                                       God,andknowmyheart:           they fall away.
     The example has               of God's Word             try me, and know my               That was true in Peter's day, and
beenusedofamanwho,                is not appealing.          thoughts: and see if there    it grieved the saints. There was a
whenheawakensinthe                                           beanywickedwayinme,           Judas among the twelve, even though
morning, does not L                                          and lead me in the way        he went unsuspected for some time.
pinch himself to find                                        everlasting."                 There are also among us those who
out whether he is alive. He knows he               What we see as we stare into the        are carnal, some of whom, after much
is. He does not look in the mirror to        mirror of God's Word is not appeal-           prayer and labor, must be excommu-
see whether heis the same person that        ing. We see our sinful nature and our         nicated.
went to bed the night before. He             sin as it still wars in our members. We           Equally painful it is to see fellow
knows he is. He does not ask his wife        see in our daily walk the very oppo-          believers fall into sin. We become
whether he is still her husband. He          site of love and devotion to our God.         deeplyawareofourownsinfulweak-
knows he is.                                 We sin constantly in all that we say          nesses. We take to heart the warning,
    The same thing applies to a true         and do. We see ourselves as hope-             "Let him who stands beware lest he
and living faith. We know that we are        lessly lost sinners in the sight of the       fall." And we pray the more ear-
sons and daughters of our merciful,          living God. We can only complain:             nestly: "Lead us not into temptation,
covenant God.                                "0 wretched man that I am! who                but deliver us from the Evil One."
     In the words of the apostle Paul,       shall deliver me from the body of this            Peter assures us that we shall
we must examine ourselves whether            death?" In our misery we cry out              never fall when we diligently seek all
we are in the faith.                         with the psalmist: "Out of the depths         our salvation in Christ alone. If our
     "The faith" here means the objec-       have I cried unto thee, 0 Lord. Lord,         salvation depended in the smallest
tive truth as we have it in the Word of      hear my voice, let thine ears be atten-       degree upon us, we would have ev-
God. Just as we are accustomed to            tive to the voice of my supplication."        ery reason to question whether we
speak of "the faith of our fathers,"               But we also hear anew the glad          are actually saved. If God had waited
referring to the content of their faith,     tidings of the gospel. We hear Christ         for us to make the first move, to ex-
so also here the truth as it is revealed     say to us: "Though your sins be as            tend a hand, or even tobreathe a sigh,
to us in the Scriptures and as we            scarlet, I have washed you white as           we would never have been saved.

3WStandard  BearerlJune,  1994


    ButsalvationisoftheLord.  Christ        come to Him. And this same Christ           None of self. It is all of Him!
knows His own, given to Him by the          who has begun a good work will                      Well may we heed the Word of
Father and redeemed by His cross,           surely finish it. He assures us: "I will    God: "Give diligence to make your
whom He calls by name, and they             never leave thee, nor forsake thee."        calhg and election sure." Cl

  E$Mkpmlii




                .Synod of the PRC 1994

    Faith Protestant Reformed               sent again to Ghana, Africa within          denominational work by the home
Churchin Jenison,Michiganwill  host         eight months after the meeting of           missionary, including radio andwrit-
the 1994 synod of the denomination.         synod. The purpose is to make prepa-        ing.
Synod will convene on Tuesday, June         ration for the eventual calling of a                The DMC has done some careful
7. The pre-synodical worship service        missionary to work in Ghana. Pres-          evaluation of the work presently be-
will be held on Monday evening, June        ently, the FMC conducts a weekly            ing carried on by the PRC through
6, in the auditorium of the Faith           radio broadcast over Radio Africa.          radio. The result is the recommenda-
church. Rev. James Slopsema, presi-         Rev. Richard Moore is the preacher.         tion that several stations be dropped.
dent of the 1993 synod, will conduct        The FMC isin contact with Rev. Jason        At the same time, the committee is
the service and preach the sermon.          Kortering in Singapore concerning           preparing "one year's worth of radio
    The agenda indicates that this          missions there. The FMC "is commit-         broadcasts for the purpose of intro-
synod will be short on controversy          ted to promoting the work of foreign        ducing our churches and the Re-
and long on positive proposals. In a        missions in the PRC. As part of this        formed truth." These broadcasts will
church-world rife with tensions,            effort, the committee has started the       be used both for the discovery of new
strifes, and divisions, the PRC enjoy       practice of printing a semi-annual          fields and for the support of fields
peace. Under God's blessing, this is        news letter to the churches." The           that the PRC are working. The de-
due to a real oneness based upon the        committe.e  "requests the prayers of        nominational committee will help a
Reformed confessions -the "Three            all the saints that the Lord will again     local church in the support of a radio
Forms of Unity." Peace enables them         grant our churches the privilege of         broadcast in the amount of up to 50%
energetically to carry out Christ's         sendingmissionariesintolandswhere           of the cost, if the church can show that
mandates to His church in missions,         the gospel has not been preached in         the broadcast has potential for de-
contact, theological instruction, and       the generations of the people."             nominational missions.
other areas.                                    The Domestic Mission Commit-                    The synod receives an encourag-
    There is also growth. The de-           tee @MC) is proposing that synod            ing report of the Northern Ireland
nomination grew by fifty families           authorize the calling of a home mis-        mission. Rev. Ron Hank0  has, or
since last year. It is now nearing 1,500    sionary. He will investigate fields         makes, the opportunity to speak on
families, the largest it has ever been.     and labor in fields that may open up.       many occasions, for many audiences,
    God grant that synod may serve          The committee recommends that the           in many different places. Missionary
these churches well, deciding every-        Loveland, Colorado PRC be the call-         Hank0 reports that "the members of
thing on the basis of Holy Scripture,       ing church and that the home mis            the CRF (Covenant Reformed Fel-
the creeds, and the church order of         sionary begin his work with a group         lowship) are all actively involved in
Dordt and "endeavoring to keep the          in the San Luis Valley in southern          the work." One aspect of this activity
unity of the Spirit in the bond of          Colorado. The Loveland church has           is the distribution of a great deal of
peace" (Eph. 4:3).                          been active in the gathering of a group     literaturethroughouttheBritishIsles.
                                            of five families and several individu-      The Northern Ireland mission coop-
                Missions                    als in that area. Protestant Reformed       erates with the British Reformed Fel-
                                            ministers have been preaching for the       lowship in the promotion of the Re-
    The Foreign Mission Committee           group since June, 1993. TheDMC has          formed faithin  the wider area of Scot-
(FMC) proposes that a delegation-be         laid out a helpful guide for related,       land, England, and Wales. Member-

                                                                                                      June, 1994lStandad Bear4309


ship in the CRP, the mission group         sonal papers of Herman Hoelcsema             PRC opening their pulpits to minis-
itself, numbers fourteen adults, three     and of Justin Kortering long-time el-        ters of churches with which the PRC
young people, and thirteen children,       der in the Holland, Michigan PRC.            do not have a sister-church relation-
exclusive of the Hank0  family. In         Archivist Jon Huisken and the TSC            ship. The CC is recommending that
addition, some twelve adults, three        make an important plea:                      synod allow for the opening of the
young people, and seven children                                                        pulpits of the PRC to such ministers
regularly visit the services on the          The archives continue to look for          according to guidelines suggested by
Lord's Day. There are also other             additional materials. Of particular        the CC. This will require that synod
visitors.                                    note to the archives are the papers of     declare a decision of a previous synod
                                             those individuals and organizations        "incorrect." The decision in view is
               Seminary                      which have figured prominently in
                                             the history of the PRC. Anyone,            that of the synod of 1989 in Article 12:
                                             therefore, with materials that might
     The Theological School Commit-          be useful to the archives should not         TheConstitutionoftheContactCom-
tee (TSC) reports to synod that there        destroy them, but rather should do-          mittee makes the exchange of pulpits
were twelve students in the seminary         nate them to the archives so that they     ' one of the most important fruits of
this past year. Two men will have            may be preserved and then made               fufua sister-church relations (V-B-l); it
graduatedby the time of synod. Both          available to those who may wish to           hardly seems possible  that  mutual
are Australians who trained for the          use them in trying to tell the story of      opening of pulpits can alsobelong to
                                                                                          a less complete fraternal relationship
ministry in the Evangelical Presbyte-        our existence.                               where circumstances have dictated
rian Church of Australia, Mr. Chris                                                       that a full relationship is not possible
Connors and Mr. David Higgs. Two               The heart of the work of the TSC           ("Acts of Synod 1989," p. 14).
students will begin a six-month in-        is expressed in the opening lines of
ternship this summer. Seminarian           the report of Rector Robert D. Decker,        , The Alliance of Reformed
Allen Brum.mel will workin  Singapore      included in the report of the TSC:           Churches brings to our synod the
under the supervision of the sessions                                                   question, "Are (you) interested in
of the two Evangelical Reformed              To be used of God for the prepara-         working toward a federative unity
Churches, Pastor Lau ChinKwee,  and          tion of ministers of the Word and
                                             Sacraments is a great privilege for        withtheindependentchurches? If so,
Rev. Jason Kortering. Seminarian             which the professors are thankful.         according to what procedure would
DouglasKuiperwilldohisinternship             We do this in a denomination of            (you) suggest such federative unity
in the PRC of Doon, Iowa under the           churches where we have complete            be sought?" The CC has drawn up a
supervision of the Doon  consistory          freedom to teach the truth of Holy         letter of response to this inquiry and
and Rev. Russ Dykstra. These will be         Scriptureasinterpretedandsnmmed            asks that synod adopt it.
the first implementation of an intern        in the Three Forms of Unity. And we            The relation of the PRC with the
program adopted recently by synod.           enjoy the encouragement, support,          Evangelical Reformed Churches of
Thepurposeis to give advanced semi-          and prayers of God's people. For           Singapore and the prodigious labors
narians experience in the congrega-          thiswethankourGodwithoutwhose
                                             grace this could never be.                 in Singapore of Rev. and Mrs. Jason
tion or on the mission field. One                                                       Kortering are heartwarming. God
young man from the PRC will begin                          Contact                      opening up the way, it is to be hoped
studies in the seminary this fall.                                                      that there wilI be much that the PRC
    Construction of the addition to            The Contact Committee (CC) re-           can do in helping the Evangelical Re-
the seminary building is about to be-      ports on various degrees of contact          formed Churches of Singapore in
gin. Friends outside the PRC and           with the Alliance of Reformed                many ways in the future.
members of the churches have freely        Churches, independent churches in
donated some $320,000. This repre-         Canada, the -Evangelical Reformed                         Other Matters
sents about 75% of the estimated cost.     Churches of Singapore, the Evangeli-
The addition will consist of a library,    cal Presbyterian Church of Australia,            Among the other matters that
study space for the students, studies      and the Protestant Reformed Church           synod must treat, there are several
for the faculty, and storage space for     of New Zealand. The PRC have full            appeals against the decision of the
denominational works. The TSC will         sister-church relations only with the        synod of last year closing the Jamaica
conduct a financial drive for the re-      Evangelical Reformed Churches of             mission field. A council overtures
mainder of the cost after construction     Singapore and the PRC of New                 synod to change decision "D" under
begins. The committeeisrecommend-          Zealand.                                     Article 38 of the church order, so that
ing that synod approve collections in          Contact with an independent              an appropriate church council makes
the churches until the debt is repaid.     church in Canada and with the Evan-          nomination for the election of
    A room in the new addition will        gelical Presbyterian Church of Aus-          officebearers at the organization of a
house the denominational archives          tralia has raised the question of the        new congregation. A member over-
Recent acquisitions include the per-                                                    tures synod to change the procedure

39OIStandard Bearer/June, 1994


of the examination of ministerial can-      port of emeriti ministers, suggesting        synod to the welfare of the PRC, the
didates from other churches. The            that a revision of Article 13 of the         good of the church universal, and the
Emeritus Committee has a special            church order may be necessary.               glory of His Name! 0
report on the supervision of the sup-           God bless the deliberations of the                                        - DJE





