A Reformed
Semi-Monthly
          e





                      Meditation  - Rev. Steven R.  Houck
                              Restoring a Sinful Brother . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 482
                      Editorial  - Prof. David  J.  Engelsma
                              The Reformed Worldview
                              4. The Failure of Common Grace  (concl.) .,......*............................                                                                                                           485
                      Guest Article - Rev. Char/es  J.  Terpstra
                              A Spiritual House for God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 486
                      Search the ,Scriptures  - Rev. Mitchell C. Dick
                              The Secret of the Fruit of the Vine (1):
                                   Doctrine Fruit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    490
                      Contribution - Mr. Joel Sugg
                              An Outpost Falls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 492
                      Guest Article - Rev. David Higgs
                              Introduction to the Evangelical Presbyterian
                                   Church of Australia (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..~............................ 493
                      `News From Our Churches  - Mr. Benjamin Wigger  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 495
                      Index to Volume 74 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..*........
                                                                                                                                                                                                                       496





Vd. 74, No. 21
September 15, 1998





                      J


                                                         rin                                        inful

                                                   Brethren,  if  a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual,
                                            restore such an one in the spirit  of  meekness; considering thyself, lest
                                            thou  also  be tempted.
                                                                                                                                    Galatians  6:l

I                                                                 means literally "to take before."                                   Word. The moral principles of the
      n this verse the apostle Paul ad-                           The idea is to take a person before                                 Bible teach us what is sin. There-
      monishes us to restore a sinful                             he can get away and thus catch                                      fore, if we are to use the principle
      brother.           The occasion for this                    him. This fault or sin catches a be-                                of this verse, we ought to make sure
admonition is found in the words,                                 liever suddenly and holds on to                                     that the Bible clearly defines the
"Brethren, if a man be overtaken                                  him so that he cannot get away.                                     brother's action as sin.
in a fault.. . ."                                                        This phrase, "overtaken in a                                         Secondly, this phrase implies
       Even though the apostle says                               fault," implies several things. First                               that believers do sin. Believers are
"if a man," he does not refer to man                              of all, it implies that this restoring                              not perfect. We may not think that
in general. The principle which he                                process is to be used only when a                                   everyone else is evil, while we are
sets down is not a principle which                                believer sins. Sometimes we criti-                                  always righteous. Sin catches us
applies to all people. This prin-                                 cize another believer, not because                                  and overtakes us every day. It is a
ciple is only for believers. That is                              he has sinned, but just because we                                  constant reality in every believer's
clear from the word "Brethren."                                   do not like what he is doing. Or                                    life. We cannot deny it.
The man who is overtaken in a                                     worse than that, we talk about a                                            In the third place, this principle
fault is a spiritual brother.                                     fellow-believer behind his back.                                    is to be used only when a brother
       The word "fault" means "to fall                            We do that just because we dis-                                     does not repent of his sin. Nor-
beside or near something." It is a                                agree with him. Sometimes we are                                    mally when we commit a sin, we
lapse or deviation in which a per-                                very judgmental. If a person does                                   repent. In that case, the brother
son falls off the path of God's truth                             not conform to our way of think-                                    does not have to be restored. He
and righteousness. It is a trespass                               ing, he is not a good Christian.                                   has dealt with his sin properly and
or sin. The word "overtaken"                                             That is wrong. Never may we                                  taken care of it. But one can be
                                                                  accuse a brother unless he has ac-                                  overtaken in the sense that he re-
                                                                  tually sinned. We have to allow                                     mains in his sin. The sin has caught
Rev. Houck  is pastor of Peace Protestant                         for true Christian liberty. We are                                  him in such a way that it holds onto
Reformed Church in Lansing, Illinois.                             free within the limits of God's                                     him and will not let him go. The



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482/Standard  Bearer/September  15,1998


believer continues committing sin        sinning brother is forced out of the       brother ought to move us to help
or does not see that what he has         church without so much as a single         him get out of spiritual trouble.
done is sin, and therefore does not      admonition. That too is sin.               Christ is so merciful to sinners that
repent. That is the brother who              There is another improper re-          He calls sinners to repentance. He
needs to be restored.                    action to the sin of a brother. We         says in Luke  15:4,  "What man of
    Finally, this phrase implies that    talk about it to others. This hap-         you, having an hundred sheep, if
we know about the sin  of our            pens often. This is the easy way           he lose one of them, doth not leave
brother. Sometimes a brother  com-       out. We don't have to confront the         the ninety and nine in the wilder-
mits a public sin which many             brother. We don't have to get in-          ness, and go after that which is lost,
people know about. In that case          volved with the consistory. Yet,           until he find it?" If a shepherd
we not only ought to go to him in        we can feast on this juicy tidbit          loses one of his sheep, he will seek
obedience to this passage, but we        with all of our neighbors. We con-         it until he finds it and restores it to
ought to report it to the consistory.    vict and hang the brother with our         its place. How much more should
Other times a brother commits a          gossip without seeking true justice        our love for our brother cause us
sin which is private. However, a         or showing mercy.                          to seek him when he has gone
fellow-believer may have seen him            That is also sin. In many cases        astray spiritually? If we ignore this
commit it. He knows about it, not        this gossip is a greater sin than the      biblical principle to restore our sin-
because of hearsay, but because he       sin of the brother. Don't be a gos-        ful brother, we manifest the fact
has witnessed it himself. If he          sip. If you witness your brother           that we have no love for him nor
would not say anything about it, it      sin, keep that between you and             for the God who sent Christ for
would probably never be discov-          him. Reveal it to others (your pas-        him.
ered. That is the sin with which         tor or the consistory) only when he             Who specifically is to restore
this verse is concerned.                 will not repent.                           the sinful brother? Notice the
    That brings us to the question,          What are we to do when a               verse,  ".  . . ye which are spiritual,
"What are we to do when we wit-          brother sins?       Notice the verse,      restore such an one . . . . II Who are
ness a brother commit such a sin?"       "Brethren, if a man be overtaken           those who are spiritual? Some say
Are we to ignore it? That is what        in a fault, ye which are spiritual,        that this refers to a very select
many of us do. We act as if we           restore such an one...."         We are    group of Christians who are much
have seen nothing. We do that for        called to restore him. The word            more mature spiritually than other
many reasons. We may not want            "restore" means "to make sound or          Christians. This group might in-
to get the brother in trouble. Per-      complete." This word is used with          clude the minister, the elders, the
haps we don't want to face the           reference to those who mend their          deacons, and a few older members
brother. It is always hard to tell       torn fishing nets. They make their         of the congregation. If that were
someone he is sinning. Maybe we          nets sound or complete by fixing           true, this verse would not apply to
do not want to testify against a         them. This word is used in con-            most of us. But that is not  true1  The
brother. Perhaps we don't want to        nection with putting a dislocated          designation "those who are spiri-
get involved in a big mess. Some-        arm back in its socket. The arm is         tual" includes all Christians. For
times reporting a brother's sin can      restored to its proper place.              all Christians are spiritual in the
involve a person in some very un-            When a brother is overtaken in         sense that they have the Holy
pleasant proceedings.                    a fault, we are to mend the tear in        Spirit. However, this designation
    But that is wrong. We may not        his spiritual life. We are to restore      also means that at the time we seek
ignore a brother's sin. If we ig-        him to his proper place spiritually.       to restore our sinful brother we
nore a brother's sin, we become          We are to make him sound spiritu-          must be walking in the Spirit. We
guilty of his sin. We become an          ally. When a brother sins and does         may not be indulging in the lust of
accessory to his crime. To ignore a      not repent of that sin, it is as if a      the flesh. How can we restore a
brother's sin is sin itself-sin which    member of the body of Christ is            brother who is sinning if we our-
brings the chastening hand of God        out-of-joint. The brother has to be        selves are sinning? Therefore, the
upon us.                                 fixed. He has to be brought to             one who restores his brother must
    On the other hand, the apostle       godly sorrow, the confession of his        be a Christian who is, at that mo-
does not say that when a brother         sin, and the forsaking of his sin.         ment, manifesting the fruit of the
sins we are to cast him out of the       Rather than looking the other way,         Spirit.
church immediately. That is the          we have to play the part of a spiri-           Before we restore a sinful
other extreme. Perhaps the sin is        tual physician. Rather than cutting        brother we ought to examine our-
so hideous that we want to expel         off this offending member of the           selves and make sure that there is
him from our communion. We are           body, we are to seek spiritual heal-       no sin in our own lives. Jesus says
not concerned about his well-being.      ing for him.                               in Matthew 7:4-5,           "And why
We think only of ourselves. The              Our love for our spiritual             beholdest thou the mote that is in

                                                                                       September  l5,199S/Standard   Bearer/483


thy brother's eye, but considerest                          son of his sin. Ultimately, only the       ourselves as better than he is. We
not the beam that is in thine own                           Holy Spirit can restore-a sinning          are to go to him in love and mercy,
eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy                            brother. The Holy Spirit works             with kindness and gentleness. We
brother, Let me pull out the mote                           through the Word of God.                   are to have patience with him.
out of thine eye; and, behold, a                                In particular we ought to say          That is the example which our Lord
beam is in thine own eye? Thou                              three things. First, we are to point       has left us. He was a meek and
hypocrite, first cast out the beam                          out his sin. We ought to admonish          gentle man. He says in Matthew
out of thine own eye; and then                              him that the thing which he has            11:29,  "Take my yoke upon you,
shalt thou see clearly to cast out                          done is sin. Sometimes a brother           and learn of me; for I am meek and
the mote out of thy brother's eye."                         does not realize that what he has          lowly in heart.. .  ." This meek and
       What do we do when we re-                            done is sin. It is a relatively simple     gentle spirit is what brings results,
store a sinful brother?                       First, we     matter to show him that it is. Sec-        for then the brother will see our
have to go to  .him  and talk to him                        ondly, we are to call the brother to       concern for him and the church of
about his sin. Even though it is                            sorrow because of his sin. He has          Christ. He will see that we love
difficult, even though we do not                            not confessed his sin to God. He           him as a brother and seek his good.
want to face our brother with his                           has not forsaken it. We ought to           His heart will be open to the Word
sin, this face-to-face meeting is ab-                       use the Bible to bring him to that         of God which we bring.
solutely necessary. In this we have                         godly sorrow, confession to God,               Secondly, let us notice the rea-
t h e   e x a m p l e   o f   N a t h a n ,   t h e         and the forsaking of his sin.              son that we are to restore the
prophet, who faced David and said                           Thirdly, we are to tell our brother        brother in this particular manner.
to him, "Thou art the man" (II Sam.                         that if he repents, he will find for-      We read,  `I... considering thyself,
12:l).                                                      giveness.    God will forgive him.         lest thou also be tempted." At the
       The procedure is given to us in                      We will forgive him. Repentance            same time that we seek to restore
Matthew  18:15-17 where we read,                            is the only way to forgiveness. If         the brother in a spirit of meekness
"Moreover if thy brother shall tres-                        he does not repent, God has not            we are to consider ourselves. We
pass against thee, go and tell him                          forgiven him, and his place is with        are to observe ourselves, think
his fault between thee and him                              the heathen man and the publican.          about ourselves. And what are we
alone: if he shall hear thee, thou                              Finally, let us notice the man-        to consider? The fact that we also
hast gained thy brother. But if he                          ner in which we are to restore the         are sinners who can be tempted
will not hear thee, then take with                          brother. We read,  ".  . . restore such    and fall into sin just as easily as
thee one or two more, that in the                           an one in the spirit of meekness;          our brother. The very sin which
mouth of two or three witnesses                             considering thyself, lest thou also        our brother has committed, we
every word may be established.                              be tempted." We are to restore our         might commit ourselves. We are
And if he shall neglect to hear                             brother in the spirit of meekness.         not immune to any sin. We can lie
them, tell it unto the church; but if                       We are not to deal with him with a         as did Abraham. We can get drunk
he neglect to hear the church, let                          tone of arrogance, superiority, or         as Noah did. We can commit adul-
him be unto thee as an heathen                              anger. Sometimes we are arrogant.          tery and murder as David. We can
man and a publican."                                        We have an attitude that we are            deny our Lord as Peter. Listen to
      First, we are to go to our                            much better than the brother who           the words of the apostle found in I
brother alone and talk to him. If                           has sinned. We look down upon              Corinthians  10:12,  "Wherefore let
he repents, that ends the matter.                           him and treat him as if he is noth-        him that thinketh he standeth take
If he does not repent, we go with                           ing. We may even be harsh, un-             heed lest he fall."
one or two others. These witnesses                          kind, and uncaring. We march                   That is why we are to restore
are to stand with us in support of                          right into our brother's house and         our brother only with a spirit of
the truth which we bring. If that                           start blasting away. Our voice is          meekness.     But for the grace of
does not lead him to repentance,                            loud. Our face is flush. Our eyes          God, we would be in his place.
we are to inform the consistory of                          are filled with anger. That is not         That will also make us have a spirit
the church so that it can deal with                         the way to restore a sinful brother.       of sympathy and understanding.
the sinful brother.                                         Usually that will have the oppo-           We know how easy it is for us to
      What are we to say to the                             site effect. It will drive him away        sin. Thus, we go to our sinning
brother when we go to him? That                             from the Word of God and his               brother, not to kick him in the dust,
comes down to one thing-Holy                                needed repentance. If we seek to           but to lift him up and help him
Scripture. When we go to our                                restore our brother in that way, we        back to the place where he be-
brother, we may not bring our own                           will be guilty of great sin.               longs-a place of fellowship and
word. We must bring only the                                    Rather, we are to go to him            friendship with God, a place of
Word of God. It is God's Word                               with a meek spirit. We are to be           peace and joy, a place of useful-
which God uses to convict a  per-                           humble. We are not to think of             ness in the body of Christ. Ll

