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Vol. 79; No. 14; April 15, 2003

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Table of Contents:

Meditation - Rev. Ronald VanOverloop

Editorial - Prof. David J. Engelsma

Letters:

·        Waltzing to Damnation

All Around Us - Rev. Gise J. Van Baren

In His Fear – Rev. Garrett Eriks

Go Ye Into All the World - Rev. Arie denHartog

Marking the Bulwarks of Zion – Prof. Herman Hanko

Review Article – Mr. Michael Kimmett

Book Reviews

Report of Classis West – Rev. Daniel Kleyn

News From Our Churches - Mr. Benjamin Wigger

Meditation:

Rev. Ronald VanOverloop

Rev. VanOverloop is pastor of Georgetown Protestant Reformed Church in Hudsonville, Michigan.

Prayer That We Know Christ’s Vast Love

 

      That ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

Ephesians 3:17 b-19

 

    Paul delights in telling his fellow-saints that he prays for them (v. 14).  For the second time in this epistle Paul tells them that he is praying for them (cf. 1:15ff.).  What a beautiful expression of his love.  Let us be reminded to express our love for one another by praying for each other!

      The content of the two petitions in this prayer is an inspired description of spiritual maturity.  The first petition is that God would strengthen the saints in the inner man so that “Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.”  (We treated this petition in the March 1, 2003 issue of this magazine.)  The second petition also includes the plea that God, by His Spirit, will strengthen them in their inner man.  They also need the inner spiritual strength to be able to comprehend the love of Christ.  Paul prays that they may know just how great is Christ’s love for them.  He prayerfully desires that they consider not only that Christ loves them, but also how much Christ loves them!  What a glorious thought for all saints to contemplate!

      Just think — in heaven all the saints will spend an eternity thinking about and being astounded by Christ’s love.  This is one of the glories of heaven.  Paul desires that God’s children at Ephesus begin on earth to do what they will be doing forever in heaven.

      If only we would meditate more on the love of Christ, our way in this weary world would certainly be easier and our burdens lighter.  It is when we abide in God’s love that we have joy and peace!  To know His pardoning grace and saving love is to be constrained to sing of them.  Paul prays that they may know that God is full of compassion, is plenteous in love, and has a grace which is boundless and endless as the heavens above.

      There are two reasons why God’s saints on earth need to be strengthened by the Spirit in their inner man in order to contemplate the love of Christ.  The first is that the concept of the love of Christ is so glorious!  The second is that the weaknesses of all saints on earth are so great.  We need to be strengthened in order to be “able to comprehend.”  This ability to comprehend is the strength to lay hold mentally on something.  The love of God in Christ is so profound a truth that we need strength from God before we can learn of it, before we can intellectually appropriate it.  Anything of God is infinite, and we are so earthly, carnal, and finite.  Besides that, God’s love “passeth knowledge,” that is, it is endless and inexhaustible.  Christ’s love is not unknowable.  It can be known.  But it cannot be measured.  There is no limit to Christ’s love for His people.  It goes on and on.  It is limitless, so that we can never know the end of it.

      Though it is impossible for us to know the full extent of God’s love in Christ, we do not stop considering it or wanting to learn more of it.  The love of Christ has been revealed to us and we must never stop trying to know more and more of it.  We must keep learning as much as we can, even though we learn that it is always beyond us.  God’s child is humbled by the knowledge of the love with which he is loved.  We do not stop enjoying Christ’s love just because we cannot take it all in.  Our joy is not lessened by our inability to see it all.  Rather, our joy is greater because of the wonder of its greatness.

      The apostle’s prayer is more than that the Ephesians may know Christ’s love.  His prayer is that they may know the vastness or expansiveness of God’s love in Christ for His children.  He uses four expressive words to describe just how vast this love is.

      The “breadth” of God’s love refers to the great number who are the objects of that love.  We, like Elijah, can easily become discouraged because we see only a little flock or think that we are the only ones who are saved.  However, we must remember that the objects of God’s love are the proverbial seven thousand.  The “number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands” (Rev. 5:11).   They are as many as the stars in heaven and as the sand on the seashore. In addition to the large number, the breadth of God’s love comprehends the redeemed “out of every kindred, and tongue, and people and nation” (Rev. 5:9).   The redeemed are not limited by race or skin color, by wealth, gender, or freedom — male and female, rich and poor, slave and free.  God’s great love comprehends the innumerable elect from all nations.  What great love!

      The “length” of God’s love speaks of its endless character — that it is an everlasting love (Jer. 31:3).   In eternity past we find God’s love for His chosen children.  Already then He wrote our names in the Lamb’s book of life.  God’s love continues in time, and it continues without the slightest interruption.  God’s love for us in Christ never lets us go, so that nothing can separate us from His love (Rom. 8:39)!   And this love continues into all eternity to come.  It reaches to the uttermost.  How great is God’s love!

      The “depth” of God’s love in Christ is manifested in the depths to which Jesus was willing to go in order to save His people — a people who were so undeserving.  While we were yet sinners, Christ gave up His life for us (Rom. 5:8).   He who was “in the form of God ... took upon him the form of a servant,” enduring, for our sakes, a lowly birth, a life of suffering, and the agony of hell in death (Phil. 2:5-8).  How great is this love!

      The “height” of His love indicates what is the ultimate purpose of God’s love for us, namely, the height to which God’s love raises its objects.  The natural children of the devil are made, by God’s love, to be God’s children.  They become no less than joint-heirs with Christ and heirs of God Himself.  The love of Christ for His own even desires that we will be with Him in glory (confer John 17:24).   What great love!

      The ability to know the expansiveness of Christ’s love is not just for some saints.  “All saints” have the ability to know the limitless love of Christ.  It may be that we do not exercise that God-given ability, and that is our sin.  But even the most intellectually slow Christian can grasp it — and often does.  Remember that some in the Christian church at Ephesus were slaves, and some of them were likely illiterate.  But they, being rooted and grounded in love, were able to comprehend the love of Christ.