                                            receiving government aid to Chris-           for the instructor, had to get up and
H Special Issue on Missions                 tian schools saying, in effect, that our     go to an older section of the building.
    I want to thank you for the beau-       position is really one of no position at     The reason given was that religion
tiful special issue of May 1 on mis-        all? Was Mr. Lanting saying that             could be taught there since it had
sions. I enjoyed the whole very in-         receiving government aid by our par-         been built without the use of govem-
structive issue, but was struck espe-       ents and/or schools is a good posi-          ment aid.
cially by the articles, "Missionaries       tion to take, as long as we do not see           The interesting illustration in the
Sent Out From Antioch" and "The             "a realistic threat of corresponding         editorial of the same issue entitled,
Macedonian Call," by the brothers           and unwanted government control              "The Nose of the Camel," with its
Dykstra and Haak As I read I could          over the recipient or the use of the         reference to women voting at congre-
not help but reflect on my own call         funds"?                                      gational meetings, would be good
and experiences as missionary to Latin          Obviously, it is all right to receive    here, also, wouldn't it? That is, by
America for 38 years. That certainly        such aid legally. The government of-         stopping the "intrusive camel at the
followed the pattern so clearly laid        fers it and will probably also continue      point of his nose," we will prevent the
out and explained in those articles.        to do so  - as long as it remains            beastly camel from coming entirely
    This is only the second time in the     solvent at the tax-payers' expense.          into the tent. Reformed Christian
more than thirty years that I have          But isn't there a greater threat of gov-     schools do not want government con-
been receiving the Standard Bearer that     ernment control in our schools today         trol in their school tent!
I have written to the editor. The first     than there ever wasbefore? Weknow                Thanks for your time, and keep
time was some twenty-five years ago         our government's position towards            up the good work of publishing the
when I requested and received per-          religion in the schools of our land,         Standard Bearer, as a Reformed maga-
mission to translate and use some           don't we? Is not the increase of god-        zine.
articles in my Reformed Doctrine            lessness in our land due in part to the                                    Ken DeJong
courses at the Juan Calvin0 Seminary        removal of prayer, Scripture, and all                                      Lansing IL
in Mexico City, the seminary of the         reference to our Creator God from the
Independent Presbyterian Church in          schools of our land? If so, should we        RESPONSE:
Mexico.                                     seek aid from such a government?                 Readers will recall that the origi-
  May the Lord continue to bless                It seems to me that the Standard         nal question posed by Mr. Flikkema
you richly as you labor for the ad-         Bearer  should have answered Mr.             was whether it is wrong for Reformed
vancement of His cause.                     Flikkema's question from a Reformed,         parents to participate in a govem-
                           1. Jerry Pott    spiritual, and/or biblical point of          mentpupiltransportationreimburse-
                         Holland, MI        view. That is, does God's Holy Word          ment program offered to parents of
                                            support the position that parents in         non-public school students. My reply
                                            spiritual Israel should ask and accept       .-was  that it is not wrong for Christians
n More on Government Aid                    aid from earthly governments to help         to receive this government reimburse-
    Reading the Standard Bearer is al-      support the education of their chil-         ment for student transportation costs
ways enjoyable and edifying, yet            dren?                                        so long as it does not entail a realistic
sometimes it creates questions. This            Isn't it recommendable to take           threat of unwanted governmental
was true of Mr. James Lanting's an-         the position that government aid             control over the use of these funds.
swerintheMarch15,1994issuegiven,            should be avoided? I well remember               My good friend Mr. DeJong sug-
at the request of the editorial commit-     my father saying in this regard, "The        gests, perhaps unfairly, that this is
tee, to the reader's question on what       tender mercies of the wicked are cruel"      "really no position at all." I think he
our position should be regarding the        (Prov. 12:lO). This truth was made           writes this because Mr. DeJong ap-
receiving of government aid by par-         clear to me during my student days at        parently believes that Christians, as a
ents in our schools.                        Calvin College when I took a course          matter of principZe, should never re-
    Was this answer toMr.  Flikkema's       on creative Bible teaching. Our entire       ceive any aid or assistance from our
question regarding our position on          class, after a few moments of waiting        "evil" government ("The tendermer-

                                                                                                      Juno, 19WStandatd  Beami


ties of the wicked are cruel"). In fact,    we should never play with the Lord's         RESPONSE:
Mr. DeJong has told me that Christian       Supper, as so many are doing today.              Rev. Tuininga characterizes our
farmers, for example, should refuse         But it seems to me that in the case          answer as a cruel and unchristian
all farm assistance programs offered        Ellen VanDenTop mentions, all the            application of a "rule." The "rule,"
by "the wicked U.S. government."            demands for a worthy celebration of          however, is nothing less than the
     To be consistent, Mr. DeJong           the Lord's Supper are fully met. Here        Church Order of Dordt and the con-
would also have to refuse health as-        is a woman who, as far as able, is a         fessions of the Reformed Churches
sistance for elderly parents (Medi-         living member of the congregation            (cf. Belgic Confession, Article 35), both
care and Medicaid), social security         and lives along with the congregation        of which clearly teach that the Lord's
disability payments for handicapped         asfarasshecan,  thatis,  joininginwith       Supper must be served in a public
persons, Pell grants and scholarships       the worship services by way of a             gathering of the congregation. True,
for needy college students, low inter-      "telephone line." She desires also to        modem means of communication
est student loans, flood aid and disas-     take a part with the congregation in         make it possible for shutins to enjoy
ter relief, and many other govern-          proclaiming the Lord's death, and            some of the benefits of attendance at
ment aid programs that many Re-             have her faith strengthened through          the house of God on the Lord's day;
formed Christian taxpayers partici-         the use of the sacrament of the Lord's       but, partaking of the Lord's Supper at
pate in.                                    Supper. She does this under the juris-       the same time as other members of the
     I respectfully suggest that this       diction of the elders. They evidently        congregation is not the same as par-
view is indefensible. I would insist        know she is a devout Christian               taking in the public gathering of the
that Reformed Christian taxpayers in        woman. Iassume that sheis delighted          congregation. The former remains
this country may take advantage of          to be able to so join in with the congre-    private communion - which the fa-
Medicare/Medicaid, social security,         gation. But now she is told: Sorry!          thers of Dordt forbade.
farm aid, disaster relief, and student      We have rules that forbid this.                  And, as to being "cruel and un-
transportation reimbursement so long            That answer sounds very cruel            christian," we should note that it is
as it does not entail objectionable gov-    and unchristian to me, yes, even sin-        the Lord Himself who so orders our
ernment control over the recipient or       ful. You should have, as I see it,           way that some of us are confined to
proper use of the funds. And if this        complimented these elders for so car-        ourbeds for extended periods of time.
objectionable government intrusion          ing for this lady who needs just this        And He does so, knowing full well
is what Mr. DeJong means by "the            kind of care. Let me say that we need        that during that time we will not be
nose of the camel," then, of course, we     rules, and that we must observe them.        able to go to His house. It behooves us
have no disagreement.                       But surely you agree that there are          to submit to His will, content with the
                         -James  Lanting    exceptions to all rules. This is such an     assurance that, when God for His
                                            exception. As officebearers we are           own purpose deprives us of the dis-
n Private Communion                         called to take heed of the flock, and        pensation of His grace through the
     A few comments on your answer          this involves a care for the spiritual       institutedmeans, WewillfindthatHe
to Ellen VanDenTop in the Stand&            welfare. Rules must never stand in           is faithful to provide in every circum-
Bearer of April I, 1994 in "The Reader      the way of giving such loving care.          stance, and that His grace is always
Asks." Your answer troubles me. I                         (Rev.) Cecil W. Tuininga       sufficient. 0
believe in close communion and that                  Edmonton, Alberta, Canada                                    - Ed. Comm.


/ Qml L&f&r tccj a%2 M2mbi of ilk? PEG

     On the 25th May my family and I        ness associated with our leaving as          trained well. The instruction has been
left Michigan for Australia. We have        well.                                        Scriptural, solid, lively, and thought-
just concluded a stay in Grand Rapids           I would like to take this opportu-       provoking. We have not always
of almost three years; this is a long       nity publicly to thank those among           agreed with every "jot and tittle" of
time to be away from home. We will          the Protestant Reformed Churches             what has been taught, but in the vast
be glad to be back home, to be reac-        who have made our stay in the USA            majority of instruction we have re-
quaintedwith members of our family          enjoyable and worthwhile. Firstly, I         joicedinthecommonalityofourfaith.
and old friends. We will be glad to be      thank the PR Seminary faculty and                The support staff has been just
back in the church in which we have         staff for all the teaching and support       that - supportive. Never have they
been raised since infancy. Yes, we          that they have afforded us. We came          been too busy to help out. Never have
will even be glad to be back in our         over here to be trained in your semi-        they failed to offer good, solid, prac-
own culture. But there is much sad-         nary, and I believe we have been             tical advice when it was needed.

392lStandard  BearerlJune,  1994


        Our spiritual home while being         friends among the PR members. We            each other in this life again; and that
in the USA has been Hope PRC. We               have been supported in special little       is cause for sadness.
have made many friends in this con-            ways -too numerous even to begin                It is my personal hope that our
gregation. We have been faithfully             to mention. We have established re-         stay in your midst maybe the founda-
taught from God's Word, Lord's day             lationships which are firm and trea-        tion from which arises a closer rela-
by Lord's day. We have enjoyed the             sured. Our children have gained             tionship between our two denomina-
communion of the saints, and have              friends from among your children.           tions; a relationship built on the great
had our youngest child baptized in                 Yes, we are happy to have left for      truths of God's Word which we both
this congregation. It will be sad to           home, but mixed with that happiness         hold so dear. 0
leave.                                         is an underlying feeling of great sad-                   Yours in Christ's Name,
        We have made some  special             ness. It may be that we will never see                                 David Higgs




                                                                                           is seen as an American plan to inter-
n Persecution a Daily                          sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad:
                                               forgreatisyourrewardinheaven:for            fere in the affairs of the former Soviet
Reality for Many Christians                    sopersecutedtheytheprophetswhich            Union. Some Russians are convinced
        We North American Reformed             were before you" (Matt. 5:10-12).  In       that Protestant mission workis moti-
Christians tend to forget this. We are         thenightbeforethecrossJesuswamed            vated by the sinister desire to "steal
free to worship the Lord from Sunday           His disciples (and all Christians), "If     Russia from the Russians." The result
to Sunday as He has commanded us               the world hate you, ye know that it         is that there is great danger to foreign
in His Word. We educate our chil-              hatedmebeforeithatedyou....  Ifthey         missionaries in Cossack regions.
dren in Christian schools. We con-             have persecuted me, they will also          ManyRussianChristiansfearfortheir
duct our family devotions and strive           persecute you; if they have kept my         lives, and thousands are ready toleave
to live the Christian life of obedience        saying, they will keep yours also. But      after hearing for months of
to the will of God. All this, and more,        all these things wilI they do unto you      kidnappings, tortures, murders,
we do with very little or no opposi-           for my name's sake, because they            lynchings, and threats.
tion from the world of unbelief. The           know not him that sent me" (John                Things are no better in China.
result is that we think little about           15:18-21).                                  Asia Watch, a human rights agency,
persecution. We know that it's com-                We know all this, but because we        recently presented a 664-page report
ing. We know that in the very end              do not experience persecution our-          to the United States Congress. The
there will be a great tribulation, "such       selves we tend to forget about it. For      report gives information on over 1,000
as was not since the beginning of the          many Christians, however, persecu-          people imprisoned in China as "pris-
world to this time, no, nor ever shall         tion is a daily reality. For example,       oners of conscience." Christians have
be. And except those days should be            brutal persecution of Protestants is        a prominent place in this list. Three
shortened, there should no flesh be            increasing steadily in the former So-       Christians, according to the report,
saved: but for the elect's sake those          viet Union. A systematic "cleansing"        died in prison in 1993. Asia Watch
days shallbe shortened" (Matt.  24:21-         of Protestants, similar to that experi-     called 1993 the worst year for human
22).                                           enced by all faiths under Joseph Stalin,    rights since 1989-1990, after the
        We know too that Jesus spoke           could occur soon in the Common-             Tiananmen massacre. The report
oftenof the fact that Christianswould          wealth of Independent States, said          noted a "widespread pattern of de-
be persecuted. "Blessed are they               Boris Perchatkin, an evangelical Chris-     tentions, beatings and finings by local
which are persecuted for righteous-            tian and former Soviet dissident. As        police of house church Christians,
ness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of       order breaks down in Russia and the         mainly poor farmers, in the three
heaven," Jesus said. And the Savior            surrounding republics, strongmen            north-central provinces of Henan,
continues in the context, "Blessed are         attached to the Muslim and Russian          Anhui and Shaaxi."
ye, when men shall revile you, and             Orthodox establishments are filling             In our family devotions and per-
persecute you, and shall say all man-          the power void, Perchatkin reported.        sonal prayers, as well as in our public
ner of evil against you falsely, for my        InFebruary,  theRussian  Army formed        and congregational prayers, we ought
                                               an alliance with a million-member           not forget to bring the needs of those
                                               military organization with historical       persecuted for righteousness sake to
                                               roots in the Cossack people. The two        the throne of grace.
Prof. Decker is professor of Practical The-    groups pledged loyalty to Russian                      National  6 International
02ogy  in the Protestant Reformed Semi-        Orthodoxy and war against Protes-                                   Religion Repti
nay.                                           tants, Perchatkin said. Protestantism                       REC News Exchange