484/Standard   B e a r e r / S e p t e m b e r   75,199s


                                                       nature of Scripture, origins, and the                        tween Christ and all those who are
T                                                      extent of the grace of God in Jesus                          His, on the one hand, and the chil-
         he Protestant Reformed                        Christ, and in life, e.g., Sabbath ob-                       dren of the devil, on the other hand
         Churches reject the common                    servance, marriage, the  headship of                         (Gen.  3:15). God effectually calls
         grace worldview proposed                      the husband in home and church,                              all the members of Christ's church
by Abraham Kuyper because this                         and the dance. In a number of in-                            out of the world (I Pet.  2:9). The
worldview has failed. For some                         stances, the Christian Reformed                              urgent exhortation to believers and
100 years, the Reformed Churches                       Church has explicitly appealed to                            their children in all ages is, "Come
in the Netherlands have practiced                      common grace in support of its                               out from among them, and be ye
Kuyper's (and, I may add, Herman                       abandonment of the historic Chris-                           separate" (II Co r .   6:14-l@.   T h i s
Bavinck's) worldview. The result                       tian and Reformed position.                                  separation has its source and foun-
has been not only that Dutch cul-                              T h e   d i s a s t r o u s   f a i l u r e   o f    dation in God's decree of election
ture has not been "Christianized"                      Kuyperian common grace is evi-                               by which God eternally separated
b u t   a l s o   t h a t   t h e   R e f o r m e d    dent also in other churches and, es-                         the church from the reprobate, un-
Churches in the Netherlands, with                      pecially, in many non-Reformed                               godly world  (Deut.  7:6;  John 15:19).
the Free University associated with                    but Christian colleges. In the na-                               Such is the importance of the
these churches, have become thor-                      ture of the case, Christian schools                          antithesis that it constitutes the sal-
oughly worldly. Common grace                           espouse and teach a worldview.                               vation of the church. Nothing less.
has been a bridge by which the                         As the writings of Bernard Ramm,                             The blessing of Israel by the Old
world has invaded and destroyed                        Arthur Holmes, and others show,                              Testament Mediator was this: "Is-
these churches.                                        evangelical colleges too have em-                            rael then shall dwell in safety
     T h e   C h r i s t i a n   R e f o r m e d       b r a c e d   t h e   c o m m o n   g r a c e                alone"  (Deut.  33:28). It was exactly
Church in North America threw up                       worldview of Abraham Kuyper.                                 the purpose and power of the cross
the bridge of the common grace                         Not one is holding out against the                           of Christ that it "deliver us" not
worldview a little later. It did this                  mind and ways of the ungodly                                 only from the guilt of sin but also
by its  synodical  adoption of the                     world, whether as regards the doc-                           "from this present evil world" (Gal.
"three points of common grace" in                      trine of Scripture, the truth of cre-                        1:4). The warning to the saints is
1924. The Christian Reformed                           ation, feminism, or sexual moral-                            that to dally with the world in com-
Church made Kuyper's theory of                         ity.                                                         munion and cooperation is to per-
common grace official church                                   The reason why the worldview                         ish with the world. Positively, the
dogma. The purpose of the Chris-                       of common grace corrupts the                                 saints escape the world's sins and
tian Reformed Church was to es-                        churches and schools is that this                            plagues only in the way of sepa-
tablish a worldview by which she                       worldview breaches the antithesis.                           rating from the world. "Come out
and her members could live in all                      The antithesis (for a long time now                          of her, my people, that ye be not
areas of life and influence society.                   an unfamiliar and unpopular word                             partakers of her sins, and that ye
     The result has been the same                      in Reformed and evangelical                                  receive not of her plagues" (Rev.
as in the Netherlands. North                           circles) is the spiritual separation                         18:4).
American society has not become                        and warfare that God Himself has                                 It is appalling that by his com-
Calvinistic or Christian; Grand                        established between His holy                                 mon grace worldview Abraham
Rapids, Michigan has not become                        people and the unholy world of                               Kuyper played fast and loose with
Calvinistic. But the Christian Re-                     men and women outside of Jesus                               the antithesis in the interests of po-
formed Church, with her schools,                       Christ. From the very beginning,                             litical power and cultural influence.
has become worldly. She has be-                        in the first proclamation of the gos-                        It is more appalling still (and inex-
come worldly in doctrine, e.g., the                    pel, Jehovah God put enmity be-                              cusable) that Reformed churches,

                                                                                                                       September  15,1998/Standard   Bearer/485


schools, and theologians continue                        scholar means irreconcilable con-                    earlier this year at a conference
to play fast and loose with the an-                      tradiction so that where common                      commemorating the centennial of
t i t h e s i s   b y   m a i n t a i n i n g   t h e    grace rules, the antithesis is driven                Kuyper's Stone Lectures (to which
worldview of common grace in the                         out.                                                 I referred in the previous editori-
face of the testimony of history that                            The most ardent disciples of                 als), the Christian Reformed phi-
this worldview wreaks havoc with                         the Kuyper of common grace (there                    losopher and teacher offered the
the antithesis.                                          was  another  Kuyper) themselves                     judgment that the sad decline of
     `Peter  S.  Heslam has recently                     have been forced to acknowledge                      the Reformed Churches in the
called attention to the fact that                        and lament the bitter fruits of com-                 Netherlands and of the Free Uni-
Kuyper's theory of common grace                          mon grace.                                           versity was due to their stress on
contradicts the biblical truth of the                            In May, 1952, Dr. Cornelius                  common grace at the expense of the
antithesis, which truth Kuyper also                      Van Til told a full house of Calvin                  antithesis. To my delight (and sur-
advocated.           In his analysis of                  Seminary and College faculty and                     prise), Prof. Wolterstorff reminded
Kuyper's Lectures  on Calvinism,  the                    students that if the common grace                    his largely Christian Reformed au-
speeches at Princeton University in                      doctrine of the Christian Reformed                   dience that for Kuyper there was
1898 that proposed the worldview                         Church prevailed one might as                        another doctrine in addition to
of common grace,  Heslam  ob-                            well blow up the science building                    common grace that is basic to the
serves:                                                  of Calvin College with an atom                       life of the Christian in the world.
                                                         bomb. This remark mightily irked                     T h a t   d o c t r i n e ,   a c c o r d i n g   t o
  That Kuyper was able to display                        the leadership of the Christian Re-                  Wolterstorff, is the antithesis.
  a positive approach to the arts was                    formed Church. It has always                              The trouble is that Wolterstorff
  largely due to his doctrine of com-                    puzzled me-not the statement but                     supposes that common grace and
  mon grace, which in this lecture,
  in contrast to his lecture on sci-                     that Van Til made it. For all his                    the antithesis can and must be held
  ence, is emphasized at the expense                     hedging and qualifying, Van Til                      "in balance." This is impossible.
  of his doctrine of the antithesis,                     held the same doctrine of common                     Biblically, theologically, and logi-
  which plays no significant role.                       grace that Kuyper taught in his Lec-                 cally, they are contraries. History
  This discrepancy is one of the                         tures on Calvinism and that the                      has proved that they cannot and
  clearest indications of what is per-                   C h r i s t i a n   R e f o r m e d   C h u r c h    will not share the field of thought
  haps the central tension in                            adopted in its decretals of 1924.                    and conduct. When in the ques-
  Kuyper's thought between the an-                               In any case, that was the sci-               tion-period Wolterstorff was asked
  tithesis and corresponding isola-                      ence building that has given the                     for guidelines to hold common
  tion on the one hand, and com-                         C h r i s t i a n   R e f o r m e d   C h u r c h    grace and the antithesis "in bal-
  mon grace and corresponding en-
  gagement and accommodation on                          Howard Van Till's denial of cre-                     ance," he frankly admitted that he
  the other. It was a tension Kuyper                     ation, Davis Young's denial of the                   could not give any.
  never resolved, and a comparison                       flood, and the 1991 report on cre-                        The common grace worldview
  of his Stone Lecture on art with                       ation and science that affirmed full-                has failed. Even its advocates at
  that on science demonstrates how                       blown theistic evolution.                            the end of the  20th century have re-
  it led to flaws in the overall co-                             The Rev. H. J. Kuiper, sworn                 marked the failure.
  herence of his thought.                                foe that he was of the Protestant                         It has failed because it is the
                                                         Reformed confession of the antith-                   contradiction and destruction of
     Heslam goes on to speak of                          esis, felt compelled to draw up and                  the antithesis.
                                                         circulate a petition in which he and                      God has judged the common
  the fundamental tension in                             his allies charged that the profes-                  grace worldview in history. In its
  Kuyper's thought-a recurrent                           sors at Calvin College "give in-                     utter failure to influence the world,
  theme throughout this book, and
  expressed at its most basic level                      struction which is more or less col-                 and in the worldliness of the
  in the dichotomy between his                           orless and neutral.... They stress                   churches and schools that em-
  ideas of antithesis and of common                      common grace far more than the                       braced it, God has written upon it
  grace. The final passage of the                        antithesis.. . . There is no pro-                    His "Mene,  Mene,   Tekel,  Upharsin."
  Stone Lectures is added evidence                       nounced spiritual atmosphere in                           Reformed people must not then
  that this was a tension Kuyper                         our college." This petition, signed                  celebrate the anniversary of the for-
  himself was unable to resolve                          by 147 persons, was presented to                     m a l   p r o p o u n d i n g   o f   t h a t
  (Creating a Christian Worldview:                       the Christian Reformed synod of                      worldview. How bizarre! As
  Abraham Kuyper's Lectures on Cal-
  vinism,                                                1952 (see Henry Stob,  Summing  Up                   though those oppressed by the sys-
              Eerdmans, 1998, pp. 222,                   Remembrance, 
  249).                                                                      Eerdmans, 1955, pp.              tem of Marx and  Engels were, af-
                                                         318,319).                                            ter the collapse of Communism, to
                                                                 In the fascinating speech that               celebrate the anniversary of the
     B Y "tension,"              the British             Prof. Nicholas Wolterstorff gave                     writing of  Das Kapital.

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     There should rather be a day,           Kuyper intended that with this          and as the judgment upon man and
or a week, of repentance with fast-          worldview Calvinism would have          all his works of total depravity. It
ing and mourning.                            a powerful impact upon nations,         affected nations and cultures ex-
     There ought to be, at the very          societies, and cultures. He had         actly as a worldview of the one,
least, a critical reexamination of           particularly in mind his own Neth-      special grace of God in Jesus Christ.
Kuyper's worldview.                          erlands and the United States.          This aroused the opposition that
     Why in all the commemoration                This is not, in fact, how Cal-      convulsed the nation. This saved
of Kuyper's  Lectures on Calvinism,          vinism has ever influenced nations      the elect who then lived the anti-
from Princeton in the East to                and cultures. Calvinism has cer-        thetical, holy life that had real im-
Escondido in the West, is there              tainly had an impact on nations         pact upon the life of the nation.
never so much as one small spot              and cultures, a tremendous impact.      Ask the secular historians.
on the platform or one secondary             Think of Germany, of Scotland, of           And I dare say that should God
place in the program for a man               the Netherlands, of the United          yet will that Calvinism-the Re-
who is critical of the worldview of          States. Just as Christianity has af-    formed faith- powerfully affect
common grace? Critical,  oy1   behaZf        fected nations and cultures.            nations and civilizations, this
of  the Reformed churches, on behalf of          But Calvinism never made this       would, and could only, take place
Reformed education, and, yes, on be-         impact by means of some innocu-         by a bold gospel of particular grace
half  of a truly Reformed worldview.         ous, feeble "common grace."             that establishes and calls for the an-
     There is one other reason why           Wherever it went, in those earlier,     tithesis.
the Protestant Reformed Churches             glorious days, it went as the gos-          Not by lectures on common
reject Kuyper's worldview of com-            pel of sovereign, particular grace      grace. Cl
mon grace.        It is unhistorical.                                                                                 - D J E





                                     Dedication Message for the New Church Building
                              of the First Protestant Reformed Church of Holland, Michigan
                                                          July  2,1998

                                             fleeting  not only the skills of the    we do here must be done for the
I                                            carpenters and contractors, but also    Lord.
     t is a wonderful evening for us         the strength and stability of God's         For let us not forget that we
     a s a congregation. Our faithful        covenant of grace with us and our       are the church. Not this building,
     and gracious God has provided           children.                               but we the people. These bricks
us a new church home in which to                As we look about us tonight,         and blocks and wood are not liv-
worship Him and in which to busy             we have much to be thankful for.        ing; they cannot dedicate them-
ourselves in the labors and activi-          We have great reason to praise our      selves to God and use themselves
ties of His kingdom. We have a               God.                                    in His service. But we can, because
beautiful new church home, inside               We have come together tonight        we are the church, God's living
and out, architecturally and aes-            to dedicate this new structure to       stones, His spiritual house, His
thetically. In this respect our new          our God. It is all of Him and           holy priesthood. As such we must
building reflects the beauty of God          through Him, and so we must use         consciously give ourselves to God
Himself, as well as the beauty of            it all for Him. Every part of the       by performing the service that
the church He saves by His grace.            building itself, every room, every      pleases Him. That's the truth of the
We have a well-built edifice,  re-           piece of equipment, must be re-         text we consider together on this
                                             turned to God, used in His service      occasion, I Peter 2:4-6:
                                             and for His glory. Also all the ac-         "To whom coming, as unto a
                                             tivities that take place here, every    living stone, disallowed indeed of
Rev. Terpstra is pastor of the Protestant    function performed here, must be        men, but chosen of God and pre-
Reformed  Church  of Holland,  Michigan      dedicated to God. Consciously, all      cious, Ye also, as lively stones, are