      The way (in fact, the only way) God is pleased to enable the saints on earth to comprehend the love of God is by “being rooted and grounded in love,” i.e., in the way of our loving God and one another.

      The expressions “rooted” and “grounded” speak of the root system and of the foundation which gives to a tree and to a building its strength, durability, and solidity — especially in the face of fierce wind storms.  The tree or building which is rooted and grounded is our knowledge of Christ’s love.  The soil in which saints are to be rooted and grounded is that of love.  Love is the soil in which the Christian’s knowledge of the expansiveness of God’s love is set and in which it grows.

      We might be inclined to disagree and say that the ability to know the greatness of Christ’s love is by studying Scripture or by learning theology or such like.  But God teaches us that it is not the intellect, but it is love that knows love.  God has chosen to enable His saints to know the vast greatness of Christ’s love in the way of their exercising and developing that fruit of the Spirit called “love.”

      Let us be careful not to conclude that the intellect is unnecessary or unimportant.  To the contrary, we are to comprehend (v. 18) and to know the love of Christ (v. 19).  However, true knowledge of God and of Christ and of their work of saving is never only of the mind.  Such knowledge, to be real, must move one to love God and Christ.  “Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth” (I Cor. 8:1).   I can understand all mysteries, and have all knowledge, and even have the faith to move mountains, but I will remain nothing more than sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal if the knowledge of Christ does not move me to love Him.  True knowledge (remember that the devil also has knowledge) leads to loving God and Christ.  That is because true knowledge of God and Christ is a knowledge of their love for us. The knowledge of the love of Christ constrains us to love Him.

      We would summarize it this way.  First, Christ loves us, and He reveals that love to us by His Word and Spirit.  Always His love is first.  Then, we love Him, because He first loved us (I John 4:19).   The power of His love is that it works in us a love for Him.  Third, we love one another (I John 3:14, 15, 23; 4:7, 8, 11, 12, 20, 21).  The power of His love is such that we not only love Him, but also one another.  Fourth, we learn the expansive nature of Christ’s love by exercising ourselves in loving God and one another.  We will never know the love which passes knowledge if we are hating!  It is only in the way of our loving God and one another that we know the love of Christ that passes knowledge — its breadth, length, depth, and height.

      In the way of our loving God, especially in the midst of trials and troubles, we learn the vastness of Christ’s love.  And it is in the way of our loving fellow-saints, especially those who are difficult to love, that we learn the vast greatness of the love of Christ.  In the way of loving saints from a different culture and with different skin color, in the way of loving the otherwise unlovable, we see and appreciate the greatness of God’s love.  It is also a matter of degree, so that as we grow in loving God and our brethren, we grow in knowing the greatness of His love for us.

      May God strengthen us in our inner man by His Spirit so that we, being rooted and grounded in the exercise of loving God and one another, will be able to comprehend with all saints the greatness of Christ’s love for us!

      There is still more to Paul’s prayer for the saints at Ephesus (and for us!).  The absolutely amazing and gracious gift of being able to know the vastness of Christ’s love is not just for us, for our sake.  It does not end in us.  God’s end and purpose for all His works, including His work of enabling us to know Christ’s great love, is His glory — a glory that comes to Him as we experience the amazing wonder of fellowship with the living God.  We are strengthened in our inner man by His Spirit so that we can know the vastness of Christ’s love unto this end: that we “might be filled with all the fulness of God.”

      Our being filled (in the sense of quality instead of quantity) with all the fullness of God is the end and purpose of both petitions of this prayer.  That Christ dwell in our hearts by faith and that we comprehend the vastness of Christ’s love is unto the end that we be filled with the fullness of God.

      To get an idea of what is meant by our being filled with the fullness of God, consider the fact that Jesus Christ is described as the One in whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Col. 1:19; 2:9).  And then consider that it is this Jesus who works His fullness in the members of His body (John 1:16; Eph. 4:13).   The intimate, vital union of all the saints with Christ is such that “we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones” (Eph. 5:30).   So, God in Christ fills us.  As the life of the vine is in every branch ( John 15) and as the fullness (not part) of my life is in each one of the members of my physical body, so the fullness of God fills the saints.

      God’s fullness fills us (when we grasp the vastness of Christ’s amazing love) in such a way as to control us.  Our thinking is renewed and transformed by the mind of God (Eph. 4:23; Rom. 12:1, 2).   Being filled with the fullness of God we have the mind of Christ so that we esteem each other better than ourselves (Phil. 2:2-5).  Also our emotions and feelings are brought under the control of the love of Christ.  “The love of Christ constraineth us” (II Cor. 5:14).   When we know the vastness of Christ’s love, then the Spirit moves us to be holy as He is holy, to strive to glorify Him in thought, word, and deed.  Instead of living filled with this world and giving up our minds, wills, and emotions to the vanities of deceitful lusts, we are moved by His Spirit to give ourselves up to the service of His will.  This is because when God’s fullness fills us we are drawn into intimate fellowship with God.  Then we are walking and talking with Him.  Then we long to love as we are loved, to serve and glorify Him with our all.

      Filled with the fullness of God our every need is met.  Every sense of emptiness and want is gone.  We have in us a well of water springing up, so we never thirst.  We are filled!  Filled with God’s fullness!

      Let us pray this prayer for ourselves.  And for our fellow-saints.  May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ grant, according to the riches of His own glory, strength by His Spirit in our inner man so that we, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints the tremendous vastness of Christ’s love, a love which passes knowledge, unto the end that we may be filled with the fullness of God.  Can you pray anything better?!  

Editorial:

Prof. David Engelsma

Remembering the Schism of 1953

 

      2003 is the fiftieth anniversary of the great schism in the Protestant Reformed Churches (PRC). 

