A  Reformed
Semi-Monthly
Magazine



 In This Issue:
Meditation  - Rev. Gise  VanBaren
            Paul's Concern
            for His Kinsmen . . . . . . . . . ..__......  410

Editorial  - Prof. David J. Engelsma
            Synod of the PRC, 1999 . . . . . . 414

Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418

Special Article  - Rev. Da/e H. Kuiper
            The Christian and
            Entertainment . . . . . .._............... 421

Come, Lord Jesus  - Rev. Cornelius
            Hanko
            Signs of the Times
            8. Enduring to the End  .._.... 424

Bring the Books  -John Calvin
            The Day of Small Things . . . . 4.26

Book Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .._._.....  _ "__. ~_...427

Report of Classis  East -  Mr. Jon J.
            Huisken . . . . . . . . .._. ~ . . . . . . . . . . . . ..___._...428
News From Our Churches  -                                                                                PRC Synod 1999
            Mr. Benjamin Wigger . . . . . ..__.... 429

                                                                                                                       held  at
                                                                                                         First  Protestant   Reformed  Church
                                                                                                                 Holland,  Michigan


Vol. I D ,   N O .   IU
July, 1999


                   Paul's Concern for His Kinsmen
                                                                  claimed, for faithful mission work.                           Word. That demonstrates interest
I                                                                 Those who teach predestination are                            not only in the doctrines of God's
     n the first five verses of Romans                            not concerned about lost souls.                               Word, but also in the proclamation
     9, Paul speaks of his interest in                            They are not interested in the gath-                          of those doctrines faithfully in the
     and concern about his kinsmen                                ering of the church. The argument,                            church.
according to the flesh.                                           however, is false. The church of                                       We must decide many mission
      The rest of Romans 9 reveals                                Jesus Christ that holds to the doc-                           matters this year-more than in
that the Word of God has its proper                               trines of God's Word must be in-                              many former years. We have on
effect. It is the chapter regularly                               terested in and concerned about the                           the mission fields four men work-
quoted to prove the doctrine of pre-                              salvation of God's people. We,                                ing in areas outside of our churches
destination, including both election                              synod of 1999 of the Protestant Re-                           - and a fifth soon to begin his la-
and reprobation. This doctrine the                                formed Churches, must likewise                                bors. One is in Singapore, laboring
church has held  eve,r dear and has                               show our concern for the salvation                            with sister churches there and, with
maintained faithfully. We, with the                               of sinners in our decisions through                           them, in neighboring countries. He
church of God throughout the ages,                                the coming week.                                              must preach the Word to those who
insist that God has chosen a people                                      Two things we must remember                            are unbelievers and instruct those
in Jesus Christ our Lord from-be-                                 as synod and as churches. We may                              who would grow in their knowl-
fore the foundation of the earth.                                 never forsake the doctrines of the                            edge of the Word of God. We have
There are many, however, who                                      Word of God, and surely not the                               a missionary in Northern Ireland.
deny this doctrine; who ignore this                               doctrine of predestination, which                             He proclaims the Word there, not
chapter or distort it; or claim  .that                            the late Herman Hoeksema called                               only in a local congregation,- but
it has no relevancy for today. The                                "the heart of the gospel." And fur-                           also in other places throughout the
Christian, on the contrary, finds in                              ther, that doctrine of predestination                         British Isles. He must remind his
this chapter comfort, encourage-                                  ought not to leave us cold and un-                            hearers of the departure from the
ment, and hope.                                                   interested with respect to the                                truth that characterizes so many
      Many claim that those who                                   preaching of the gospel to sinners.                           within the churches there, and call
maintain the doctrine of predesti-                                       There are several matters com-                         them to return to the old paths. We
nation (election and reprobation)                                 ing up at our synod that should im-                           also have two men laboring in our
cannot preach the gospel properly.                                press upon us the importance of                               own land, in Pittsburgh and in Spo-
The doctrine does not allow, it is                                the Word proclaimed. We must                                  kane and neighboring areas. And,
                                                                  treat matters of the seminary, as we                          the Lord willing, Rev. Moore will
Rev.  VanBaren  is pastor  of  the Protestant                     do annually. We must examine a                                soon leave, with his wife, for
Reformed Church  of  &oveland, Colo-                              graduate of that seminary and, the                            Ghana. There he begins a work that
rado.  The above article is the text  of  the                     Lord willing, declare him to be a                             seems almost impossible to fulfill.
Pre-synodical Sermon preached on June                             candidate for the ministry of the                             All these are matters of missions  -
7,1999.

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410/Standard  Bearer/July,  1999


the proclamation of the Word of          were called. Of all of the nations             Israel had, too, the service or
God. All require our prayers, our        of the earth, God had chosen one           worship of God. They had the sac-
support, and our encouragement.          nation, the seed of Abraham. He            rifices of various sorts, but espe-
We must show our concern not             had continued His covenant in the          cially the burnt offering and the sin
only for "kinsmen according to the       line of their generations. The Isra-       offering. These were presented
flesh," but for the lost from among      elites had the glory, a reference, no      daily before God. The priests
the nations of the world.                doubt, to the tabernacle and later         would come to offer these in the
    The word that the apostle            the temple. There was the ark of           sight of all Israel. Though it be in
speaks in Romans 9 is therefore          God's covenant. There was the law          type and shadow, Israel beheld the
certainly a word that must influ-        placed within the ark, but covered         wonder and the glory of the cross.
ence and affect us as synod. "I say      with the mercy seat upon which             They had also their feast days in
the truth in Christ, I lie not, my       the blood of atonement must be             which they commemorated regu-
conscience also bearing me witness       sprinkled annually. They had the           larly the work of God in the midst
in the Holy Ghost, that I have a         Shekinnh,  that cloud of glory that        of His people.
great heaviness and continual sor-       descended on the tabernacle when               All of that Israel had and, says
row in my heart. For I could wish        it was first erected, and later on         Paul, in addition they had the
that myself were accursed from           the temple of Solomon. The vis-            promises (again, plural!). The
Christ for my brethren, my kins-         ible evidence of the glory of God          promise is, of course, one. But
men according to the flesh: who          was right there in their midst. Is-        when one views the promise in all
are Israelites." That great apostle      rael had all of that.                      of its riches, he finds that it is like
Paul, who so powerfully ex-                  They had the covenants (plu-           a diamond ring with many facets.
pounded the glory and truth of pre-      ral  - not because there are many          Each facet reflects the glory and
destination, was not hindered in         covenants, as some would teach,            wonder of God and His work with
the proclamation of the Word be-         but because the covenant over the          His people. They had all of these.
cause of it. On the contrary, his        ages was revealed increasingly in              They had the fathers. In fact,
heart was moved by the concern           all of its splendor and glory - first      they boasted oftentimes of their fa-
for the salvation of sinners to          to Adam, then to Noah, to Abra-            thers:    "We are of our father,
whom God would have His Word             ham, later to Israel and through the       Abraham," say the Pharisees. But
to go. And he was concerned es-          prophets), so that God, gradually          the church of Jesus Christ in Israel
pecially about his brethren, the Is-     as it were, portrayed the wonders          did have reason to rejoice that they
raelites, who had forsaken that          of His relationship with His people        were of these fathers. They were a
Word and had crucified the Lord          in Jesus Christ our Lord. That cov-        continuation of that line of the cov-
of glory.                                enant is so filled with the riches         enant that God had established
    So this evening I would like to      and glory of God's work that it can        with Abraham and his seed after
call your attention to Paul's con-       hardly be expressed adequately in          him.
cern for his kinsmen.                    the singular. Israel had the cov-              Then, as a climax, according to
    The apostle Paul is speaking         enants.                                    their flesh Christ came. He came
here of Israelites. He does so in            They had the giving of the law.        not from the Gentiles, not from
connection with the context, the         God first gave that law as ten com-        some other land, but out of the
preceding verses, in which he de-        mandments at Mount Sinai. The              land of Canaan, out of the line of
clares that there is nothing that can    ten commandments were spoken               David, in the town of Bethlehem.
separate us from the love of God         by Him from the Mount, so that             Christ was born in their midst.
which is in Jesus Christ our Lord.       Israel, hearing them, trembled. He             What a glory, what an honor,
The objection could, perhaps, be         then wrote them in tables of stone,        that nation of Israel had! The
raised: What about those Jews            so that Israel could have that law         church of Jesus Christ, as it stud-
who, though they called them-            placed in the ark of the covenant.         ies that history of Israel, ought al-
selves children of Abraham and           It reminded them: Thou shalt love          ways to recall that truth too. Is-
sons of God, had crucified the           the Lord thy God with all thy heart,       rael did not deserve any blessings
Christ?                                  soul, mind, and strength, and thy          of God. As Moses had also re-
    The apostle in our text speaks       neighbor as thyself. That law had          minded them, they were not more
of the glories of Israel. And he, as     guided them as a nation. That law          numerous than other people, nor
it were, piles up testimonies upon       guided them in their family life.          were they better than other people.
testimonies of these glories so that     That law guided them in their              Nevertheless, God had blessed
all who heard it could agree: Israel     worship.                                   them and provided for them so that
had a beautiful place in the pur-            Israel had all of that, in distinc-    they would continue the line of the
pose and plan of God. They were          tion from the many nations around          covenant and maintain that word
of the adoption. Sons of God they        them that dwelt in ignorance.              which God had given.

                                                                                               July,  1999/Standard  Bearer/4  11


    It is a reminder of what ben-       and His cause. They knew the             do with those who have  aposta-
efits we have, too. Our situation is    promises of the Old Testament.           tized? What have we to do with
different. We live in the New Tes-      They had studied the Word of God.        proclaiming the Word outside of
tament age. We have a history that      They knew what God had revealed.         our own midst? Why should we
differs from that of Israel of old.     Yet, when Christ came, they re-          go forth and preach the gospel
Yet, when we reflect upon the his-      jected Him. They called Him the          even among the heathen? If God
tory of our own churches, we can        prince of devils, Beelzebub. They        elects a people, surely they will be
only testify before God and to one      said that He did His mighty works        brought to glory whether we
another of the grace of God be-         through the power of the devil.          preach the Word to them or not.
stowed upon our churches. We can        They mocked His word. They               And if God reprobates a people,
only thank Him for the wonders of       made plans to crucify Him. Fi-           surely they will be damned no mat-
the doctrines which He has re-          nally, with the cooperation of the       ter how much we preach the Word
vealed in us and through us. We         Romans, they accomplished that           to them."
can thank Him that from Sabbath         evil deed. With wicked hands they           The concern of the child of
to Sabbath we have the opportu-         took Him and crucified Him. They         God, as it ought to be the concern
nity of fellowship and worship to-      pursued after His people, impris-        of our churches and of our synod,
gether under the preaching of His       oned them, and killed many of            is the salvation of sinners. We do
Word. We can thank Him for the          them. They sought thus to squelch        not know who are God's elect
opportunities given us to labor in      the spread of the gospel. All of         among them. We can only judge
the vineyard, even outside the es-      these things the Jews had done.          by the fruit. On that basis, we see
tablished church.                           In chapter 11 the apostle speaks     that God has truly turned the heart
    There are other churches,           of these Jews and compares them          from darkness to light. When we
whose history you know, which           to branches that are cut off from        observe the world today, we see so
have departed from the Word.            the vine. That was the situation         many who deny the Word of God
They have forsaken the truths that      for Israel  - a nation that had de-      and forsake the truth. These seem
their forefathers held dear. They       parted from the Word of God and          to be going the way of disobedi-
no longer teach the wonder of a         crucified the promised Messiah.          ence and rebellion to their destruc-
creation in six literal days. They          What was Paul's attitude to-         tion. Do we say of them, "There is
no longer emphasize the  headship       ward them?                               no hope, there is no reason to pro-
which God established in the cre-           Paul was called to be an apostle     claim the Word before such disobe-
ation of Adam and Eve. Some are         to the Gentiles. Did not that call-      dient ones, they have departed
no longer interested even in main-      ing to be an apostle to the Gentiles     from the faith"?
taining the truths of the atonement     imply that he had forsaken his own           The man that comes to my
and truths of the incarnation. They     people, that he was a kind of a trai-    mind in this connection is the thief
rather proclaim a "social" gospel.      tor to his nation? Doubtlessly the       on the cross next to Christ. He was
They teach that their calling is to     Jews considered him to be such.          a rebel, apparently from youth. He
establish a glorious kingdom here           Besides, there was his teaching      was a robber, and it may be that in
on this earth. There is great apos-     concerning predestination  - includ-     his robbery he had also committed
tasy today. Churches that have          ing election and reprobation. If the     murder. He was a hopeless case.
known the glories of God, and in        Jews were reprobate, why should          It would seem as though such a
their past generations have main-       Paul be concerned about them?            person could never be saved. Yet,
tained these truths, for the most       Why should he be interested in
part faithfully, are now departing      their salvation? Why should he
from those truths.                      preach the Word to them if, as he
    The faithful church of Jesus        maintained, there was this repro-
Christ today lives in the kind of       bation? The apostle Paul points out
situation of which the apostle          in the words of our text that this
speaks in our text as well. Israel      truth of predestination did not
had forsaken the Word of God, had       hinder his work. It did not pre-
crucified the Messiah. Today, too,      vent him from being deeply con-
much of that which is called church     cerned with the salvation not only
has likewise forsaken the Word and      of the Gentiles but likewise of elect
gone in its own willful way of dis-     Jews.
obedience.                                  The same holds true today.
    Ought the apostle to be con-        Many have departed from the faith.
cerned about that? The Jews had         Should we simply shrug our shoul-              Rev.  VanBaren examines
shown great opposition to Christ        ders and say, "What have we to                  the student in Pvactica.