                                                                                                      June, 1 QWStatird  Bearer/393


 m Christian Reformed                        sible for matters relating to the           church, leadership roles for women,
 Church Gets                                 churches, and the Executive Director        dealing with generational differences,
 New General Secretary                      of Ministries is primarily responsible       cooperationbetweenlocalchurchand
      The Rev. Leonard Hofman is re-         for matters relating to the denomina-       parachurch groups, and reinvigor-
 tiring this year ,after serving as the      tional agencies; but some overlap be-       ating local evangelism.
 CRC's General Secretary since 1982.         tween the positions still exists.               David Wells, highly respected
 The position of General Secretary is            Engelhard has taught at Calvin          professor of historical and systematic
 comparable to that of stated clerk in       Seminary for some 23 years.                 theology at Gordon-Conwell Theo-
 most other Presbyterian and Re-                Reformed Believers Press Service         logical Seminary, also challenged the
 formed denominations. Dr. David                                                         delegates about the course of evange-
 Engelhard, professor of Hebrew and          q   White and Black                         lism. He argued the evangelicalmove-
 Old Testament at Calvin Theological         Evangelicals Will Talk                      ment was in danger of losing its soul,
 Seminary, has accepted the single               In January of 1995, representa-         as it is being swept up into the "mar-
 nominationbytheCRCboardoftru.st-            tives of the predominantly white            keting ethos" of American culture.
 ees for General Secretary. The final        National Association of Evangelicals        Wells, the author of No Place for
 steps in the selection process are an       (NAE) and the National Black Evan-          Tmth,orWhatewrHappenedtoEvan-
 interview before the Synod and avote       gelical Association (NBBA) willmeet.         gelical  Theology? said churches are
 to confirm the nomination.                 Don Argue, retiring president of the         adapting their messages inappropri-
     Engelhard'snomination followed         NAE, said his group had been slow to         ately. "ChurchesaredoingwhatPepsi
 the decision of Dr. Calvin Bremer,         workwithits African-Americancoun-            has done." He called on evangelicals
 pastor of the large Bethel CRC in          terpart. Lloyd Lindo of the NBEA             to adopt a "vivid otherworldliness"
 Lansing, IL, to decline the nomina-        said he felt it was the most hopeful         to recover "the lost Word of God."
 tion. Bremer and search committee          sign of reconciliation in his 35 years of        This is a warning  evangel&&
 chairman, Rev. Calvin Bolt, both stated                                                 ought to heed! Much of the evangeli-
                                            miniStry.
 that one significant factor in Bremer's         Elward Ellis, a black evangelical,      cal church in the United States, rather
 decision to decline was ambiguity in       told the NAE that the blacks and             than calling God's people to come out
the job description for the position of     whites in the United States do not           from among them and be separate (II
General Secretary in relationship to        know each other. It will take some           Cor. 6:17), is conforming to the world
the Executive Director of Ministries.       risk, he said, really to get to know         in her doctrine, worship, and practice
This latter position was created in         each other, once we get past "mani-          ( R o m .   12:2).  0
1990 as part of a general denomina-         festos and documents."                                         Christianity Today
tional restructuring. Dr. Peter                 The NAE also decided on a thor-                     National 6 In terna  tional
Borgdorff will remain in this posi-         ough reorganization. The annual                                       Religion Report
tion. TheGeneralSecretaryisrespon-          meeting challenged the organization                          REC  News Exchange
                                            in five major areas: racism in the




                    M.issionaries ,S&nt Out
                                   From Antioch (2)

                                            [In the first installment, we noted that God is sovereign in the mission work
                                            of the church. Then, turning to Acts 13:1-4 and related passages, we saw how
                                            God prepared the church in Antioch to send out Paul and Barnabas to the
                                            mission field. God providentially gave the church the perfect geographic
Rev. Dykstra is pastor of the Protestant    location and the right combination of members; and, above all, God built up
Reformed Church of Doon, Iowa.              the young church spiritually to be ready and eager to send out the gospel.]

394lStandard Bearer /June, 1994


The CaII of the Holy Spirit                   mission work. Nor did the church of               self when He sent out His disciples to
    The call to missions comes from           Antioch decide on her own that it                 preach the gospel of the kingdom two
the Holy Spirit, as Acts 13:2 records.        would be a good idea to send some                 by two. The Holy Spirit re-empha-
"As they ministered to the Lord and           menout.  Rather, theHoly Spirit made              sizes that herein Acts 13: Separate me
fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate         the announcement.                                 Barnabas and Saul - two men. That
me Barnabas and Saul for the work                 Calling and sending missionaries              is no coincidence. It is the will of Jesus
whereunto I have called them."                is still the work of the Holy Spirit,             Christ for His church that two men go
    Probably one of the many proph-           though today it is not as overt. It               out to labor on a mission field, espe-
ets in the church spoke this word of          might seem, at first, preferable that             cially a foreign field. The work re-
the Holy Spirit. Perhaps you wonder           the Spirit make such announcements;               quires it. Jesus in heaven is wise
why it was necessary for the Holy             but, upon further thought, one can                enough to know what His mission
Spirit to come in this direct way to the      understand why God does not so                    field requires. Whether or not this is
church. Two reasons may be given.             work. If the church had to wait for a             an inviolable rule of mission workcan
    In the first place, God still spoke       voice from heaven she would donoth-               be debated; but the Scriptures cer-
through special revelations in this           ing until she heard the voice. The                tainly are clear that this is wisest.
time, because the Bible was not yet           church would sit back                                               Recall also, in that
complete. Today this is unnecessary.          contentedly in the pew                                           connection, that, while
The Spirit will not come to any con-          and wait for the message             The question                the Holy Spirit called
gregation with a verbal announce-             telling when and where                                           two ministers to go out
ment calling men to labor in missions.        to labor. But God re-                    is not,                 and labor, always on
The church has the Bible and the ex-          quires that each church            Does the Lord                 Paul's missionary jour-
ample of the church and from this             be busy and seekthe  will               want us                  neys others accompa-
must learn God's will in its labors.          of the Lord. At the very               to labor?                 nied him. John Mark
    However, this direct call of the          least the church ought to                      but,              started out on the first
Spirit was also necessary because the         be ministering to the                                            missionary journey.
church was setting off in a new en-           Lord and fasting, as was              Where  does                Luke, the writer of Acts,
deavor-breaking new ground, so to             the church of Antioch,                  the Lord                 traveled with them and
speak. Officially sending two mis-            andlookingforthework                    want us                  described their visits
sionaries to Gentile lands and people         that God gives her to                  to labor?                 from city to city. Later
hadnotbeen donebefore. They needed            perform. Jesuspromised                                           Timothy would come
the assurance from the Spirit Himself         His church that the fields                                       along. Thus, not only
that this was His will.                       are white with harvest,                                          were two ministers sent,
    "Separate unto me Barnabas and            and the laborers are few. Thus the                but other individuals accompanied
Saul." Notice that the Spirit directs         question is not, Does the Lord want               them to support and assist the mis-
the church to consecrate these men, to        us to labor? but, Where does the Lord             sionaries in their work. This is com-
ordain them to the office of mission-         want us to labor?                                 parable to what sometimes today is
ary, if you will. Yet it is definitely the        When Christ calls, the only re-               called the "team effort," i.e., having
Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Christ who       sponse the church may have is to                  on the field a team of people who
calIs the men to the labors. This is the      send. That brings up the matter of the            assist the missionary(ies).
work of Jesus Christ who came to              Macedonian call - a specific request                   In addition, in this passage it is
earth first of all to reveal God, to save     from individuals who want the                     noteworthy that the Spirit called  two
His people by suffering and dying for         preaching of the gospel. This was                 specific men to go out. Many prophets
them. Having accomplished that, He            treated by Rev. Haak  (the Standard               and teachers were in the church of
went to heaven and there received the         Bearer, May 15,1994),  and needs no               Antioch. But when the Holy Spirit
gift of the Holy Spirit. Before His           further explanation here. The church              came to the church of Antioch He did
ascension, Jesus commanded His                cannot simply wait for a Macedonian               not ask for any two ministers. The
church, through the apostles, to              call but must be busy seeking the                 Spirit singled out Barnabas and Saul.
preach the gospel to the ends of the          place in which Christ would have                  Why? Christ wanted those two men,
earth. Here, Jesus sends the Spirit to        them labor.                                       not just any two.
inform the church of His will, calls              What can be learned from this                      From this it is apparent that not
men to the office, and directs them to        call of the Spirit to Antioch? Notice,            every minister is called to be a mis-
a particular field to labor.                  first of all, that there is a definite call       sionary. God prepares certain minis-
    That Christ called the church of          from the Holy Spirit to missions. He              ters to be missionaries. Think of the
Antioch deserves emphasis. Barnabas           willinform the church where to labor.             preparation that Paul had, including
and Paul did not stand up in the                  Notice also that the Holy Spirit              not only his Jewish training under
worship service and suggest that the          called two men to go out. This is a               Gamaliel, but his Hellenist instruc-
church ought to send them out on              principle established by Christ Him-              tion as well. The whole life of Paul