      Meeting in April and May 1953, Classis East of the PRC condemned particular teachings of one of the ministers of First Church, Grand Rapids, Michigan as heretical.  The matter had come to the classis by appeal from members of First Church’s consistory.  At the same time, Classis East advised the consistory of First Church to require a public apology from the minister for his teachings.  Classis added that the consistory should deal with a refusal to apologize by suspending the minister from his office.

      When the minister refused to apologize for his teachings, judged heretical by the major assembly, the consistory of First Church suspended him at a meeting in June 1953.  At the same meeting, the consistory deposed a number of elders who resisted both the classis and the consistory by supporting the minister in his refusal to apologize.

      Rather than submit to the decisions of classis and to their discipline by the consistory, while protesting to classis or appealing to synod, the suspended minister and deposed elders continued to function in their offices.  They called and held worship services apart from the consistory of First Church and in opposition to the decisions of Classis East.  In fact, they seized and occupied the building of First Church.

      Schism in First Church, mother of the denomination, was a reality on Sunday, June 28, 1953.  More than half of the five hundred-family congregation worshiped under the leadership of the suspended minister, Rev. Hubert De Wolf, in the building at the corner of Fuller and Franklin in Grand Rapids.  The rest worshiped that Sunday in a rented building with the other ministers of First Church, Rev. Herman Hoeksema and Rev. Cornelius Hanko.

      Inevitably, and quickly, the schism widened throughout the entire denomination.

      Classis East met again in July 1953.  Delegations both from the consistory of First Church and from the church of the suspended pastor and deposed elders presented themselves to be seated.  Classis recognized as rightful representatives of First PRC the delegates from the consistory that had carried out Classis’ advice.  At this decision, all the office bearers and people in Classis East who sided with the suspended minister of First Church broke with Classis East and thus with the denomination.  They expressed their support of the suspended minister, rejected the authority of Classis East, and set themselves up as a rival Protestant Reformed denomination.

      Schism in the churches of the other classis, Classis West, followed in September 1953.  Classis West took decisions condemning the action of First Church in suspending its minister.  Thus Classis West deliberately opposed and repudiated Classis East, which alone had jurisdiction in the case.  The result was that several congregations in the West separated themselves from the PRC, while other congregations split, one group remaining faithful to the PRC and another group allying themselves with the rival denomination.

      Fifty years have passed since that fateful event in the history of the PRC.

 

Worthy of Our Remembrance

      Recently, the PRC celebrated the seventy-fifth anniversary of their birth as a Reformed denomination.  No such denominational celebration is scheduled to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the schism in the PRC.  But the schism is worthy of our remembrance.

      We certainly cannot ignore an event of such magnitude in our history.  When the dust and fury of the ecclesiastical storm had settled, more than half, indeed nearly two thirds of the members and ministers of the PRC had left the denomination, most of them never to return.  In 1952, on the eve of the schism, the PRC were twenty-four churches, almost fourteen hundred families, and a little more than six thousand members.  Twenty-eight ministers served the churches.  After the schism, the denomination was reduced to sixteen churches, about five hundred and sixty families, and slightly fewer than twenty four hundred members.  Only fourteen ministers remained.

      The schism shook the churches to their foundation.  Those looking on from the outside must have wondered whether the denomination would survive.

      The question, “Why?  Why the schism?” points us to the reasons for remembering the schism, devastating and painful as it was, with thankfulness to God, who was sovereign over it.  By the schism of 1953, God preserved in the PRC the unadulterated gospel of salvation by grace alone.  Thus He preserved the PRC as a denomination of true churches of Jesus Christ according to the authoritative declaration of Article 29 of the Belgic Confession.  God preserved the gospel of grace in the PRC by maintaining the truth of the unconditional covenant in the face of opposition to it by those determined to introduce into the churches the doctrine of a conditional covenant.

      Although personalities entered in and although men and women on both sides marred the work by their sins, the issue in the controversy was doctrinal.  The doctrine at issue was the covenant of God.  The issue was the unconditionality of the covenant.  This, the PRC had confessed from the beginning of their separate existence as churches.  This, a powerful faction in the churches was determined to repudiate in favor of the doctrine of a conditional covenant.  This, the churches contended for, however imperfectly, in all the bitter struggle of 1953—valiantly and gloriously.  This, by the grace of God the churches maintained in that fight, not counting the cost.  And this, the PRC confess fifty years later.

      In light of the development of the doctrine of a conditional covenant now ongoing in Reformed churches, it becomes evident how important the struggle for the unconditional covenant by the PRC in the late 1940s and early 1950s really was.  As the recent series of editorials in the Standard Bearer, “The Unconditional Covenant in Contemporary Debate,” showed, prominent Reformed and Presbyterian theologians are teaching the gross heresy of justification by faith and works on the basis of a conditional covenant.  Reputedly conservative Reformed and Presbyterian churches and seminaries are tolerating these false teachers and their assault on the gospel of sovereign grace because the churches and seminaries are themselves committed to a conditional covenant.

      In this and subsequent, occasional editorials, I intend to reflect on the schism of 1953 in the PRC.

 

The Histories

      It is not my intention to relate the history.  For the history, the interested reader has a number of good resources.  A brief history of 1953 is included in Prof. Herman Hanko’s treatment of the history of the PRC in the fiftieth anniversary book, God’s Covenant Faithfulness (RFPA, 1975).  Gertrude Hoeksema gives a more detailed account in her history of the PRC, A Watered Garden:  A Brief History of the Protestant Reformed Churches in America (RFPA, 1992).  Mrs. Hoeksema recounts something of the history of 1953 also in the last chapters of her biography of Herman Hoeksema, Therefore Have I Spoken (RFPA, 1969).  More recently, three chapters of Prof. Herman Hanko’s doctrinal history of the PRC are devoted to the controversy that culminated in the schism of 1953 (For Thy Truth’s Sake, RFPA, 2000). 

      The issues of the Standard Bearer in the late 1940s and early 1950s, readily available on CDs and in bound volumes, are a unique history of the controversy.  They give the history as it was unfolding.  The account breathes the passion and agony of the church struggle.  One who immerses himself in those issues of the magazine relives the schism.