4 72,Mandard Bearer/July, 1999


while he hung on the cross, he          troubled in the very center of his       the doctrine of predestination, in-
heard the testimony of the Word.        being. This controlled his thoughts      cluding both election and reproba-
The Spirit applied that Word to his     and his labors daily. He was op-         tion. The contrary is often alleged.
heart. And he cried out, not long       pressed by the very thought that         The claim is made that those who
before he died, "Lord, remember         his brethren, kinsmen according to       believe in eternal election have no
me when Thou  comest into Thy           the flesh, had turned from the           incentive to preach to unbelievers.
kingdom."                               Word. He was concerned about             The elect, after all, will surely be
    The church of Jesus Christ and      their salvation.                         saved whether one preaches to
its preachers of the Word realize           In fact, the apostle Paul makes      them or not. The reprobate will be
that God accomplishes His purpose       it so strong as to say this: "I could    lost no matter how many sermons
through the preaching. Without          wish myself accursed from Christ         are preached to them.
doubt He will save those whom He        for my kinsmen, my brethren ac-              Yet from the very beginning of
has chosen in our Lord Jesus            cording to the flesh." One would         the chapter, Paul clearly shows that
Christ.    He accomplishes that         say, "How could he ever say that?"       this kind of objection is false. Paul
through the preaching of the Word,      Wish himself accursed for the sake       is deeply concerned with the posi-
through the faithful labors of the      of the salvation of his kinsmen?         tion of the Jews who had received
church of Jesus Christ.                 The apostle Paul surely knew that        the promises. He desired to preach
    That same word, of course, tes-     this was an impossibility. God had       also to them. He was concerned
tifies to the reprobate. Again, the     chosen His people, including Paul,       about their salvation. When he saw
preacher cannot normally identify       from before the foundation of the        their hardness and impenitence, it
who each of these may be. That is       earth, in Jesus Christ our Lord. The     grieved him deeply.
not our concern. God determines         counsel of God could not be                  We as synod and as churches
that. But the preaching of the          changed, nor could it be frustrated.     must continue to confess the truths
Word exposes their wicked ways          Nevertheless, Paul meant it when         expressed in Romans 9. The chap-
and causes them to rise up in           he said that if it were possible, he     ter speaks of those precious truths
greater rebellion and disobedience      would even have himself accursed         of election and reprobation.
to the Word. God, through His           in order that his brethren accord-       Though many consider these hard
Word, accomplishes what He wills        ing to the flesh could be saved.         doctrines, they are truly comfort-
to do: "He has mercy on whom            That was the sense of urgency dem-       ing and encouraging for the church.
He will have mercy; and whom He         onstrated by the apostle Paul in         Many would deny them or adul-
will, He hardens."                      this word of God.                        terate them. But the church must
   The apostle Paul, in that con-           It portrays the apostle, too, in     continue to hold fast to this.
nection, shows his deep concern for     a light in which we do not often             At the same time, and because
the ministry of the Word. He says       see him.     The apostle Paul is         of these very truths, we must be
he has a great heaviness and con-       viewed, and correctly so, as a           faithful in proclaiming the gospel.
tinual sorrow in heart for his kins-    teacher of sound, deep doctrine.         The synod deals with matters per-
men, his brethren according to the      He was a person who could write          taining to our seminary. There the
flesh. There is great heaviness and     under the inspiration of the Holy        churches prepare young men for
deep pain. It concerned him by          Spirit and who could testify con-        the preaching of the gospel. We
day and by night. He was inter-         cerning the truths of the Word. We       have men who are laboring on the
ested in proclaiming the Word not       could view his doctrine as cold and      mission fields. There is, and there
just to the Gentiles. He was the        abstract. But we see here this great     must be, a concern for souls. Ear-
apostle called to labor among the       apostle of Jesus Christ, missionary      nestly we pray that God may save
Gentiles, but in his labors he went     to the Gentiles, as deeply affected      His people through the preaching
first to the synagogue. He would        by the labor he is to perform. He        of the gospel. We desire the gath-
bring the Word first to his breth-      knows the terrible destiny of those      ering in of those given of God to
ren according to the flesh. He did      who do not repent of their sins. He      His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. In
not say, "They are all reprobates."     knows the terrible judgment of the       all of the actions of synod, this con-
He did not say, "It doesn't do any      Jews who crucified Christ. These         cern must show. We must main-
good to proclaim God's Word             were his kinsmen, of his own flesh.      tain faithfully all the doctrines of
there." He spoke the Word, and          They had heard the Christ, had           Holy Scripture. We must also
God used that Word to turn some         seen His miracles, but had denied        faithfully, fearlessly, and tirelessly
to repentance and to confession.        Him. And they had crucified Him.         preach the gospel wherever God
    Then Paul would go to the           Of them the apostle is deeply con-       will have it sent. May God grant
Gentiles and proclaim to them the       cerned.                                  that to our churches and to synod.
wonders of the gospel. But all of           His attitude clearly reveals that
this burdened his soul. He was          there is nothing cold or hard about

                                                                                            J u l y ,   1999/StandardBearer/413


                  Synod of the PRC, 1999
TheFirst Protestant Reformed amined the se-
       Church o f   H o l l a n d ,   M I    nior seminarian
       hosted the 1999 synod of the          orally in Dog-
Protestant Reformed Churches                 matics; Church
(PRC).  Synod met from June 8                History; Church
through June 15.                             Polity; Old Tes-
    The pre-synodical worship ser-           tament History;
vice was held in the Holland                 New Testament
church building and was led by the           History;        and
president of the previous synod,             "Practica."   D e l -
Rev. Gise VanBaren. He preached              egates were per-
                                               .     -
on Romans  9:1-5, "Paul's Concern            mitted to ques-                          First PRC, Holland
for His Kinsmen." That Rev.                  tion the student
VanBaren led this service was es-            further concerning his answers.          synod and the members of the
pecially appropriate since synod             Mr. Eriks also submitted written         Theological School Committee, as
would approve his request to be-             examinations in Hebrew and Greek         well as many members of the
come emeritus.                               translation and exegesis of as-          churches. Prof. David Engelsma
    Officers of the 1999 synod were          signed passages of Scripture, which      spoke on "The Running of the
Rev. Ron Cammenga, president;                were approved. The examination           White Horse," from Revelation 6.
Rev. Dale Kuiper, vice-president;            began with the seminarian's
Rev. Wilbur Bruinsma, first clerk;           preaching a specimen sermon be-          Seminary
and Rev. Ron VanOverloop,  second            fore the synod on Matthew 7:13,14.            Synod admitted three men to
clerk. All of the officers were del-         Synod approved the examination           the Protestant Reformed Seminary
egates from  Classis East.                   and declared Garrett Eriks a can-        in the fall of 1999. One aspires to
                                             didate for the office of the Word        the ministry in the PRC. The other
Examination of a Seminarian                  and Sacraments in the PRC eligible       two are members of the Evangeli-
    Nearly two days were devoted             for a call on or after July 10, 1999.    c a l   R e f o r m e d   C h u r c h e s   i n
to the examination of seminarian             The graduation ceremony was held         Singapore  (ERCS).  Pastor Lau Chin
Garrett J. Eriks. The faculty of the         in the Holland church auditorium         Kwee, who attended the seminary
Protestant Reformed Seminary ex-             in the presence of the delegates of      earlier, will return to complete the
                                                                                      requirements for his diploma. The
                                                                                      other man will begin a three-year
                                                                                      program at the seminary. Synod
                                                                                      committed the PRC to pay half the
                                                                                      expenses of the latter while he at-
                                                                                      tends seminary. Synod approved
                                                                                      the decision of the Theological
                                                                                      School Committee to release Prof.
                                                                                      Herman Hanko from the seminary
                                                                                      for at least six months during this
                                                                                      coming school-year, to work with
                                                                                      the ERCS in the establishment of a
                                                                                      theological school in Singapore. A
                                                                                      gift to the seminary of more than
                                                                                      $50,000 was gratefully received.
                                                                                      Synod designated the use of it for
                                    Synod, 1999                                       providing instruction in missionary

474fitandard  Bearer/July, 7999


                                                                   our committees on the is-              OK, particularly the well-meant
                                                                   sue of common grace                    gospel offer, in such a way that
                                                                   and the general offer of               our CC forthrightly inform the
                                                                   the gospel.                            CEIR what our belief is on these
                                                                                                          issues.
                                                                   The CC asked for a  syn-
                                                                   odical mandate to con-
                                                                   tinue to discuss with the
                                                                   URCNA the issues that
                                                                   separate the URCNA
                                                                   and the PRC on the
                                                                   grounds that  "1) our dis-
                                                                   c u s s i o n   o n   c o m m o n
          Rev. Koole, Elder Brian Crossett                     grace has revealed a great
                                                               degree of agreement with
skills and for student internships                   the committee of the URCNA and
involving missions. Prof. Russ                       2) our meeting revealed some im-
Dykstra was reappointed to a four-                   portant areas which require further
year term as Professor of Church                     discussion." Synod gave the CC
History and New Testament. Later                     this mandate on these grounds.
in the sessions, Prof. Dykstra in-                       The CC also reported (in a
formed synod that he accepted this                   supplemental report) on a recent
appointment.                                         meeting with the Committee for
                                                     Ecumenicity and Interchurch Rela-
Contact Committee                                    tions  (CEIR)  of  the Orthodox Pres-               PuoJ:  Engelsma:  Dogmatics Exam
     A meeting of the Committee for                  byterian Church  (OK). One of the
Contact with Other Churches (CC)                     subjects discussed was the doctrine                     Synod approved the proposal
w i t h   t h e   U n i t e d   R e f o r m e d      of the well-meant offer of the gos-                of the CC that the CC hold a con-
C h u r c h e s   i n   N o r t h   A m e r i c a    pel. The report of the CC informed                 ference with the Evangelical Pres-
(URCNA) was approved. The re-                        synod that                                         byterian Church in Australia in
port of the CC on this meeting                                                                          2001. The subject will be "Bibli-
stated that                                            the committee from the  OK ex-                   cally Regulated Worship."
                                                       pressed their conviction that the                     With Elder Brian Crossett of
   our committee was gratified that                    doctrine of the free offer of the                Covenant Protestant Reformed
  both the papers presented by the                     gospel is not binding doctrine in                C h u r c h   i n   N o r t h e r n   I r e l a n d
  Committee for Ecumenical  Rela-                      the  OK. They did grant that                     present, synod approved the estab-
  tions and Church Unity (of the                       open opposition to the doctrine of
  URCNA) and the discussion that                       the free offer, without pursuing                 lishment of a sister-church relation-
  we had on each point revealed a                      complaint through the church                     ship with the Northern Ireland con-
  great deal of agreement between                      courts, would undoubtedly be                     gregation in 2000, if the other sis-
                                                       viewed as schismatic.                            t e r - c h u r c h e s   o f   t h e   P R C - t h e
                                                                                                        ERCS-have no legitimate objec-
                                                     Discussion on this report of the CC,               tion. Elder Crossett greeted synod
                                                     particularly the request of the CC                 on behalf of Covenant Church and
                                                     that synod au-
                                                     thorize future
                                                     meetings with
                                                     t h e   OK,  r e -
                                                     sulted             in
                                                     synod's decid-
                                                     ing to