                                                                                                            Juw, 1994/Standard  Bearer/395


was preparation, culminating in his          the Romans, a relatively young                     (because it is so strange and simple);
conversion after which God revealed,         church. No doubt he preached the                   and to live with almost no modem
"He is a chosen vessel unto me, to           same.                                              conveniences. This can be a major
bear my name before the Gentiles..."             The same was true of walkof  life.             hindrance to doing serious foreign
(Acts 915). God prepared that man.           He wrote to the church of Rome that                mission. Ministers need the continual
     Similarly today, God gives ,to a        if a person leaves or divorces his wife            prayers of the members so that they
particular minister the personality,         andmarriesanother, thatpersonisan                  are not caught up in the materialism
the gifts, and the preparation to be a       adulterer to the day that he dies. Paul            of thisageandthusbecomeunwilling
missionary of the gospel. Just as some       wrote that to a young, "mission"                   and unfit to go out and do mission
men are called to be seminaryprofes-         church. He did not corn-                                            work.
sors, some ministers are called to be        promise in doctrine or                        I                        Finally, the church
missionaries. And some are not so            walk of life. It is obvi-                                           must be one that sup-
called.                                      ously important that the              The lives                     portsmissionariesonthe
     Christ, through the Spirit, calls       church itself hold fast to                                          field. The support re-
today through the church which rec-          the truth if she will be          of the members                    ferred to here is not fi-
ognizes a field of labor and issues the      used by Christ in mis-             of the church                nancial; it is assumed
call. The Spirit then applies the call to    sion work                              must be                      that the churches will
the heart of His chosen minister in              A second element is             a continual                     financially support the
such a way that he is convicted -            thatthelivesofthemem-                  witness                      missionaries as they do
Christ calls him to labor in the mis-        bers of the church must                                             their pastors. The sup-
sion field. All this demonstrates forc-      be a continual witness to            to the truth                   port meant is spiritual
ibly that Christ sovereignly rules over      the truth of the sover-                 of the                      and psychological. The
HischurchbyHisSpiritintheworkof              eign grace of God. This           sovereign grace                   church as a whole sends
missions.                                    isrelated to the truth that            of God.                      a missionary, not just a
                                             mission work arises out                                             synod or a consistory.
The Elements Found in a                      of the church. It requires                    I                     Antioch did that. Look
Mission-Minded Church                        that the members of the                                             at verse 3: "And when
     Finally, this passage indicates four    church be continually witnessing to                they had fasted and prayed and laid
elements in the church of Antioch            those who are around them. Others                  their hands on them, they sent them
found in a church that desires to be         must see that these people have been               away." The church, as a whole, did
used by Christ in missions. For these        drawn out of darkness into the mar-                these things.
elements believers can both pray and         velous light of God. They will ask                     Do you wonder why the Holy
work in their own congregations.             such believers a reason for the hope               SpiritblessedBamabasandPaulwith
     First, the church must be charac-       that is within them. In Paul's day,                much positive fruit in their mission-
terized by obedience and faithfulness        believers who were running for their               ary work? Part of it was due to the
to the Bible. This is necessary in the       very lives, still witnessed to the truth.          church back home. When Barnabas
first place because God's Word is,           Out of such witnessing arise opportu-              and Paul faced opposition and perse-
truth, and the truth builds up the           nities for evangelism and mission                  cution in preaching the gospel, they
church and makes her spiritually             work                                               had the assurance that the church
strong enough to be able to send out             A third element in a missionary-               back home was fasting and praying
missionaries. The truth has to be pro-       sending church is ministers who are                for their work Later Paul and Silas,
claimed and lived by the congrega-           ready to go out. However, let us be                when they were lying on the cold
tion. But the same truth must be             aware of the devastating effect of the             stone floor of the Philippian  jail, their
preached on the mission field. Only          wealth and materialism of this age.                backsbleedingandtheirlegsinstocks,
the preaching of the truth saves; God        Ministers caught up in such material-              did not picture in their minds the
does not save His people with lies.          ismwillfinditwellnighimpossible to                 church back home going to basketball
Paul never compromised the truth on          forsake a comfortable parsonage, a                 games and eating out and having a
the mission field. In fact, the inspired     relatively easy life in a congregation,            good time. Their minds pictured the
Ietters of the apostle Paul to the           good food, nice cIothes, new cars, and             church gathered together in the sanc-
churches established by God in his           the conveniences of modem Western                  tuary or in their homes fasting and
mission labors indicate that he in-          society. ,That is especially true when             praying for them. And Godanswered
sisted on purity both in doctrine and        the call is to go to the other side of the         those prayers with grace both to sus-
walk of life.                                world and live with people of a radi-              tain the missionaries and to change
     This was ,@ue also with the fl hard     tally different cultureandrace; tolive             the hearts of the hearers. That kind of
doctrines." Consider how Paulmain-           in a house that few in America would               support - that kind of Ziving - is
tained the doctrines of election and         even consider inhabiting; to eat food              essential for a church that is serious
reprobationin his (inspired) epistle to      that people in America would not eat               about mission work

396lStandard  Bearer  /June, 1994


     Is not that our desire, fellow be-           these elements are foundinour midst,                Whether it is in spite of any given
lievers? Christ commands us, Go ye                in our congregations or denomina-                   congregation or through a congrega-
into all the world and preach the                 tion. If we are not living for the cause,           tion, He will gather His church. The
gospel. If that is not happening as               andifourattitudeisnotcorrect,Christ                 prayer of allfaithfulofficebearers and
much as it should in our judgment, if             may well decide to use someone else                 members of the church of Jesus Christ
we have resources that are not being              for the work                                        is that He will be pleased to use their     ~
used, then we must do some soul-                      It is certain beyond words-that                 churches for this great work 0
searching and find out whether or not             Jesus Christ wiZZ gather HIis church.




                                  Kelong a
                                                                                                                     Rev.  J.  Korfering
                                             -                                                   -
                                             I                                                   -
     About a year ago, when I was                 cious cargo of fish to the fish market              said to them, "Castthenetontheright
participating in a series of lectures             for sale. The wet-markets overflow                  side of the ship, and ye shah find."
here in Singapore on the "Reformed                with freshly caught fish every day.                 They did that, and they had so many
View of Missions," a brother asked                    There is however another method                 fish that the net began to break. By
me whether I favored the  Icelong                 of fishing. It is called kelong, a Malay            this miracle Jesus conveyed to His
method of missions or the net. The                word which describes the frame and                  disciples that He had power not only
question was an example of cross-                 net which are suspended in the water                to bring fish into the net, but, more
cultural frustration, for I didn't know           to attract fish. Bait is placed in this net         importantly, to save sinners. They
what he was talking about. After a                in order to lure fish into it. We had               wouldbefishersofmenandHewould
few- attempts to explain, of which I              opportunity to visit a fishing village              bring the fish into their nets. Precious
understood very little, Pastor Lau                in Kukup, Malaysia. All the houses,                 soulswouldbe saved. Missions has to
came to the rescue and briefly ex-                the temple, and the school are sus-                 do with saving souls.
plained the difference and how they               pended above the water by being                         The choice between  kdong  and
related to each other. It surely is               attached to poles which support them.               net has to do with methodology. To
helpful to have anunderstandingcol-               In a separate area and a little way                 put it simply, by the net method the
league.                                           from shore was the Mong fishing set                 church and people of God go out to
    The question was very pointed                 up. We went there by boat and had an                seek and find the lost, but by the
and gave rise to my reflection for                opportunity to inspect this method of               belong  method the church and people
some time to come. Some of my                     fishing.                                            of God attract the lost and draw them
musings I will share with you in this                 Once we crossed the cultural gap,               into the fellowship of the church. We
article.                                          we could understand the question.                   want to examine both of them briefly _
    Fishing is an important trade here                The Bible speaks of mission work                and determine how they relate to
in Singapore. Since Malaysia is di-               as being like fishing. Jesus had said to            each other and to the church.
rectly north, fishermen take their                His disciples, "Follow me, and I will                   Most of our congregations have
trawlers either to the northwest into             make you fishers of men" (Matt.419).                sign boards outside our places of
the Straits of Malacca or to the north-           Jesus told a parable how the kingdom                worship. Among other things, they
east into the South China Sea. These              of heaven is like a net which, when                 usually say, "Visitors Welcome." We
commercial  fishermen generally use               cast into the sea, gathers every kind of            do well to ask ourselves, is that the
nets to snare their catch of fish. They      ,fish, which needed to be sorted out.                    extent of our reaching out to the lost?
catch all sorts of sea life, so they have         So Christ will separate mankind in                  If so, I suppose that would be an
to sort it all out, throw away what               the day of judgment (Matt. 13:47-50).               example of kelongfishing.  Our church
they do not want, and take their pre-             After His resurrection, Jesus appeared              building is the net and the congrega-
                                                  to His disciples who had toiled all                 tion is the attractive bait by which our
                                                  night and caught no fish. He said to                ungodly and unsaved neighbors are
                                                                                                      invited to swim in and join us. Or are
Rev. Kortering  is a Protestant Reformed          them, "Children, have ye any meat?"                 we to go out and catch the lost and
minister-on-loan to Singapore.                    They answered him, "No." And He

                                                                                                                 J u n e ,   lWStandardBeare~7


bringthemin?Doesit,inotherwords,             1 must not forget is that if we are to do          obvious, if we are not looking for
take a bit of effort on our part to               mission work as churches in common            excuses. The friendship we develop
"catch fish"?                                     we must be doing mission work in              with them is a serious concern for
     When we speak of methodology                 our local congregations. The church           their soul, and they know that. This
of missions, we must be sure that we i of Jesus Christ among us is not a so-                    cannot be accomplished by joining
agree that the catching of fish, saving           called denomination of churches, it is        them in their "beer busts." This be-
of souls, is serious business. This is the local church. For this reason we                     gins in a lunch-room conversation
true from many points of view. E will i have a calling church to administer                     when they talk about their frustra-
mention two of them. Lost, unsaved                our mission fields. This church works         tions and emptiness of life. You throw
relatives, neighbors, fellow students             closely with the denominational com-          outquestionswhentheyboastoftheir
or workers, are Zest. They are in the             mittee which represents the churches          hedonistic life-style, questions that
bondage of sin and are under divine               in common. This being true, we must           force them to think This takes cour-
sentence temporally and eternally.                face the reality that unless all our local    age and wisdom, but it is the only way
Does that speak to us? Or are we                  congregations are seriously concerned         in which&e local congregation can
indifferent to the peril of their soul?           about the salvation of the lost souls in      reach out to the lost. Remember, a
May God arouse in us a real burden                their immediate vicinity, we will not         person may go to church, but be lost.
for lost souls. Secondly, the saving of           have a burden for the lost in Jamaica,        One who does not confess his faith
souls is God's business from begin-               Africa, Singapore, India, Myanmar,            and live like a Christian is deceiving
ning to end. We thank God for that!               or wherever else the Lord sends us.           himself, and that is even worse.
The great emphasis of                                               Let me put this even            The Samaritan woman of John 4
the Reformed faith                                            more personally. The lo-          demonstrates this kind of witnessing
upon God's sover-                    The saving               cal congregation will not         when she goes to the city and tells her
eignty stimulates and                 of                      succeed in casting out the        neighbors about Jesus. They who
encourages us to press                   souls                netforthelostwithoutthe           heard her came to Jesus and said,
forward in the saving                 is God's                diligent effort of every          "Now we believe, not because of thy
of these souls. Our God               business                member. Local evange-             saying; for we have heard him our-
is able! From this we              from beginning             lism committees can do            selves, and know that this is indeed
conclude that however                  to end.                just so much with pam-            the Christ, the Savior of the world"
lcelong or net fits into                                      phlets, public lectures, and      (John442).  Our Heidelberg Catechism
this scheme of God,                                           other common ways to              makes this same point concerning the
God calls us to be ac-                                        reach out to unsaved              prophetic office of every believer.
tive in the work and He will deter-           neighbors or to those who may be                  "Confess his name," we read in A. 32;
mine the outcome.                             Christians but show interest in the               and,inA.86, "byourgodlyconversa-
    The casting out of the net as-            Reformed faith. The indispensable                 tion others may be gained to Christ."
sumes a seeking of the lost sinner.           element which is needed is the dili-                  Use of the net is not limited to the
Jesus emphasized this when he sent            gent effort of every member of the                work of the church as institute. It is
out His disciples, two by two. He re-         church to reach out to his neighbor. It           the vital work of every Christian. The
emphasized this with the final in-            starts with a real burden for the lost.           prophetic office of Christ works
struction for His church: "Make dis-          It grows with a sensitivity to seek               through every Christian. It uses us in
ciples of all nations" (Matt. 28:19).         opportunities towitness                                        such a way that others
The early New Testament church fol-           to them concerning sal-                                        canhearthevoiceofJesus
lowed our Lord's command, and the             vation in Jesus Christ.                                        through her officialmin-
church at Antioch sent out Paul and                   We all know that              The prophetic            istry. Are we doing this?
Barnabas and others. The glorious             effective evangelism of                    office              Are we as members
history of missions unfolds the story         the lost requires devel-                                       reaching out to the lost?
                                                                                       of Christ
of the church of Jesus Christ, as she is      opingpersonalrelation-                                         Are we inviting them
busy in sending out missionaries to           ships with them. But                 work-s through            into our homes for seri-
the ends of the earth, casting out the        how is this done? This                      aerY               ous discussion about
net and bringing lost souls into the          is a very sensitive area                Christian.             their spiritual welfare?
kingdom of heaven.                            of Christian witnessing.                                       Are we willing to meet
    Such mission activity usually in-         We are talking here                                            with them regularly to
volves the cooperation of many con-           about the world, the                                           open up to them the
gregations. The constitutions of our          unsaved, the lost. And the Bible tells            Scriptures, and to encourage those
mission committees differentiate be-          us that whoever is a friend of the                who are searching? Unless we an-
tween the local congregation doing            world is an enemy of God (James 4:4)..            swer yes, we are not using the net as
mission work and the churches in              How, then, can we establish personal              Christ instructed us.
common doing it. The point that we            relations with them? The answer is                    What about the ZceZong? This as-