      My purpose with the editorials on the schism that will appear from time to time is to comment on various aspects of the schism that instruct, edify, and warn the churches today.

 

A Possible Denominational Remembrance

      Even though synod has not arranged for a denominational celebration of this anniversary, there are ways by which the churches can fruitfully remember the schism.  Consistories can schedule special classes; ministers can preach special sermons; evangelism committees can plan appropriate lectures.

      Without preempting activities conducted by the local congregations, I suggest a denominational remembrance of the schism of 1953 that is still possible at this late date.  Let the Theological School Committee ask the faculty of the seminary to prepare lectures on the most important aspects of the controversy.  With the cooperation of the churches in the area, these lectures would be given in western Michigan this fall, either during successive weeks or at a conference-type meeting on a Friday evening and a Saturday morning. 

      The lecture-series would be made available to all the churches, although outside of western Michigan the program would have to take the form of a weekend conference.  If the churches are interested, a weekend conference would accommodate the four churches in Illinois and Indiana.  Another such conference would serve the churches in northwest Iowa and southwest Minnesota.  The two churches in Canada could combine to have the lectures given for the benefit of their members.  Each of the rest of the churches, over time, would schedule the conference of lectures for itself.

      Two or three subjects commend themselves at once as topics for the lectures:  the fascinating history of the events, the vital doctrinal issue, and the intriguing church political aspects of the schism.  Every lecture, or conference, should conclude with sufficient time for questions from the audience.

      Not only would the members of the PRC benefit, but the lectures could also be advertised as witness to people outside the PRC.  And it is healthy that seminary professors occasionally have this kind of contact with all the churches.

      In the providence of God and by the ingenuity of certain members of the Protestant Reformed Church in South Holland, Illinois, a very valuable resource of rare and important materials pertaining to the controversy of 1953 has just become available.  Some of these materials I had never before heard or read. 

      About this in the next editorial remembering the schism of 1953.

Letters:

 Waltzing to Damnation

    I just received your February 15 edition of the Standard Bearer and read the sad, sad account of the situation at Toronto’s First Christian Reformed Church.

      I found it practically unbelievable that a denomination, to which I belonged, could have sunk so low.  I lived in the Toronto area in the 50s and 60s, and Toronto’s and the whole province of Ontario’s Christian Reformed Churches were so scriptural and true to the Word.  That’s where I developed the love of the Word of God.

      What a scourge homosexuality has become, not primarily on the social scene, but sadly affecting all sorts of Christian denominations.  And people are just merrily waltzing their way to damnation, while the Scripture is so plain.

      I am thankful that there is the Standard Bearer and the volumes of tremendously helpful material.

      God bless you, and I thank you and your staff for your labors in His vineyard.

John Vanduyvenvoorde

Whitehall, MI

All Around Us:

Rev. Gise VanBaren

Rev. VanBaren is a minister emeritus in the Protestant Reformed Churches.

More on Harold Camping

    Harold Camping has been gaining some attention (notoriety?) because of his presentation of the view that the church age is over.  Now Christians are to come out of the church, all the churches, and assemble in homes on Sunday for informal worship and meditation upon Scripture.  Some churches, especially some small evangelical churches, have had families leave as a consequence. 

      The Associated Press had a story on Camping in an article that appeared in a number of newspapers across the country.  The article also was in the Loveland Reporter-Herald of February 1, 2003 — sent to me by two faithful correspondents.  The article stated:

 

         An influential Christian radio host, best known for his failed predictions of the second coming of Christ, has run into more derision and criticism for telling listeners to abandon church.

         Harold Camping says his Bible studies have revealed that what he calls “the church age” has ended.  He has told his worldwide radio audience that Satan has taken over all churches.

         For the past two years, Camping has been teaching that God wants people to worship privately in their homes instead — with no leaders, no baptism and no communion.

         “The Bible says God is not saving people any longer in the churches,” Camping said in a recent interview at Family Radio’s headquarters in Oakland.  “They’re being saved outside the churches.”

         “…He’s in critical locations in the United States and the rest of the world.  He has a large listening audience,” said David Clark, who tracks Christian fringe groups.  “He’s got pastors all over the United States in an uproar.  He’s gone over the edge this time.”

 

      The concern of the churches became evident here in Grand Rapids when Seventh Reformed Church (Independent) of Grand Rapids scheduled a lecture by Dr. Cornelius Venema, professor and president of doctrinal studies in Mid-America Reformed Seminary in Dyer, IN.  The Grand Rapids Press, February 8, 2003, reported that Seventh Reformed Church has three families that “have deserted the Rev. Zachary Anderson’s pews because of Camping.”  The report continues:

 

         “Camping is a warning to us to not listen to the word of one individual,” said theologian Cornelius Venema, who spoke at Seventh Reformed last Saturday.  “It’s very injurious.” 

         Venema, professor and president of doctrinal studies at Mid-America Reformed Seminary in Dyer, Ind., called Camping’s teachings “outlandish” and urged deserters back to church.

         It is a perilous and dangerous course on which these people have embarked.  Let us pray it is for a season only,” he told an audience of about 200.

         …Venema – while crediting Family Radio for turning many to Christianity since broadcasts began in 1958 – today considers Camping’s methods “idiosyncratic” and his conclusions “fanciful.”

         Camping, he said, relies on allegory, where texts are symbolic stories whose real meaning allegedly lies elsewhere.

         For example, Camping argues Christ’s prediction of the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in Matthew 24 is really saying parishioners should stay away Sundays, Venema said.  “It’s a very strange reading.”

         Venema said Camping’s “para-church movement” seems like a cult, but is too disorganized for the label.

         “He is another in a long line — and it’s a very unhappy history — of these kinds of prophets.”