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built up a spiritual house, an holy
priesthood, to offer up spiritual
sacrifices, acceptable to God by
Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is
contained in the scripture, Behold,
I lay in Sion a chief corner stone,
elect, precious: and he that
believeth on him shall not be con-
founded."
    On the basis of this text I speak
to you concerning "A Spiritual
House for God."
                                                        First Protestant  Reformed  Church, Holland, Michigan
Its Spiritual Construction
    The spiritual house of God,             have no service to bring to God         and her place, contributing to the
which is the church, is made up of          apart from Christ.                      whole. The idea of the communion
stones. Not lifeless ones, like these           For this reason our text speaks     of saints is implied. We may com-
in the building about us, but living        of coming to Christ to be built up.     pare this to the way in which these
ones. One of these stones is a very         In the way of coming to this living     bricks and other materials also fit
special stone. It is set apart from         Stone we are living stones and are      together to make up this whole
the others, being a fundamental             built up a spiritual house. That        building. So when God constructs
stone, an indispensable stone. That         "coming" certainly defines the          His church, He puts together lively
stone is Jesus Christ. He is the Cor-       church's task-to point God's liv-       stones to form a spiritual house.
nerstone, the Headstone of the              ing stones to Christ the living                 That the church is God's spiri-
foundation of the church. He has            Stone. That she does chiefly in the     tual house brings to mind the -Old
this place because God, the great           preaching of the gospel, the pure       Testament tabernacle and temple.
Architect and Builder of the                gospel of sovereign grace. And that     They were God's house. And the
church, laid Him as such in the             preaching of the gospel is the          main idea of that house was that it
building according to verse 6 of our  '     power that enables the elect stones     was God's dwellingplace, the place
text. Christ was laid as the Corner-        of God's church to come to the liv-     where God dwelled with His
stone by sovereign, eternal election;       ing Stone. But that "coming" also       people in covenant friendship and
He was laid by divine promise in            defines our life in the church. Each    communion. That's what we are as
the Scriptures; and in the fullness         living stone must see to it that he     the church built on Jesus Christ-
of time He was set in place by His          or she is coming to Christ so as to     God's house, His dwellingplace. In
incarnation, suffering, death, and          be properly constructed. Only in-       and through Jesus Christ God is
resurrection. That is why this Cor-         sofar as we are constantly coming       pleased to dwell in us and with us.
nerstone is precious to God, to the         to Him in true faith can we be built    We may call this new place God's
church, and to the believer. Christ         up a spiritual house. Only in this      house too, from this point of view,
was indeed disallowed of men.               way are we going to be strong and       that when we gather here as God's
Men despised and rejected Him               useful in the service of God. Let us    spiritual house, He is pleased to
when He came and took His place             keep in mind that in all of our life    dwell with us in covenant friend-
as the chief Cornerstone. But God           and activities here in this new         ship and fellowship. This building
laid Him, preserved Him, and ex-            building we must be "coming" to         becomes God's house when we are
alted Him!                                  Christ the living Stone.                here. And we must desire that fel-
    That Christ is the chief Corner-            When God's lively stones come       lowship with God and delight in
stone means that the whole spiri-           to Christ the chief Cornerstone,        it, also in and through this build-
tual building rests on Him and de-          they are built up a spiritual house.    ing.
pends on Him. Christ determines             They are constructed together to                But in addition to this, the Old
the size, strength, and stability of        form one beautiful building. That's     Testament tabernacle and temple
the church. The church's election           another wonder God works with           as God's house was the place
and salvation are in Christ alone.          His church. The lively stones which     where spiritual service to God went
He gives life to the other living           God has chosen and saved in Christ      on. At the house of God worship
stones. He's the basis for all that         do not stand individually and sepa-     took place, sacrifices were made,
the church is and does. We are              rately in the church. They are de-      feasts were celebrated. The whole
nothing and can do nothing with-            signed and fashioned to fit to-         building and all its activities were
out this Cornerstone. We are no             gether, to make up a magnificent,       dedicated to God. And that's the
spiritual house without Christ; we          unified edifice, each stone in his      other'point we wish to stress.

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Its Spiritual Service                      with our songs of praise to Him,              gether, will be personal, living sac-
    Our text says that the church          our prayers of thanks to Him and              rifices to God. We cannot dedicate
is not only a spiritual house but          dependence on Him, our gifts laid             this place to God and offer up spiri-
also a holy priesthood. Believers          up before Him and for Him, our                tual sacrifices in His service unless
are priests, holy unto God. They           faithful hearing of His Word in the           we ourselves are dedicated to God,
are set apart from Satan's kingdom,        preaching of the gospel. Unless this          as personal offerings. We must first
from the world of unbelief, and            is done here, this beautiful struc-           give ourselves to Him, our hearts,
from sin so as to be God's exclu-          ture is really ugly and vain.                 our lives, our time, our energies,
sive servants, His priests who are             But our spiritual sacrifices in-          our abilities. Some of you have
consecrated to Him. God's people           clude much more than our offer-               given of yourselves in that way in
exist for God alone, for His service       ing up of official worship. They in-          the building of this place. So it
and for His glory.                         clude our spiritual fellowship as a           must be in our use of this place
    That's the idea of dedication          congregation, our walking together            from here on. Do we understand
too. This material building (house)        and our coming together in this               our calling as we dedicate this
we dedicate to God because we are          place in love and delight of one an-          building to God? Are we ready to
His holy priesthood, saved to be           other and for the mutual benefit of           give our own selves first of all to
consecrated to God. So we use all          one another, whether that be for              God? Are we dedicated to Him
this for God. Everything we have           Bible studies, weddings, funerals,            personally in our hearts and lives?
here and do here we must do for            or pancake breakfasts. These sacri-           Then, and only then, are we pre-
God.                                       fices include our spiritual nurture           pared to give this whole building
    That involves making spiritual         of the covenant seed in catechism             to God and to do all to His glory
sacrifices, just as it did for the         and Sunday School. They include               as we devote ourselves to His ser-
church in the Old Testament. They          our obedience to the gospel in all            vice through our spiritual sacrifices
brought sacrifices of thanks and           areas of life. Let this place be filled       offered up here.
praise to God in worship; they of-         with this service to God too. That's               May God give us grace to be
fered to God through their singing,        how we will show we have dedi-                faithful priests in His spiritual
their prayers, their giving, and           cated this place to the Lord.                 house. Then we and our children
their hearing of His Word. They                That means that each of us in-            will be blessed in our use of this
also brought animal sacrifices, and        dividually, and thus all of us to-            place.  0
these were spiritual sacrifices too,
because they were types of Christ's
sacrifice made on the cross. As the
New Testament church, we don't                                               Living Stones
offer up these sacrifices any longer,
for the atoning blood has been shed                            As we were watching the builders build,
on Calvary. Yet we still come to                                 Every worker in his own way skilled,
God in worship and prayer and fel-                              Our musings turned to our God above,
lowship in and through Jesus                                   And how He has built His church in love.
Christ. We present ourselves and                                     From eternity He had a plan,
                                                                   And with His creation He began.
our spiritual offerings to God only                                 His word is the foundation sure,
through the cross of Christ, for in                                 Through eternity it will endure.
no  other way are we and they "ac-                         Our Reformed creeds are walls high and strong,
ceptable to God." All of the ser-                               Keeping safe those who to Him belong.
vice we perform must be done by                                The cornerstone true is Christ our Lord,
faith in Christ, receiving His per-                             By all those within His church adored.
fect sacrifice for our sins.                                  The roof - His love - shelters all within,
    Therefore, as God's holy priest-                             And gives forgiveness for all our sin.
hood, we must now use this new                                   So now as we come to worship here,
                                                               And seek our God's face in humble fear,
facility to offer up our spiritual sac-                        Let us with the faithful church of the past,
rifices to God. Standing in God's                                  To His holy Word alone hold fast,
service, dedicating this place to                                  Knowing He will continue to build
Him, we must always come with                                      Till all His perfect plan is fulfilled,
our spiritual offerings to Him. That                             And we meet with the saints in glory
is especially our worship of God.                                 And each tell our part in the story,
Here we will and must meet to                                   Of how living stones were used of God
thank and praise our great and glo-                       To build His church and spread His Word abroad.
rious God. Let this place be filled                                                                            Shirley Casemier

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  Th

                                                                                                                                               c





T                                            and His own that will be closer          of good fruit is good doctrine.
     h i s last discourse of Jesus is se-    than ever. He speaks of what this        This needs to be stressed. Because
     cret.                                   will finally mean: poor friends,         can't you hear it now?
     It is one Friend talking to             wandering friends, humble friends              "Doctrine is superfluous. Just
friends. It is between Jesus-Friend          being taken to dwell in Father's         give me Jesus, and let us end the
and His disciple-friends alone.              heavenly mansions, given a home          endless debates about the doctrine
There are no miracle-seeking                 at last, exalted.                        of Jesus. Doctrine is dull. It is di-
crowds. There are no antagonists.                         *** *** ***                 visive. It is detrimental to our get-
Even Judas, once in the company                     In the friendship, in the cov-    ting on with discipling the nations,
of the true friends of Jesus, is now         enant of grace, there will be fruit.     feeding the poor, and gassing the
gone-sent away to do his das-                John 15 reveals this secret of Jeho-     abortionists. Jesus here tells us to
tardly, devilish double-cross. Only          vah, the secret of fruit.     God is     abide in Him. He did not tell us to
true friends of God may and can              with His own in Jesus Christ in the      abide in it (doctrine).                So let us
and want to hear what Jesus will             covenant friendship-relationship so      not get all hung up about such
say. The eleven. And you?                    that they bear the fruit of His di-      things, especially the finer points
     This last discourse is the secret       vine presence and virtue. In God's       of doctrine. Let us just do Chris-
of the covenant, of God befriend-            friends there will be light; there       tianity-believe and do. Who cares
ing sinners. Jesus speaks about this         will be good; there will be joy;         whether one is Calvinist, Arminian,
covenant truth. But more. In the             there will be all kinds of heaven's      or Calminian? Let us abide in the
speaking there is truth come to              delectables  and glories-all be-         vine. Have fruit. And hang doc-
pass! There is actual covenanting!           cause of God with them, and the          trine."
The divine Friend is making and              covenant secret with them.                     I do not know how many times
loving the friends of His good plea-             Jesus speaks of this covenant        I have heard the likes of the above
sure. And friends are loving the             fruit-bearing first by way of the        sermon on doctrine. One time was
Friendship-Maker.                            analogy of a vine and its branches.      while chatting with an old Dutch-
     Listen to the psalmist: "The se-        Perhaps Jesus, when He speaks of         man on the fifth floor of Calvin li-
cret of the  LORD  (Jehovah) is with         this, is pointing to a vine that the     brary. He's the one who asserted
them that fear him; to them he will          disciples are walking past. It           he was unashamedly Calminian.
show his covenant (Ps.  25:14)."             seems, by now, that they have left       Another time a woman weeding
    Jesus-Friend is fulfilling the           the upper room where Jesus had           flowers at a church on the corner
psalm. I do believe.                         had the last Passover and the first      of the street where I lived declared
    Especially does the Friend               new covenant Supper with the dis-        her disgust with doctrine. Her
whisper things of a new covenant.            ciples. For the Master had said:         church was the one, I recall, with
He speaks of the Friend laying               "Arise, let us go hence" (John           the sign out front: "Big enough to
down His life for the friends to es-         14:31). They could, therefore, have      serve you . . . small enough to know
tablish this new thing. He speaks            been walking or standing by a vine.      you." If her speech was represen-
of a Spirit who will come down.              Whatever, the Master-teacher com-        tative of the whole lot, the words
He speaks of a fellowship of God             pares spiritual fruit-bearing to the     c o u l d   b e   a d d e d   t o   t h e   s i g n :
                                             fruit-bearing of a vine. He will tell    "broad-minded enough to accept
                                             many secrets about this fruit-bear-      you, regardless of doctrine."
                                             ing, so concerned is Jesus that His           Ironic  that'the  church was on
Rev. Dick is pastor  of  Grace Protestant    church be a living and God-glori-        "Vine Street."  *I%thetic  and pre-
Reformed Church in Standale, Michigan.       fying, fruitful church. One secret       posterous! For the  `dhtirch  and the

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people who truly abide in the Vine,             And they start thinking gassing        more and more truth, the people
Jesus Christ, will also be concerned        abortionists is righteousness.             of God are sanctified (John  17:17).
for doctrine: much doctrine, and                Tell me: where do these people         Where the Vine is, and the Spirit
true doctrine! They will know and           really abide? And what will be-            is, there are a people of truth and
appreciate that abiding personally          come of the generation-branches?           righteousness, of God-pleasing con-
in the Vine, relationally with              Strange evangelical doctrineless           fession and life.
Christ, is abiding in sound doc-            vineyard in  1998!                             The secret of doctrine. That is
trine, and longing for more and                           *** *** ***                  one secret of the fruit of the Vine.
more and more doctrine! They will               But truly doctrinal Christians         There are many more. We will con-
know and appreciate that doctrine           bear good fruit. Jesus is the Vine         sider them in a future article. For
is the first-fruit and profit of the        and the source of the fruit. He            now, let us focus on doctrine, and
Scripture  (II Tim.  3:16),  the "all       leads His people further and fur-          be found engaging in doctrinal,
truth" into which the Spirit of             ther into the true knowledge of            searching, humble, and thankful
Christ leads His own (John 16:13).          Himself. The Holy Spirit is His            Bible study! As friends of God! To
    No doctrine? Little doctrine?           Agent for this-Christ's doctrinal          bear fruit!
Less doctrine? Dumbed-down doc-             Spirit. And, being spirited into
trine?
        Such people and churches who
are content with a kindergarten,  as-
little-doctrine-as-possible Chris-
tianity will indeed bear fruit. It
will be strange.        There will be
strange doctrinal fruit. For people
and churches content with as little         1. What is the difference between
doctrine as possible will as sure as        the Word of God and Christian              7. Principles (doctrine) work
the Pope is Roman Catholic not              doctrine?                                  through, into our life. What we
know the difference between true                                                       believe influences what we do.
and false doctrine. And then, as            2. Is it possible to have too much         Give examples of how good doc-
sure as Mary was not, they will             doctrine?                                  trine produces good fruit, and bad
themselves tolerate false doctrine.                                                    doctrine produces bad fruit. Make
And then, as sure as mosquitoes             3. How does one grow in the                a list of ten doctrines and cite ways
breed in swamps, they will them-            knowledge of sound doctrine?               these truths influence your life.
selves teach the lie and breed liars.                                                  Give examples of how the Lord
There will be, for example, the her-        4. What is the place of creeds in          Jesus or the apostle Paul or others
esy of the "God helps those who             the development and defense of             apply truth to the lives of the
help themselves" gospel. Accord-            sound doctrine?                            people of God. (Think, for ex-
ing to one poll of the evangelical                                                     ample, of Jesus teaching the
vineyard, 87% of the Christian              5. In preaching, what is the right         woman at the well [John  41,  or of
community believes this. Or there           "mix" of doctrine and application          how Paul draws practical conclu-
will be the poisonous hybrid                of the doctrine to the lives of the        sions from the doctrinal part of  Ro-
Calminia, or the deadly doctrine of         people?       Consider a passage or        mans [chapters  l-111 in chapters
free-willism-both of which make             verse in the Bible. What would be          12-16!).        ,
salvation, in one way or another,           the doctrine and application in a
depend on man. Doctrinally defi-            sermon on this text? Say a minis-          8. What are the "spirits" of this
cient Christians will bear strange          ter were to preach from the same           age which influence men, women,
behavior-fruit as well. People who          text once every year. How would            young people, and children so that
care little or could not care less          it be the same every time? Why             they will not endure sound doc-
about doctrine start to walk funny.         must it be different every time?           trine (II Tim.  4:3), so that after their
Soon they go on all fours. They                                                        own lusts they heap to themselves
begin to see ninety-foot visions of         6. Is it proper to criticize false doc-    teachers, having itching ears...? Is
Jesus. They start predicting Jesus          trine and/or preachers off the pul-        it the spirit of "if it feels good it's
will come in this year or the next,         pit or in our conversations with           right"? Is it the spirit of pluralism
over  here,or  over there. They wel-        others? What would be a tactful,           (all religions are equally valid)? Is
come sweet  ,Itansvesti$es.     They di-    wise, and compassionate way of             it the spirit of worldliness? How
vorce and  remarry-once,  twice,            defending the truth of the Lord's          can "things," such as television,
and some  heading toward  sixty-            Day against a   S e v e n t h   D a y      and sports, and affluence affect our
one.                                        Adventist?                                 appreciation of doctrine?