                                                       direct the CC
                                                       to discuss with
                                                       t h e   C E I R   o f
                                                       t h e   OK  a l l
                                                       the issues that
         Senior Seminarian Eriks                       possibly sepa-
                                                       rate us from the                        Congratulating the Candidate

                                                                                                                       July,   1999/Standard  Bearer/415


                                                                  N o r t h e r n   I r e -    ministers as the churches' honor-
                                                                  land.        $29,500         ably providing for them "in their
                                                                  was budgeted                 need." At the recommendation of
                                                                  for radio broad-             its special committee, synod de-
                                                                  casting by the               cided that
                                                                  D M C   i n   2 0 0 0 .
                                                                  The DMC uses                   payment from the Emeritus Fund
                                                                  the messages of                continue to be on a "needs" basis,
                                                                  Rev. Carl Haak                 but with the added provision that
                                                                  on the Reformed                some amount up to a maximum
                                                                  Witness Hour.                  limit be made available to retirees
                                                                                                 and/or their spouses upon request
                                                                  Southeast PRC
       Ofjcers: Rev.  VanOverloop, Rev. Cammenga,                                                but with no questions asked.
                                                              in Grand Rapids,
                  Rev.  Kuiper,  Rev.  Bruinsma               MI nave the DMC                  Synod then specified that this
was given the right to speak on all           $50,990 for use in  ihe housing of               amount be set at a maximum limit
matters involving the church.                 the missionary in Pittsburgh.                    of $15,000 per year, beginning in
Synod was impressed with the                                                                   2001.
need of the Covenant PRC in                   Foreign Missions
Northern Ireland for a church                      The Foreign Mission Commit-
building and approved the request             tee  (FM0 informed synod that
of the church to ask for collections          Rev. Richard Moore accepted the
for this purpose in the PRC in                call to Ghana, Africa. He and his
America. In view of the likelihood            wife were to leave for the field in
of a sister-church relationship in            June, 1999. Synod received a re-
2000, synod opened the pulpits of             port of a visit to the Philippines by
the PRC in America to the semi-               a delegation from the FMC. The
narian of the Covenant Church                 report stated that "there is defi-
presently in the seminary, if the             nitely work for us to do in missions
faculty approves his speaking a               in the Philippines."         Synod in-
word of edification in the churches.          structed the FMC to send two del-                    Rev.  VanOverloop, Rev. Haak
                                              egations to the Philippines, one in
Domestic Missions                             1999 and the other in 2000.                          Synod also decided to establish
    The Domestic Mission Commit-                                                               a group plan for purchasing  long-
tee  (DMC) reported on home mis-              New Directions                                   term care insurance for emeriti
sions in Spokane, WA and in Pitts-                 In response to an overture from             ministers and their wives. This de-
burgh, PA. The work in Colorado               the council of the Edgerton, MN                  cision was in light of the high costs
ended because of lack of growth               PRC, that synod make a "minor re-                of nursing homes and other forms
and interest. The remaining mem-              vision of our Church Order," synod               of special care.
bers of the Colorado mission do-              approved the "updating" of the                       The same special committee
nated some $100,000 to the PRC for            Church Order of Dordt. Synod                     that recommended the change in
use in missions. Synod approved               then gave the overture to a study                Article 13 of the Church Order con-
the  DMC's  continuing to send                committee, to make recommenda-                   cerning support of emeriti minis-
someone to the British Isles peri-            tions on the proposed changes in                 ters also presented a proposed in-
odically, making the south of Wales           the Church Order.  Edgerton pro-                 vestment policy for use in invest-
the center of the work outside                posed changing Articles 2, 18, 21,               ing excess synodical funds. Synod
                                                                  29,  36,37,40,41,            1998 had mandated this commit-
                                                                  42,45,  47,48,50,            tee "to prepare an investment
                                                                  51,52,  53, 65, 69,          policy, including both fixed income
                                                                  and 70.                      and equity securities, for use in in-
                                                                         Article 13            vesting excess synodical funds."
                                                                  of the Church                The attached summary of the in-
                                                                  Order of Dordt,              vestment policy states, among
                                                                  w h i c h   i s   t h e      other things, that "funds assets
                                                                  Church Order of              must be invested in a diversified
                                                                  the PRC, views               portfolio of stocks and investment
                                                                  financial support
                                                                                  __           grade bonds, or mutual funds that
  Pre-advice: Rev. Haak,  ProJ: Decker, Elder  J. Lenting       Of  emeriti   hetired)         invest in these, according to the
476/Samhrd   Bearer/July,  1999


                                                          consistory appealed de-                 that in the decisions being ap-
                                                          cisions of Classis East re-             pealed  Classis East had departed
                                                          garding consent to an                   from an original, concrete case.
                                                          unbiblical divorce and                  Synod then advised  Classis East to
                                                          regarding separate main-                reexamine these decisions in the
                                                          tenance. One decision of                light of the above action of synod.
                                                          Classis was that "it is not                 Another appeal against a deci-
                                                          always wrong to give                    sion of  Classis West was declared
                                                          consent to a divorce pur-               illegal in closed session.
                                                          sued by a spouse." The
                                                          first of  Classis' grounds              Emeritation
                                                          for this decision was                       The request of Rev. Gise J.
                                                                                                  VanBaren for emeritation on the
                 Rev.  denHartog                          While any effort to put                 ground of age was approved. Rev.
                                                          away a spouse for  unbib-               VanBaren was ordained into the
Prudent Man rule."             Synod         lical reasons is wrong, and every                    ministry in the PRC in 1956. He
adopted the proposed "Investment             effort must be put forth to defend                   served pastorates in  Doon, IA;
                                             and preserve a marriage, the ex-
Policy Summary" . . . and the                pression "let  him depart" in I                      Randolph, WI; First, Grand Rapids,
"Statement of Investment Objec-              Corinthians 7:15 permits a believer                  MI; and Hudsonville, MI. He is
tives and Policy" . . . "for use in in-      to give consent to (only in the                      presently pastor of the congrega-
vesting excess  synodical  funds."           sense of compliance, acquiescence,                   tion in Loveland, CO. Synod  ex-
Despite pointed caution against re-           or agreement to,
cent expansion of the duties and             n o t   a s s e n t   o r
powers of the Board of Trustees,             agreement with) ,
synod authorized the Board of                a divorce pur-
Trustees to select an investment             s u e d   b y   o n e ' s   i
                                             spouse.
manager to direct the investment                                          I
of synod's funds; to supervise the         The other deci-
investment manager; and to review          sion of  Classis
the investment performance of the          E a s t   w a s   t h a t
funds on a quarterly basis.                "separate main-
    In response to the offer of a gift     tenance is not
to the PRC of a life insurance             the same as di-
policy, synod instructed the Board         vorce." The first
of Trustees to study the propriety         two grounds were:                       ProJ: Dee,`cer, Rev. Cammenga,  ProJ: Hanko
of the PRC owning life Insurance
policies given by individuals.                                                                    pressed its appreciation to Rev.
                                              l.Legally,   t h e   s t a t e   d o e s   n o t    VanBaren for his many years of
                                              equate the two, as is evident from
Appeals                                      the fact that the state does not per-                faithful service in our churches.
    Two     individuals        and a         mit remarriage of those who have
                                             been granted separate mainte-                        75th Anniversary Celebration
                                             nance.                                                   The PRC are planning to cel-
                                             2. While separate maintenance can                    ebrate the  75th anniversary of their
                                             be used in a sinful way, there may                   existence as a denomination in 2000
                                             be instances in which separate                       by a denomination-wide gathering
                                             maintenance (legal separation) is                    on the campus of Calvin College,
                                             permitted, e.g., in cases where le-                  Grand Rapids, MI for five days,
                                             gal protection is deemed neces-
                                             sary.                                                June 19-23. The theme will be,
                                                                                                  "Living out of Our Heritage."
                                           Discussion of the appeals was                          Families and individuals are being
                                           lengthy. In an unusual move, in                        encouraged to attend all days of
                                           view of the fact that synod had de-                    the event, staying on campus if at
                                           clared two of the appeals legally                      all possible. The annual conven-
                                           before the synod, the decision of                      tion of the young people is sched-
                                           synod was that synod not enter                         uled for the same time and place.
                                           into the appeals. The ground was                       Synod received a thorough report
                                                                                                  from its special  75th Anniversary
   Elder D. Ondersma, Rev.  Kleyn
                                                                                                             July,  1999/Standard  Bearer/4  17


Committee. A report by the  75fh         love to the family of Rev. Steven       an increase of 1.1% over the assess-
Anniversary Committee is pub-            Houck in the serious illness of Mrs.    ment in 1999.
lished elsewhere in this issue of the    Houck. A committee of synod was             Georgetown PRC in Western
Standard Bearer.  In order to keep       able to convey this expression to       Michigan will be the host for the
the cost of the celebration afford-      the Houck family by a personal          synod of 2000. Synod will convene
able for larger families and because     visit.                                  on June 13, in conjunction with the
the celebration "belongs to the very         Synod approved the organiza-        celebration of the  75th anniversary,
heart of our existence as churches,"     tion of a new congregation in           God willing.
synod decided to subsidize the cost      northwest Indiana-Cornerstone               May God bless the work of the
of the celebration by budgeting          PRC-and  its inclusion in  Classis      synod, making it fruitful for the
$35,000  in 2000.                        East.                                   gathering and preservation of the
                                             A  synodical  budget for 2000 of    church of Jesus Christ at the turn
Other Matters                            $1,263,878  was adopted. The as-        of the century.  0
    Synod expressed its concerns of      sessment for each family is $741,                                      - DJE

 Cornerstone PRC of Northwest Indiana





    The new Protestant Reformed Church in northwest Indiana has chosen the name Cornerstone. The congre-
gation called candidate Nathan Brummel to be their minister. Mr. Brummel has accepted their call.




                                         of great benefit to readers strug-      is. Therefore, your exegesis of this
n This Generation                        gling with this millennial question:    term would be very helpful!
Thank you for your continued Do a study of Matthew 24:34. The                                             Jerry Grigsby
    defense of the amillennial view      whole basis for the preterist view                       Presbyterian Church
of eschatology.          While many      seems to hinge on what is meant                               Addyston, Ohio
"stars" of theology have changed         by "this generation" in verse 34.
their view over the years (taking        R.C. Sproul's recent book is based      Response:
their followers along with them),        almost entirely on this subject.            I gave the interpretation of
you have remained faithful in your       Sadly, almost no Reformed or Pres-      Matthew 24, particularly verse 34,
stand for the Reformed truth.            byterian commentators seem to           in the April 1, April 15, May 1, and
    I have one suggestion for the        agree on what the correct interpre-     May 15, 1996 issues of the  SB.  If
Standard Bearer  that I feel would be    tation of "generation" in this text     you would like a copy of these  ar-