39EBtandard  BearerlJune,  1994


pect is inseparably connected with          God in your hearts; and be ready                   known as her marks: the Word of
the net. When it comes to missions,         always to give an answer to every                  God is faithfully preached, the sacra-
the net and keZong  go together. The        man that asketh you a reason of the                ments are properly administered, and
title of thisarticleis "KeZongandNet."      hopethatisinyouwithmeeknessand                     Christian discipline -is faithfully ad-
From the point of view of the kelong,       fear" (I Pet. 395). There will be a holy           ministered. This again reminds us
we are calledby God to attract thelost      jealousy which leads them to inquire               that the real attraction of the church is
and struggling. This does not contra-       of such a way of life.                             a gift from our Lord. We must never
dict the doctrine of total depravity.           If we practice the above, the local            be tempted to try to attract "outsid-
Wearenotnowtalkingaboutunsaved              church will be made up of attractive               ers" with all sorts of gimmicks, con-
people being attractive; we are rather      members. Obviously, .if all her mem-               temporary music, attractive dramatic
talking about Christians being attrac-      bers live in this manner, they will be             presentations, and what not. These
tive to others.                             interacting with each other person-                are not only wrong, but they fail. The 1
    We must view this in two ways.          ally, and any visitor will take notice.            attraction of the ministry of the church
First, as Christians we must project        I ask you, what unsaved person who                 as well as of her members is the attrac-
the attractiveness which Jesus gives        is looking into the truth of Christian-            tion of her Lord! Others must see
tousbyvirtueofoursalvation. "Walk           ity and visits a church which is made              Jesus in us -just as the Sanhedrin
inwisdom toward them that are with-         up of people'who are so absorbed in                saw Him in the apostles: "They took
out, redeeming the time. Let your           their own life that visitors are not               knowledge that they had been with
speech be always with grace, sea-           even noticed or addressed, or worse                Jesus" (Acts 4:13).  Others must hear
soned with salt, that ye may know           yet, if he appears in a church where               the voice of Jesus when they come to
how ye ought to answer every man"           members are at odds with each other                worship: "My sheep hear my voice
(Co1.4:5,6).  Weread, "Walkhonestly         and will hardly talk to each other, will           and I know them, and they follow
toward them that are without" (I            seriously consider the religion of those           me" (John 10:27).
Thess. 412). Even the elders of the         people? I ask you as a Christian, are                        The attractiveness of the mem-
church must have a good report from         you in any way the cause of others to              bership and her ministry verifies that
them that arewithout (ITim. 37). "By        stumble? We are always representa-                 a church practices what she preaches.
this shall all men know that ye are my      tives of thechurch wherever we go and                        The gathering of the lost involves
disciples, if ye have love one to an-       whatever we do. This is especially                 every Christian and every congrega-
other" (John 13:35). From a negative        true when we are gathered together                 tion.
point of view, we read, "Give none          in worship on the Lord's day.                                It involves "KELONG and Net."
offense, neither to the Jews nor to the         Secondly, we thankGod  that there                        May the God who has saved us in
Gentiles, not to the church of God . . .    is another form of attraction within               Jesus His Son enable each of us to
that they may be saved" (I Cor.             the local congregation. That is the                accomplish this great task
10:32,33).                                  attraction of her ministry, generally                        The glory is God's alone. U
    These attractive spiritual virtues
we have received from Jesus, our Sav-                                                              Pi        ,I           ;.`
                                                                                                                            ,,                           "
                                                                                                                                                              J*i'
                                                                                                                                                                    *
                                                                                 ,1     *.          I~,'            z            L          I.~:ii;.,)+,>     ~.,.&+
                                                                                                                                                   j           "

ior and Lord. The fruit of the Spirit is
not for intellectual reflection, but for            Foreign Mission
daily practice, for then we are not
desirous of vain glory, but provoke
one another and envy one another                   Work rn the PRC
(Gal. 5:22-26).  That is how Paul sum-
marizes the putting off of the old man
and putting on the new man in Christ                            A Brief Report of the
Jesus. It involves obedience to our                      Foreign Mission Committee
Lord both in faith and life. "Let all
bitterness, wrath, and anger and                                                                .  .../  i  ,:,..j,..  ,_  .                                             .$     .%+.p..7      -p
                                                                                                                                           .  J~$,.:   ,i;i";.,.p:3~~~~.~;~~~,.  :$:  ..~~~
clamor and evil speakingbe put away
from you with all malice, and be ye                                                            tions in Edger-ton, MN, and Doon and
kind one to another, tenderhearted,             Greetings to the readers of the                Hull, IA, as has been the case from its
forgiving one another, even as God          Standard Bearer! For those who do                  formation.
for Christ's sake hath forgiven you"        not have access to the Acts of the PRC                       The FMC is thankful for the op-
(Eph. 4:31, 32). Such Christians are        Synod, or who do not keep up with                  portunity to be involved in the great
attractive and will be attractive to        the reading, allow us to inform (or                calling of Christ's church, namely,
others. If we do this, then we can          remind) you that the Foreign Mission               sending forth the gospel to the ends of
understand why we read in Peter's           Committee (FMC) is staffedbyminis-                 the earth. Our desire and goal is to
first epistle, "But sanctify the Lord       ters and elders from the congrega-                 proclaim the gospel in foreign lands.

                                                                                                                           June, WWStandard  Beam'399
                                            . .  .I  I .


Thus we labor in the expectation that        educate their children - no small          tee of two members with a number of
theLordwillgrantourconstantprayer            concern for God-fearing parents!           goals. First, they want more of the
to open doors in fore@  fields and to            What is described above are some       Protestant Reformed faith and prac-
give us laborers who are committed           of the difficulties of what is called      tice to be set forth in Ghana to the
to laboring in these fields.                 today "cross-cultural missions." It        groups with whom we correspond in
     One of the most striking things         raises many questions. The FMC is          order to learn more about our agree-
about foreign missions is how differ-        struggling with these questions, in        mentsanddisagreementsparticularly
ent it is from domestic missions. Do-        hopes of being better equipped one         in the areas of doctrine, practice in
mestic missions is largely the workof        day to send a team of people with the      mission work, and worship. We also
church reformation and gathering the         missionaries to a foreign field in Af-     hope, on the one hand, to learn
lost sheep of the house of Israel. In        rica, for example. The FMC is thank-       whether any groups would be able
such a field, the missionary works           ful that the Lord greatly blessed the      and willing to assist us with missions
primarily with those who have some           PRC in the field in Singapore. We are      in Ghana in spite of some differences
knowledge of the Bible, and labors in        very eager to help the ERCS in             in these matters. On the other hand,
societies once touched by the biblical       Singapore if they should desire that.      we need to determine whether the
principles of morality. In short, a do-      At the same time we recognize that         differences are so great that we can-
mestic missionary labors in a culture        mostforeignmissionworkwillnotbe            not in good conscience work with
with many similarities to his own.           like that of Singapore. There, a group     them.
     On the other hand, the highest          of saints had been converted out of            We want the delegation to learn
priority of foreign mission work is to       paganism and were looking for guid-        more about the possibility and prob-
send missionaries to unreached               ance and further development in the        lems of getting a missionary into
peoples of the world. Thus the mis-          truth. Not only that, but Singapore        Ghana, either in connection with an-
sion work is not only to those who           itselfwas  af&mer Britishcolony, and       other group or independently. The
have never heard the gospel, but it is       the society quite modem. However,          FMC also proposes a schedule for
in countries and societies largely un-       most foreign mission fields will not       meeting and developing a better rela-
touched by the principles of God's           be "discovered" in that condition.         tionship with any new promising con-
law, what are generally called pagan         Most will require a very slow and          tacts since the last visit. Init all, we are
nations. This radical difference not         patient work of sending printed ma-        guardedly optimistic about future
only creates unique problems, it also        terial, correspondence, and visits to      mission in Ghana and trust that.in the
requires a different attitude toward         faraway countries as we start, you         way of obedient labors God will di-
foreign missions. Consider some of           might say, "from scratch."                 rect us to open doors to preach the
the difficulties over and above the              The current FMC work in Ghana          gospel there or reveal that they are
ordinary problems of a mission field         is a case in point. The FMC is excited     closed.
in America. A missionary and family          about the possibility of missions in           These are some of the labors the
face the immediate problem of the            Ghana. At the same time, the work of       FMC is privileged to conduct. We
language barrier. Even though En-            developing the field and seeking the       recognize that our efforts are, inmany
glish is becoming the universal lan-         best avenues for getting into the field    ways, feeble and insignificant. We
guage, knowledge of the tribal l&-           goesveryslowly.Ithasbeenovertwo            are painfully aware that we have no
guage (in Africa, for example) is re-        years already since two members of         active missionary in a foreign field.
quired if they live and/or work out-         theFMCvisitedthecontactsinGhana.           The committee covets your prayers
side of the large cities. So they must       Thisisdifficultforourimpatientflesh,       for God's grace on us, and God's
learn the language of the people -           especially in the fast pace of Ameri-      blessing on our labors. Surely all
the missionary becoming proficient           can life. But the workcontinues, and,      readers who love the cause of the
enough to preach in the language.            we trust, with God's blessing.             Reformedfaithandmissionworkwill
They will struggle with the tremen-              The FMC is submitting plans to         join in our earnest prayers that Christ
dous differences in life-style. They         this year's Synod for a return visit to    Jesus will open the doors and enable
must learn the laws, customs, and            Ghana. The FMC is absolutely con-          us soon to have another foreign mis-
values of the people among whom              vinced that visits to Ghana are neces-     sion field with the missionary (ies)
they labor, which will be drastically        sary to further the work Correspon-        preaching to unreached people in the
different from what the missionary           dence alone will not likely lead to a      world. u
has known all his life. They must            missionary on the field. At the same                                Secretary of the
adjust to living at or near the financial    time, it will be necessary to do more                 Foreign Mission Committee
level of the people with whom they           teaching and preaching there to learn                             Rev. Russ Dykstra
live and work - whose income will            whether enough agreement exists
almost certainly be under $1000 a            between any of the contacts and us to
year. The missionary and his wife            be able to work together.
will face the problem of how best to             TheFMCplanstosendacommit-

4OOlStandard  BaarerlJune,  IS94


 The God- Required )I onor Due
                        to w diawed .M.o [hers
                                                           L e s s e n   1 5

                                                                                                                                     1
                                              I                                                                                      i

    Honor widows that are widows in-               God (Rom. 12:1,2; I Tim. 1:5). And            Paul teaches Timothy to charge
deed. But ifany widows have children or            that such conduct is "good and ac-        the children and the nephews that
nephews, Zet them Zearn  to show piety             ceptable before God" is the end of all    such honorable care is the duty of
(go$Ziness) at home, and to requite their          contradiction. Such is the new obedi-     those who are in the very home in
parents: for that is good and acceptable           ence of God, which is in "newness of      which they are born and reared. So
before God. Now she that is a widow                spirit," not according to the "oldness    strong is this charge that, if any does
indeed, and desolate, trusteth (hopeth) in         of the letter" (Rom. 7:4,5).              not provide for his widowed mother
God, and continueth in supplications and               Itoughttobestatedthatthename          or grandmother, such a one is, in this
prayersdayand  night. Butshe thatliveth            "widow" is a very honorable one. In       lack of concern, a very denier of the
in pleasure is dead while she Ziveth. And          the Hebrew language the term is           faith; yes, he is worse than an avowed
these things give in charge, that they may         almanah,  that is, "a silent one." She    infidel. At least the infidel shows
be blameless.                                      lives "alone." Basically she is and       concern for his neighbor. (Read the
                        I Timothy 53-7             remains a very lonely child of God.       parable of Jesus in Luke 10:25-37.) If
                                                   The reason is that her husband had        a Samaritan will do for a Jew what the
    We should observe carefully that               died. God had severed that sacred tie     priest and the Levite refused to do,
we are dealing with three matters.                 with her husband. It is the only hon-     should not a son who fails to provide
Briefly stated they are as follows:                orable way to be separated from a         for his own mother be branded as
    1. That the church of God is                   beloved husband. .All other separa-       worse than an infidel, ivho at least
boundbytheLordHimselfto"honor"                     tion is the outgrowth of that which       shows the milk of human kindness?
in's special way those widows who                  God hates. (Read Malachi  2:14-16.)           The obligation to care for aneedy,
are really widows. According to                    God, who took away the widow's            widowed mother is a spiritual lesson
verses 5 and 6 this honor accorded to              hushand, has a special care for such      which must be learned by members
widows must be discretional. The                   widows in the church. He says to the      of the family. (Read, concerning this
real widows must not be confused                   church of the living God, honor the       "learning," Hebrews 58 and Luke
with those who are not real widows.                widow who is a widow indeed by my         249-52.)  Here the eldest brother in
To this matterwe  must give our atten-             graciousremovalofherhusbandfrom           God's family combines His learning
tion in this lesson.                               supporting her. That husband was to       obedience in the temple in Jerusalem
    2. Paul also teaches the mem-                  her even as Christ is to the church.      with the day-to-day obedience in the
bers of the church that God would                  She is a very lonely, yet very honor-     home of Joseph and Mary. His learn-
have the children and grandchildren                able, child of God. (Cf. Psalm  68:5;     ing was the suffering all his lifelong
to "learn to shewpiety at home" (v. 4).            146:9.)  To honor such widows is the      and finally on the cross. Our learning
     3. The spiritual motivation for               privileged duty of the people of God.     to care for an honorable widowed
shewing such "godliness at home" is                    This honor is not to be accorded      mother is the abc's, the first principle,
that such a conduct is according to the            by the church throughits diaconate to     of godliness and practical piety. (Read
good, acceptable, and perfect will of              those who have been divorced on the       Exodus 20:12;  Leviticus 19:2.) In this
                                                   ground of fornication and adultery.       latter passage we read, "Ye shall be
                                                   Sucharenot "widowsindeed." These          holy: for I the LORD your God am
                                                   are divorced because of the hardness      holy. Ye shall fear every man his
Rev. Lubbers is a minister emeritus in the         of their hearts (Matt. 19:3-12).          mother, and his father, and keep my
Protestant Reformed Churches.
                                                                                                         June, 1994lstandard  Bear@01