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9. Loving doctrine and truly  grow-          of God. List several of His  at-        thought on the God of our  salva-
ing in the knowledge of the truth            tributes and what the Bible says of     tion. Then tell at least one other
require digging, studying,  ponder-          them. Then describe some of His         person-a believer or unbeliever.
ing, and continual examination of            works. Write down just one thing        It's called sharing treasure. It's
the Scriptures. Make a study of              you learned that you had never          called building up the church.
just one doctrine, say the doctrine          thought of before, or that  im-            Doctrinally! Cl
                                             pressed you this time as you





                       Synod was informed of the disbanding of Trinity Protestant Reformed Church
                       in Houston, Texas.

T                                            purpose, too, that these instituted     have drawn any and all whom we
       h i s terse report was given in       labors would be brought to an end       might contact in the world, to have
       the summary of the activities         just now. We know that this was         drawn them to hear with us the
       of the PRC Synod 1998 re-             all in God's foreordained counsel       pure preaching of the Word of
corded in the July 1998  Standard            because this is what happened.          God. We ought to have done this
Bearer.  It was a simple epitaph to          What we don't know is all the rea-      more, and so must each of us do in
25 years of labor in the extension           sons and purposes which lay             the way of being used of God in
of God's Word from an outpost                within that counsel.                    gathering the lost.
more than a thousand miles re-                  At such a time of failure (fail-         Now, for whatever reasons in
moved from our churches' well-es-            ure according to men's eyes, in-        the purpose of God, the outpost has
tablished, flourishing congrega-             cluding our own) we cannot escape       fallen. For those who of necessity
tions, schools, journals, and semi-          considering that the closing was, at    must remain for the present, the re-
nary. At different times during              least in part, God's chastisement       ality of that decision has sunk in
those years, nearly a score of fami-         upon the weakness of our human          sharply. We are learning by pain-
lies were a part of this congrega-           efforts. Our efforts were weak, but     ful experience that the true char-
tion. In the end four families, in-          the labors were honest, committed,      acter of the Word of God held by
cluding the pastor's and one indi-           and constant in prayerful appeal to     our churches is not even princi-
vidual, remained for the final ser-          God for strength and for the fruit      pally shared by anyone else that
vice, Sunday evening, June  7,1998.          of growth, if it be His will. These     we know of in our area, except in
    A seed planted by a Protestant           labors were by no means limited         part, and that often marked by
Reformed missionary in the early             to our tiny congregation. There         flaws which may seem small to
1960s sprouted a dozen years later,          was the faithful financial support      some, but which forebode critical
giving rise to a second work of              of all our churches, joined by the      error if their extension goes unchal-
evangelism which would extend                regular and often extended pres-        lenged.      I n   e a r n e s t   h a v e   w e
for a quarter century. It was                ence of many individual families        searched for such crucial  distinc-
clearly God's will that in that pe-          from other congregations, whom          tives of Scripture as:
riod a church be established and             we regarded as an organic part of
that five different ministers would          our own flock during their time             The covenant of friendship with
lead the congregation in a vigor-            with us. And what a marvelous            His people alone, elect  out  of all
ous witness of the Reformed faith,           support was the attendance of over        nations, tongues, and tribes, in a
which is simply nothing but the              one hundred and fifty Protestant          covenant established and main-
truth, so help us God. It was His            Reformed people at the family con-       tained by God alone.
                                                                                         The grace of God's absolute sov-
                                             ference on evangelism in 1995. Yet,       ereignty, unfailingly expressed in
                                             beyond all this, we especially see        the tightly interlocking bands of
Mr.  Sugg  was a member  of  the Trinify     the necessity for every one of us,        the Five Points of Calvinism.
Protestant Reformed congregation.            in conduct and conversation, to             The  witness  of  Zlcongregation

492,Mandard  Bearer/September  15,199s


  seeking to live an antithetical life                 Is it because we are oppres-         veloped from them fall upon our
  over against the threat of an en-                sively  narrow, even vainly proud        ears with the mocking cackle of Sa-
  gulfing worldliness from the sur-                of doctrines and church, that we         tanic irony silenced by the resound-
  rounding culture without and                     dare to say such things? May God         ing proclamation of Jehovah's vic-
  from the abiding old man within.
     The stoutly-buttressed but                    forbid, for we are humbly con-           tory  -
  nearly solitary denial of "common                vinced that this is simply the case          "I will shake all nations and the
  grace" and the "well-intended of-                before us.                               desire of all nations shall come:
  fer," which are widely preached                      Our sadness, and that of many,       And I will fill this house with
  by the nominally Reformed, but                   is deep-felt and unmistakable. But       glory,  saith the Lord of Hosts."
  which put forth a gospel which is                God . . . two  of the most beautiful         And with the calmly resolute
  no gospel.                                       words that can fall on the ears of       exhortation from an Israelite in
     The Bible's pure instruction on               an anguished believer . . . but God      whom  there is no guile:
  marriage, standing pristinely                    has providentially placed that la-           "The work of the gathering of
  upon the Lord's loving, though
  sharp commands, given in the face                mentable announcement in the             the lost is a wonder of grace, and
  of an outrageously adulterous                    Standard  Bearer  between the stal-      all of us stand humbly before God
  generation.                                      wart exhortations of two devoted         when it pleases Him to use us as
                                                   men of God standing on either side       instruments in His hand to perform
     These and others were the very                of that stark statement with a sus-      this work. This is worth being en-
truths so resolutely defended and                  taining power stanching our              thusiastic about. I trust you are
which so few ultimately embraced                   wounds with the healing balm of          enthusiastic with the confidence
who were touched in some way by                    Gilead, the Living and Written           that God also uses you."
our witness to them. For these ba-                 Word of God:                                 We in Houston are thankful for
sic distinctives our seeking has                                                            these incisive articles and ask that
been thus far nearly fruitless. It is               "Encouraged to Persevere in the         you read them again with us, and
almost as though we have found                       Lord's Great Building Project"         with us be heartened by their in-
ourselves in the very foredawn  of                                 and                      struction and exhortation.            Let
the day when the faithful child of                 "Mission Enthusiasm-Stimulated           them, too, be our epitaph  - God's
God will find no place to stand,                       by Golden Opportunities"             call to arms and His certain vic-
will be even an outcast to church,                                                          tory, both shining above, beyond,
state, and society.                                    These titles and the articles de-    and beside our fallen outpost. 0





      Pr

                                                   may understand something of the          time, however, I would like to
I                                                  characteristics, weaknesses, and         write more directly about how God
     n my previous article, by way                 sins of Australia as a nation, and       brought us into being as a visible
     of an introduction to the life of             of her people, generally speaking,       manifestation of  .His  bride on earth:
     our denomination, I wrote con-                as individuals. There is much more       the Evangelical Presbyterian
cerning the history of settlement                  involved in trying to understand         Church of Australia. To do this I
and early life in Australia. This                  us Australians. But the settlement       rely heavily on a little booklet en-
was to set the scene, so that you                  of our country and its early his-        titled "A Brief History of the Evan-
                                                   tory is embedded in our makeup,          gelical  Presbyterian Church of Aus-
           ts              _                       and certainly helps to explain why       tralia." This booklet was written
          `I                               1       we are like we are.                      in 1991, on the occasion of our thir-
                   , 3          ,     .`:I  I..
Rev. Higgilis a rninistervin  the Evangeli-            In this article I want to speak      tieth anniversary as a denomina-
cal Presbyterian Church  of  Australia.            again of things historical.     This     tion.

                                                                                              September  15,7998/Standard   Bearer/493


rThe origin of our churches re- The truths espoused in these to proceed with an actual union
     ally lies in the island state of Tas-                       books were discussed and debated.       with them. It appears, also, that
     mania in the early 1950s. The                               Never had the people come across        the enthusiasm and zeal of the fel-
     mainline churches were riddled                              anything like this before. The more     lowship believers was too much for
     with apostasy. But God had His                              they read; and the more they            the PCEA, so the latter did not ac-
     people in these churches, who                               learned, the more God gave them         tively encourage such a union.
     chafed under the apostasy and lack                          a hunger and thirst after the truth         Nevertheless, the PCEA contin-
     of teaching. They were believers                            of His Word. More than this, they       ued to help the fellowship people.
     with little understanding of, but a                         realized that they had been en-         On September 28,1961,  three min-
     hunger for, the truth. Or they were                         snared by a faith that had man as       isters of the PCEA, including Rev.
     people whom God had yet to ar-                              the center, and not God. Soon, for      Lee, formed a special Presbytery,
     rest by His grace. Most were                                many in the fellowship groups, the      and ordained three men into the
     largely inclined toward  Armin-                             doctrines of the Reformed faith         gospel ministry. These men were
     ianism, believing in man's ability                          were their life.                        inducted into the ministry in
     and free will. All knew that some-                              In July 1960 a conference was       Launceston,       Penguin,        and
     thing was wrong, but they did not                           held with the purpose of moving         Winnaleah. Upon their ordination
     know what. In their desperation                             toward combining a number of fel-       they constituted themselves into a
     to be fed they talked among them-                           lowship groups, scattered around        Presbytery, and the Reformed
     selves, and slowly began to form a                          Tasmania, into a denomination of        Evangelical Church was born, later
     loose network of fellowship                                 churches. It was at first thought       to be called the EPC. At this
     groups.                                                     that this would be the Baptist Re-      Presbytery the constitution of the
           The people whom God was so                            formed Church of Tasmania, using        denomination was accepted. Es-
     leading came primarily from                                 the 1689 Baptist Confession of          sentially this constitution consisted
     baptistic churches: Baptist, Breth-                         Faith. At about this time, however,     of the Westminster standards: the
     ren, Congregational, and Method-                            the fellowship groups had been in       Confession of Faith; the Larger and
     ist. There were also those from the                         contact with Rev. E. Lee, a minis-      Shorter Catechisms; the Form of
     Anglican and general Presbyterian                           ter in the Presbyterian Church of       Presbyterial Church Government,
     churches, and some from the Sal-                            Eastern Australia  (PCEA).  This de-    and the Directory of Public Wor-
     vation Army. These men and                                  nomination has its heritage in the      ship, as originally accepted by the
     women first formed evangelical fel-                         Reformed faith, and this minister       Church of Scotland.
     lowships, and when God had                                  proved to be a friend of the fel-           Soon the EPC was to grow.
     brought them to the Reformed faith                          lowship groups. Largely under his       Congregations were added from
     they came together to form the                              guidance those involved came to         Taranna  and Hobart in Tasmania,
     EPC.                                                        see that the Westminster standards      and Rockhampton and Brisbane in
           Due to the fact that most of the                      most faithfully systematized the        Queensland. Soon also, many were
     people who formed the fellowship                            truths of Scripture.                    to depart. The most significant
     groups were from baptistic                                      More study, prayer, and dis-        early split came in 1964, just three
     churches, the groups were baptistic                         cussions ensued. Many soon be-          years after the constitution of our
     as well. Not only so, but they                              came convinced that the original        denomination. A controversy arose
     formed these groups not with any                            Reformed Church of Scotland was         between the EPC and the PCEA.
     positive understanding of the truth,                        the most scripturally consistent in     Various ministers of the PCEA and
     but due to dissatisfaction with                             its doctrine and practice. AP-          lecturers in their theological school
     apostasy in their churches. Accord-                         proaches were made to several           were teaching the doctrine of the
     ingly, they were still largely                              Scottish Reformed churches, as          well-meant gospel offer. At the
     Arminian in their beliefs.                                  well as some Continental Reformed       time, two of our students were
           In the latter 1950s and early                         churches, with a view to becoming       studying at the theological school
     196Os, however, a number of these                           part of them. There were, though,       and became aware of the teaching.
     "fellowship believers" discovered,                          always problems of one description          At this stage we had not even
     in God's providence, a number of                            or another.         The Reformed        heard of the PRC. But God, in His
     good, solid Reformed books. In-                             Churches of Australia, for example,     grace, led many of our people to
     cluded in the number were: the                              had adopted the Kuyperian doc-          see that the false doctrine of the
     Westminster Confession of Faith;                            trine of presumptive regeneration.      well-meant gospel offer was just
     Warfield's  The Plan  of  Salvation;                        Despite considerable help and en-       that -false doctrine. This caused
     Pink's  The Sovereignty  of  God;                           couragement         from    various     much heartache, however, in a
     Watson's  A Body of Divinity;                               officebearers of the PCEA, the fel-     practical sense. `As*a*consequence
     Luther's Bondage of the Will; and                           lowship leaders did not feel able       of our ongoing  ' debate with the
     Edward's  Religious Affections.                                                                     PCEA on this issue, the vast  ma-