4 l&Standard Bearer/July, 7999


titles, request it of our business of-        submitting in the slightest way to       few things are a very limited ex-
fice.                                         Satan  is  impossible! Therefore, the    planation of the profound truth
         Basically the explanation was        capacity or ability to sin becomes       wrapped up in this statement of sa-
that the natural sense of "this gen-          a moot point. From now on I will         cred Scripture.
eration" is the normal lifetime of            think in this vein, that as tempta-          The statements in verse 7 seem
those to whom Jesus was speaking.             tion came to Christ He immediately       strongly to suggest that the refer-
All of the things that Jesus fore-            submitted to the will of God and         ence in the text is to our Lord's pro-
told in verses 3-31 would take                cut Satan off, as He does in Mat-        found sorrow in Gethsemane. The
place within about 40 years. Quot-            thew  26:39,42.                          struggle through which the Lord
ing now from the May 1, 1996 is-                  In the answer to my original         passed was so great, so intense, so
sue of the SB:                                question, you did manage to bring        bitter that Scripture wisely hangs
                                              up a couple more that I am not           a veil over it and only reports
  Inasmuch as the destruction of              clear on!                                briefly on what happened. It was
  Jerusalem was the type of the end,              l.You say: "Christ had to learn      too . . . awful(?) for human eyes.
  everything that Jesus has taught            obedience . . . by the things that He    Here in Hebrews 5, God lifts up a
  in the preceding verses can be said         suffered."     Does this refer to His    corner of that veil so that we get a
  in verse 34 to "be fulfilled," that                                                  brief glimpse. Yet the glimpse is
  is, happen, in AD 70. "All these            childhood, as in Luke  2:51, or do
  things" happen  typically  in AD 70.        you mean He was learning what it         enough to force us to shrink back
  But these things do not happen in           is to be human by the temptations?       in horror.
  AD 70  exhaustively.  They do by                2.In glory we too shall be "not          The text emphatically states
  no means happen  in reality  in AD          able to sin" (Augustine), but that       that our Lord was Son. It would
  70. The reality of all these things         follows our resurrection. Is it true     even be better to translate it that
  will happen when Jesus comes in             or false that Christ too had differ-     way, "Though he were Son . . ..I' He
  the body at the end of the world.           ent capabilities after His resurrec-     was at that moment the eternal Son
                                              tion than He did while He was            of God, equal with the first and
         I quoted Herman Ridderbos            walking around on earth prior to         third persons in the holy Trinity,
and Calvin at length to demon-                the Cross? Could the "ability to         who had eternally devised the
strate that this explanation of Mat-          sin" have been one of these              counsel by which the church would
thew  24:34 is that of the Reformed           changes?                                 be redeemed through the blood of
tradition.                                                                AZ Salmon    the Son of God. He was Himself
         It is striking that the Christian                          Moorestown, NJ     the Author of the plan. And, even
Reconstruction preterists find sup-                                                    more, He was one with the Father
port for their interpretation of Mat-         Answer:                                  and the Spirit in the perfect execu-
thew  24:34 largely outside the Re-               Mr. Salmon asks pointedly con-       tion of that plan.
formed tradition. They are silent             cerning the meaning of Hebrews               Yet He had to learn obedience!
about Calvin's explanation of the             5~7, 8:      "Who in the days of his     How can we ever understand that?
text. Why do they say nothing                 flesh, when he had offered up            The obedience to which the text re-
about Calvin's explanation of "this           prayers and supplications with           fers is the obedience that was re-
generation"?                                  strong crying and tears unto him         quired of Him to accomplish all the
                                   - Ed.      that was able to save him from           purpose of His Father (His Father
                                              death, and was heard in that he          being, not the first person of the
n Christ Learned                              feared; though he were a Son, yet        Trinity, but the triune God). He
Obedience
Y                                             learned he obedience by the things       had to learn obedience as the Me-
         ou really helped me with my          that he suffered." He asks specifi-      diator of God through whom alone
         dilemma in starting to compre-       cally concerning the meaning of the      God brought salvation. He had to
hend that Christ as man was with-             clause "yet learned he obedience";       learn obedience so that He could
out the ability to sin, yet tempted           and he asks how it was possible          truly sing Psalm 40: "I come to do
as we.  (I thank you because I do             for Christ to  learn  obedience.         thy will, 0 God; in the volume of
not want to be a heretic or one of                I freely admit that I have often     the book it is written of me" (see
these "Nestorian guys"!) Your in-             wanted to preach on this text, but       also Heb.  10:5-10).
struction to me that Christ "saw              never quite dared until a couple of          Our Lord did not have to learn
that the proposals of Satan re-               years ago.         And then, having      obedience in the sense that He had
quired submission to Satan," which            preached on it, I decided that, af-      to learn what God demanded of
would be "the way of disobedi-                ter all, it would have been better if    Him while He was in the world.
ence," made a much clearer picture            I had not. The mystery is too great.     He did not have to learn obedience
to me. So, now, even if Christ had                Nevertheless, we may say a           in the  -sense  that He had been dis-
the capacity to sin, this idea of His         few things about it, although these      obedient, or even could be  disobe-

                                                                                                     J u l y ,   1999/StandardBearer/419


dient, and now had to correct His             their cross  - as Christ took up             translate in addition to what the
life. But He did have to learn obe-           His? Was (and, is) it not always a           AV says: "While he continued to
dience in the sense that He had to            mere matter of obedience? Noth-              be rich, yet for your sakes he be-
understand that obedience in-                 ing but obedience? "Behold, to               came poor.. . ." Rich and poor at
volved the greatest possible suffer-          obey is better than sacrifice, and to        the same time! God and man at
ings, and that, although His soul             hearken than the fat of rams" (I             the same time.
shrunk from the horror of the cross           Sam.  15:22).                                    The second truth that thrusts
in fear, yet obedience required it.               The second question must be              itself forward in Scripture is that
    In this respect, too, our Lord            answered with a sharp and em-                Christ's divine nature was hidden
was like us in all things. How of-            phatic: "It is false." It is false that      behind the veil of His human na-
ten is it not true that obedience to          Christ "had different capabilities           ture while He was in the state of
the will of God is not a sun-filled           after His resurrection than He did           humiliation. Only at times, like a
path of pleasure and delight, but             while He was walking around on               blinding flash of lightning, did the
rather a way dark and deep, a way             earth prior to the Cross."                   glory of that divine nature burst
of self-denial, a way which seems,                Here too is mystery. But some            through the human nature. That
from every earthly point of view,             truths force their way into the fore-        happened particularly in the
to lead to disaster, a way of taking          ground.  ~~Ghrist remained, every            miracles. In this sense, the great
up our cross and following the                moment He was on earth, the per-             power and majesty of the Godhead
Lord. We may not, under such                  son of the Son of God. This is               was hidden behind the human na-
bleak circumstances, refuse obedi-            stressed in Scripture, and is, in fact,      ture, which made Him like us in
ence with flimsy and self-serving             the meaning of Hebrews 5. While              all things except sin.
excuses. We have to learn obedi-              the AV is correct in translating                 He had no different capabili-
ence as so necessary, so crucial to           verse 8: "Though he were Son . . .,"         ties on earth than He has now in
our life, so important, that it must          the Greek is too rich to be captured         glory.    But while on earth He
be our way regardless of any con-             exhaustively by that translation.            walked among us in humiliation
siderations.                                  The idea is also there, imbedded             that is too great to contemplate, for    ~~
    Christ learned this kind of obe-          in the language used: "While He              it is the shame and degradation of
dience in the Garden when the                 remained Son, yet learned He obe-            our sin and sinful nature. And this
thought of the cross all but killed           dience...." Paul expresses the very          is why we must, sometimes, peek
Him. And so He can now be a                   same idea in II Corinthians  8:9:            behind the veil that hid our Lord
sympathetic High Priest for us                "For ye know the grace of our Lord           in the Garden; for, although we
when excruciating sufferings are              Jesus Christ, that, though he was            cannot understand, that suffering
the inevitable result of our obedi-           rich, yet for your sakes he became           is the measure of our sins  - for
ence to God. Have not countless               poor, that ye through his poverty            which our Lord died. And that is
martyrs walked the same way of                might be rich." Again, the AV is             glorious beyond words.
obedience? Did not they take up               correct in its translation; but the                            - Prof. H. Hanko
                                              meaning is richer, and we could




                                                                                              1999
                                                                                           Candidate
                                                                                         Garrett Eriks

                                                                        Age: 26
                                                                        Wife's name: Jennifer
                                                                        Children: Abbie, Alison
                                                                        Internship: Loveland PRC, Loveland, CO
                                                                        College: Dordt College, Sioux Center, IA
                                                                        Contact:1577 Port Sheldon
                                                                              Jenison, Michigan 4942%
                                                                              (616) 4578320
                    Jennifer, Alison,  Garry,  Abbie

420/Standard  Bearer/July,  1999


           The Christian and Entertainment*

I                                                 been placed on this earth to work!       the right direction. It gives us the
     n preparing this speech, at the              The words  sober, sobriety,  and be-     proper emphasis. And it shows  US
     request of the Evangelism Soci-              ing  sober minded  are often to be       that the Christian life must always
     eties of the First and Southeast             found. Watch and be sober. Let           be a life of balance and modera-
Churches, I thought it would be                   us who are of the day be sober.          tion.     We recognize that many
helpful to check out in a concor-                 Officebearers are to be vigilant and     things have changed since biblical
dance the words usually associated                sober.    Aged men and young             days; in fact, life has greatly
with our subject of entertainment.                women are called to be sober. The        changed in the last one hundred
What do the Scriptures say? What                  words  mourning, weeping,  and  tears    years. Our society has gone from
is the scriptural emphasis? I be-                 are often used. Yes, Scripture also      a rural, agricultural economy to a
lieve this is the proper and safe                 speaks of  rejoicing.  The child of      suburban, industrial one. The re-
way to proceed. And I want to                     God is to rejoice always. We are         sult of these many changes is that
share my findings with you at the                 to rejoice in the Lord!                  we have more disposable income
outset.                                               And finally I thought it would       (income that is not necessary for
     The word  entertainment  is not              be profitable to check out the           the basic needs of life) and more
found in the Bible at all. Once we                words  glorying  and  boasting.  When    discretionary time (time not spent
read "entertain," in the sense of                 we get into the area of games and        on the job but used in other ways).
hospitality, but never the word en-               organized sports, boasting, brag-        But we must also recognize that
tertainment. The word fun is never                ging, and glorying are very much         some things have not, and must
used in the Bible. The word  games                at point. Well, God tells us to glory    not, change since biblical days.
is never to be found. The word                    in nothing, save the cross of Jesus      There are truths and principles that
play  is used a number of times:                  Christ. God tells us that the wise       must still guide us in these last
playing on musical instruments,                   man is not to glory in his wisdom        days.
playing the harlot, Israel sitting                neither the mighty man in his
down to eat and drink and rising                  might, nor the rich man in his           Does Entertainment Have a Place?
up to play (a reference to their na-              riches, "but let him that glorieth           Is there a place for entertain-
ked dancing and worse), the boys                  glory in this, that he understandeth     ment in the Reformed Christian's
and girls of Israel playing in the                and'knoweth me" (Jer.  924). He          life? If not, why not? If so, what
streets of Jerusalem after the return             that glorieth, let him glory in the      is that place, and how large is that
from captivity. The words  vacation,              Lord. The Lord does not take de-         place?
retirement,  and  sports  are not found           light in the legs of a man, in physi-        We believe that there is a le-
in God's Word.                                    cal strength and skills. But the         gitimate place for entertainment in
      We may notice that there are                Lord delights in lovingkindness,         the life of the child of God. The
words often used in the Bible that                judgment, and righteousness. All         Christian may relax, go on a vaca-
are practically the antonyms of the               other glory is vainglory.                tion from time to time, have some
words we have just mentioned. We                      Now, what does all this mean?        fun, and enjoy the good gifts that
are admonished to  work  with our                 What conclusions can we draw             God has bestowed upon him and
hands: "six days shalt thou labor                 from the fact that such words as         his family. Paul writes to Timo-
and do all thy work." We have                     sports, vacations, playing, and re-      thy, "Every creature of God is
                                                  tirement are not found in the Bible?     good, and nothing to be refused, if
                                                  It would be wrong, of course, to         it be received with thanksgiving:
                                                  conclude that this means we may          for it is sanctified by the word of
Rev. Kuiper is p&or of Southeast Protes-          not be involved in such things at        God and prayer"  (I Tim.  4:4,  5).
tant Reformed Church in Grand Rapids,             all. You could just as well say, Be-     That passage is important for the
Michigan.
*                                                 cause the Bible does not mention         understanding of our subject, for
      This is the texf  of a  lecture given in
First Church, Grand Rapids, MI on April           pizza, we may not eat pizza. But         it warns against legalism and a too
22,  2999.                                        this brief word study sends us in        strict view of the Christian life, and
                                                                                                       July,   1999/Standard  Bearer/421