sabbaths: I am the Lord your God."          childbearing. She did not "continue         intends to follow these works. She
The Gentile churches must learn how         in faith, love, and sobriety." She never    will be one who is very proficient and
to conduct themselves in the house of       received her children as a true mother      will give full measure. She never
God. The first commandment with             in Israel, whose calling was, under         shrinks before arduous and difficult
promise is: If you obey your parents        her husband, to admonish her chil-          tasks. She gives herself. She has
ye shall live long in the land of my        dren in the fear and nurture of the         much love to the needy saints, doing
sabbaths, and finally in the eternal        Lord. She was dead "while she lived"        good to all!
Sabbath which remaineth for the             with her husband, and she remained              Ayoungwidowmustnotevenbe
people of God (Heb. 4:9).                   spiritually dead. She never uttered         considered to be placed on the list of
     The children in the Christian fam-     prayers and supplications for her chil-     those who are called for such arduous
ily ought to "requite their parents"!       dren. So she was spiritually dead           work, which require so much self-
     In the Greek text, the verb trans-     while her husband lived and also af-        denial. Young widows under sixty
lated "to requite" is "to make return       ter he died. If her husband was chiefly     years of age must be told categori-
for, repay, to make return for a benefit    concerned with the salvation of their       cally that they area "class" of widows
or service received." The Holland           children, she never really shared his       who are not yet ready for this ardu-
translation is we&merge&n.  The ser-        enthusiasm. Now that he died, she           ous assignment in the church. Paul
vice  ,which  children receive from         will make the best of it and eke what       writes to Timothy that there is a po-
mother is a mother-love which no son        pleasure she can out of her life of         tential problem to consider. It is that
or daughter can ever really repay           widowhood. Such widows the saints           your widows will fall into Satan's
fully. All that they can do is shew         will not honor as widows indeed. She        temptation to desert the ranks of these
such kindness and love which is a           does not deserve the name and the           doers of their assignments. The KJV
spiritual token of their undying grati-     honor of a godly widow.                     writes, "for when they have begunto
tude. Why? Because their parents                There were "many widows in Is-          wax wanton against Christ, they will
were such perfect fathers and mother?       rael" during the time of Elijah. But        marry." This marriage is a manifesta-
Not at all. All their lifelong these        there was a pious widow who dwelt           tion of a certain sinful wantonness
godly parents confessed on bended           in Sarepta, a city of Sidon. Yes, the       against Christ. In this uwantonnessn
knee to their heavenly Father their         Bible knows how to distinguish "wid-        there is an unruly power of sin. It is
weaknesses and shortcomings. Yet,           ows indeed" from those who are not          the strong lustful desire to have a
God would use them, as just such            such. Here is room for self-examina-        lmanR at any cost. Their only "will"
weak vessels, that the glory of His         tion on the part of every widow in the      is to marry. It is the strong cry of the
faithfulness might be revealed in the       church of God.                              blood in their veins, which will van-
generations who keep His covenant.                  *  *  *  *  *  * *                  ish when they reach the age of sixty
Such is good and acceptable to God,             In verses 9-15 we read: "Let not        years, the time when the overpower-
who says, "Ye shall fear every man          a widow be taken into the number            ing "burning" has ceased, of which
his mother, and his father, and keep        under threescore years old, having          I Corinthians 7~9 speaks: "for it is
my sabbaths: I am the LORD your             been the wife of one man, well re-          better to marry than to bum." This is
God."                                       ported of for good works; if she have       counterbalancedinICorinthians7:39:
         *  *  *  *  *  *  *                brought up children, if she have lodged     "The wife is bound by the law as long
     God distinguishes between two          strangers, if she have washed the           as her husband liveth; but if her hus-
different kinds of widows. There are        saints" feet, if she have relieved the      band be dead, she is at liberty to be
those who are lonely, yet who con-          afflicted, if she have diligently fol-      married to whom she will; only in the
tinually "trust (hope) in God," con-        lowed every good work."                     Lord."
tinuing in prayers and supplications            We would have it noticed'by all             In view of this we must hold that
night and day. On the other hand,           that there was evidently a kind of          it is not sinful for a "youngwidow" to
there are widows who live delicately        service rendered in the churches of         will to marry. Blazoned in Scripture
(in carnal pleasure). They never quite      Paul'sdaywhichwasofsuchanature              is the true word: "Marriage is honor-
understood their calling as mothers         that it required women of exception-        able in all, and the bed undefiled, but
in Israel toward their husbands and         ally "good report" in all the churches.     whoremongers and adulterers God
children. Soon such widows defi-            We think here of the women who              will judge" (Heb. 134). What does
antly cast off the "loneliness" inher-      received special mention by Paul in         this teach us? Is it not that although
ent in Christian widowhood. She is          Romans X1-5. Who does not think             marriage is right, there are times when
indeed not the kind of widow whose          also of Acts 9:36,39? The good works        it is not convenient? (Cf. I Cor. 6:12.)
only hope is that she be kept in the        prove. that such a widow is not a           Now to avoid placing such moral
power of God through faith and hope.        novice in working for the benefit of        hardships upon the young widows,
When she did receive children she           the needyin the church. And that she        the Holy Spirit here gives a very wise
was not like the converted Eve, who         is a widow who is past sixty implies        and kind rule, that widows under
believed that she was saved in              that she has always given her all, and      sixty be not considered to be placed

4OZIStandard  Bearer/June, 19Q4


on the role. It prevents confusion and        ment, not in the oldness of the letter,      office of a deacon, as spoken of in Acts
disorder in the churches, while at the        but in newness of spirit. For the end        6:lff. We believe that this is done to
same time it allows the young wid-            of the commandment is love out of a          no avail. We suggest the following
ows to remarry in the Lord. Thus              pure heart, a good conscience and            considerations:
they will not be deemed to be sinfully        faith unfeigned (I Tim. 1:5).                    1.1s it not entirely unnatural to
wanton, driven by pent-up, burning                                                         have an "office" of deaconesses in
sexual desire. However, it must be            Some Questions and                           which only "widows" may serve? and
the desire to bear children in the            Suggestions to consider:                     that, too, only after they have come to
church; the desire to be savedin child-           Do the Scriptures leave us wholly        the age of no less than sixty years? In
bearing; a sobriety which is governed         in the dark concerning the identity          I Timothy 3:ll the list of qualifica-
by faith, love, and holiness (I Tim.          and nature of the official status of the     tions to be eligible for the "placement
215).                                         "widows" in the churches?                    on the list" hardly fits into the spiri-
     Thus the holy avenues of assist-             This is a- good question which is        tual qualifications of the wives of dea-
ing in the care for the "widows in-           often raised by those studying these         cons, that is, their conjugal compan-
deed" remain open for the real wid-           passages. In I Timothy 5:9, the Greek        ions. The qualifications for the "list of
ows who are past the age of sixty and         text reads katulegesthai. Literally, "to     women" are identical with the at-
are the true objects of the Lord's care       be put on the list." This terminology        tained life of sanctification of all the
in the church.                                suggests that this was simply a list of      saints in Christ.
    We might repeat here the words            willing volunteers. It was not to be             2. Rather it is far more natural to
of Leviticus 19:3: "Ye shall fear every       placed in an instituted special "of-         think of volunteers to perform. the
man his mother and his father and             fice" of deaconess at all. Thus some         good works of mercy whichincluded
keep my sabbaths"! Thus says the              suggest. They then proceed to read in        a walking'in all good works (I Tim.
LORD. IamyourGod.  Leteveryman                I Timothy 3:ll an office akin to the         5:lOb).  a
or woman walk in this command-


   Taikiincg  Inlmd If0 i%@ lDOc$flh@


                   The Logic of Rhetoric

    But though we, or an angel from           and persuade people. In our day we           this  Rhetoric  of Aristotle became his
heaven, preach any other gospel unto you      are surrounded by this kind of logic         most popular work. The Romans
than that which we have preached unto         on every side.                               were fond, not so much of thinkers,
you, let him be accursed.                         Thestudyofthislogicwasbegun,             but of orators and oratory. They
                             Galatians 1:8    as was that of straight or scientific        therefore made good use of what he
                                              logic, primarily by Aristotle. Actu-         taught, producing men like Cicero
    Besides strict logic (that which          ally, he never called it a logic, because    and finally Quintilion. They had the
sees all truth as being harmoniously          he saw it as essentially different. To       Rhetoric of Aristotle copied over and
united together without contradic-            him logic was a matter of determin-          over again, while his Logic was left to
tion), there is another logic in com-         ingtruth, whilerhetoric wastheart of         be forgotten. Rhetoric became their
mon use, that of rhetoric and elo-            persuasion and influence. The two            logic; if a thing was convincing for
quence, which is not nearly so de-            are not the same. So he prepared for         them it was true.
manding. This is a logic designed, not        it, even as he had for logic, a set of           This actually continued for some
to determine truth, but to influence          guiding principles to make it more           the, until finally in the Middle Ages
                                              effective in that for which it was de-       -theMedievalPeriod--theLogicoi
                                              signed. This he set forth in his book        Aristotle was rediscovered, and  it:
                                              called  Rhetoric.                            use became again the standard by
Rev. Woudenberg  is pastor of the Protes-         As it was, once the strength of          which the Scholastics determined
tant Reformed Church  of  Kalamazoo,          GreecehadfallenandRometookover,              truth. But it did not last. Rather
Michigan.