     494/Standard   B e a r e r / S e p t e m b e r   15,199S


jority of the Penguin congregation            better for heaven: so that we             this we could not be positive, nor
left us to become part of the PCEA,           progress in sanctification, as indi-      could we move forward. We could
and the Winnaleah congregation                viduals, in other words; and so that      not set forth our doctrinal position
was split in two. Those who had               we become more pure (continue re-         with vigor and strength. We could
once been our friends had now hurt            forming) as churches.                     not progress. All our efforts were
us badly.                                         And thirdly, this is what God         taken up with "infighting" and sur-
        It seems, from that time on-          did for us as a denomination. You         vival.    The more God removed
wards, there has been nothing but             will have noticed that the first be-      those who were the cause of these
hardship, divisions, schisms, and a           ginnings of our churches brought          differences and disruptions, how-
slow but constant trickle of depar-           people from many different de-            ever, the more we could get about
tures from our churches. People,              nominations, most of which were           the business of developing doctrine
many in your own denomination,                baptistic in nature. You will have        and moving forward.
have often asked me why this is               noticed, also, that the initial stages        There is, of course, more to the
so. I believe there are three main            of our development were reaction-         unsettled nature of our history than
reasons for the strife that has oc-           ary: people were not satisfied with       I have outlined briefly above.
curred in our denomination since              the teaching in their various             There has been disruption due to
its beginning.                                churches, Positively, they did not        personality clashes, and desire for
        In the first place, and ulti-         have a unified understanding of           prominence and recognition within
mately, it is the will of God. This           the truth upon which to form a            the denomination. There has been
is not some blase, offhand, "pat"             stable union. Indeed, at the begin-       disruption due to nothing other
answer. We are denominations                  ning there was no understanding           than a hatred for the truth. There
who believe that Jehovah controls             of the Reformed faith at all!             has been schism due to false doc-
all things. Not only so, but our                  In God's grace this situation         trine and false practices. But in it
God controls all things for the good          changed. But there was still an un-       all God has been reforming us as a
of His church. We are committed               derlying lack of unity, so that there     denomination.
to the scriptural teaching that God           was not total agreement in all mat-           Not only is this true, but in the
is sovereign. This is a commitment            ters of doctrine. Different empha-        last eight to ten years there has
that is not confined to a doctrinal           ses on one point of doctrine or an-       been a remarkable peace in our
head-knowledge. Rather, it is                 other continued to be expressed.          midst. This is not to say that there
something that we believe in our              Sometimes these differences would         have not been any problems. But,
hearts, and is evidenced by the way           erupt and people would  leave-            since coming back from studying
we live our lives. When things                regularly, it seemed; or, on one or       in your seminary, I have heard
happen to us, therefore, we accept            two occasions, divisions and              faithful founding-members of our
it willingly, submissively, and joy-          schisms occurred. It appeared that        denomination repeatedly and joy-
fully as being the will of God.               peace would never come to Israel,         ously state that they have never
        Secondly, God's will for us is        as she was manifested in Australia        known a period of such harmony.
always for the good of His church.            in the EPC.                               More, though, they comment on the
We are His bride in Christ. He                    The thing is, though, that all        positiveness of the courts of the
loves us with an infinite love. We            the disruptions that God brought          church and are delighted by the ef-
are the apple of His eye. He de-              about in our denomination, from           forts to advance in the knowledge
sires to fellowship with us for eter-         about 1964 to the late  8Os,  were the    of our most holy faith.
nity. His salvation of us, therefore,         means of purifying us as churches.            And this is all of God. He has
is not a part salvation but a com-            Due to the different beliefs and em-      brought it to pass, from the begin-
plete salvation. He will bring us             phases of a number of the found-          ning to end. In this we may not
to heaven, spotless, as the church            ing members of our denomination,          look at ourselves with any pride.
triumphant.          And so Jehovah           there was continual bickering             Rather we must praise our great
brings trials upon us to prepare us           among us. As a consequence of             and holy God. Cl




                                              Young People's Activities                 PRC in Redlands, CA serving as
                                                   s many of our readers know,          host.
             1 *                                   next year's Young People's               As you might imagine, this
Mr. Wigger is  nn'elder in the Protestant     Convention will be held, the Lord         congregation of about 60 families
Reformed ChurFh.t  of, Hudspnville, Michi-    willing, in southern California,          is already hard at work with plans
gan.                                          with the congregation of the Hope
                    _. I                                                                for that important event next sum-
                                                                                          September  15,1998/Standard   Bearer/495


mer. Fund raising, always an im-                         teresting to note that our Southwest                   Grandville, MI.
portant part of any convention, got                      PRC in Grandville, MI, the calling                              He, his wife Esther, and their
under way earlier this year, when                        church for that particular work, de-                   children then moved to Pittsburgh,
Hope's young people took advan-                          cided that the money collected dur-                    PA on the 11th. A house has been
tage of a problem facing their                           ing this past Sunday School season                     purchased in the area. However,
church. It seems that there were                         would be used to buy Sunday                            the Mahtanis will not be able to
three eucalyptus trees growing by                        School materials for the group in                      move in until around September
their parsonage that simply had                          Pittsburgh, which seemed like a                        11. Until then they are living to-
gotten so large that there was an                        good way to encourage the chil-                        gether in a couple of "small" ad-
increasing danger of large branches                      dren of Southwest to give of their                     joining rooms in a local Holiday
breaking off and falling on a                            own money for this cause.                              Inn.
neighbor's property.                     Hope's               Ground-breaking for the sanc-                              The Foreign Mission Commit-
consistory proposed that they ac-                        tuary of the Georgetown PRC in                         tee of our churches is attempting
cept a bid from a tree cutting com-                      Hudsonville, MI took place on Au-                      to expedite inquiries concerning
pany and have the trees cut down.                        gust 4. We learned from a couple                       the requirements of registration
This was done. It was then decided                       of recent bulletins that George-                       within the country of Ghana, so
that the young people would get                          town's building committee was in-                      that in the near future we may be-
together, split the wood, and make                       formed that their architect's draw-                    gin to call a missionary to this
it available for sale, with the an-                      ings were finished. This, of course,                   country.
ticipated income serving as a  fund-                     allowed for work to begin. Some
raiser for the 1999 Young People's                       top-grading was done, masonry                          Sister-church Activities
Convention.                                              bids were received, and block was                                ur sister church, the Covenant
     However, not all money raised                       selected.                                                       Evangelical Reformed Church
this past summer in  Redlands  went                           In late June the congregation of                  of Singapore, has lost the right to
for next year's convention. The                          the Kalamazoo, MI PRC was in-                          use its building for worship ser-
young people also sponsored a spe-                       formed by their consistory that                        vices. They have a year to vacate
cial singspiration after their                           they had decided to install two                        their premises.
evening worship service on July 5.                       wall-mounted air conditioners in                                Because of the real estate situ-
There were special numbers from                          their auditorium. The money to                         ation in Singapore, finding another
the young people and also from a                         fund this project was donated by                       place of worship will be very diffi-
men's chorus. Funds received from                        an anonymous giver. It was hoped                       cult.
a free will offering went to help                        that these units would be installed
those of Hope's young people who                         before the end of July.                                              Food For  lXought
went to this year's convention at                                                                                        With school just started, con-
Grand Valley State University.                           Mission Activities                                     sider the words of John Hus  (1369-
                                                                  reported here last time, Rev.                 1415, burned at the stake).
Congregation Activities                                          . Mahtani was installed as                              "Search the truth, hear the
         ith mission work gearing up                     missionary to Pittsburgh on August                     truth, learn the truth, hold the truth
         in Pittsburgh, PA, it was in-                   9 at the Southwest PRC in                              till death."  0



               Textual Index                             Haggai 2:1-9.. ................ K K ....... .410       John 12:20, 23.. .............. CH.. ..... .362
                                                         Matthew 1:21 ................ SRK ....... .67          John 12:34-50 ................ M C D ....207
Genesis 3.. ...................... H C H ....204         Matthew  5:17-19 .......... AdH.. ...156               John 13:1-17 .................. M C D ....230
Genesis 3:15 .................. H C H ....236            Matthew 19:9 ................ DJE ...... .271          John 13:18-38 ................ M C D ... .280
Genesis 3:16-19.. ........... H C H ... .277             Matthew  27:9 ................ R G M ....314           John 14:1-14 .................. M C D ....300
Genesis 3:21-24.. ........... H C H ....348              Mark 6:18.. ..................... ER.. ...... .390     John 14:15-31 ................ M C D ....351
Genesis 5:24 .................. CH.. ......194           Luke 1:30, 31 ................. CH.. ..... .122        John 15 ........................... MCD ....490
II Chronicles  20:12.. ..... R G M ....146               Luke  2:1-14 .................... JC.. ....... .126    Acts 1:1-4 ....................... R G M ....386
Psalm 15:l ..................... CH.. ......242          Luke 2:21-38 .................. CJT ...... .162        Acts 2~22-24 ................... JC.. ....... .266
Psalm 23:l ..................... M D V ....434           John 10:22-42 ................ M C D ..... .11         Acts 2:39 ........................ B W ........ .20
Psalm  96:9 ..................... SRK ..... .172         John 11 ........................... MCD ...... 60      Romans 2~28, 29 ........... H H .......... .2
Proverbs 31 ................... AdH .....225             John 11 ........................... M C D ....105      Romans 3:3, 4a ............. H H ........ .50
Isaiah 52:7.. .................... JP ........... .26    John 12:1-19 .................. MCD ....136            Romans 3:7, 8.. .............. H H ........ .74
Amos 8:11, 12 ............... DB ....... .404            John 12:20-33 ................ M C D ....160           Romans 4:16 .................. B W ...... .450

496/Standard  Bearer/September  75,199s


 I Corinthians  14:8 ........ B W ...... .303                                        I Timothy 1:18 .............. CH.. ..... .290                                          I Peter 2:9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SRK . . . . . . 199
 II Corinthians  614-18 . W G B ....331                                             I Timothy  2:4 ................ C G ......... .56                                       I Peter 2:20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SRH . . . . . . 218
 Galatians 6:l ................. SRH ......482                                      Philippians 2:1-3 .......... B W ...... .128                                            I Peter  3:5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MJ . . . . . . . . . 458
 Colossians  1:13, 14 ...... R G M ..... .98                                        Philippians 2:9-11 . ...... CH.. ..... .338                                             II Peter  1:9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G B . . . . . . . . 295

                                            Book Reviews                                                                  Title                                                        Author                                         Reviewer page
 Title                                            Author                                Reviewer page                     One Purpose  of  God: An Answer to the Doctrine  of
 Baptism: Meaning,                                                                                                           Eternal Punishment  . . . Jan  Bonda   .,.................                                                       DJE . ..439
     Mode 6 Subjects . . . . . . . . . Michael Kimmitt  . . . . . . . DJE . . . 428                                       Princeton Seminary: Faith and Learning,
 BeZievers  and Their See&Herman  Hoeksema . . DJE . . . . . 79                                                              1812-1868 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . David B . Calhoun . . . . . RDD .453
 Believers  and Their Seed: Children in the                                                                               Princeton Seminary: The Majestic Testimony
     Covenant .  ..-............... Herman Hoeksema . . DHK  .262                                                            1869-2929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . David B. Calhoun . . . . . RDD .453
 Bondage and Liberation  of  the Will: A  Defence   of  the                                                               Question of Woman: The Collected Writings of Charlotte
     Orthodox Doctrine  of  Human Choice against                                                                             von Kirschbaum . . . . . . . . . . E. Jackson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJE . . . 166
     Pighius . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Calvin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJE . . . 308    Ready to Give an
 By His Grace and for His Glory: A Historical,                                                                               Answer . . . . . . . . . . H. Hoeksema, H. Hanko . . . . . . . DJE . . . . . 79
     Theological, and Practical Study  of  the Doctrines  of                                                              Sermons on the Deity  of
     Grace in Baptist Life . . Thomas J. Nettles . . . . . HH . . . . 309                                                    Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Calvin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJE . . . 285
 God the Almighty: Power, Wisdom, Holiness,                                                                               Sincerity Meets the
     Love . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Donald G. Bloesch . . . . DJE . ..381                  Truth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .John Pedersen . . . . . . . . . . . DJE . . . 118
 I Believe . . . Living the Apostles                                                                                      Spirit Wars: Pagan  Revival in Christian
     Creed  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lester DeKoster . . . . . . . . DJE . ..334               America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Peter Jones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJE . ..453
 New Hearing for the Authorized                                                                                           Today's Gospel and Apostolic Exhortations:
* Version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Theodore  I'. Letus . . . . Dp . ..335                             A Study in Presentation  of  the
 On  Being a Theologian  of  the Cross:                                                                                      Gospel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A.G. Randalls . . . . . . . . . . . . DJE . . . 117
    `Reflections on Luther's Heidelberg Disputation,                                                                      Westminster  Standards (An Original
     2528 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gerhard 0 . Forde . . . . . DJE . ..292                  Facsimile) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJE . . . 382