  it tells us that we can use all things                  selves, covetous, boasters," and so      described in Romans  1:32, "Who
   that God has made, keeping two                         on. And, "They shall be lovers of        knowing the judgment of God, that
  things in mind: first, the Word of                      pleasure rather than lovers of           they which commit such things are
  God instructs us  how  to use God's                     God." The Christian is a lover of        worthy of death, not only do the
  creatures and gifts, and secondly,                      God! The unbeliever is a hater of        same, but have pleasure in them
  by prayer in respect to this use, His                   God and a lover of pleasure! And         that do them"? Psalm 101, which I
   gifts are sanctified unto us. Then                     as that love of pleasure develops        encourage you to read right now,
  we use this world, and not abuse                        into pleasure-madness all around         isa psalm of David, the man after
1 it.                                                     us, that constitutes a peril for the     God's own heart. He says, "I will
         Another passage that comes to                    church. These are perilous times         walk within my house with a per-
  mind in respect to our use of God's                     for you and for me, and for our          fect heart. I will set no wicked
   g i f t s   i s   I   C o r i n t h i a n s  10:31:    children. We stand in the midst of       thing before mine eyes: I hate the
   "Whether therefore ye eat or drink,                    peril!                                   work of them that turn aside; it
   or whatsoever ye do, do all to the                         Our society, wealthy beyond          shall not cleave to me." And a little
   glory of God."             This means, of              compare, with free time almost be-       later in the psalm, "I will not know
   course, that entertainment is not an                   yond belief, is thoroughly hedonis-      a wicked person." Although he
   end in itself. Entertainment may                       tic. A lover of pleasure is a hedo-      may be tempted, were he alive to-
  not be divorced from our calling                        nist. Hedonism is the moral phi-         day, David would not attend the
   as Christians to serve and glorify                     losophy that pleasure and happi-         movies nor watch television!
   God at all times. Entertainment                        ness are the chief goal of human             Secondly, we mention the
  may not, and cannot, stand on its                       life. That is the religion according     sports craze, not only the March
   own feet as something good in it-                      to which most people live today.         Madness of basketball tourna-
   self. It is only a means, a means to                   The rightness or wrongness of            ments, but the year-round sports
   a higher end and purpose. Recre-                       some activity is determined by           activities of the world, the prolif-
   ation and exercise as a means unto                     whether it results in pleasure or in     eration of professional sports
  better health? Fine. Vacations and                      pain. If you get pleasure from           teams. I am afraid that sports have
   sports as a means of relaxation in                     something, do it; it's a good thing.     a strangle-grip on many of us. I
   order to serve God the better?                         If it causes you pain or discomfort,     read in the Gtyand  Rapids Press a few
   Fine. But as soon as entertainment                     avoid it like the plague; it's bad or    weeks ago a quote from a baseball
   goes beyond that, as soon as it be-                    evil. Do you see the peril of being      fan: "Opening day is a holy day
   comes an end in itself, as soon as                     surrounded by people of that phi-        for us who worship in baseball
   our sports and our hobbies con-                        losophy and outlook? Of living in        parks." Now we may shake our
   sume us, then we abuse God's                           the midst of such a perverse gen-        heads at the audacity of such a
   good gifts and our lives are not                       eration? I will leave it to you to       statement, but that is literally true
   lives of balance and moderation                        discover how much of that think-         for millions of people. Their
   but rather of excess and imbalance.                    ing you have adopted, and to what        churches, well attended on the Sab-
         All the emphasis in our society                  extent that thinking controls you in     bath, are the stadiums, arenas, and
   is on having a good time. Every-                       your world and life view.                ball parks of the land. Their gods
   one has to have fun in some way                            What are the dangers for us          are the ball players. And their of-
   every day. Forgotten is the truth                      and our children? There are five         ferings to these gods enable the
   that God has put man on earth to                       areas of great concern. The matter       players to have salaries of millions
   work. Man works as little as pos-                      of movies and television springs         of dollars a year. Life without
   sible in order that he may play. He                    immediately to mind. That movie          sports would be inconceivable to
   does not play a little, the better to                  attendance and television viewing        them. Life simply would not be
   work. Life is viewed as a play-                        are out of bounds for the Christian,     worthwhile if they could not fanati-
   ground, rather than a workplace or                     are incompatible with the godly          cally attach themselves to some
   a battlefield. And this holds true                     walk of those who are called to be       team, and cheer their hearts out for
   today, not only for little children,                   saints, is clear beyond any dispute.     their idols. Does it make sense that
   but for the adults as well. This                       Is it not true that movies and tele-     the Christian put his dollars in the
   situation is one of the signs that                     vision exalt that which is base and      pockets of these godless athletes?
  Jesus' second coming is almost                          depraved, and debase that which          Does it please God that the Chris-
   here. Paul writes in II Timothy 3,                     is exalted and good? Is it not true      tian yell himself hoarse at a home
   the opening verses, "This know                         that watching the entertainment of       run, a touchdown, or a  three-
   also, that in the last days perilous                   the world, its sexual presentations,     pointer? Does it belong to the
   times shall come." And then he                         its violence and bloodshed, its blas-    Christian witness that he blend his
   describes the world of unbelief:                       phemies against the holy God,            voice with the voices of ten thou-
   "Men shall be lovers of their own                      makes a person guilty of the sin         sand unbelievers, in the praise of

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man, man's abilities, man at his                       to be entertained! God must be             two or three weeks off per year to
very worst?                                            presented as a consumer-friendly           get away from the pressure of the
     Professional sports, the NBA,                     God. Do not talk about His holi-           shop or the office, but six, eight,
the NFL, the NHL, MLB, or any                          ness, His wrath, and His justice;          ten weeks of vacation a year. And
other letters you care to mention,                     talk exclusively of His love.              then there is retirement, and  early
all professional sports, are under                     Present God as a nice old man, who         retirement.      What to do? The
the curse of God. And  99%, if not                     is always there to help you and            Fourth Commandment rings down
lOO%, of these athletes are under                      make you happy. Much of today's            through the corridors of time: "Re-
the curse of God as well. It is sad,                   worship is oriented to the idea of         member the Sabbath Day to keep
then, that our children like to line                   entertainment. The people must             it holy."      Commenting on the
up to shake hands with these  so-                      have a jolly good time or they will        Fourth Commandment, the prophet
called stars and get their auto-                       leave the church and go to one             Isaiah was inspired to write, "If
graphs. It is sad, then, when our                      which has a better band, a funnier         thou turn away thy foot from the
children know the names and sta-                       preacher, a bigger stage, and more         sabbath, from doing thy pleasure
tistics of these profane people bet-                   brilliant lighting effects. Edward         on my holy day; and call the
ter than the books of the Bible, and                   Farley, writing in  Christianity To-       sabbath a delight, and holy of the
the names of the prophets, the                         day,  comments that "Contemporary          Lord, honorable; and shalt honor
kings, and the apostles. Can we                        worship creates a tone that is ca-         him, not doing thy own ways, nor
say it with David, "I will not know                    sual, comfortable, chatty, busy, hu-       finding thine own pleasure, not
a wicked person; him that hath an                      morous, pleasant, and at times             speaking thine own words...," and
high look and a proud heart, I will                    even cute." He goes on to say that         then the prophet speaks God's
not suffer"?                                           "If the seraphim would adopt this          words of blessing upon those who
     Thirdly, the music that is be-                    Sunday morning mood, they would            keep the Sabbath holy (Is.  58:13,
ing produced and distributed by                        be addressing God not as `holy,            14). He speaks of a great contrast
the most vile creatures on God's                       holy, holy' but as `nice, nice, nice."'    between our pleasure and God's
earth belongs to the perils that sur-                      I know this to be true from per-       pleasure; our ways and God's
round us, and constitute a peril for                   sonal experience. I was sent out to        ways; our words and God's words.
our young people especially. The                       preach to a group that was show-           All in regard to the day of rest!
night before this lecture was given,                   ing an interest in our churches, and           It is a fact of travel today that
a rock group gave a "concert" in a                     before I went on the pulpit I was          you get the lowest airfares if you
downtown arena. It was reported                        told to tell a few jokes, for the          are willing to stay somewhere over
the next day that, after ripping                       people appreciated some humor              Saturday night. It is a fact of tour-
pages from the Bible and stomp-                        mixed in with the message. Well,           ism that most cabins rent from Sat-
ing upon them on the floor, these                      of course, I could only say that if        urday noon to Saturday noon. It
so-called musicians sang songs                         he could show me some jokes in             is a fact that most ship cruises op-
which encouraged young people to                       the Bible, I might be able to tell a       erate from Sunday to Sunday. But
use dope, engage in promiscuous                        joke or two. Can you imagine?              it is also a fact, it is an everlasting
sex, and even to kill their parents                    Can you picture Isaiah telling the         truth, that we are to keep the Sab-
or anyone they felt like killing.                      people some jokes before he went           bath holy, consecrated to the Lord,
A n d   t o d a y   l e a r n e d   m e n   a n d      on to speak of the captivity? Or           by ceasing from our ordinary la-
w o m e n   d i s c u s s   t h e   q u e s t i o n    Jeremiah beginning his message             bors and pleasures, and by enter-
whether the entertainment indus-                       with the words, "We're going to            ing into the rest that our Lord Jesus
try in the United States has any-                      have a good time tonight"? In              Christ has gained for us on the
thing to do with violence in public                    many circles, a successful, effective      cross!    As God rested from His
schools! Parents, do you know                          worship service is measured by the         work of creation and enjoyed that
what your children are listening to?                   extent to which the people have            perfect work on the seventh day,
Children, do you think you can lis-                    been entertained.                          so we are to rest from our earthly
ten to these perversions of God's                          The fifth danger that I want to        labors and enter into the enjoyment
good gift of music, and not be in-                     mention is the peril presented to          of God's perfect work of redemp-
fluenced?                                              us in regard to breaking the Sab-          tion. Someone will say, But I go to
     Fourthly, we ought to be aware                    bath Day with our vacation and             church on my long, far-off vaca-
that the entertainment craze is hav-                   travel plans. The desire to be en-         tions.    Yes, the world is full of
ing its effect in the worship ser-                     tertained, and to be entertained in        churches. But the world is not full
vices of many churches. Church                         new and different ways, can easily         of churches where you can really
members are viewed as consumers,                       lead us to break the Sabbath. We           rest in the Lord by hearing the
and you have to give the consumer                      have all this surplus money. We            truth of the gospel.
what he wants. What he wants is                        have all this free time. Not just              Recently some of our churches

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r
     had people missing to the extent            ship service. That has already hap-      run." When our children inherit
     of a quarter or a third of their            pened in some denominations. The         our wealth, and add to that wealth
     memberships. Do you know what               people simply do not come! Un-           themselves, when our children no-
     is going to happen? I predict that,         less this trend is reversed, unless      tice our example and must live in
     in just a generation or two, so many        we change our attitudes and prac-        a generation more pleasure-crazed
     people will be absent from special          tices regarding vacations and en-        than our own, what do you expect
     services, and perhaps even from             tertainment on the Sabbath, the          they will do?
     some Sunday services, that several          same thing is going to happen to                                            0
     congregations will come together in         us. Do not forget that old saying,                           (To be concluded
     one building to have a joint wor-           "Where we walk, our children will                  in two following articles.)





                                                  Signs of the Times
                        8. Enduring to the End

                                                 He had spoken of the signs of judg-      from drought, floods, fires, winds,
     "But he that shall endure unto the end,     ment in nature, such as famines,         hurricanes, or a combination of
     the same shall be saved."                   pestilence, and earthquakes.             these.     A hurricane took 11,000
                             Matthew  24:13          We live in trying times that can     lives and did untold damage in the
                                                 only become more difficult and dis-      Atlantic basin. Other calamities
             ere may be a question in our        tressing as the end approaches. It       have come as visitations upon
            minds whether this encour-           is heartrending to see churches and      other parts of the world. These
     Tagement and warning should                 individuals depart from the truth        judgments affect the believer as
     actually be included under the              of the Word of God, especially           well as the unbeliever. This is
     signs of the times. Taken entirely          those individuals who were once          God's purifying process whereby
     by itself, it would seem out of             with us. It is often difficult for us    He separates the church from the
     place, yet the fact remains that this       on our jobs, in the factory or in the    world. Scripture calls it God's
     assurance that the faithful will be         office, to bear up under the sting       threshing. He is separating the
     saved is a sign that God guaran-            of the daily scorn and reproach of       wheat from the chaff and thereby
     tees to us the safety and salvation         the world and to be ready to give        preparing His church for glory.
     of His church even unto the end.            account of the hope that is within           We ask: why? Why must the
     The very fact of God`s preservation         us. Even our family life is at times     church, why must we as God's
     of His elect people under severe            besieged with threats through the        people, suffer in an evil world?
     trial is a definite sign of end times.      various means that Satan uses to         The answer of Scripture is that God
         Our Lord had spoken of the              make his onslaughts on God's             is longsuffering toward us, not
     animosity, slander, and cruel ha-           people.    Especially our young          willing that any of us should per-
     tred of the false church against the        people face trials far greater than      ish. God restrains His strong de-
     remnant that remains steadfast in           we ever experienced in the past,         sire to take His own unto Himself
     the faith. He had also warned of            even being challenged to stand           until each one of us is fully pre-
     apostasy, of wars among the na-             firm under the ridicule of their         pared for glory. We are being pre-
     tions of the earth, and the horrify-        peers.                                   pared to be precious jewels in
     ing lawlessness that takes over                 Along with the sufferings that       God's eternal temple. Therefore
     completely in a world that is at en-        we bear as followers of Christ we        we are cut, chiseled, ground,
     mity against the living God. And            experience the judgments of God          trimmed, and polished until we are
                                                 that come upon the world. We             ready to be fit into our own niche
                                                 need but mention that in this past       in God's glorious dwelling place.
     Rev. Hanko is a minister emeritus in the    year, 1998, forty-one States suffered    Only when the last stone is ready
     Protestant Reformed Churches.