                                                                                                         Jum, 1994lStandard  Bearetl403


shortly, at least as we see it, the Re-     tive powers, he was an artist with            the pulpit without preparation, look-
naissance swept into Italy, with its        words, who could draw pictures in             ing for the Spirit to inspire him,, the
daughter Humanism developing in             the minds of those who heard, reach-          only thing the Spirit would say would
the north; and once again rhetoric          ing into the recesses of Scripture for        be, "Herman, Herman, how lazy thou
surged to the fore. It was not what         images and figures to drive his point         art.") It was not that he could not do
was said, but how, that became again        home. Often, with very little prepara-        so. With his fertile mind he often
the important thing; and, in many           tion, he would put together a sermon          fielded questions, from catechumens
ways, it has continued so to this day.      as he went - or, as we would say              and seminary students, with answers
    Now there is certainly nothing          today,"onthefly"-butinsuchaway                which were an education in them-
wrong with rhetoric, or the study of        that every thought and idea seemed            selves to hear - but only because
eloquence, as such. The fact is that the    to lead to the end he wished. And,            they were always against a back-
Bibleisrhetoricallyaremarkablebook          being Reformed, with a deep love for          ground of thorough preparation.
There is an eloquence of expression         the truths of the confessions, what he            His method was to work, care-
that flows through it from beginning        produced was always edifying and              fully delineating his subject, and then
to end. And, for that matter, many of       sound. He was a preacher indeed.              examining it over against all the cur-
the greatest writers of Christianity               But, as inclined as Schilder was to    rent teachings of Scripture which
studiedrhetoricandbecamefineprac-           rhetorical flourish, Herman Hoek-             might in any way relate to it. It was
titioners of it. Augustine, for example,    sema was not. It was not a lack of            not illustrations he looked for, or strik-
not only studied, but taught it; and his    ability; his mind too was brilliantly         ing phraseology, but the interrela-
works shine in consequence. Calvin          quick, and with an artistic bent. In his      tionship of biblical truths which might
was schooled in Humanism, as most           youth he had shown ability as a poet;         shed light upon each other, and as-
of the Reformers were, and the abili-       but afterward, for the most part, he          surance that they did not conflict. He
ties he developed in it did much to         left that behind. In contrast to Schilder,    was convinced that any contradiction
establish his work One could only           he was an excellent speaker, having a         in the interpretation of various bibli-
wish that there were more suchin our        clear, strong voice with the tambour          cal passages was evidence that one
day.                                        of a trumpet, which could reach               did not understand them correctly;
    In a sense, this is what Dr. Klaas      clearly into the farthest comers of the       and they were best left until one did
Schilder was. He was a master of            large auditorium in which he usually          understand them. God is one. He
rhetorical excellence in many ways.         spoke. And the warmth of his per-             lives in harmony within himself, and
His prowess in this, particularly as a      sonality reached out to draw his audi-        He would never allow his revelation
preacher, was immense. This does            ence in. But rhetorical devices he re-        to contradict. This he deeply be-
not mean that he was a particularly         fused to make his strength, lest they         lieved.
good speaker. Actually, he was not.         become ends in themselves, drawing                Hoeksema was a didactic
His voice was not very clear, and he        peoplewithhisstyle,ratherthanwith             preacher  - not authoritative, impre-
often mumbled when he talked. I can         what he said.        .                        catory, or rhetorical. He had no de-
remember as a child listening to those             Herman Hoeksema was a theolo-          sire to tell people how to live. Nor did
who heard him, complain about how           gian-an exegetical, systematic theo-          he have any interest in what was so
hard it was to make out what he said,       logian-first of all, and unashamedly          popular in his day, namely, "fire and
especially for those who no longer          so.                                           brimstone preaching"  - preaching,
regularly listened to Dutch. But that              He did not like big words (as          that is, which would dramatically
did not negate the fact that his use of     neither did Schilder). He always              draw out the terrible consequences of
words was brilliant. His mind was           spoke as simply as he could. In fact,         sin until the audience quivered in
quick and imaginative. He was able          I can remember him reflecting back            fear, ready to do whatever the
tofindnuancesofmeaningandimpli-             on the days when he as a student had          preacher said. It was not that he was
cation in obscure passages where few        gone with his seminary friends to a           indifferenttosinanditsconsequences.
others thought to look. Rudolf              lake for a swim, and one of them who          Inhis sermons onRomans  1 (preached
VanReest, in his biography, S&Z&r's         wentfirstintothewatershoutedback,             in the mid-thirties), he very vividly
Struggle for the Unity of the Church,       "If you will only submerse yourself           brought out how that the develop-
speaks at length of what Schilder was       completely, the water will not feel so        ment of the sins described there -
able, for example, to elicit from the       frigid." Ofwhich,withadeepchuclde,            sexualperversion,homosexuality(not
expression in Revelation 8:1, "there        Hoeksema would say, "Why didn't               nearly so common then as now), and
was silence in heaven." And I can           he just say, `If you jump right in, the       all other products of the reprobate
recall those who heard him preach on        water won't feel so cold?' ti                 mind - are not just sins, but them-
Zipporah's bloody circumcision of                  Similarly he refused to rely on        selves the judgment of God, theinevi-
Moses' children, reflecting on how it       spontaneity in his presentations, the         table punishment on those who reject
impressed them, even after many             inspiration of the moment. (He would          the truths He has given (Rom. 1:18-
years. With his amazingly imagina-          tell us in school that, if he would go to     21). But it was without dramatics. He

4WStandard BearerlJune,  1994


simply used clear and careful instruc-         first will be last, and the last first" -    war tip to America - finding Hoek-
tion as he passed through each ele-            but also in content-as when God is           sema incapacitated, and looking as
ment in the text. His purpose was not          seen as immutable, but in a change-          though he would be able to give lead-
to arouse his audience for the mo-             able way (a proposition once de-             ershipnomore- he traveled with his
ment, but to leave with them some-             fended by Arminius), or that God             eloquence throughout our churches,
thing they could understand, retain,           loves only the elect, while at the same      from one to the other; and many were
and reflect upon as they went out into         time telling all men that He would           taken in by him. Being almost as
the world again.                               like to have them saved (an underly-         sheep without their shepherd, they
    And that was why, in a large part,         ing proposition of common grace).            seemed ready to leave what they had
Hoeksema was opposed to fl the offer           And it would seem that this has also         learned, and try this new way. (It did
of the gospel" as well. It was not             come to mark the theology of the             not work, of course; for, when later
simply because he disliked the word,           Liberated churches (but to that we           they did break with Hoeksema, they
or that it did not fit his dogmatic            shall return later).                         could not get along with the Liber-
scheme. He was quite aware of the                  Between Hoeksema and Scliilder           ated either, many of them finally be-
fact that, atitsroot, "offer" came from        personally, their differences caused         ing left lost and floundering in the
the Latin offero, which means simply           no real difficulty. They accepted each       Christian Reformed Church for the
to present. In this sense it is usedin  the    other in the confidence that they            rest of their days.)
confessions to indicate the need for           shared a common confessional com-                But the problem was even more
presenting the Gospel to all men, with         mitment, and from that they could go         with the followers of Schilder. Taken
which he had no difficulty. The prob-          on to work together. In fact, when           up with the excitement of their
lem he saw was that in modem times             Schilder didbreakoff theirbondwith           newfound freedom, they were im-
thewordhas takenonrhetoricalbent.              hisfinalletterintheformofanarticle,          mensely suspicious of anything that
It is made to imply that the Gospel            "De kous is Izf" ("The Stocking is Fin-      smacked of "systematic theology,"
must be presented in such a way as to          ished") Hoeksema almost plaintively          "logical reasoning," or "scholasti-
suggest that God, to be a loving God,          responded:                                   cism" as they saw it. Determined to
must be pictured as wanting to save                                                         follow the heart rather than the mind,
all men, if He can, for only in that way         In conclusion, I want to emphasize         the intuition rather than dogma, they
can people be persuaded to come to               once more that the stocking is not         reacted against the well thought out
Him. And,besides, thatiswhatpeople               finished. And if Dr. Schilder feels        doctrines of Hoeksema until Dr.
want to hear. But to it Hoeksema                 that because of the stand of our           Holwerda with his public/private
objected, because it stands in direct            churches as revealed in the Declara-
                                                 tion of Principles he does not want to     letter drove the wedge home-from
conflict with what the Scriptures say.           unravel the tangle and start knitting      whichnone of them, not even Schilder,
    Perhapsitisinevitablethatpopu-               anew, it suits me. Nevertheless, I         ever drewback- "Andlet them then
lar presentations include many                   want to state that in that case I am       as Liberated," he wrote, "preserve
enthymemes, logical leaps from an                disappointed in him, and for the rest      their contact with Holland by all
opening premise to a conclusion, with-           say, "Vale, Amice Schilder."               means, and also spread our litera-
out tracing out the middle-terms -                                                          ture.... If Rev. Hoeksema's concep-
the logical train of thought which             It was almost as .though he did not          tion was binding, I would say, Never
makes clear that the conclusion does           really want to let go, and nourished         join." Without ever having discussed
really follow from what is said. For           still the hope that someday they would       it with him, he dismissed the teach-
practical reasons these logical short          be able to take up again. But it wasnot      ings of Hoeksema. It was as much as
cuts have to be used; but, if they have        longthereafter that Schilder was taken       to say, "Don't listen to what they
not been worked out in one's theol-            away.                                        believe, but inf?.ltrate  their churches
ogy beforehand, they very readily                  And actually it was not so much          until we can take them over and make
lead to the acceptance of, or even an          they as their followers that forced the      them think our way." And with that
enthusiasm for, the paradoxical, not           breach.                                      the knitting was indeed finished, and
justinform-aswhenJesussays,"the                    When Schilder came on his post-          has never been taken up again. 0


  /Bm&y R@\Yi@lWS


                                                                                                In an important introduction to
Evangelical Interpretation:  Persph-           House, 1993. 130~~. No price given           this book, the author informs us that
tiyes on Hermeneutical Issues,  by             (paper). [Reviewed by Prof.  H.              he is interested, not so much in prin-
Millard  J. Erickson. Baker Book               Hanko.]                                      ciples of hermeneutics as such, but in

                                                                                                       June, 1WSfand~ Beareri405


the philosophical questions underly-                In chapter 1 the author deals with    egesis of passages which are a part of
ing hermeneutics (the rule of biblical          the question whether God's meaning        the heritage of the church, and seems
interpretation). He keeps his prom-             in a given passage is the same as the     not fully to appreciate the fact that
ise.                                            human author's meaning. Taking is-        Scripture is timeless truth because in
        While the book is perhaps too           sue with Walter Kaiser, the author        it is the infallible record of salvation in
technical to be read by those who               says that the two may very well be        Jesus Christ.
have not made hermeneutics their                different. But this question in turn          Chapter 4 deals with the contri-
particular study, it is sufficiently im-        involves other questions: What is the     butions made to interpretation by
portant to be read by ministers, pro-           relation between the divine author        theologians, missiologists, and histo-
fessors, and students of college or             and the human author? How does            rians. .He sometimes comes peril-
seminary level. I offer a brief review          one get from the meaning of a text to     ously close to relativizing biblical
of its contents so that our readers may         its significance? Did human authors       truth, although he explicitly claims to
have some idea of what to expect                fully understand what they wrote?         repudiate this notion.
when they purchase the book.                        In chapter 2 the author faces the         In the final chapter our present
        I cannot refrain from remarking         question of whether the Holy Spirit       task in hermeneutics is defined as a
firstofallthatIamcontinuallyamazed              enables us to understand the Bible        calling to engage the subjectivist world
at the number of new problems which             betterthanonelackingtheHoly  Spirit.      in a dialogue in which we prove by
students of Scripture are able to raise         Does the Holy Spirit convey truth? or     rational argument that they are
as important questions in connection            does He only make us willing to re-       wrong.
with the study and understanding of             ceive it? This question, the author           All in all, the book makes for
Scripture. One keeps thinking to him-           points out, involves the question of      fascinating reading even if one can-
self: How thankful we all ought to be           the effect of sin upon the mind. Re-      not agree. The trouble seems to me to
that God's people do not have to                jecting the position of some as "epis-    be, as in so many current books on
trouble themselves with all these prob-         temological Pelagianism," the author      hermeneutics, that:  1) theapproachof
lems (and their answers) for them to            seems to teach that the Holy Spirit       faith to Scripture is abandoned in
understand God's holy Word. In-                 raises one's IQ.                          favor of the approach of rationalistic
deed, if all these problems had to be               In chapter 3 the questionis faced:    proof; 2) too much emphasis is placed
solved, there would be no time left to          How is the Bible to be applied to         on the so-called human element in
learn what God Himself says in His              today's world? Apart from his an-         God's Word. 0
Word.                                           swers, the author seems to forget ex-