 

      Those who want to read what Camping’s teaching is can find information on the internet (http://www.familyradio.com/cross/tract/add/church_add1.htm).  Some of what he writes (I have not corrected the many grammatical errors found in the article) is:

 

         For more than 1900 years God has tolerated the wrong doctrines even as He tolerated the high places of Old Testament Israel.  But now God has loosed Satan and through his deceptions churches all over the world have become apostate, following the desires of men rather than those of God.  Satan has been allowed to marshal his forces to surround Jerusalem and destroy it.  We have learned that the terms Jerusalem and Judea refer to the corporate external church.

         …But the question must be raised; If a church earnestly tries to remove all of its wrong doctrines (its spiritual high places) and if it still has true believers within it, why cannot it continue as a viable God blessed congregation.  In answer to this question at least two answers must be carefully considered.

         The first answer is that if God declares there is not to be left one stone upon an other.  This means that God is declaring that it is His intention that there is not to be any churches left to represent God’s kingdom.  If a church insists that it is still recognized by God then it is still trying to have a small part in the temple of God.  The believers (the stones) in that church are still in place in the temple of God.  But that cannot be because God declares there will not be left one stone upon another.  This means that God’s usage of the churches and congregations has come to an end.

         …But then we read Amos 8:11: “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.” 

         The book of Amos is speaking of the very time in which we are now living.  And this verse is very pertinent to this time.  God is speaking of a famine that is to come.  It is not a famine of bread and water.  Spiritually bread identifies with Jesus who is the bread of life.  Water has to do with the true Gospel.  Thus God is declaring this is not a time when there is a famine of the declaration of the true Gospel.  That is, in the churches that exist today there may still be Pastors that faithfully bring the true Gospel to their congregations.  There may still be missionaries sent out by these faithful churches who are still faithfully bringing the Gospel to the lost of the world.

         However, it is the next phrase that is so ominous.  “a famine of hearing the Word of God.”  Why is that so ominous.  We must remember there are two very important ingredients in God’s plan of saving the elect.  First of all they must be under the hearing of the Word of God.  Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 8:17). [Camping must mean Romans 10:17. —GVB]

 

      Camping, through much convoluted reasoning, finally shows that, even if the true gospel is still being preached in faithful churches, it will be of benefit only to those already saved.

 

         The true Gospel may still be faithfully preached.  Those who are saved may experience blessings.  But what about the infants and the children.  If the Holy Spirit is not applying the Word of God by giving these children spiritual ears they will remain spiritually dead.  How awful this is.  This is a frightening truth that parents must face.  If they truly love their children and are praying for their salvation they must consider this problem very seriously.

         One can argue; but God will save them if they are elect.  True, but God’s elective plan is God’s business.  We are to be obedient to God’s commandments.  We never want to set up our own rules.  We are to be obedient to God’s commands.  He tells us the Holy Spirit has been taken from the temple and we are to come out of it.  Therefore if we have a concern for the salvation of our children we should want to obey God’s command to flee from the temple.  Wonderfully it is still the day of salvation; but it is God who sets up the plan through which He will work to save.

         Remember we read in Amos 8 that there would come a time of a famine of hearing the Word of God.  Thus even though the Word of God is faithfully preached, if God does not give spiritual ears to the hearers of that Word, they cannot be saved.

         This solemn truth bears repeating.  There may still exist congregations in which true believers are still hearing faithful preaching by which they are blessed because God previously had opened their spiritual ears to the Word of God.  But any children or adults that are not saved cannot be saved if God will not open their spiritual ears.  In that church there will be a famine of hearing the Word of God.  Likewise the missionary that is sent out by that church will see no true fruit on his labors.  No matter how faithful his preaching may be there will be a famine of hearing of the Word of God.

         Now we can understand why God commands us to depart out of Jerusalem.  It is for our own spiritual safety and the spiritual welfare of our children that we are to depart out.

 

      Now God is using the means of radio, television, books, and the internet (according to Camping) to convey the gospel and to save unbelievers and the children—most specifically, through Family Radio.  One would suppose, then, that tithes no longer are to be paid to churches—but presumably to Family Radio.

      One can only be amazed that all of these allegorical, fanciful interpretations come forth from one man — and that many believe his word.  I am not aware of anyone in all the history of biblical interpretation who has come up with this kind of interpretation — only Harold Camping.  Harold Camping is the one man, the only man, who has come to recognize all these things in Scripture that the church has always confessed to be perspicuous (very clear).  There is one man, only one man, who can convey these “truths” to people of God.  Amazing, is it not, that in these last days God has found one, and only one, man who can correctly teach the people!!  More amazing still is the fact that there are many who will follow after and repeat these teachings to others.  Actually, it’s very sad and destructive.

 

 

Tightening the Clamps

It becomes increasingly evident that “freedom of speech” has definite limits when it comes to the Christian.  The unbeliever can say all kinds of vile things about God and our Savior Jesus Christ — that’s “freedom of speech.”  The unbeliever can promote adultery of all sorts — that’s “freedom of speech.”  But when sin is condemned — and that, too, in connection with the teaching of Scripture — then the statement is made:  “Freedom of speech carries some responsibility.”

      Some disturbing court decisions have been recorded in Regina, Canada, as reported in the Leader-Post, February 11, 2003, of that city.  The article states:

 

         While Bill Whatcott contends he has a right to freedom of speech, some people who took offence to his anti-homosexual pamphlets argue that right is limited when it promotes hatred.

         Whatcott is defending himself against four complaints which allege he promoted hatred on the basis of sexual orientation in violation of the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code.  A tense hearing punctuated by repeated objections and refereed by human rights tribunal chair Anil K. Pandila began Monday in Regina and is expected to continue today.

         Whatcott attended the hearing wearing a t-shirt that shows stick-figures of two men and two women holding hands superimposed with crossed-out circles under the phrase “Homosexuality is a sin.”

         It’s similar to an advertisement that a Saskatchewan human rights tribunal ruled offensive in 2001.

 

      The article continues by reporting on the question of right of free speech — and Whatcott’s claim that anyone who disagreed with his position had the right to tear up his pamphlets.