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to be put in its place will God's             sinners do," and allowing the               In due time they and other Jew-
house be complete.                            world to come into the church, it       ish princes were given positions of
       In all this we are called to en-       is our calling to maintain our          authority in the kingdom. The day
dure to the end. Endurance is the             unique distinction as a chosen gen-     came when all the prominent lead-
ability to suffer pain, hardship, dis-        eration and a royal priesthood.         ers and rulers of the kingdom were
tress, or prolonged stress without            "For what fellowship hath righ-         called to bow down to the image
succumbing. It means that we hold             teousness with unrighteousness?         that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
that which we have, that is, that             and what communion hath light           All the servants of the king bowed
we remain faithful to the truth of            with darkness? and what concord         with their faces to the ground in
God's Word, the faith once deliv-             hath Christ with Belial, or what        worship, including those other Jew-
ered to the fathers. It means that            part hath he that believeth with an     ish princes. But the three friends
we take up Christ's cross and fol-            infidel, and what agreement hath        of Daniel stood erect, arms folded,
low Him over Golgotha to glory.               the temple of God with idols? For       most conspicuous in their defiance
It means that we daily stand                  ye are the temple of the living         of the orders of the king. They
clothed in the full armor of God:             God!" (II Cor.  6:14-16).               would bow before no other than
the girdle of truth firmly clasped                Endurance is a matter of con-       the true God, Jehovah.
about our loins, our heart protected          viction. We must know what we               The king offered them a sec-
by the breastplate of Christ's righ-          believe and be able to defend it. It    ond opportunity to show their rev-
teousness, our feet shod with the             is not sufficient to say, "My church    erence for him and his image. But
durable boots of the preparation of           maintains this," or "I was always       they were firm and determined in
the gospel of peace, and we ready             taught this." But we must be con-       their conviction. They told the king
and willing to defend the truth en-           vinced that this is the truth of        that he could do what he would,
trusted to us, wearing the helmet             God's Word. We must not merely          but they would not bow before his
of salvation as the protecting as-            say, "The Bible says so," but we        image. We know the rage of the
surance of God's grace. In our left           must be able to prove our convic-       king and his attempt to punish
hand we firmly clasp the shield of            tion from the Scriptures. Without       them by casting them into the fi-
faith, fully prepared to quench all           that, we can never stand. We may        ery furnace, but also how God pro-
the fiery darts that are ceaselessly          not compromise, for if we compro-       tected them with the presence of
aimed against us by the onslaught             mise we are lost. We are called to      the Angel of Jehovah, even as a
of the wicked. And with a strong,             obey God, not men. We may have          witness of God's power over the
determined grip we hold in our                to stand alone. We may have to          king.    The Jewish princes who
right hand the sword of the Spirit,           lose all our possessions, give up       bowed down before the image of
determined to fight off the powers            wife and children for our convic-       Nebuchadnezzar showed a prefer-
of darkness as they seek to destroy           tion. In fact, we must be willing to    ence, but Daniel's three friends
us.                                           go to prison or to die for our con-     showed conviction. Endurance is
       Thus fully equipped we are             viction.    With Luther we say:         possible only when we have con-
called to stand in an evil day to             "Here I stand, I cannot do other-       viction. Only by a firm faith in
fight the battle of faith even unto           wise, so help me God."                  God can we endure unto the end.
the end! Our Lord reminds us that                 We are reminded of the three        We are always the victors!
this applies to each of us individu-          friends of Daniel in Babylon. They,         Endurance is the love and de-
ally. He said that  many  shall be            along with Daniel, were among the       votion of the servant of Jesus Christ
offended, the love of many shall              Jewish princes who were the first       to His Lord. Jesus teaches us: "He
wax cold, but  he  that shall endure          to be brought into captivity by king    that loveth father or mother more
to the end shall be saved. This may           Nebuchadnezzar. How easy it             than me is not worthy of me: and
very well involve forsaking father            would have been for them, like the      he that loveth son or daughter
and mother, sister and brother, and           other princes who came from             more than me is not worthy of me.
all who are most dear to us, to               Judah, to take the attitude that for    He that taketh not his cross, and
stand in an evil day, alone.                  their own safety and for the sake       followeth after me is not worthy of
       This implies, first of all, that we    of their families they would follow     me: (Matt.  10:37, 38).
maintain the antithesis between               the customs and practices of the            Scripture is replete with ex-
light and darkness, between the               Babylonians.      Yet, along with       amples of those who were found
church and the world, between the             Daniel, these three men remem-          worthy. Read Hebrews 11, the
believer and the unbeliever. Espe-            bered their early training in the       verses 32 to 38, which give account
cially today, when many are seek-             laws of Moses. They might not de-       of men and women of valor who
ing to compromise by closing: the             file themselves by eating anything      experienced cruel mocking, scourg-
gap between themselves and the                that was offered to idols or that       ing, bonds and imprisonment,
world, seeking out "the good that             was unclean.                            "were slain with the sword,  wan-

                                                                                                 July,  7999/Standard  Bearer/425


dered about in sheepskins and                    even unto the end. We are always             Those who endure unto the end
goatskins, being destitute, afflicted,           the victors.                             shall be saved. The end is the pur-
tormented." Compared to them,                        Our perseverance is the result       pose, the goal, that God sets for all
we have as yet experienced very                  of God's preservation. We are kept       the work of His hand. When the
little of the suffering for the cause            by the power of God through faith        wicked die they have filled their
of Christ. We can still worship our              unto the salvation that is ready to      cup of iniquity. When the righ-
God freely both in our homes and                 be revealed in the last time. The        teous die, they are prepared for
in our places of worship. Hebrews                wonder of grace is that God pre-         glory. When the final goal is at-
12 reminds us: "Ye have not yet                  serves His church, makes His ser-        tained, God's counsel with all His
resisted unto blood, striving                    vants strong in the power of His         creation will be fully realized.
against sin."                                    might, and gives them the victory.       Time will be no more, and we as
    From all this we learn that faith            The very fact that it is God who         God's church are more than con-
is the victory that overcomes the                preserves His church throughout          querors, through Him who loved
world. By faith we are assured that              the ages, in spite of all the on-        us unto death and loves us still,
our sins are forgiven and that we                slaughts of the powers of darkness,      even forever.
are righteous solely in Christ Jesus.            and even through their instrumen-            For we hear the reassuring
Therefore by faith we can walk in                tality, is evidence that He is faith-    voice of Jesus through all the tur-
newness of life and in covenant fel-             ful to His promise. As the tribula-      moil of this present time: "Behold,
lowship with our God. We have                    tion increases and the church is         I come quickly." And along with
intimate communion with our                      threatened beyond human endur-           that, the voice of our God: "Be-
heavenly Father through the gift of              ance, God reveals His power in           hold, I make all things  new-."
constant prayer.           And we are            preserving His cause and prepar-         Come, Lord Jesus, yea, come
equipped by the Spirit of Jesus                  ing His people for the glory that is     quickly! Amen!  El
Christ to fight the battle of faith              drawing near.



                   The Day of Small Things

T                                                would have thought; and besides,         grown tree; but he was born as an
       his doctrine may be also ap-              his purpose is to prove the faith of     insignificant shoot. So also he is
       plied to us: for God, to ex-              his people; for it behooves us ever      compared by Daniel to a rough and
       hibit the more his power, be-             to hope beyond hope. Now when            unpolished stone cut off from a
gins with small things in building               the beginning promises something         mountain (Dan. ii. 45). The same
his spiritual temple; nothing grand              great and sublime, there is no proof     thing has also been accomplished
is seen, which attracts the eyes and             and no trial of faith: but when we       in our age, and continues still at
thoughts of men, but everything is               hope for what does not appear, we        this day to be accomplished. If we
almost contemptible. God indeed                  give due honour to God, for we de-       consider what is and has been the
could put forth immediately his                  pend only on his power and not           beginning of the growing gospel,
power, and thus rouse the atten-                 on the proximate means. Thus we          we shall find nothing illustrious ac-
tion of all men and fill them with               see that Christ is compared to a         cording to the perceptions of the
wonder; he could indeed do so; but               shoot, which arises from the stem        flesh; and on this account the ad-
as I have already said, his purpose              of Jesse (Is. xi. 1). God might have     versaries confidently despise us;
is to increase, by doing wonders,                arranged that Christ should have         they regard us as the off-scourings
the brightness of his power; which               been born when the house of David        of men, and hope to be able to cast
he does, when from a-small begin-                was in its splendour, and when the       us down and scatter us by a single
ning he  brings~  forth what no one              kingdom was in a flourishing state:      breath.
                                                 yet his will was that he should              There are many at this day who
                                                 come forth from the stem of Jesse,       despise the day of paucity, who
    Calvin's        c o m m e n t a r y   o n    when the royal name was almost           grow faint in their minds, or even
Zechariah  410, and his prayer af-               cut off. Again, he might have            deride our efforts, as though our
ter the commentary.                              brought forth Christ as a  full-         labour were ridiculous, when they

426fitandard  Bearer/July,  1999


see us sedulously engaged in pro-           that ministers are workmen who                       pable to confirm and support our
moting the truth of the gospel; and         labour  under him. However then                      faith, may we, by the eye of faith,
we ourselves are also touched with          may Satan blind the unbelieving                      behold thine hidden power, and
this feeling: there is no one who           with pride and haughtiness, so that                  never doubt but that thou wilt at
becomes not sometimes frigid,               they disdain and ridicule the build-                 length perform what the world at
when he sees the beginning of the           ing in which we  labour; yet the                     this day thinks to be impossible
Church so mean before the world,            Lord himself will show that he is                    and therefore ridicules; and may
and so destitute of any dignity. We         the chief builder, and will give to                  we so constantly persevere in this
hence learn how useful it is for us         Christ the power to complete the                     confidence, that every one of us
at this day to be reminded, that we         work.                                                may  devote to thee his  labour  to
shall at length see what we can by                                                               the end, and never faint in the
no means conjecture or hope for ac-                          PRAYER                              work of promoting the spiritual
cording to present appearances; for         Grant, Almighty God, that since Sa-                  building, until at length we our-
though the Lord begins with little          tan at this day sets against us many                 selves shall be gathered, and oth-
things, and as it were in weakness,         terrors to cast us down, and we are                  ers shall be gathered through our
yet the plummet will at length be           very  weak,-0  grant, that with our                  labours,  to offer to thee not only
seen in the hand of the Architect           eyes lifted above we may meditate                    spiritual sacrifices, such as thou
for the purpose of completing the           on that invincible power which                       receivest now from us, but also to
work.        There is at this day no        thou possessest, and by which thou                   offer to thee, together with the an-
Zerubbabel in the world, to whom            canst overcome all the hindrances                    gels, eternal sacrifice of praise and
the office of building the temple           of this world: and then, when                        triumphant thanksgiving, on seeing
has been committed; but we know             nothing in this world but what is                    perfected what at this day is only
that Christ is the chief builder, and       contemptible appears to us as ca-                    weakly begun.-Amen.  CI



                                            Is this an end-time issue measur-                    our hands in emotional outrage
Marriage, the Mystery  of  Christ and       ing the end-time church? Have we                     over the carnage wreaked by an-
the Church: The Covenant-Bond in            been "weighed in the balances and                    gry children, we have blindly of-
Scripfure and History,  by David J.         found wanting"?                                      fered our young as a sacrifice on
Engelsma.         Grand Rapids: Re-             Consider these spirit-boggling                   the altar of personal happiness
formed Free Publishing Associa-             facts. According to evangelical                      through the carnage of divorce. Di-
tion, 1998. 239 pp. $24.95 (cloth).         pollster George  Barna, the divorce                  vorce has become to the church
[Reviewed by Charles Crismier               rate among fundamentalist Chris-                     what abortion is to the nation.
III.*]                                      tians now exceeds the nation as a                    How did it happen? And what can
                                            whole by 7%. "Born again" Chris-                     be done to restore godly, enduring
At last! A refreshing relook at tians were 4% more likely to di- marriages among those who bear
          Marriage . . . The Mystery  of    vorce than the society as a whole.                   Christ's name?
Christ and the Church.                      A~ Hartford Seminary study  -of                          David  J. Engelsma, in his re-
     God has only one wife. He              4,440 Protestant ministers in 10 de-                 vised  Marriage, the Mystery  of  Christ
calls her the "Bride of Christ." And        nominations revealed pastors "are                    and the Church,  Reformed Free Pub-
the "Apostle of grace," Paul, makes         equally as likely to have their mar-                 lishing, 1998, provides what may
clear that Christ will not come back        riages end in divorce as general                     well be the clearest expression of
for a Bride with spot, wrinkle, or          church members."                 And John            God's heart on the matter of mar-
any such thing  (Eph.  5:27). What          Maxwell's Partners in Prayer news-                   riage in print today. In simple,
then does God think of people pro-          letter from  INJOY Ministries la-                    readable form, the author sets out
fessing His name while engaging             mented that pastors have the  "2nd                   the biblical view of marriage.
in serial divorce and remarriage?           highest divorce rate among all pro-                  Avoiding the pop-culture mantras
                                            fessions . . . up 65% in the last 20                 of the day, Engelsma carefully re-
                                            years."                                              weaves the tapestry of the earthly
*    Charles Crismier III is founder of         W h i l e   c o n s e r v a t i v e s   a n d    marital union from the common
SAVE AMERICA Ministries, based in           evangelicals  have for a generation                  thread of the Old and New Cov-
Richmond, Virginia, and host of             excoriated the "world" for abortion                  enants into a practical and beauti-
VIEWPOINT,  a daily radio  program,         and homosexuality, it appears we                     ful expression of the "great mys-
"Confronting the Issues of America's        have taken the lead in tearing                       tery," the relationship of Christ and
Heart and Home."                            down the family. While wringing                      His church.