                                                                                                                             Title                                                                                                         Author page
                                               Title Index                                                                Covenant of Marriage (2):
    Title                                                                                   Author page                      Courtship Within the Covenant ................... WB ... .331
 About II Peter 1:9 ................................................                             GB .... .295             Covenant: The Life of the Preaching ............. RJD . ..44  5
 Administration of the Lord's Supper ............. RLC ....88                                                             Cross & Double-cross! ........................................ MCD 280
 Animism ................................................................                        AJB ..... 68             Damnable Inference ............................................ HH......74
 Basil the Great o n Psalm Singing.. ................... Basil .356                                                       Decidedly Unbiblical Teaching ........................ H D ... .439
 Battle Against Heresy.. ....................................... HH... .251                                               Decision Making and the Will of God ............ AdH  .464
 Behold These  Glorificationsl .............................. MCD 160                                                     Declaration - Unclear (?) ................................. BW ....303
 Birth of Jesus: Particular Grace ....................... DJE ... 124                                                     Desire .....................................................................                                          DHK  .284
 Blessedness of Christ's Glorification .............. C H ... .362                                                        Discipline of Officebearers (1) .......................... RDD .400
 Born of a Woman .................................................                              AM . ..27  3              Discipline of Officebearers (2). ......................... RDD .448
 Brief Declaration of Principles ......................... BW ....209                                                     Dordt  - Set for the Defense of the Gospel
 But O u r Eyes Are Upon Thee ........................... RGM  .146                                                          (an overview of the Canons) ......................... K K ..... .40
 Chief o f Sinners ...................................................                           C H ....290              Dwelling W i t h God .............................................                                                    C H ....242
 Christ, O u r King (1) ............................................ SRK ..39  6                                          Editorial in the Christmas Cards ..................... P B .....199
 Christ, O u r King (2) ............................................                             SRK . .426               Elders and Censura Morum ................................ RDD .474
 Christ, O u r Priest (1) .......................................... SRK ..30  6                                          Elders and Discipline (2) ................................... RDD . 110
 Christ, O u r Priest (2) .......................................... SRK ..35  3                                          Elders and Discipline (3) ................................... RDD .154
 Christ O u r Prophet .............................................                              SRK . .234               Encouraged to Persevere in the Lord's
 Christ, the Anointed of God ............................. SRK . .199                                                        Great Building Project .................................... K K ....410 \
 Christian Apology.. .............................................                              M J .....458              Enoch  Walked W i t h God ................................... C H ....194
 Covenant Children  - the Organic View.. ..... RJD . ..40  2                                                              Events Leading up to the Great Synod .......... RDD ... 31
 Covenant of Marriage (2):                                                                                                Extra-Scriptural Binding (?) .............................. BW ....138
    Courtship Within the Covenant.. ................. WB.. . .108                                                         Extreme Remedy .................................................                                                      RDD .232
 Covenant of Marriage (2):                                                                                                Faith of God ..........................................................                                               HH...... 50
    Courtship Within the Covenant ................... WB ....258                                                          Fall's Effect o n Language .................................. DJK ....... 7

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    Title                                                                                         Author page                       Title                                                                      Author vaee
Famine i n the Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DB . . . . . 404    On Whose Side i s Billy Graham? ..................... BVW. 199
Fight the Good Fight.. ......................................... JF.. .....378                                                   Our Debt to Dordt ...............................................              RLC ....42
Filled With the Spirit .......................................... RGM .386                                                       Our Work in Myanmar ...................................... JK ........ 91
Following Where He Leads.. ............................. DD ....374                                                              Our Work in Myanmar (2) ................................ JK ......114
Force of the Second Commandment                                                                                                  Our Work in Myanmar (3) ................................ J K ..... .129
    i n Worship .........................................................                             RVO .184                   Outpost Falls ........................................................         JS ...... .492
Funeral Services.. .................................................                                  RLC . .228                 Pain of Divorce for the Children ..................... KE ..... 153
Further Application of "Bert Zandstra" ........ RN ... .295                                                                      Participating Pew ................................................             BLG ..187
Gnosticism and Synthesis Religion ................. HH ....344                                                                   Philippines, a n Open Door? .............................. AdH .253
God's Covenant: The Heart of the Protestant                                                                                      Poisonous Petals of the Arminian LILAC ..... CJT .....37
    Reformed Pastor's Life and Walk ................ RJD . ..42 2                                                                PRC Synod 1998.. .................................................             DJE . ..414
Hanukkah & Temple Truth.. ............................. MCD . .11                                                                Preaching and Missions Without a
Herman Hoeksema: Theologian and                                                                                                     Debilitating Offer (1) ...................................... TCM ... 1 7
    Reformer (1) ......................................................                               HH ........ 9              Preaching and Missions Without a
Herman Hoeksema: Theologian and                                                                                                     Debilitating Offer (2) ...................................... TCM .246
    Reformer (2) ......................................................                               HH.. ....58                Preaching in Worship: Voice of God,
Herman Hoeksema: Theologian and                                                                                                     Voice of Christ (1) ............................................            DJE ...170
    Reformer (3) ......................................................                               HH.. . .112                Preaching in Worship: Voice of God,
Hinduism ..............................................................                               AJB . ..16 4                  Voice of Christ (2) .................................. . ......... DJE ...196
How Beautiful Are the Feet .............................. Jr........ 26                                                          Preaching in Worship: Voice of God,
Ignorance, Misapplication, or Another                                                                                               Voice of Christ (3) ............................................ DJE . ..22 1
    Explanation .......................................................                               ER .....390                Preaching in Worship: Voice of God,
Implications of "The Sad Case of                                                                                                    Voice of Christ (4) ............................................            DJE ...244
    Bert Zandstra" for the Young People.. ........ NH.. . .152                                                                   Preaching the Gospel to the Nations .............. AJB . ..27 2
Impossibility of Religious                                                                                                       Prediluvian Period: From the Protevangel
    Work-Righteousness ....................................... HH.. ...... 2                                                        to the Flood (intro.) ......................................... HCH.398
Introduction to the Evangelical Presbyterian                                                                                     Promise and/or Law ..........................................                  BW ....450
    Church of Australia ......................................... DH ....472                                                     Raising of Lazarus (1) ........................................ MCD .. 6 0
Introduction to the Evangelical Presbyterian                                                                                     Raising of Lazarus (2) ........................................ MCD 105
    Church of Australia (2) .................................. DH ....493                                                        RCA and "The Formula of Agreement" ........ JM ...... .80
Jehovah, Our Shepherd ...................................... MDV 434                                                             Read on the Web.. ................................................             R Z .....103
Jesus, Jehovah-Salvation.. .................................. SRK .... 15                                                        Reaping ..................................................................     DHK  .296
Jesus, Jehovah-Salvation (2). ............................. SRK .... 6 7                                                         Reconciliation of Excommunicated Sinners . . RDD  .357
John Calvin on Singing Psalms in Church .... JC ..... .355                                                                       Reconciliation of Repentant Sinners ............... RDD .319
Language and Salvation .................................... DJK.. ... 8 6                                                        Redemption Through Christ's Blood .............. RGM..  .98
Love and the Footwashing ................................ MCD 230                                                                Reformed Family: The Church Picnic.. .......... MBL .443
Marcion: First Bible Critic ................................ HH .... 298                                                         Reformed Worldview ......................................... DJE .. .364
Marriage, a Calling .............................................                                     DJE . ..34 0               Reformed Worldview (2):
Marriage: A Lifelong Bond .............................. DJE .. .317                                                                The Failure of Common Grace ...................... DJE . ..43 6
Mary the Mother of Our Savior ....................... CH ....122                                                                 Reformed Worldview (3):
McSocieties,   McVansma,   & You ...................... MCD 476                                                                     The Failure of Common Grace (cont.). ........ DJE . ..46 0
Men at Dordt ........................................................                                 HH ...... 3 4              Reformed Worldview (4):
Mission Enthusiasm, A Self-Analysis.. ........... JLK ...212                                                                        The Failure of Common Grace  (concl.) ....... DJE . ..48 5
Mission Enthusiasm  - Our Solemn Duty ..... JLK ... 328                                                                          Reformed Worship: Fellowship with the
Mission Enthusiasm  - Stimulated by                                                                                                 Holy One.. ..........................................................       SRK . .172
    Golden Opportunities ..................................... JLK .. .416                                                       Religious Holidays ..............................................              RLC . .369
Montanus: First Charismatic ........................... HH.. . .391                                                              Remarriage of the Guilty Party.. ...................... DJE ... 100
More Light on Divorce and Remarriage:                                                                                            Remnant Shall Be Saved .................................... AdH .. .83
    Matthew 19:9 ....................................................                                 DJE . ..27 1               Restoring a Sinful Brother.. ............................... SRH ..48 2
`Name Above All Names .................................... CH ....338                                                            Revelation of the Wonder of Grace in
Nativity of Jesus Christ ...................................... JC ..... .126                                                       Paradise ..............................................................     HCH. 204
Necessity of the Strict Preaching of the                                                                                         Revelation of the Wonder of Grace in
   Law in Church ..................................................                                   AdH . 156                     Paradise (cont.). ................................................          HCH.236
New/Old Rubric .................................................                                      RJD .. .249                Reverend John A. Heys ...................................... BLG . .275
1998 BRF Family Holiday Conference.. .......... DJE .. .148                                                                      RFPA and Religious Stew (1). ........................... MCD .. 6 2
1998 Synod of the PRC ....................................... DJE . ..38 8                                                       RFPA and `Religious Stew (2) ............................ MCD . .80
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   Title                                                                 Author page            Title                                                                        Author page
Sabellius the Unitarian.. ..................................... HH.. . .469                  Studies in the Life of Christ (1): Christ
Sacraments Are Still an Issue ........................... DJE ...... .5                         Circumcised and Presented to the Lord.. ... CJT .. .162
Sad Case of Bert Zandstra ................................. DJE .....53                      Suffering For Well-Doing .................................. SRH . .218
Scandal and Children ......................................... SP.. ....152                  Supreme Court Upholds Ban on Physician-assisted
Scandal and Silence ............................................ DJE .....77                    Suicide  - No Constitutional
Secret of the Fruit of the Vine (1):                                                            "Right to Die" ...................................................             JL ..... .141
   Doctrine Fruit ...................................................      MCD 490           That Parenthesis in the Third Question.. ....... DHK  .468
Secret of the Spirit.. .............................................       MCD 351           Theological Honesty Regarding Infant
Secret of the Way.. ...............................................        MCD 300              Baptism ..............................................................         J K ..... .150
Secretary's Report ...............................................         BV ....... 65     Timely Issue o n Worship ................................... MI' ....273
Seminary Newsletter .......................................... RDD .302                      To Believe or Not to Believe ............................. MCD 207
Setting of the Stage of History ......................... HCH. 277                           Travail ....................................................................      DHK ... 1 4
Setting of the Stage of History (cont.) ............ HCH. 323                                True Thanks ..........................................................            AJ ........ 9 0
Setting of the Stage of History (cont.) ............ HCH. 348                                Universalism in the Reformed Churches.. ..... DJE . ..43 9
Significance of Dordt for Today ...................... DJE .....29                           Valued i n Contempt ........................................... RGM. 314
Songs of Zion: What Shall the                                                                Virtuous Woman of Proverbs 31 ..................... AdH .225
   Church Sing?. ....................................................      HH.. . .178       When a Soul Waits ..............................................                  JJ....... .343
Sound Works on Amillennialism ..................... ZG.. .....55                             Where are the Theologians of the Cross? ...... DJE . ..29 2
Source of the Liberated Covenant View.. ...... BW.. ....20                                   Why "Covenant Children"? .............................. RJD .. .367
Special Days of Prayer ....................................... RLC . .260                    Why Reformed, Christian Schools .................. RJD .. .321
Spikenard Saturday, Palm Sunday ................. MCD 136                                    Worthwhile Books and Materials on the
Spirit's Testimony to the Christ of God ......... JC ..... .266                                 Synod of Dordt and Its Canons .................... DJE .... .44
Spiritual House for God .................................... CJT . ..48 6

                                  Subject Index                                                 Title                                                                        Author page
   Title                                                                 Author page         BIBLE STUDIES (cont.)
ABORTION                                                                                        Raising of Lazarus (1) ................................. MCD ..... .60
   All Around Us ..............................................          GVB ....... 5 7        Raising of Lazarus (2) ................................. MCD ....105
ADULTERY                                                                                        Secret of the Fruit of the Vine (1):
   All Around Us ..............................................          GVB .....327               Doctrine Fruit.. ..........................................              MCD ....490
   Ignorance, Misapplication, or Another                                                        Spikenard Saturday, Palm Sunday.. ........ MCD ....136
      Explanation.. ..............................................       ER ........ .390       To Believe or Not to Believe.. .................... MCD ....207
   Sad Case of Bert Zandstra ......................... DJE ........ .53                      BOGERMAN, JOHANNES
ADVENT                                                                                          Men at Dordt.. ...............................................               HI-I ........ .34
   Mary the Mother of Our Savior.. .............. CH.. ..... .122                            CANONS OF DORDRECHT
AMILLENNIALISM                                                                                  Dordt  - Set for the Defense of the Gospel
   Sound Works on Amillennialism ............. Z G ......... .55                                    (an overview of the Canons) ................. KK ......... .40
ANIMISM                                                                                      CENSURA MOXUM
   Animism ........................................................      AJB ........ .68       The Elders and  Censura  Morum ................ RDD .....474
ANNUAL REPORTS                                                                               CHARISMATICS
   Secretary's Report.. ...................................... BV .......... 65                 Montanus: First Charismatic.. .................. HH ...... .391
APOSTASY                                                                                     CHRIST
   All Around Us ..............................................          GVB .....223           Birth of Jesus: Particular Grace ............... DJE .......124
ARMINIUS, JACOB                                                                                 Born of a Woman .........................................                    AM ...... .273
   Men at Dordt.. ...............................................        HH ........ .34        Christ, Our King (1) .................................... SRK ..... .396
ASH WEDNESDAY                                                                                   Christ, Our King (2) ........................ . ........... SRK ......426
   All Around Us ..............................................          GVB ....,326           Christ, Our Priest (1) ................................... SRK ......306
BAPTISM FORM                                                                                    Christ, Our Priest (2). .................................. SRK ...... 353
   That Parenthesis in the Third Question .. DHK .. ..46 8                                      Christ, our Prophet.. .................................... SRK ......234
BATTLE OF FAITH                                                                                 Christ, the Anointed of God.. .................... SRK ......199
   Fight the Good Fight ......................... . ......... JF ......... .378                 Cross & Double-cross! ................................ MCD ....280
BIBLE STUDIES                                                                                   Nativity of Jesus Christ .............................. JC.. ....... .126
   Behold These Glorifications! .............. . ...... MCD ....160                             Studies in the Life of Christ (1): Christ
   Hanukkah & Temple Truth ........... .,.:;::...... MCD ...... 11                                  Circumcised and Presented
   Love and the Footwashing ............. . ......... MCD ....230                                   to the Lord .................................................            CJT ....... 162

