The Dutch had an interesting description for those in the church who were very sensitive to doctrinal issues.  Such people were said to have Gereformeerd Voerhoren.  “Gereformeerd Voerhoren” means “Reformed Antennae.” You might want to ask your parents how to pronounce this if they know any Dutch.  If not, just remember that “V” in Dutch sounds like an “F” in English.  The idea of voerhoren may require some imagination on your part.  Perhaps the Dutch pictured a person with feelers sticking out of the top of their head, waving slowly in the air, straining to detect a whiff of heresy.

But the idea also has a more positive meaning.  Think once how insects use their feelers.  Not only do they use them to detect danger, they also use them to guide themselves along a safe path and to find food.  Without feelers, insects would be lost and quickly eaten up by predators.  It is the same way with us spiritually; if we do not recognize spiritual enemies, or seek the way of truth and spiritual food, we will soon be in serious spiritual trouble.  But it is also much more than this because the ultimate purpose is that we are led to know God and have fellowship with Him.

So turn on your imagination.  Think of voerhoren as the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and skin of the soul.  Then faith is the spiritual seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and feeling which we experience in our soul and which results in a certain knowledge and bond of fellowship with Christ.  Voerhoren are the ears that hear the Holy Spirit speaking to us, the eyes that perceive the Word of God, and the tongue that tastes the blessings of God.

We must not expect, however, to hear mysterious voices or see visions.  That is the dangerous trap of mysticism which leads only to confusion.  Our bodies are much different than our souls and we should not expect the same sensation in both body and soul.  Yet the Holy Spirit often uses the analogy of spiritual eyes and ears throughout the Scriptures.  I intend to use the analogy in connection with the idea of voerhoren to demonstrate how we can become more sensitive spiritually.

The first thing we must consider is the source of knowledge.  Our voerhoren need something to “detect.” What does God use to guide us into his fellowship?  Psalter 322 asks this very question and gives the answer: “How shall the young direct their way?  What light shall be their perfect guide?  Thy word, O Lord, will safely lead, if in its wisdom they confide.” God has given us His Word as light for the spiritual eye: our voerhoren.  Notice also that this light will lead only if they confide in its wisdom.  Putting our confidence in its wisdom can come only after regeneration which gives to those who formerly craved the lie, a spiritual appetite for His Word.  Regeneration is indeed a radical change as Jim Laning pointed out in his article about regeneration in the November issue.

Consider now how the Bible stands in relation to the believer.  Think of the Bible as a full orchestra composed of many different instruments.  Each instrument has its own unique sound and place in the orchestra and together they play one piece of music.  Regeneration has placed in our heart a longing for this music and our goal is to know the piece of music and to live our lives in tune with it.  Regenerated children of God perk up their voerhoren at the sound of it and gravitate to it.  Children are able to hear the music at a very young age and it resonates in their hearts with a pure and simple knowledge.

But this music does not come floating across a peaceful lake; we are in the middle of a cruel war against Satan.  Sometimes Satan makes so much noise that days go by when we scarcely hear even one note of God’s Word to us.  From one direction we are blasted with a tantalizing tune that rouses up the evil lust to serve ourselves.  Then with some surprise we hear quite clearly what sounds like what we’re looking for.  A happy tune, but after searching long we find that it is a man-made forgery that in essence glorifies man and not God.  In our frustration Satan’s mocking laugh sends chills of doubt up our spine.

We turn back tired and hungry.  On the way we see others contentedly bathing in the blue glow of their television.  Others are filling their souls with worldly activity.  True knowledge and fellowship with God just does not seem worth all the work.  And besides, we are young, for now it would seem nice to sample something else.  On Sunday we go to church where the truth is heard loudest, but Satan works even harder to drown out the sound with a lazy buzzing in our souls and the continuous replay of worldly music.  Sunday night we are still weary, hungry and despairing.  At last we can do nothing but fall on our knees and confess our helplessness.  We confess that our appetite for the Word has grown very weak.  We ask for forgiveness, a strong appetite for the Word, and strength to seek after the music of the Word.  This happens often in the lives of God’s people and we must fight against spiritual laziness.  Our regeneration must be followed up by work on our part.

Spiritual appetite is a part of faith and is inseparable from a desire to know.  Just as love for someone is inseparable from a strong desire to know that person, so love of the music of God’s Word does not come without a strong desire to know the music and explore its depths.  In doing this we are seeking to know God personally.  Our love for God must fill us with a desire to know God and to listen to the Word which He speaks to us in the Bible.