      According to the report in the Leader-Post,

 

         At issue are pamphlets Whatcott put in mailboxes in Regina and Saskatoon.  Between December 2001 and April 2002, three men and one woman filed complaints with the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission about the material, which condemns teaching schoolchildren about homosexuality and links it to pedophilia.

         Guy Taylor, of Saskatoon, testified the pamphlet brought him to tears.  “There were so many words that were trigger words – hateful and mean,” he said.

         “I’m offended by being told my life is filthy.”

 

      The outcome of this case is a foregone conclusion.  The Catholic World News, Feb. 11, 2003 reported on a similar case and its decision:


         In a ruling given virtually no media coverage, the Court of Queen’s Bench in Saskatchewan ruled a man who placed references to Bible verses on homosexuality into a newspaper ad was guilty of inciting hatred.  The December 11, 2002 decision was in response to an appeal of a 2001 Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission (HRC) ruling which ordered both the Saskatoon StarPhoenix newspaper and Hugh Owens of Regina pay CAN$1,500 to three homosexual activists for publishing an ad in the Saskatoon newspaper quoting Bible verses regarding homosexuality.

 

      It is becoming increasingly clear that those who have “freedom of speech” can willfully vilify God in their cursings and swearings, can portray Christ as homosexual, can set forth “alternate life styles” in shacking up together without the benefit of marriage and can willfully live in and promote adultery.  Those who point out that Scripture, in the time of the Theocracy, required even the death penalty for such sins, are “hateful and mean” and offend those who are “told (my) life is filthy.”  Sin can be promoted and encouraged under this “freedom,” but the sinner cannot be condemned because that is a “hate crime” and abuses “freedom of speech.”  One can believe the testimony of Scripture as it applies to himself, but he may not express that in any public place.  How long will it be before more fines are levied against all those who condemn sin with the claim that such promote “hate crimes”? 

In His Fear:

Rev. Garrett Eriks

Rev. Eriks is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Loveland, Colorado.

God’s Hatred of Lying

      Our society accepts lying as a normal part of life.  People lie when they fill out their tax forms.  Employees lie on their job applications.  Salesmen “stretch the truth” (i.e., “lie”) about the products they sell.  Companies falsely advertise by promising a great deal in bold print while printing disclaimers in such small print they can be read only with a magnifying glass.  Politicians make campaign promises they never intend to keep.  Criminals lie in the courtroom to keep themselves from punishment.  Speeders lie to police officers in an attempt to escape receiving a large fine.  Recently, executives of major corporations lied about the worth of the company to stimulate the stock prices.  And in the end, employees of these companies lost thousands or even millions of dollars while these executives walked away with millions.  When lying affected their pocketbook, then people finally expressed their outrage. 

      The lie is found in so many different forms.  When a man lies, he might deliberately speak what is the exact opposite of the truth.  For example, a murderer may be caught with the smoking gun at the crime scene with a motive for the murder.  He knows that he committed the crime.  But when he is asked in court what he pleads, he responds, “Not guilty.”  Or when a man lies, he might slightly distort the truth.  There will be some truth in what he says, but it is slightly twisted for his own advantage.

      Many in our day lie about what God’s Word teaches.  When men teach that God loves all men and desires to save all men, they lie.  The standard of truth in this world, Holy Scripture, clearly teaches that God loves only those whom He chose from all eternity in Jesus Christ.  The teaching that the Son and the Holy Spirit are not co-equal and co-eternal with God the Father is a lie.  Scripture clearly teaches that God is one in being and three in persons.  Not only is doctrinal lying heinous, but living the lie is also a terrible sin.  I John 1:6 speaks of this lying: “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth.”  The man lies who claims to be a child of God, but lives constantly in sin without confessing that sin and turning from that sin.   

      These lies arise from sinful motives.  Some lie because they do not trust in God.  For example, Abraham lied when he and Sarah fled to Egypt to escape the famine in the land of Canaan.  Abraham told Sarah to tell the Egyptians that she was Abraham’s sister and not his wife, because he was afraid Pharaoh would kill him to take Sarah to be his wife (Gen. 12:10ff.).   Others lie to save themselves from punishment and ridicule.  Children will lie so that they do not receive the spanking they deserve.  Some lie deliberately about the neighbor so that they might climb up in the eyes of men upon the ruined reputation of the neighbor.  Still others lie to receive something they want.  For example, Ananias and Sapphira lied to obtain recognition and praise for their gift to the church (Acts 5:1-11).  

      What does God say about lying?  God speaks clearly in His Word about lying especially in the book of Proverbs.  In Proverbs 6:16-19, lying is declared to be one of the seven sins which the Lord hates.  Proverbs 12:22 says, “Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord: but they that deal truly are his delight.”  In Proverbs 19:9 we read of God’s great anger against those who lie: “A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall perish.”  God’s hatred for liars was manifest in the harsh punishment of Ananias and Sapphira.  God struck them down dead for their lie (Acts 5:3-5).   The ninth commandment of God’s law, “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor,” forbids the sin of lying.  The Heidelberg Catechism explains that the ninth commandment calls us “to avoid all sorts of lies and deceit, as the proper works of the devil.”  From all these passages it is clear: God hates lying!  God punishes those who lie.  Therefore, it should not be found in the lives of God’s people. 

      Does God hate all lies?  Does not God in His Word approve lying in some instances?  The instance that seems to support the idea that God approves of some lying is when Rahab lied to the soldiers who came to her home in Jericho looking for the Israelite spies.  Rahab hid the men and told the soldiers that the spies had left the city already.  Yet, Scripture calls Rahab a woman of faith (Heb. 11:31, James 2:25).   The argument goes that good came from this — the Israelite spies were kept alive.  And Rahab’s motive was pure.  She was concerned about God and His people.  We cannot deny that her motive was good.  The conclusion reached from Rahab’s lie is that circumstances determine whether or not a lie is pleasing in God’s sight.  If the motive is pure, then the ends justify the means.  God looks down on some lies favorably from His judgment seat.  Circumstances must dictate when to lie and when to tell the truth. 