Evangelism Activities                           TX, as presented by Trinity's pastor,     on the subject, "TheLord's Return: Is
        Let's start this issue of the "News"    Rev. J. Mahtani.                          It Near?"
with various evangelism projects in                 On Saturday morning the confer-            On April 27 Rev. VanOverloop
our churches.                                   ence got started again with a speech      found himselfinloveland,  CO speak-
        The Evangelism Committee of our         given by Rev. W. Bruinsma, pastor of      ing at a public lecture sponsored by
Hudsonville,  MI PRC recently spon-             the First PRC in Holland, MI, entitled    the Men's Society of the Loveland,
sored an area-wide conference on the            "Church Members' Calling to Wit-          CO PRC. He spoke that evening on
subject, "AreYou  Afraid to Witness?"           ness." This was followed by Rev.          the topic, "A Christian Perspective of
        This conference was held on a           Mahtani giving instruction in "How        AIDS."
Friday evening and Saturday mom-                to Witness." Ifyouareinterestedinall          The Evangelism Committee of the
ing, April29 and 30. On Friday night,           or part of these messages, audio and      Peace PRC in Lynwood, IL sponsored
Rev. C. Terpstra, pastor of the South           video tapes are available. Call Hib       a lecture on May 5, with Rev. C.
Holland, IL PRC spoke on the subject,           Kuiper, Jr. at (616) 669-1993.            Terpstra speaking on the topic,
What Is Evangelism?" This speech                    Rev. Mahtaniis currently leading      "Satanism."
was followed by a slide presentation            a new Bible study at the University of        Also on May5 Rev. R. Cammenga,
of the outreach work currently being            Houston. The group will be meeting        pastor of the Southwest PRC in
done by the Trinity PRC in Houston,             twice a month to study the book of        Grandville, MI, spoke at Southwest
                                                Proverbs.                                 on the subject "NIV or KJV." This
                                                    On April 15 the Evangelism Com-       speech was intended to be a compari-
                                                mittee of the Randolph, WI PRC            son and evaluation of.these two Bible
Mr. Wigger is an elder in the Protestant        sponsored a public lecture. Rev. R.       versions. Among the many questions
Rejormed Church of Hudsonville,Michi-           VanOverloop, pastor of the Bethel         it hoped to answer, was this, Ought
gan.                                            PRC in Elk Grove Village, IL, spoke       the NIV displace the KJV as the ver-

4OWStandard Bearer IJuna, 19B4


sion of choice among God's people?                               On.April24  and again one week                     letters of farewell written from the
Want an answer? Then write South-                         later, April 30, there were choir pro-                    congregations of Byron Center PRC
west Church at 4875 Ivanrest  Ave.,                       grams givenby a PR mass choir com-                        andGeorgetownPRC(twocongrega-
Grandville, MI 49418 and ask for a                        prising  some 170  voices. Their first                    tions organized as daughter congre-
free tape.                                                concert was at Sunshine Ministries in                     gations from Hudsonville), the
Denominational Activities                                 Grand Rapids, MI, followed by one at                      Hudsonville PRC, with a letter of
     There was a Spring Ladies'                           Dimnent Chapel on the campus of                           farewell coming from the Covenant
League meeting held on April 21 in                        Hope College in Holland, MI. What                         ReformedFellowship  of Northern Ire-
the auditorium of the Edgerton, MN                        concerts those were! It was truly a                       land as well.
PRC. Rev. M.  DeVries,  pastor at                    blessing to sit in the audience and                                 Rev. VanBaren noted that in his
Edgerton, spoke to the ladies on the                      listen, as I am sure it was also to be                    16 years at Hudsonville he officiated
subject, "The Last Enemy: Facing                          part of that choir.                                       at 42 weddings, baptized 238 babies,
Death."                                                   Minister Activities                                       was present to. hear 82 confessions of
     Rev. Bruinsma was the featured                              On the evening of May 4, the                       faith, and spoke at 29 funerals.
speaker at this spring's annual league                    congregation of the Hudsonville, MI                            On Sunday evening, May 8, Rev.
meetingof theMr.  andMrs.  and Adult                      PRC met together to bid farewell to                       VanBaren preached his farewell ser-
BibleSocieties.  HespokeatFaithPRC                        their pastor, Rev. G. VanBaren, his                       mon in Hudsonville based on II
in Jenison, MI on the very interesting               wife, and one daughter. The Lord                               Thessalonians 3:4,5 and entitled "Do-
and timely subject, "Busy Fathers:                   willing, Rev. VanBaren will take up                            ing the Things Commanded."
Where Are Our Priorities?"                                his labors in the congregation of the
   All young people, high school                          Loveland, CO PRC on Sunday, May
seniors and older, were recently in-                      22.                                                       ~`oodFor  %zght:
vited to a local Spring Retreat held in                          Between special numbers from                            "Repentance begins in humiliation
western Michigan at Camp  Miche-                          Hudsonville's choir and Sunday                            of the heart and ends in the reformatioiz  of
wana. Rev. A. Spriensma, pastor of                        School, and a trio from the newly-                        the life. " 0
the Grandville, MI PRC, spoke on                          organized Georgetown PRC, were                                                      -John Mason
"Christian Liberty."
                                                     /                                                         I
                                                                  $77 :j, :7j ii ,?`$I1 q$ ( `g.l?pg  fi"&$              WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
                                                                                                                         On June 10,1994,
            TEACHERNEEDED                                                                                            MR. and MRS. TED LOOYENGA,
     The Free Christian School in Edgerton,                 RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                                  will celebrate 45 years of marriage.
MN is in need of a teacher for grades K-4.                       The Council of the Protestant Reformed             We, their children and grand-children,
Please contact Andy Brummel, Box 176,                Church of South Holland, IL expresses its                      rejoice with them in this celebration.
Edgerton  MN 56128 (phone: [507] 442-5201)           heartfelt sympathy to the following members                    We give much thanks to our heavenly
or DennisBleyenberg,  RR. 1 Box23,  Edgerton,        of the congregation: Lamm and MaryBeth                         Father for giving us God-fearing par-
MN 56128 (phone:  [507j 442-7551).                   Lubbers, GeorgeandMonicaLanting,  Jeremy                       ents to be our examples. May God
                                                     and Lynn Lubbers, Menno  and Sadie Smits,                      continue to bless them richly and keep
     WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                             Joel and Debbie Smits, Rev. and Verna                          them in His tender care.
     On June 1, 1994, D.V., our beloved              Terpstra, Todd and Valerie Terpstra, in the                        "If thy children will keep my cov-
parents,                                             passing of their father, grandfather, brother,                 enant and my testimony that I shall
       JOE and BEA MEYER,                            and uncle,                                                     teach them, their children shall also sit
will celebrate their 45th wedding anniversary.                   MR. DEWEY ENGELSMA.                                upon thy throne for evermore. For the
We are thankful to our heavenly Father for                       May the families be comforted in this:             Lord hath chosen Zion; he hath de-
bringing them together, keeping them in His          "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death                sired it for his habitation" (Psalm
care, and also giving them to usasfaithful and       of his saints" (Psalm 11695).                                  131:12,  13).
God-fearing parents.                                                           Raymond  L. Bruinsma,                0 Joe and Mary Brummel
     "For the LORD is good: his mercy is ever-                                              Vice-President          0 Randy and Pat McCollough
lasting: and his truth endureth to all genera-                                  Bert Wories, Jr., Clerk             0 Larry and ,Kathy Looyenga                .
tions" (Psalm 100:5).                                                                                               0 Bob and Kathy Looyenga
0 John and Mary Meyer                                                                                               0 Randy and Lindy Looyenga
0 Neil and Connie Meyer                                                        NOTICE                               0 Nancy Feenstra
8 Helen Meyer                                                    The annual StandardBearerstaff  meet-              0 Doug and Melissa Looyenga'
8 Al  arrd Alice Kaptein                             ing will be held at 730 on Monday evening,                     .I5 Mark and Sara Looyenga
0 Randy and Connie Maycroft                          June 13, in the Protestant Reformed Semi-                      0 Karen Looyenga
       25 grandchildren                              nary, Department editors are urged to attend                      24 grand-children
                           Qrand Rapkls, Mlchlgan    if at all possible.                                                                           Qrand RapIds, MI

                                                                                                                                June, lQ94/W Beam'407


         T145
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       /g@JJgJ                                                                                                                        SECOND CLASS
                                                                                                                                      Postage Paid at
                                                                                                                                      Grandvilie, Michigan
       P.O. Box 603
       Grandville,  MI 494668603

 I                                                                                                                                                            I
        WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                                      WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
        On June 10, 1994, the Lord willing, our              The fiftieth wedding anniversary of our
 parents and grandparents,                              dear parents and grandparents,
      MR. and MRS. JOHN DYKSTRA,                          GERRIT and ELEANORE BOL,                                              NOTICE
 will celebrate their 49th wedding anniversary.        will be celebrated, the Lord willing, on June                           from the
 We rejoice with them. We thank our heavenly            16,1994. Their desire to walk together in faith              CONTACT  COMMITTEE
 Father for them; and for His love, care, and          with the Lord has been imparted to five cov-                  The Committee for Contact with
 instruction given to us through them. Our             enant children given to them in their marriage,          Other Churches has received thefollow-
 prayer and trust for them is: "The Logo  shall        and to thirteen grandchildren who now love               ing letter from the Session of First Evan-
 bless thee out of Zion: and thou shalt see the        the Lord. Wih special joy we look back over              gelical Reformed Church of Singapore:
goodofJerusalemallthedaysofthylife.  Yea,              their fifty years of memories of both happiness
thou shalt see thy children's children, and            and pain, and we see the Lord drawing them,                 Dear brethren in the Lord:
peace upon Israel" (Psalm 128:5,8).                                                                                  We thank you for your love
                                                       and us, closer to Himself.                                  offering of US$1,323.22 to our
eeb Don and Cindi  DeJong                                   So we look ahead with even more plea-                  Church Building Fund.
          Dan, Christiana, Carl, Jeremy,               sure to the time not limited by anniversaries,                Part of ourchurchbuildingis
                 Aaron, Larisa, and Brent              when they and their children's children will                ready for occupancy, but due to
8 Dan and Lori Pastoor                                 share an eternal promise among the saints in                some constructural problems,
          Brad, Nathan, Bryan,                         glory. "Giving thanks unto the Father, which                we have yet to receive permit
                              and Jonathan             hath made us meet to be partakers of the                    from our government to use the
0 Doug Dykstra                                         inheritance of the saints in `light" (Colossians            church for temporary worship.
                                                                                                                     We are greatly touched by
                                    Walker, MlchQan    1:12).                                                      your constant support and ex-
                                                       0 David  and Barbara Bol                                    tension of fellowship given to
            CALL TO SYNOD!!                                       Kristin, Matthew,  Kara                          us. May the Lord continue to
        Synod 1993 appointed Fa*kh Protestant          0 Mark and Ruthellen Hoeksema                              bless you richly as we labor for
Reformed Church, Jenison, MI the calling                         Stephen, Michael, Sarah, Philip                  Him joyfully.
church for the 1994 Synod.                             8 Stephen Gary (b.  l-23-51;                                                 Yours faithfully,
        The Consistory hereby notifies our                                                  d. 4-8-51)                    Gabriel Choo (Treasurer)
churches that the 1994 Synod of the Protes-            0 John Patrick and Priscilla                                    for the Session of the FERC
tant Reformed Churches in America will con-                                                  MacGraw
vene, the Lord willing, on Tuesday, June 7,                      Molly, Daniel, Megan                                The Committee also calls the atten-
1994 at 9:oO                                                                                                    tion of the churches to the fact that no
                 A.M.  in the Faith Protestant         $ Jonathan and Barbara Bol
Reformed Church, Jenison, MI.                                    Nathan, Audra, Adam                            more collections need to be taken forthe
       The Pre-Synodical Service will be held                                        GrarKl Rapids,  tac%gan    Tasmanian Student Fund. The two `stu-
on Monday evening, June 8, at 7:30                                                                              dents who have studied with us have
                                          P.M. Rev.
Slopsema, president of the 1993 Synod, will                                                                     completed their studies and are return-
preach the sermon. Synodical delegates are                  WEDDING ANNlVERSARY                                 ing to Australiato take up their work. The
requested to meet with the Consistory before                On June 9,1994 our parents,                         Committee expresses to the churches
the service.                                             OTTO and BETTY KAMMINGA,                               its sincere thanks for the generous sup
                                 Consistory of         celebrate their 46th wedding anniversary.                port which has been given.
                                      Faith PRC             We thank our covenant God for the way                    The Committee also reminds the
                       Andrew Brummel, Clerk.                                                                   churches that the collections for the
                                                       in which He has used them to train us in His
                                                       fear. We pray that God will continue to bless            Singaporean Student Fund will continue.
                                                       them and keep them in His loving care.                   Mr. Cheah Fook Meng will be with us, the
                                                                                                                Lord willing, another two years. All the
          The SfaandardBeareris  pub-                  0 Terry and Ellen Kamminga                               collections under the supervision of the
      lished only once each month                      Ct David and Wanda Kamminga                              Contact Committee must be sent to our
      during the months of June, July,                 0 Randy and Bev Kamminga
                                                       0 Brian and Lori Kamminga                                Synodical Treasurer, Mr. Joel Zandstra.
                                                       0 Rob and Lynne Huizinga
                                                                                                Hdhd,  MI


4WStandard  BearerlJune,  1994