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  Title                                                                                                        Author page                          Title                                                                    Author page
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION                                                                                                                                CONFERENCES
  Why Reformed, Christian Schools . . . . . . . . . . . RJD . . . . . . . 321                                                                       1998 BRF Family Holiday Conference .... DJE ...... .148
  New/Old Rubric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .           RJD . . . . . . . 249               COURTSHIP
CHRISTMAS CARDS                                                                                                                                     Covenant of Marriage (2): Courtship Within the
  Editorial in the Christmas Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . PB . . . . . . . . . 199                                                                  Covenant ....................................................         WB ...... .108
CHURCH                                                                                                                                              Covenant of Marriage (2): Courtship Within the
  Spiritual House for God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .CJT . . . . . . . 486                                               Covenant ....................................................         WB ...... .258
CHURCH ATTENDANCE                                                                                                                                   Covenant of Marriage (2): Courtship Within the
  Famine in the Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DB . . . . . . . . 404                                Covenant ....................................................         WB ...... .331
CHURCH HISTORY                                                                                                                                     COVENANT
  Battle Against Heresy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .HH . . . . . . . 251                                       Covenant Children - the Organic View  RJD.......40  2
  Herman Hoeksema: Theologian and                                                                                                                   Covenant of Marriage (2): Courtship Within the
       Reformer (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .HH . . . . . . . . . . . 9              Covenant ....................................................         WB ....... 108
  Herman Hoeksema: Theologian and                                                                                                                   Covenant of Marriage (2): Courtship Within the
       Reformer (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .HH . . . . . . . . . 58                 Covenant ....................................................         WB ...... .258
  Herman Hoeksema: Theologian and                                                                                                                   Covenant of Marriage (2): Courtship Within the
       Reformer (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .HH . . . . . . . 112                    Covenant ....................................................         WB ...... .331
  Marcion: First Bible Critic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH . . . . . . . 298                                                  Covenant: The Life of the Preaching.. .... RJD ...... .445
  Men at Dordt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH . . . . . . . . . 34            God's Covenant: The Heart of the Protestant
  Montanus: First Charismatic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH . . . . . . . 391                                                             Reformed Pastor's Life and Walk.. ....... RJD.. .....422
CHURCH ORDER, Article 31                                                                                                                            Source of the Liberated Covenant View. BW ........ .20
  Extra-Scriptural Binding (?) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BW . . . . . . . 138                                                     Theological Honesty Regarding
CHURCH ORDER, Article 65                                                                                                                               Infant Baptism.. ......................................... JK.. ....... .150
  Funeral Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .RLC . . . . . . 228                         Why "Covenant Children"? ...................... RJD.. .....367
CHURCH ORDER, Article 66                                                                                                                           COVENANT OF GRACE
  Special Days of Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RLC . . . . . . 260                                        Revelation of the Wonder of Grace in
CHURCH ORDER, Article 67                                                                                                                               Paradise (cont.) .........................................            HCH ....236
  Religious Holidays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .RLC . . . . . . 369                                 Setting of the Stage of History.. ................ HCH ....277
CHURCH ORDER, Article 75                                                                                                                           CPRC in NORTHERN IRELAND
  Reconciliation of Repentant Sinners . . . . . . . RDD . . . . . 319                                                                               Following Where He Leads ....................... DD.. ..... .374
CHURCH ORDER, Article 76                                                                                                                           CREMATION
  Extreme Remedy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .           RDD . . . . . 232                    Funeral Services ...........................................             RLC ...... 228
CHURCH ORDER, Article 78                                                                                                                           DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES
  Reconciliation of Excommunicated                                                                                                                  Brief Declaration of Principles.. ................ BW ...... .209
       Sinners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .RDD . . . . . 357     Declaration  - Unclear(?) .......................... BW ...... .303
CHURCH ORDER, Article 79                                                                                                                            Extra-Scriptural Binding (?) ...................... BW ...... .138
  Discipline of Officebearers (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD . . . . . 448                                                             Promise and/or Law.. ................................. BW ...... .450
CHURCH ORDER, Articles  63,64                                                                                                                      DESIRE
  Administration of the Lord's Supper . . . . . . RLC . . . . . . . . 88                                                                            Desire.. ............................................................    DHK ....284
CHURCH ORDER, Articles  72,73,74                                                                                                                   DISCIPLINE
  Elders and Discipline (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD . . . . . 110                                               Discipline of Officebearers (1) .................. RDD .....400
CHURCH ORDER, Articles  74,76,77                                                                                                                    Discipline of Officebearers (2) .................. RDD .... .448
  Elders and Discipline (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD . . . . . 154                                               Elders and Discipline (2). ........................... RDD ..... 110
CHURCH ORDER, Articles  79,80                                                                                                                       Elders and Discipline (3). ........................... RDD .....154
  Discipline of Officebearers (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD . . . . . 400                                                            DIVORCE
CHURCH PICNIC                                                                                                                                       All Around Us ..............................................             GVB ...... .57
  Reformed Family: The Church Picnic . . . . MBL . . ...443                                                                                         All Around Us ..............................................             GVB .....394
COMMON GRACE                                                                                                                                        Further Application of "Bert Zandstra". RN.. ......29 5
  Reformed Worldview (2): The Failure of                                                                                                           DIVORCE/REMARRIAGE
       Common Grace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DJE . . . . . . . 436                          Implications of "The Sad Case of Bert Zandstra"
  Reformed Worldview (3): The Failure of                                                                                                               for the Young People.. ............................. NH ...... .152
       Common Grace (cont.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DJE . . . . . . . 460                                            More Light on Divorce and Remarriage:
  Reformed Worldview (4): The Failure of                                                                                                               Matthew  19:9 .............................................           DJE ...... .271
       Common Grace (concl.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJE . . . . . . . 485                                              Pain of Divorce for the Children.. ............ KE ....... .153
COMMUNICATION                                                                                                                                       Remarriage of the Guilty Party ................ DJE ....... 100
  Fall's Effect on Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJK . . . . . . . . . . 7                                         Sad Case of Bert Qandstra ......................... DJE ........ .53
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  Title                                                                                                        Author page                         Title                                                                 Author page
DIVORCE/REMARRIAGE (cont.)                                                                                                                        GOMARUS, FRANCIS
  Scandal and Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .SP . . . . . . . . . 152                                   Men at Dordt.. ...............................................        HH ........ .34
  Scandal and Silence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DJE . . . . . . . . . 7 7                          GRACE
DOCTRINE                                                                                                                                           Birth of Jesus: Particular Grace ............... DJE ...... .124
  The Secret of the Fruit of the Vine (1):                                                                                                         Revelation of the Wonder of Grace in
       Doctrine Fruit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..+................ MCD . . . . 490                                           Paradise ......................................................    HCH ....204
DOMESTIC MISSIONS                                                                                                                                  Significance of Dordt for Today.. ............. DJE ........ .29
  Following Where He Leads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DD . . . . . . . . 374                                                   HEIDELBERG CATECHISM, LD 12
DORDT                                                                                                                                              Christ, our Prophet.. .................................... SRK ..... .234
 Synod of Dordt, 16181619 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25                                  HEIDELBERG CATECHISM, LD 44
ECUMENICITY                                                                                                                                        Necessity of the Strict Preaching of the
  All Around Us s.............................................  GVB . . . . . . . 56                                                                  Law in Church ..........................................           AdH.. ...156
  RCA and "The Formula of Agreement" . JM . . . . . . . . . . . 80                                                                                HERESIES
  Sacraments Are Still an Issue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJE . . . . . . . . . . . 5                                                Gnosticism and Synthesis Religion ......... HH ...... .344
EDUCATION                                                                                                                                         HERESY HUNTING
  All Around U s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .GVB . . . . . 203                      Battle Against Heresy ................................. HH ...... .251
END TIMES                                                                                                                                         HERETICS
  All Around Us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .GVB . . . . . 424                       Marcion: First Bible Critic ........................ HH ...... .298
  All Around U s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .GVB . . . . . 441                      Montanus: First Charismatic.. .................. HH ...... .391
ENOCH                                                                                                                                              Sabellius the Unitarian ............................... HH ...... .469
  Enoch Walked With God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH . . . . . . . . 194                                              HEYS, JOHN A.
EPISCOPIUS, SIMON                                                                                                                                  Reverend John A. Heys .............................. BLG ..... .275
  Men at Dordt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH . . . . . . . . . 34          HINDUISM
EVANGELICAL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH                                                                                                                    Hinduism .......................................................      AJB ...... 1164
OF AUSTRALIA                                                                                                                                      HOEKSEMA, HERMAN
  Introduction to the EPC of Australia . . . . . . DH . . . . . . . 472                                                                            Herman Hoeksema: Theologian and
  Introduction to the EPC of Australia (2) DH . . . . ...493                                                                                          Reformer (1) ..............................................        HH ........... 9
EVOLUTION                                                                                                                                          Herman Hoeksema: Theologian and
  All Around Us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .GVB . . . . . 463                          Reformer (2) ..............................................        HH ........ .58
EXCOMMUNICATION                                                                                                                                    Herman Hoeksema: Theologian and
 Extreme Remedy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .           RDD . . . . . 232                       Reformer (3) ..............................................        HH ...... .112
 Reconciliation of Excommunicated                                                                                                                 HOLIDAYS
      Sinners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .RDD . . . . . 357     Religious Holidays ...................................... RLC ..... .369
FAITHFULNESS OF GOD                                                                                                                               HOMOSEXUALITY
 Faith of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .HH . . . . . . . . . 50           All Around Us ..............................................          GVB .....202
FAMILY                                                                                                                                            HOUSTON, TX
 Reformed Family: The Church Picnic . . . . MBL . . ...443                                                                                         Following Where He Leads ....................... DD.. ..... .374
FASTING                                                                                                                                            News From Our Churches ......................... BW ...... .478
 Special Days of Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RLC . . . . . . 260                                        Outpost Falls.. ...............................................       JS ......... .492
FOOT WASHING                                                                                                                                      JESUS
 Love and the Footwashing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MCD . . . . 230                                                          Birth of Jesus: Particular Grace ............... DJE ...... .124
FOREIGN MISSIONS                                                                                                                                   Born of a Woman .........................................             AM ...... .273
 Preaching the Gospel to the Nations  ,...... AJB . . . . . . . 272                                                                                Jesus, Jehovah-Salvation ............................ SRK ....... .15
FREE OFFER                                                                                                                                         Jesus, Jehovah-Salvation (2) ...................... SRK ....... .67
 Preaching and Missions without a                                                                                                                 KUYPER, ABRAHAM
      Debilitating Offer (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .TCM . . . . . . . 1 7                                    Reformed Worldview ................................. DJE ...... .364
 Preaching and Missions without a                                                                                                                  Reformed Worldview (2): The Failure of
      Debilitating Offer (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .TCM . . . . . 246                                           Common Grace .........................................             DJE ...... .436
FREE SPEECH                                                                                                                                       LANGUAGE
 All Around U s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .GVB . . . . . 395                       Fall's Effect on Language ........................... DJK .......... 7
FUNERALS                                                                                                                                           Language and Salvation.. ........................... DJK ....... .86
 Funeral Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .RLC ,..... 228                             LAW
GHANA                                                                                                                                              Necessity of the Strict Preaching of the
 Preaching the Gospel to the Nations . . . . . . . ABJ . . . . . . . 372                                                                              Law i n Church ..........................................          AdH.. .. .156
GNOSTICISM
 Gnosticism and Synthesis Religion . . . . . . . . . HH . . . . . . . 344