This requires much work, as does any relationship.  Our friendships require much sacrifice on our part; marriage partners give their lives to each other and share them.  But this is not always easy and we know how even the love which God has placed in our hearts so easily falters.  But the more time we spend listening to God, the stronger that love becomes and the more we seek to know God.  God strongly assures us of this in Hebrews 11:6.  Look up this verse in God’s love letter to us and take it to heart.  From now on look up every Bible reference you come across in your reading.  This will be a lot of work, and I confess that this has not always been my policy, but God will certainly reward that work.

Even more rewarding is diligent attention to the preaching because preaching is the chief means of grace (Romans 10:13-15).  Before we can really appreciate this, we need to get the bad connotation of preaching out of our heads.  Preaching is not a derogative lecture from a good man to evil people.  Preaching is the proclamation of God’s Word to His people.  Preachers are the mouthpieces of God.  God fills the preacher with His Spirit and speaks intimately to His people through the preaching.  Through the preaching God calls out to His people and comforts them in their distress and failure to love Him.  He tells His people about His promises and faithfulness.  He tells them about His nature and being.  He tells them through preachers whom God raises up so that they might expound the unified music of the Gospel from the point of view of one text.  Through the preaching, the children of God come to know the music one note at a time.

But preachers live in the same noisy world in which we all live.  Their studies are not free from Satan’s heckling, deceptive music, and distracting annoying interference.  But God has not left us without help.  This help comes by way of a simple clear sound: a distinct note that penetrates the din.  This sound is produced by an instrument that has been carefully crafted by our church fathers and handed over to us for our safe-keeping and use.  This instrument is a tuning fork composed of the creeds and confessions.  A preacher is very arrogant if he can find no use for this instrument as he makes his sermons, and we are very foolish if we ignore this instrument as we study the Scriptures.

The tuning fork of the musician or physicist is a horseshoe-shaped piece of metal.  The metal is a special alloy and the shape is precise so that when the fork is struck with a hammer, it produces a sound with a precise frequency.  As long as the tuning fork is free from damage, it will produce the same sound every time it is struck.  It is a standard sound to which musical instruments can be tuned.

The musician uses the tuning fork to tune the various instruments in an orchestra, but it is the other way around with the Scriptures because theological engineers use the Scriptures to make and tune the creedal tuning fork.  They did this by synthesizing the various teachings of Scripture into their basic ideas and formulating them into concise statements of faith.  The theological engineers listened very carefully to the various instruments within Scripture (books of the Bible, doctrines, parables, etc.) and crafted the tuning fork so that it would be in tune with the whole of Scripture. Their work produced the Heidelberg Catechism which serves us with a broad range of application.  The Canons of Dordt and Belgic Confession are designed for more specific application.

So now we have an orchestra, a few good tuning forks, and ears: i.e. the Scriptures, the creeds, and our voerhoren.  If we listen to the orchestra and strike the tuning forks, we hear a remarkable similarity.  The only difference is that the orchestra is infinitely rich and deep while the tuning fork is rather plain and uninteresting in comparison.  Nevertheless, these tuning forks are very valuable.  They have been tried and tested and have served the church well ever since the Reformation.

We as Reformed young people have listened to the orchestra of Scripture and heard the tuning forks ever since we were children with the result that our voerhoren have been tuned to the Reformed faith.  They have become Geerformeerd voerhoren.  Gereformeerd voerhoren make us sensitive to doctrinal issues.  We grow to love the Reformed faith, because it quickly brings us past false doctrines and the ideas that we seek by nature and straight to the only doctrines that can comfort sinners who know how weak and frail they are.  Gereformeerd voerhoren lead us directly to the sovereign God of grace and mercy, whose love is irresistible, the God Who loves His children and places in their hearts the assurance that He will find every one of them no matter how far they stray.  Our churches have gradually incorporated the powerful tool of the creeds right into our voerhoren through faithful catechism and Reformed preaching.  This is an amazing thing, a wonderful blessing, and we must strive to maintain and use them.

Now that you know something about your Gereformeerd voerhoren, try them out.  Warm them up each morning with prayer to God.  Listen carefully to what God tells you as you read the Bible for devotions.  Ask to be filled with the Spirit so that your love for God is reflected in love for others.  When you read the Beacon Lights or any other literature, keep your voerhoren alert.  Tune in to the upcoming series in the Beacon Lights about TULIP: the five points of Calvinism which were written to refute the five points of Arminianism.  Feed your souls on Reformed doctrine and strive to understand how these doctrines lead us into closer fellowship and clearer knowledge of Christ our Savior.

If, in the course of your reading, your voerhoren are agitated in any way, sound the available tuning forks in order to pinpoint the problem.  Do the same in Bible discussions and in fellowship with one another.  If you work hard during the week, you will be tired and eager for a good dose of heart-warming preaching.  If your voerhoren begin to droop, hide yourself from the world awhile and pray to God.  Look forward to the time when God will surround us with the sound of His music and fellowship in heaven.