      But Scripture declares that all lies are sin.  It is certainly true that God used the lie of Rahab to save His people.  But this does not make the lie right.  We interpret Scripture with Scripture.  The passages listed above must be applied to the actions of Rahab.  What does God, in His Word, say about lying?  Lying is sin.  All the passages in which God speaks about lying teach us that lying is always wrong.  There are no exceptions. 

      It is certainly true that God used Rahab’s lie for the good of the spies, Israel, and Rahab.  God works all things for the good of His people, even sin (Rom. 8:28).   Scripture is full of examples of God using sin for good.  Just look at the cross of Jesus Christ.  Wicked men crucified Jesus.  God does not excuse the sin of these wicked men because He accomplished our salvation through this event. 

      We should learn something about ourselves from this argument.  We would like obedience to God’s law to be determined by the situation.  By nature we desire to decide for ourselves what is good and evil.  We want our sin to be excused by the circumstances.  But never is obedience to God’s law determined by the situation.  Proudly we would like it if we were the final court of appeal in matters concerning God’s law.  But we are not.  The objective Word of God is the final court of appeal.

      We come to the conclusion that lying is always sin.  This does not mean telling the truth is easy.  It would not be easy to speak the truth if we were in Rahab’s situation.  But Scripture declares the truth: the fierce anger of God rests upon the man who lies.  Therefore, lying must be completely cut out of the life of the child of God.  We must speak the truth in love.

      The anger of God burns so hotly against lying because of the antithesis between the truth and the lie.  God is Truth.  The sin of lying does not originate with God, for He is truth in Himself.  God Himself is the standard of all truth because He is truth in Himself.  God loves what corresponds with reality, of which He is the Judge.  There is no lying in God.  Therefore, God hates the lie and loves the truth.  God demands of man that he speak the truth.

      The lie originated with Satan, the father of the lie, and not with God or with man.  God created Adam in His image to know the truth and to speak the truth as God’s prophet in the world.  With a lie, Satan tempted Eve to disobey God.  Satan told Eve that if she ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, “ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”  Satan lied to Eve, and Eve became a partaker of that lie when she ate the fruit.  Because the lie originated in Satan, Jesus says in John 8:44, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.  He was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth.  When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar and the father of it.”

      By nature we are liars.  Apart from God’s grace we can do nothing but speak the lie and believe the lie.  By nature, man hates the truth about God and about Jesus Christ.  How clearly we see this in our own children.  Our children do not need to be taught how to lie.  Lying comes naturally to them.  Soon after they are able to respond with “yes” and “no” our children lie.  We cannot stop this lying in our children any more than we can keep ourselves from lying by our own efforts.  Sinners are lying addicts.  Speaking the truth goes against our sinful natures.

      The only way we can be delivered from the sin of lying is by the work of Jesus Christ.  In Him alone is found forgiveness for this sin.  When Jesus died on the cross for the sins of His people, He died for all the lies His people tell.  We know there is forgiveness for the sin of lying in the way of repenting of this sin.  We must repent. 

      But how is it possible for us to turn from this sin?  It seems too difficult.  The possibility of turning from this sin cannot be found in man, for he is a liar by nature.  The possibility is found alone in Jesus Christ, for He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).   Christ enables His people to know the truth.  He reveals the truth to His people through the preaching and the work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of His people.  Believers receive the spiritual strength from Christ to speak the truth in love.  Man is completely unable to tame his own tongue in regard to lying.  Man has been able to tame dogs, horses, and lions, but not his own tongue.  He is unable to keep himself from lying.  The only one who can give the strength to refrain from lying is Jesus Christ, in whom we have been made children of the light.

      Because we are children of the light, we must not lie.  As children of Satan, the wicked lie.  They are children of the darkness.  Therefore they lie without blinking an eye.  Children of Satan lie to their parents without any remorse.  Husbands and wives of the darkness lie to each other.  But children of the light, who have the victory over sin, shine by speaking the truth.

      Positively, our calling, according to Ephesians 4:15, is to speak “the truth in love.”  This means we must speak the truth about God.  God demands that we confess the truth about Him before the world.  We must speak the truth about God to those who hold to the lie.  We must witness to the truth about God by our lives and with our mouths.

      God calls us to the truth about the neighbor and with the neighbor in love.  In Ephesians 4:25 we read, “Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another.”  This means we do nothing but speak the truth.  When we speak the truth, our motive must be pure.  It must be done in love.  This is important because we can speak the truth in hatred.  The ninth commandment forbids speaking the truth in hatred.  When someone else sins, we may not recount that sin to another.  This is sin because it hurts the brother or sister.  In these instances, we must keep our mouths shut.  Or we can approach a brother about his sin and speak the truth about that sin, but do it in such a way that we rub it in his face and look down on him for it.  This is not speaking the truth in love, but in hatred.

      Speaking the truth in love means that we seek the spiritual good of the neighbor.  For example, when a believer or unbeliever walks in sin, we go to the neighbor in love seeking his spiritual good.  We go to the brother desiring that he might repent of that sin. 

      The world today knows nothing of speaking the truth in love.  The world is becoming darker and darker in its lying.  Lying is expected in society.  The devil and the world would love for us to join with them in their sin.  And often we do join the world in this sin.  Pray that God will show us when we lie, because you and I often lie without thinking.  Pray that God will enable you to speak the truth in obedience to His Word.   

      There is great urgency for us to speak the truth in love.  This is our calling as those who are the prophets of God in Jesus Christ in the world.  We must speak the truth to the glory of God.  Let us reflect that we are the children of the God of truth.  May the truth always be found upon our lips.  

Go Ye Into All the World:

Rev. Arie denHartog

Rev. denHartog is a Protestant Reformed minister-on-loan to Singapore.