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  Title                                                                    Author page            Title                                                                Author page
LILAC                                                                                          NEW YEAR
  Poisonous Petals of the Arminian                                                               But Our Eyes Are Upon Thee ................... RGM ....146
     LILAC .........................................................       CJT ........ .37    OFFICEBEARERS
LORDS SUPPER                                                                                     Discipline of Officebearers (1) .................. RDD .....400
  Administration of the Lord's Supper.. .... RLC ....... .88                                      Elders and Censura Morum ........................ RDD .....474
  RCA and "The Formula of Agreement" . JM .......... .80                                         Elders and Discipline (2) ............................ RDD ..... 110
  Sacraments Are Still a n Issue.. .................. DJE .......... .5                          Elders and Discipline (3). ........................... RDD .....154
LORDS SUPPER, ADMINISTRATION OF                                                                OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
  Letters .............................................................    RV ....... .198       Prediluvian Period: From the Protevangel
LUTHER, MARTIN, THEOLOGY of                                                                         to the Flood (intro.). ................................. HCH ....398
  Where are the Theologians of the Cross?  DJE ..... ..29 2                                      Revelation of the Wonder of Grace in
MARCION                                                                                             Paradise ......................................................    HCH ....204
  Marcion: First Bible Critic ........................ HH ...... .298                            Revelation of the Wonder of Grace in
MARIOLOGY                                                                                           Paradise (cont.) ......................................... HCH ....236
  All Around U s ..............................................            GVB .....103          Setting of the Stage of History.. ................ HCH .... 277
MARRIAGE                                                                                         Setting of the Stage of History (cont.). .... HCH .. ..32 3
  Covenant of Marriage (2): Courtship Within the                                               PALM SUNDAY
     Covenant ....................................................         WB ...... .108        Spikenard Saturday, Palm Sunday.. ........ MCD ....136
  Covenant of Marriage (2): Courtship Within the                                               PARADISE
     Covenant ....................................................         WB ...... .258        Revelation of the Wonder of Grace in
  Covenant of Marriage (2): Courtship Within the *                                                  Paradise ......................................................    HCH ....204
     Covenant ....................................................         WB ...... .331        Revelation of the Wonder of Grace in
  Marriage, a Calling.. .................................... DJE ...... .340                        Paradise (cont.) ......................................... HCH ....236
  Marriage: a Lifelong Bond.. ...................... DJE ...... .317                             Setting of the Stage of History.. ................ HCH ....277
  When a Soul Waits ...................................... JJ .......... .343                    Setting of the Stage of History (cont.). .... HCH ....323
MARY                                                                                           PARANORMAL
  Mary the Mother of Our Savior.. .............. CH.. ..... .122                                 All Around Us ..............................................          GVB .....394
MISSIONS                                                                                       PENTECOST
  Following Where He Leads ....................... DD.. ..... .374                               Blessedness of Christ's Glorification.. ..... CH.. ......362
  Mission Enthusiasm, a Self-Analysis ...... JLK ...... .212                                     Filled with the Spirit ................................... RGM ....386
  Mission Enthusiasm  -                                                                        PHILIPPINES
     Our Solemn Duty ..................................... JLK ...... .328                       Philippines a n Open Door? ....................... AdH .... .253
  Mission Enthusiasm  - Stimulated by                                                            Preaching the Gospel to the Nations.. ..... AJB ...... .372
     Golden Opportunities ............................. JLK ...... .416                        PITTSBURGH, PA ...........................................
  Our work in Myanmar ............................... JK.. ......... .91                         Following Where He Leads ....................... DD ....... .374
  Our Work in Myanmar (2) ......................... JK.. ....... .114                          PLANCIUS, PIETER .......................................
  Our Work in Myanmar (3). ........................ JK......... .129                             Men at Dordt.. ...............................................        HH ........ .34
  Philippines, an Open Door? ...................... AdH .... .253                              PLURALISM
  Preaching and Missions without a                                                               RFPA and Religious Stew (1) .................... MCD ..... .62
     Debilitating Offer (1) ............................... TCM.. .....17                        RFPA and Religious Stew (2) ..................... MCD ..... .80
  Preaching and Missions without a                                                             POLYGAMY
     Debilitating Offer (2) ............................... TCM.... .246                         Reader Asks ..................................................        JK.. ....... .274
  Preaching the Gospel to the Nations.. ..... AJB ...... .372                                  PRAYER DAY
MIXED MARRIAGES                                                                                  Special Days of Prayer.. .............................. RLC ..... .260
  All Around Us ..............................................             GVB .... .224       PRE-SYNODICAL SERMON
MONTANUS                                                                                         Encouraged to Persevere in the Lord's
  Montanus: First Charismatic .................... HH ...... .391                                   Great Building Project.. ........................... KK ....... .410
MORALITY                                                                                       PREACHING
  All Around Us ..............................................             GVB .... .282         Covenant: The Life of the Preaching.. .... RJD.. .... .445
MYANMAR                                                                                          Famine i n the Land.. .................................... DB ....... .404
  Our Work in Myanmar ............................... JK.. ......... .91                         Mission Enthusiasm  -
  Our Work in Myanmar (2) ......................... JK.. ....... .129                               Our Solemn Duty ..................................... JLK ...... .328
  Our Work in Myanmar (3). ........................ JK......... .129                             Necessity of the Strict Preaching of the
NAPARC                                                                                              Law i n Church ..........................................          AdH.. .. .156
  All Around Us ..............................................             GVB .... .201         Preaching and Missions without a
                                                                                                    Debilitating Offer (1) ............................... TCM.. .... .17

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 Title                                                                    Author page           Title                                                                                                            Author page
PREACHING (cont.)                                                                              SEMINARY GRADUATION
 Preaching and Missions without a                                                               God's Covenant: The Heart of the Protestant
    Debilitating Offer (2) ............................... TCM .....246                              Reformed Pastor's Life and Walk . . . . . . . . . RJD . . . . . . . 422
 Preaching in Worship: Voice of God,                                                           SHEPHERD
    Voice of Christ (1) .................................... DJE .......196                     Jehovah, Our Shepherd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .MDV . . . . 434
 Preaching in Worship: Voice of God,                                                           SOCIETIES
    Voice of Christ (2) .................................... DJE ...... .196                    McSocieties, McVansma, & You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MCD . . . . 476
 Preaching in Worship: Voice of God,                                                           SPECIAL ISSUE
    Voice of Christ (3) .................................... DJE ...... .221                    Reformed Worship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
 Preaching in Worship: Voice of God,                                                            Synod of Dordt, 16181619 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
    Voice of Christ (4) .................................... DJE ...... .244                   SUFFERING FOR CHRIST
PROMISE KEEPERS                                                                                 Suffering For Well-Doing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SRH . . . . . . 218
 All Around Us ..............................................             GVB .....135         SUICIDE
 All Around Us ..............................................             GVB .....326          Supreme Court Upholds Ban on Physician-assisted
PSALM-SINGING                                                                                        Suicide  - No Constitutional
 Basil the Great on Psalm Singing ............. Basil .....356                                       "Right to Die" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..I....................... JL . . . . . . . . . . 141
 John Calvin on Singing Psalms in                                                              SYNOD
    Church ........................................................       JC .......... 355     All Around Us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .GVB . . . . . 425
 Songs of Zion: What Shall the Church                                                           1998 Synod of the PRC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DJE . . . . . . . 388
    Sing? ............................................................    HH ...... .178        PRC Synod 1998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DJE . . . . . . . 414
REAPING                                                                                        SYNOD OF DORDT
 Reaping ..........................................................       DHK ....296           Dordt  - Set for the Defense of the Gospel
RECONCILIATION                                                                                       (an overview of the Canons) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KK . . . . . . . . . . 40
 Reconciliation of Repentant Sinners ....... RDD .... .319                                      Events Leading up to the Great Synod . . . RJD . . . . . . . . . 31
REGENERATION                                                                                    Men at Dordt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH . . . . . . . . . 34
 Why "Covenant Children"? ...................... RJD ...... .367                                Our Debt to Dordt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .RLC . . . . . . . . 42
REMARRIAGE                                                                                      Poisonous Petals of the Arminian
 Remarriage of the Guilty Party ................ DJE ....... 100                                     LILAC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .CJT .,....... 37
RESTORATION                                                                                     Significance of Dordt for Today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJE .,....... 29
 Restoring a Sinful Brother ......................... SRI-I.. ....482                           Synod of Dordt, 1618-1619 ,............,............................  25
RFPA                                                                                            Worthwhile Books and Materials on the
 Secretary's Report.. ...................................... BV .......... 65                        Synod of Dordt and Its Canons . . . . . . . . . . . . DJE . . . . . . . . . 44
ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCHES                                                                        SYNTHESIS
 All Around Us ..............................................             GVB .... .425         Gnosticism and Synthesis Religion . . . . . . . . . HH . . . . . . . 344
SABELLIUS                                                                                      THANKSGIVING
 Sabellius the Unitarian ............................... HH ...... .469                         True Thanks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .AJ . . . . . . . . . . . 90
SACRAMENTS                                                                                     THEOLOGY
 Administration of the Lord's Supper.. .... RLC.. ..... .88                                     Where are the Theologians of the Cross? DJE . . . . ...292
 RCA and "The Formula of Agreement" . JM .......... .80                                        TRAVAIL
 Sacraments Are Still an Issue.. .................. DJE ........... 5                           Travail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DHK . . . . . . 1 4
SALVATION                                                                                      TULIP
 All Around Us ..............................................             GVB .....133          Poisonous Petals of the Arminian
 Jesus, Jehovah-Salvation ............................ SRK ....... .15                               LILAC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .CJT .,....... 37
 Language and Salvation.. ........................... DJK ....... .86                          UNIVERSALISM
 On Whose Side is Billy Graham? ............. BVW ....199                                       Universalism in the Reformed Churches DJE . . . . ...439
 Redemption Through Christ's Blood ...... RGM ..... .98                                        UYTENBOGAERT, JAN
 Remnant Shall Be Saved.. ........................... AdH.. .....83                             Men at Dordt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH . . . . . . . . . 34
SAN LUIS VALLEY, CO                                                                            VALENTIUS
 Following Where He Leads ....................... DD.. ..... .374                               Gnosticism and Synthesis Religion . . . . . . . . . HH .,..... 344
SECOND COMMANDMENT                                                                             WEB PAGE
 Force of the Second Commandment in                                                             Read o n the Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .RZ . . . . . . . . . 103
    Worship ......................................................        RVO .....184         WELL-MEANT OFFER
SEMINARY                                                                                        Decidedly Unbiblical Teaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HD . . . . . . . 439
 Seminary Newsletter ........................ :.:....... RDD .....302                          WILL OF GOD
                                                                `,  I                           Decision Making and the Will of God . . . .  AdH . . . . . 464
                                                               I'  *
                                                                                                                                                       September  15,199Sfitandard                                        Bearer/503


      Bhen F                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    PERlODlt3U
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Postage Paid at
   P.O. Box 603                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Grandville,
  Grandville, MI 49468-0603                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Michigan


 Title                                                                                                                                 Author page                     Title                                                                                                     Author page
WITNESSING                                                                                                                                                            WORSHIP
 Mission Enthusiasm  - Our Solemn                                                                                                                                      Force of the Second Commandment in
      Duty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
                                               I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .         J L K . . . . . . . 328             Worship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RVO . . . . . 184
WOMEN                                                                                                                                                                 WORSHIP (Cont.>
 Virtuous Woman of Proverbs 31 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . AdH  . . . . . 225                                                                                          Participating Pew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BLG . . . . . . 187
WORD STUDIES                                                                                                                                                           Preaching in Worship: Voice of God,
 Desire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D H K . . . . 284                      Voice o f Christ (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJE . . . . . . . 170
 Reaping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..*......................*................. DHK  ..,.  296                                                                      Preaching in Worship: Voice of God,
 Travail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DHK . . . . . . 14                        Voice o f Christ (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJE . . . . . . . 196
WORK-RIGHTEOUSNESS                                                                                                                                                     Preaching in Worship: Voice of God,
 Impossibility of Religious                                                                                                                                                Voice of Christ (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJE . . . . . . . 221
      Work-Righteousness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                                               H H . . . . . . . . . . . 2     Preaching in Worship: Voice of God,
WORLD VIEW                                                                                                                                                                 Voice o f Christ (4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJE . . . . . . . 244
 Reformed Worldview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJE . . . . . . . 364                                                            Reformed Worship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
 Reformed Worldview (2): The Failure of                                                                                                                                Reformed Worship: Fellowship with the
      Common Grace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJE . . . . . . . 436                                                 Holy One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SRK . . . . . . 172
 Reformed Worldview (3): The Failure of                                                                                                                                Timely Issue o n Worship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ml? . . . . . . . . 273
      Common Grace (cont.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJE . . . . . . . 460                                                              WJD
  Reformed Worldview (4): The Failure of                                                                                                                               All Around Us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB . . . . . 327
      Common Grace  (concl.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJE . . . . . . . 485



                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Parents of college students who live
                                                                                                                                                                                                                     away from home during the school year
                                                                                                                                       WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                                                           are reminded that the RFPA will send free
  RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                                                                                                               On September  4,1998                                                          Sfandard  Bearers  to the students if we
      The Sr. Mr. and Mrs. Society                                                                                                 MR. and MRS. JACK VANDYKE                                                         are informed of their college addresses.
of Hope PRC (Walker) expresses                                                                                                    celebrated their  40fh wedding anni-
its Christian sympathy to Bob and                                                                                                 versary.                                                                                                               NOTICE!!
Kathy Knott and their family in the                                                                                                    We thank our heavenly Father                                                            The issue of September 15 is the last
death of Kathy's mother,                                                                                                          for them and for His love, care, and                                               in Volume 74. Bound volumes will be
      MRS. KAY LAMBREGTSE.                                                                                                        instruction given us through them.                                                 made available for $20.00  (tpostage)
       As we read in Psalm 34, may                                                                                                     We pray that God will continue                                                each. Or, if you bring or send to the SB
our covenant God, who is so good,                                                                                                 to bless them and keep them in His                                                 business office soon your own loose is-
be their hope and their comfort:                                                                                                  care.        "For the Lord is good, his                                            sues for binding, you can obtain the bound
"Oh  taste and see that the  LORD is                                                                                              mercy is everlasting and his truth                                                 volume for just $12.00. (The latter ser-
good:                  blessed is the man that                                                                                    endureth to all generations" (Psalm                                                vice can be provided if we have your cop-
trusteth in him" (v. 8); "The LORD is                                                                                             1005).   I                                                                         ies by October 15.)
nigh unto them that are of a bro-                                                                                                 $+ Ken and Sheri Pastoor
ken heart; and saveth such as be                                                                                                  +Z+  Dave and Nancy  VanBaren                                                                                        REMINDER
of a contrite spirit" (v. 18).                                                                                                    Q     Dave and Julie  VanOverloop                                                             The annual meeting of the RFPA will
                                         Rev. J. Laning, Pres.                                                                    + Jim and Kim  VanDyke                                                             be held in Grace PRC on September 24.
                                        Connie Meyer, Sec'y.                                                                                11 grand children                                                        Rev. Key will be speaking on the topic:
                                                                                                                                                                      Grand Rapids, Michigan                         "Readjng,  Writing, and Heretics." Hope
                                                                                                                                                                                                                     to see our subscribers from the west Michi-
                                                                                                                                                                                                                      gan area in attendance.

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