                                                                                                            July,  1999/Standard  Bearer/427


    Engelsma leaves no biblical          a glorious revival of marriage.           biblical marriage. Could the pain
stone unturned. He wipes the tar-             The integrity of the author's        of repentance be any worse than
nish off the mottled model of mar-       treatment is amplified by stepping        the excruciating pain that has  dev-
riage displayed in America's  post-      across "religiously-correct" lines to     astated  an entire generation of
modern, post-Christian culture, re-      reveal the seeds of the current  di-      America's children? Take courage!
storing the glory of God's divine        vorce culture having been planted             Here is hope for the healing of
intention from the creation.             by the very Reformers  them-              a nation. Here is the antidote for
    Marriage is a "creation institu-     selves. Authenticating  re-                 the paralysis of renewal that
tion" according to the writer. God       marriage was the key,  ac-                             haunts American Chris-
Himself conducted the first wed-         cording to Engelsma, that                                    tians after a genera-
ding, declaring, "It is not good that    unlocked the Pandora's                                                     tion of  cry-
man should be alone." Yet God            box for free-wheeling                                              -.          ing to our
did not intend for His man to di-        divorce in the church.                                                   _' Lord for
vorce in order to remarry. "From         A n d   i t   w a s   J o h n                                                nation-
the beginning it was not so."            Calvin who handed                                                           changing re-
    Then how can we explain sup-                                                                                   vival.       Here
posed Bible-believing Christians                                                                                  i s   w e l l   r e a -
taking the lead in divorcing their                                                                           soned and bib-
spouses and remarrying others,                                                                              lically-based vi-
baptizing such actions in blithe                                                                           sion for restora-
"God bless you's" and "I prayed                                                                        tion of marriage to
about it"? Have we wrapped re-                                                                        its intended place.
bellion in religious cloak and mar-      remar-                                                      Here is liberty for
keted it to a consumer church ad-                                                                   pastors and politi-
dicted to good feelings and the                                                                    cians no longer to gag
American doctrine of the "pursuit                                                          2      on the "D" word, forc-
of happiness"?                                                                                   ing  USA Today to inquire
    Engelsma contends  religiously-                                                             why conservatives can be
correct divorce in the church re-                                                               so incensed about the
veals the end-time lawlessness           says the author, "runs  se-                       breakdown of the family yet
prophesied by the "Apostle of            riously stuck on the gospel of                   refuse to discuss divorce
grace." "This is not simply law-         grace." "The bond established by                honestly as its cause.
lessness.     This is antinomism.        God can and does survive  adul-               Have I overstated the case? I
Antinomism is the heresy that finds      tery. N "The Reformers and the tra-       think not! Revival may hinge upon
in grace an excuse, if not a war-        dition that followed them must be         it. Eternal destiny of many may
rant, for sinning."                      criticized and rejected" because          depend upon it. This is a must
    With refreshing candor, this         "tradition, precious as it is to us,      read for every sincere Christian as
book refuses to pander to cultural       must not be allowed to override the       we see the signs of the soon return
whim or engage in biblical gym-          Scriptures."                              of our Lord who will receive only
nastics to vault over or around               Many may wince at David              a pure Bride.
clear truth. It might leave a few        Engelsma's biblical proscription of           David J. Engelsma is to be com-
people-pleasing pastors rubbing          remarriage and prescription for re-       mended. Let  Marriage, The  Mys-
their tender toes. On the other          pentance.  Certainly there will be        tery of Christ and the Church become
hand, it could lead many to gasp         painful fallout in turning from a         a beacon of hope in every Chris-
for the oxygen of faith ushering in      pastorally-blessed system that has        tian home.  Q
                                         driven a stake through the heart of



                                                                                                                    May  12,1999
                                                                                   Grace Protestant Reformed Church

Classis East met in regular ses- Each church was represented by sion was routine. Two matters,
     sion on Wednesday, May  12,         two delegates. Rev. K. Koole was          however, did command the  atten-
1999 at the Grace Protestant  Re-        the chairman for this session.            tion of the classis.
formed Church in Standale, MI.                Most of the business of this ses-        First, delegates from the newly-

4ZB/Standard Bearer/&/y, 1999


organized congregation in north-                  By-Lazes  of  the Protestant Reformed     that basis, the consistory ought to
west Indiana presented their cre-                 Churches in America,  VI, B. Rev. W.      reconsider his complaint.  Classis
dentials to this  classis.  This con-             Bruinsma was appointed as mod-            sustained the appeal of the brother
gregation had been organized by                   erator for this congregation.             and instructed the consistory to
Classis West under the auspices of                Classis gave a hearty welcome to          consider and respond to the new
the South Holland PRC.  Classis                   these delegates and wished God's          evidence presented.
East decided to receive the creden-               blessings upon them as they begin            Classical appointments were
tials of and seat the delegates from              their life as a congregation.             given to the NW Indiana congre-
this new congregation. The follow-                        Second, a brother brought an      gation. Expenses for this  classis
ing grounds were adopted for this                 appeal against a consistory's deci-       amounted to $783.25.
action: 1) It is the desire of the                sion This matter concerned di-               Classis  w i l l   m e e t   n e x t   o n
consistory that their congregation                vorce and had been treated previ-         Wednesday, September 8, 1999 at
be part of Classis East,  2) This is in           ously by the  classis. The brother        the Hudsonville PRC.
compliance with the rule for clas-                argued, however, that new evi-                          Respectfully submitted,
sical membership laid down in the                 dence was available to him and, on                  Jon J. Huisken, Stated Clerk




                                                  "Let Your Light So Shine Before           didate Nathan Brummel to be their
Congregation Activities                           Men," based on Matthew  5:16.             first pastor. With him on that trio
The week of May 24-27 the Monday, Prof. R. Dykstra gave the were Rev. J. Slopsema and Rev. A.
        Young People's Society of the             first speech, entitled, "Dating in the    Spriensma.
Covenant PRC in Wyckoff, New                      Light of Christ." Tuesday Rev. C.             After Rev. S. Key's decline of a
Jersey hosted what we hope will                   Terpstra spoke on "How Does Your          call from the Hull, IA PRC, that
be their first annual Young Adults'               Light Shine?" and on Wednesday            congregation has extended a call to
Retreat. We say first annual be-                  evening Rev. M.  VanderWal  con-          Rev. A. denHartog  to serve as their
cause, from all indications, this re-             cluded the retreat by speaking on         next pastor. With him on the trio
treat was very worthwhile and                     "Into the Darkness of the World."         were the Revs. B. Gritters and K.
something that should be repeated.                        The Hudsonville, MI PRC sent      Koole.
        Since most of the 35 or so                out a notice to area churches invit-
young adults, representing nearly                 ing their recent high school gradu-       Mission Activities
all of our churches in Canada and                 ates and college students to a  six-          ev. and Mrs. Daniel Kleyn left
the U.S., were able to arrive by Sat-             week course this summer aimed at          Rfor the Philippines on May 18.
urday afternoon, the congregation                 arming them against the error of          They were scheduled to meet Rev.
at Covenant organized a BBQ din-                  evolutionism as taught in their col-      and Mrs. Kortering there, and to-
ner at their church for the evening.              lege classes and elsewhere. These         gether they were planning on vis-
This was followed on Sunday with                  classes began on June 15 and were         iting contacts we have in Manila,
worship together around God's                     to meet for the five weeks follow-        Daet, Bacolod, and Cagayan de
Word, dinner at church, and a                     ing.                                      Oro.  Their work involved preach-
singspiration after the evening ser-                      We also take this opportunity     ing, lecturing, and giving instruc-
vice.                                             to welcome to the back page of the        tion in the truths of the Reformed
        The retreat "officially" began            SB  our newly organized congrega-         faith. They also hoped to continue
the next morning, with the young                  tion in northwest Indiana. Recently       investigating the possibility of es-
adults traveling to Harvey Cedars                 their council presented them with         tablishing a field for our churches
Bible Conference Center on Long                   four choices for a name. These            there in the future.
Beach Island on the Atlantic Ocean.               choices included Calvary, Corner-
As you might imagine, activities                  stone, Grace, and Trinity. At a con-      Evangelism Activities
for the week included a day trip to               gregational meeting on May 16,            With the help of their congre-
New York City, as well as historic                they chose the name Cornerstone.                    gation, the Evangelism Com-
Philadelphia, and a day spent at                  Hopefully we will be hearing more         mittee of the Hudsonville, MI PRC
the beach.                                        from them in the future.                  recently distributed approximately
        The theme for this retreat was,                                                     2000 copies of the booklet, "The
                                                  Minister Activities                       Family: Foundations are Shaking."
Mr.  Wigger  is an elder in the                                                             On May 11 and 12, volunteers left
                                    Protestant    At that same congregational
Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Micki-                     meeting, the congregation of     Hudsonville church with boxes of
gan.                                              Cornerstone extended a call to Can-       booklets.     The city had been  di-

                                                                                                         July,  1999/Standard  Bearer/429


vided into 9 areas, with 4-6 people                26:29, followed by presentations                      nual special service, in which a
distributing to the homes  in- each                from the Evangelism Committees                        concerted effort is made to invite
area. In addition to the many posi-                of the Peace and South Holland                        the community to worship together
tives that come from a project like                PRCs. The Domestic Mission  Com-                      with them.              Rev. Doug Kuiper
this, everyone who helped  now                     mittee and the Reformed Witness                       preached on Philippians  4:6, 7,
knows what it feels like to be a                   Hour also gave presentations on                       which explained the biblical way
mailman.                                           their current  work.                                  to deal with anxiety and worry and
     On May 7 and 8 our Bethel                         The Evangelism Committee at                       the blessing that the child of God
PRC in Roselle, IL again sponsored                 First PRC in Grand Rapids, MI in-                     has in dealing with them correctly.
an evangelism conference. Rev. A.                  vited area congregations to hear
Spriensma was the guest speaker.                   Rev. R. Moore speak, on May 16,                                       ~ood!Foor  tfiougit
On Friday evening  hespoke on the                  concerning the work he and his                                 "Anxiety springs from the de-
topic, "Sovereign Election and                     wife will be doing in Ghana.                          sire that things should happen as
Zealous Evangelism." Saturday's                        On June 6 the Byron Center, MI                    we wish rather than as God wills."
topic was a meditation on Acts                     PRC  once  more sponsored their an-                                               -Anonymous  0




      RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                              WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                                       WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
     The Men's Society of Hope Protes-                  On July 19, 1999, our parents,                            On June 21, 1998, our beloved par-
tant Reformed Church in  Redlands  ex-                   REV. RONALD and RHONDA                          ents, grandparents, and great grandpar-
press, their deepest Christian sympathy to                       CAMMENGA,                               ents,
Larry and Duane Huisken and their fami-            will celebrate their  2!jth anniversary. We,              FRED and MARION ONDERSMA,
lies in the death of their father and grand-       their children, would like to thank them              celebrated their  60fh wedding anniversary.
father,                                            for all their years of Christian love, guid-                   We are very thankful to our heavenly
           MR. HENRY HUISKEN, SR.                  ance, and godly instruction they have                 Father for His gift of covenant parents,
     Mr. Huisken was a frequent visitor at         given us. We are thankful for Christian               for the Christian love, godly instruction,
the Men's Society, and his insights into           parents who have fulfilled their covenant             and faithful example they have given us.
God's Word will be greatly missed. May             vows in raising us with His Word and by                        We give thanks to God for His great
you find comfort and blessed assurance             their faithful example. We pray that God              faithfulness and pray that God will bless
in the knowledge that death is itself the          will continue to bless them and keep them             and keep them in their remaining years.
entrance to everlasting glory and life. As         in His care. "For this God is our God                          "It is God that girdeth me with
God's Word instructs us: "I am the resur-          forever and ever: he will be our guide                strength and maketh my way perfect"
rection and the life; he that believeth in         even unto death" (Psalm  48:14).                      (Psalm  18:32).
me, though he were dead, yet shall he              @ Marc and Rebekah Kuiper                             @ Robert and Kaye Moelker
live" (John  11:25).                               @ Kerwen and Catherine Kooiker                                   Henry and Arlene Westhuis
              Rev. Arie denHartog,  President      $%Q Ben and Liz Cammenga                                           Henry,  Katy, Robb, Lindsay, Aaron
               Earl Grothman, Jr., Secretary       % Chuck, Laura, Leanne, Amy,                                     Russell and Amy Zwak
                                                        Daniel, Tracy, Cherith, Jared                                 Kelly, Kurt, Kyle, Kamy, Kraig,
      RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                                                                                                                         Kaley, Kara
                                                                                 Grandville, Michigan
     The Mary Martha Society of Hope                                                                     & Gary and Roselyn Moelker
PRC in  Redlands  expresses their heart-                RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                                      Michael and Jennifer Moelker
felt Christian sympathy to Donna and                   The consistory and congregation of                             Joshua
Esther Huisken and their families in the           Hope PRC of Redlands, CA express their                           Scott  and Sharla Moelker
loss of their father-in-law and grandfather,                                                                          Erica,   Branden
                                                   Christian sympathy to Elder Larry Huisken                        James and Tami Boorsma
           MR. HENRY HUISKEN, SR.                  and family in the passing away of their                          Todd, Lynette
     We pray that they might be comforted          father and grandfather,.                              @I Larry and Judy Meulenberg
by God's Word: "Verily, verily, I say unto                  MR. HENRY HUISKEN.                                      Jeremy and Heidi Meulenberg
you, He that heareth my word, and                       May they be comforted with the words                          David James (in glory), Madeline
believeth on him that sent me, hath ever-          of Scripture: "Blessed are the dead which                        David and Dawn Meulenberg
lasting life, and shall not come into con-         die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith                      Rick and Marianne DeVries
demnation; but is passed from death unto           the Spirit, that they may rest from their                          Derrick, Caitlyn
life" (John 524).                                  labors; and their works do follow them"                          Mark, Jodianne, Julianne,
              Rev. Arie denl-lartog,  President    (Revelation 14:13).                                              Cherianne, Joshua, Caleb,             .c;`.-
                  Cindy Grothman, Secretary                               Doug Pastoor, Clerk                       Matthew
                                                                                                                                                Grandville,  Michigan

430/Standard   Bearer/J@,  7999


        WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                                                   TEACHERS  _                                    NOTIFICATION
     On June 19, 1999, our parents and                              The Federation of the Protestant Re-                    OF CANDIDACY
grandparents,                                               formed Christian Schools has decided to                All Protestant Reformed consistories
 GERRIT and JEANETTE BOVERHOF,                              establish a Clearing-House to provide              are hereby informed that the 1999 synod
celebrated their  40th wedding anniversary.                 school boards with a list of possible can-         of the Protestant Reformed Churches in
We thank God for the Christian example                      didates for teaching positions in the PR           America has declared Mr. Garrett Eriks a
that they have shown to us for all these                    Christian Schools. Persons who are mem-            candidate for the gospel ministry in the
years and for the never-ending love and                     bers of the PR Churches may register.              Protestant Reformed Churches. Candi-
guidance they have given to us. May the                     College students are urged to register. To         date Eriks will be eligible for a call on or
Lord bless them as they continue their                      obtain registration forms, write or call the       after July 10, 1999.
lives together.                                             Federation of the PRC Schools, Agatha                   Mr. Eriks' address is:
     "Unless the Lord builds the house,                     Lubbers, Executive Director, 2068                              1577 Port Sheldon
they labor in vain that build it" (Psalm                    Cranbrook Dr., Grand Rapids, Ml 49505;                     Jenison, Michigan 49428
127:la).                                                    telephone: 616-458-2057; FAX:  616-458-                     Phone: (616) 457-8320
I% Gary and Deb Boverhof                                    4522. Registration forms can be obtained
        Mike, Brent, Joel                                   by contacting the administrator of your lo-             RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
@ Scott and Joyce Boverhof                                  cal PR Christian School, or by contacting              The council and congregation of the
I% Dan Boverhof                                             your pastor.                                       Grandville PRC of Grandville, Ml wish to
@ Jeremey and  Tressa  Lubbers                                                                                 express their heartfelt sympathy to our fel-
                               Grand Rapids, Michigan                RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                    low members Mr. and Mrs. Jon Huisken
                                                                    The council and congregation of the        and  LaRae  Huisken in the passing to glory
        WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                                 Grandville PRC of Grandville, Ml wish to           of their beloved father and grandfather,
   MR. and MRS. ROBERT MOELKER                              express their sincere Christian sympathy                    MR. HENRY HUISKEN.
celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary                   to fellow member Mrs. Jo Pastoor in the                 "Blessed are they that do his com-
on June 26, 1999. We, their children and                    loss of her brother-in-law,                        mandments, that they may have the right
grandchildren, thank God for them and for                                MR. ALLEN LUBEN.                      to the tree of life, and may enter in through
the faithful covenant instruction they have                         "Blessed be God, . . . the Father of       the gates into the city" (Revelation  22:14).
always given us. We pray that God will                      mercies, and the God of all comfort, who                             Rev. A. Spriensma, Pres.
continue to bless them in the years to                      comforteth us in all our tribulation" (I                                    Tom Bodbyl, Clerk
come and keep them and us faithful to                       Corinthians 1:3, 4).
His word.                                                                       Rev. A. Spriensma, Pres.                        NOTICE!!
$& Henry and Arlene Westhuis                                                           Tom Bodbyl, Clerk            Classis West of the Protestant Re-
        Henry, Katy, Robert,  Lindsay, Aaron                                                                   formed Churches will meet in South Hol-
$@I Russ and Amy Zwak                                                RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                    land, IL, on Wednesday, September 1,
        Kelly, Kurt, Kyle, Kamy, Kraig,                             The council of the Byron Center PRC        1999, at  8:30   A.M.,  the Lord willing. All
        Kaley, Kara                                         expresses its heartfelt sympathy to retir-         material for the Agenda is to be in the
                               Grand Rapids, Michigan       ing elder Sid Miedema, Jr., and to elder           hands of the stated clerk 30 days before
                                                            elect Duane Mingerink and their families           classis convenes, that is, by August 2,
         WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                                in the death of their father and father-in-        1999. All delegates in need of lodging or
On May 17, our parents,                                     law,                                               transportation from the airport should no-
     STEVE and CAROLYN HOUCK,                                             SID MIEDEMA, SR.                     tify the clerk of South Holland's consistory
celebrated 30 years of marriage.                            May they experience Jehovah's compas-              using the forms provided for that purpose.
     We wish to express our appreciation                    sion in this time of sorrow, and hope in                Please note: There will also be an
for the wonderful Christian example they                    His promises. "Wait on the  LORD:  be of           officebearers' conference on August 31.
have shown us throughout their marriage                     good courage, and he shall strengthen              More information to come.
as well as for their dedication in leading                  thine heart: wait, I say, on the  LORD"                                      Rev. Steven Key,
us in the ways of the Lord. We pray that                    (Psalm 27:14).                                                                       Stated Clerk
God will continue to bless their marriage.                                Rev. Douglas Kuiper, president
"...as for me and my house, we will serve                                   Leroy DeVries,  assistant clerk                     NOTICE!!
the Lord" (Joshua  24:15b).                                                                                         Classis East will meet in regular ses-
&  B e t h                                                                    REMINDER:                        sion on Wednesday, September 8, 1999
&  S a r a h                                                        The address of the bulletin clerk for      at the Hudsonville Protestant Reformed
%z  J o e l                                                 Georgetown PRC is:                                 Church, Hudsonville, MI. Material for this
t%  N a t e                                                               Mrs. Deborah Altena                  session must be in the hands of the stated
$Q Jeremy                                                                   1015 Elmwood Dr.                   clerk no later than August 9, 1999.
e Daniel                                                                  Jenison, Ml 49428                                                   Jon J. Huisken,
                                       Lansing, Illinois                    (616) 667-2897                                                       Stated Clerk

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I          Fe
     Standard
       Barer                                                                                                      PERlODlCAL
                                                                                                                  Postage Paid at
         P.O. Box 603                                                                                             Grandville,
        Grandville,  MI 49468-0603                                                                                Michigan



           RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
          The council of the Hudsonville Prot-
     estant Reformed Church expresses its                                                                   4?  %
     Christian sympathy to fellow officebearer              The plans for the  7!Yh Anniversary are        &      75
                                                                                                          +-Es            %
     Jim Jansma and family in the death of his          progressing very nicely. As we stated in           A
                                                                                                                        PO
     father,                                            our last notice, the celebration will be held,      CHURCHES
                  MR. FLOYD JANSMA.                     the Lord willing, from June 19-23, 2000 at
          "Thou shalt guide me with thy coun-           Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
     sel and afterward receive me to glory"                 The sleeping facilities at the college will have two single beds
     (Psalm 73:24).                                     in each room and a bathroom shared with one other identical
                             Rev. B. Gritters, Pres.    connecting room. Children may sleep on the floor, and a larger
                               Robert Drnek, Clerk      family may take two rooms with a bathroom connecting both rooms.
                                                        We have been informed that no camping in motor homes or travel
                                                        trailers will be allowed at Calvin College, so everyone who will be
                                                        staying on campus will be required to stay in the dorms. Motor
                                                        homes will be allowed to be parked here on campus during your
                  1999 Summer Seminar!                  stay.
                The Biblical  Way through the               The preliminary cost for the week is estimated as follows:
                      Millennial Maze                       Adults 18 and older: $150 per person for the week. This will
                                                        include all meals, lodging, and use of the facilities.
                          July 21                           Children 4-17 years: $50 per child for the week. This will
                     Postmillennia/ism                  include all meals, lodging, and use of the facilities.
                  by Rev. Ron Cammenga                      Children 3 and under: Free.
                                                            We hope to keep the maximum cost per family at $400.00 for
                          July 28                       the whole week. This will keep the maximum amount any family
                      Premillennialism                  will pay for at 2 adults and 2 children. We hope to be able to do
                   by Prof. Russ Dykstra                this by offsetting some of our costs with a special finance drive
                                                        for the celebration this fall. All the speeches and programs will be
                         August 4                       free. The rate for attending for a day will be $15.00 for adults,
                     Dispensationalism                  $5.00 for children  (4-17), children 3 and under, free. The maxi-
                   by Prof. Russ Dykstra                mum for a family will be $40.00 per day. This will include 2 meals
                                                        and use of the facilities.
                         August 11                          The program committee will be preparing a commemorative
                      Amillennialism                    booklet with pictures and information about the celebration. This
                 by Rev. Ron Cammenga                   booklet will be given to everyone who registers for the celebra-
                                                        tion. A coloring book will also be given to the children. It will
         All SeSSiOnS  start at 7:OO                    include some of the events that the children, with their families,
                                          P.M. at:
          Southwest Protestant Reformed                 may be involved with during their vacation at the celebration. A
                          Church                        supply of these coloring books will be sent out this fall to all the
                       4875 lvanrest                    churches for our children.
                   Grandville, Ml 49418                     The activities committee is looking for volunteers willing to
          Questions? Call (616) 532-6876                teach the Children's Bible School.           Please contact Mary
         Sponsored by the Evangelism Committee          VanOverloop  at (616) 669-3860 if you are interested.
         of Southwest Protestant Reformed Church            Finally, we ask for your prayers that God will use this celebra-
                                                        tion for His honor and glory and for the edification of our churches.
                                                        May we give Him all the glory.
                                                                                               The  75" Anniversary Committee


     432ptandard  Bearer/July, 7999