The Great Commission (2)

      The great commission to the church is to preach the gospel to all nations.  This says something very important about how the church is to be gathered.  It is the purpose of the Lord that she be gathered through the means of the preaching of the gospel.  Many throughout history have imagined and have taught that the church is gathered through other means than the preaching.  In the past, there have been those who have advocated that the cause of the kingdom of Christ must be advanced by the sword.  This had disastrous consequences for the church and brought shame on the name of the Lord.  Some have taught that it is through social and political action, maybe even through fomenting revolution in the nations of the world, that the kingdom of Christ is advanced.  This has caused some to accuse the church of activity similar to the terrorist and radical revolutionary organizations of our present day.  Others teach that the church is gathered through emotional rallies that stir up the masses with a supposed irrational and supernatural power of the Holy Spirit.  There are many in our day who maintain that preaching is not the most effective means for the gathering of the church.  Rather, the church must be gathered by well-planned, orchestrated, widely-advertised rallies, with popular entertainment, movie shows, and great movie-star-like personalities as the speakers and entertainers.  Others have maintained that the church is gathered by feeding the world’s poor and alleviating the great social ills of our time and seeking to bring relief to the oppressed and disadvantaged and underprivileged of the world.

      The great commission teaches that the Lord will gather His church through the mighty power of the preaching of the gospel.  The reason for this is that the preaching of the gospel is the power of the Lord Himself to save His people.  The church must never be ashamed of this power.  There is no power like the power of the preaching of the gospel.  There is no other power in all the world like the power of God unto salvation, which goes forth through the preaching of the gospel.  The church must perform her labor with a clear understanding and strong conviction concerning these truths.  The history of the astounding growth of the church and its gathering in nation after nation of the world, in spite of the opposition of men, is the mighty demonstration of the power of the preaching of the gospel.

      In order to understand the great commission, we must understand the central significance of the preaching of the gospel.  In a future article we will focus on this subject alone.  What exactly is meant by the preaching of the gospel?  Why is it true that the preaching of the gospel is the means through which the exalted Lord Himself gathers His church?  What makes a speech given by the church truly the preaching of the gospel, and how does it differ from presentations that are merely lectures on various subjects? 

      Briefly, the preaching of the gospel is the authoritative declaration of the good news of God’s mighty salvation.  It is the declaration of the truth that Jesus is the eternal Son of God.  It is the mighty announcement, in the world, of the truth of the absolute victory of the cross of Christ Jesus and its mighty and finished accomplishments and the finality of the righteousness of the saints it achieved.  It is the declaration of the truth of the victory and triumph of the resurrection of Christ.  It is the glorious announcement of Jesus now exalted at the right hand of God the Father in heaven and clothed with all power and authority in heaven and earth and enthroned above all principalities and powers and dominions as the sovereign Lord and King of all the nations of the world.  It is the declaration of the powerful Word of this exalted Christ whereby He will gather His elect out of all the nations of the world and make them forever His own, causing them to be citizens of His everlasting kingdom of glory.  It is the declaration of the blessed hope of the coming of this glorious Lord at the end of the ages.  It is the mighty announcement in the world that Christ is coming as the Judge of all the nations and as the mighty Lord of salvation who will come to redeem His church with perfect and everlasting salvation, causing her to inherit His everlasting kingdom of glory and finally redeeming her from the wicked world that through the centuries has persecuted her and sought to destroy her.  It is the glorious Word of the Lord that prophesies that this church shall be before His throne in the heavens forever praising and glorifying His name.

      The great commission involves a very comprehensive declaration of the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ.  It is not a one-time presentation of a very simplistic gospel.  Jesus commanded His disciples in the great commission to teach all things “whatsoever I have commanded you.”  This refers really to the whole of the content of the Scriptures.  In the words of the inspired apostle Paul, it is declaring the whole counsel of God concerning salvation and His glory.  It refers to all of the great and glorious doctrines of salvation as they have been infallibly recorded in the Scriptures.  It includes all the doctrines concerning proper Christian living, the holy calling of the church in the world.  The whole truth of Christ must be declared without compromise, without adding to or taking away from it.  This truth must be declared again and again in the world.  This truth was given forever to be the foundation of the church upon which she must stand and upon which the faith of the saints must be based. 

      Often times this truth will be opposed, denied, compromised, and forgotten.  Then this truth must again be restored and the remnant of God’s people must be gathered.  Churches will become apostate, the faithful will be scattered.  The church must be gathered again, and she must be reformed and brought back to the truth of Christ and built again on that truth.  The Bible makes no absolute distinction between preaching to those who have never heard the gospel and those who once heard the gospel and have forsaken this truth in their generations.  The work of preaching to recover again the wayward, and the work of preaching to reveal the truth of Jesus Christ and the hope of salvation in Him to those who never yet heard the gospel, go hand in hand until the end of the ages when the Lord returns.

      According to the great commission, the gospel must be preached to all nations.  This was an astounding commission of our Lord.  It was given to a small band of eleven disciples.  It seemed at the time impossible that they could carry out such a great commission.  But the Lord intended that this work should be accomplished over the decades and centuries of the New Testament age until the end of the world when He comes again.  The church must always be interested in nations and people that have never heard the gospel, to bring this gospel to them as the Lord Himself guides the course of missions through the ages.  The Lord will not return until this great work has been accomplished.  The church must not lose her zeal and courage in this work but look to the glorious appearing of the Lord at the end of the ages.  In the end, the great commission will gather an innumerable host of saints from every tribe and tongue and nation and people that will one day stand before the throne of God and the Lamb of God to worship Him in glory throughout all eternity.

      When the Lord gave this great commission to the church He gave her the assurance and promise of His blessed presence.  His power and His Spirit would be with her.  His Word would be given to her.  His favor and loving kindness would be upon her.  His protection would keep her.  Without this the church could never perform the great work which the Lord has called her to do.  It is a humanly impossible task.  How could it be that a small band of men could accomplish such a great and glorious task as preaching the gospel to all the nations of the world?  In doing this work the church will face many enemies far more mighty than she herself is.  The preachers of the gospel must face tremen