         The
     STANDARD
        BEARER
f         A REFORMED SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE





     It ought to strike us with considerable
force that if Christ Himself Who was
without sin needed prayer to accomplish
                                 -3
the work which .God had iven Him, how
                                               g

much  .more do not we, the servants of
Christ, need prayer to do the work
which Christ has assigned to us.

See "My Sheep Hear My Voice. . ."
                                              - page 329



t                                              Volume LV, No. 14, April 15,1979--


314                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER


                                                                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER
                         CONTENTS:                                                                      ISSN 0362-4692
                                                                            Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July. and August.
                                                                              Published' by the Reformed Free Publishing Association, Inc.
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Meditation  -                                                           Editor-in-Chief:  Prof. Homer C. Hoeksema
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   Saved by a Living Faith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 14      Rev. Cornelius Hanko. Prof. Herman Hanko, Rev. Robert C. Harbach.
                                                                        Rev. John A.  Heys, Rev. Meindert  Joostens.  Rev. Jay  Kortering,  Rev.
                                                                        George C. Lubbers, Rev. Rodney Miersma, Rev. Marinus  Schipper, Rev.
Editorials  -                                                           James  Slopsema,  Rev. Gise J. Van  Baren, Rev. Ronald Van  Overloop,
                                                                        Rev. Herman  Veldman,  Mr. Kenneth G. Vink.
   A Question About Prayer and Covenant Seed .3 17                      Editorial Office:  Prof. H.C. Hoeksema
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  Persecution for Christ's Sake in Rhodesia . . . .  .318                                    Grandville.  Michigan 49418
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MEDITATION



                                    Saved by .a Living Faith
                                                                  C Hanko




                 Ques. 21. What is true faith?
                 Ans. True faith is not only a certain knowledge, whereby I hold for truth all that God has
             revealed to us in his word, but also an assured confidence the Holy Ghost works by the
            gospel, in my heart; that not only to others, but to me also, remission of sin, everlasting
             righteousness and salvation, are freely given by God, merely of grace, only for the sake of
             Christ's merits.

                 Ques. 22. What is then necessary for a Christian to believe?
                 Ans. All things promised us in the gospel, which the articles of our catholic undoubted
             Christian faith briefly teach us.


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                315


                 Ques. 23. What are these articles?
                 Am (Here follow the articles of OUY Apostolic Creed).
                                                                              Lord's Day 7.  Heid. Catechism.
True faith is. . . .                                          comfort, mayest live and die happily?" To this we
   Our Book of Instruction calls our attention to a           respond, that I must know how great my sins and
true  faith. This implies that there are professions of       miseries are, how I am delivered from these sins; and
faith which are not true. In the parable of the sower         how I can show true thankfulness to God for that
Jesus speaks of a temporal faith. A person with that          deliverance.
kind of faith is like a plant in shallow soil; that person       True faith consists also of an assured confidence.
is not rooted in Christ. Temporal faith puts on ,a            This confidence is so different from the `faith' of the
display of ardent enthusiasm or excited joy for the           pagan, who seeks to obtain the favor of his god by
moment, but when trials `and persecutions arise this          groveling in the dust and by tormenting himself.
enthusiasm fades into disillusionment (Matt. 13 : 2 1).       Faith is not a superstition, nor a vain hope in an
Moreover, Paul speaks of faith that is unfeigned in           inanimate object, but it is an assured confidence. This
distinction from a hypocritical faith. There are those        confidence is sure, because we do not contrive it, but
who boast of their great accomplishments in the               the Holy Spirit works it in our hearts. It is an eternal
kingdom of heaven, only to hear from Christ in that           security.
great Day of days, "Depart from me, thou worker of              A babe nestled in mother's arms while the storm
iniquity; I never knew you." James in his epistle             rages, the lightnings slash the darkness of the night,
speaks of a dead faith that never produces any works,         and the thunders chatter, is not as secure as the child
which is like a tree adorned with a copious array of          of God who hides in the shadow of the Almighty. In
foliage, but nothing more. A dead faith never be-             absolute trust the believer commits his way in prayer
comes evident. That kind of faith is vain, for it is not      unto the Lord. With Asaph we rest assured, "Never-
the work of God. True faith, as we saw in the                 theless,. (come what will) I am continually with thee:
previous question and answer, is the living bond that         thou has  holden me by my right hand. Thou shalt
unites us to Christ and makes us partakers of Him and         guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me
all His benefits. Faith is the work of Christ in us.          to glory!"
I believe.                                                      This is implicit trust. An aviator must put absolute
  The intent of the question, "What is true faith?" is        trust in his instruments, unwaveringly following the
not to ask for a definition of faith, for that definition     radio beam that directs him through the thick fog to
was already implied in the previous answer. But the           the airstrip hidden somewhere down below. A  travel-
intent is to call our attention to the contents of faith,     ler must studiously follow the road map that directs
for, as the catechism points out, true faith consists of      him to his destination, even when the map seems to
a certain, or sure knowledge and an assured confi-            lead him in the wrong direction. The child of God has
dence.                                                        God's Word as a lamp before his feet, a light on his
  The certain knowledge of faith is not a mere                pathway. For doctrine and for life he heeds the
intellectual knowledge that is acquired in the cate-          divine, infallible Word with a confident, "It is writ-
chism class or in a seminary. There are many intelli-         ten." The sword of the Spirit and the shield of faith
gent theologians who lack true  fafth. Intellectual           are his trusty weapons against the onslaught of the
knowledge is a matter of the mind; the knowledge of           powers of darkness. The example of the champions of
faith is a matter of the heart and the mind. My               faith  - we see Abel die, we see Noah preaching
thoughts turn for a moment to the infinite knowledge          righteousness, we see Abraham offering his only son,
of our God. God knows all things perfectly, for all           yes, and many more  - spurs us on to run with
things lie exposed before Him like an open book. But          patience the race that is set before us, looking to
there is also a knowledge of God expressed in the             Jesus the author and finisher of our faith, Who has
words, "The, Lord knows His own." God knows His               gone before us into glory. (Hebrews 12:  1,2).
people in love, even as He has chosen them in Christ,           Never is that Word sufficient in itself. No objective
redeemed them by His own precious blood, and                  calling, no preaching of the Word can penetrate where
conforms them to His likeness that they may share             the heart is not made receptive to the Word.  Christ
His fellowship forever. That love is spread abroad in         Himself must open the closed, soften the hardened
our hearts, so that we know Hini, the true and living         heart, always anew arousing in us the response, "I
God, Whom to know is life eternal. With Job we                believe, help Thou my unbelief." Christ does this by
confess, "I know that my  .Redeemer  liveth." This            His Spirit within us. On the other hand, there is no
reminds us of Lord's Day I: "How many things are              direct revelation of the Spirit apart from the Word.
necessary for thee to know, that thou, enjoying this          The Holy Spirit never works apart from the Word, for


316                                           ,THE STANDARD BEARER


faith is by hearing, and hearing is by the Word of          we expect Him as the righteous Judge, our Savior.
God. Faith never trusts in an inner voice, but turns to     This God by the Spirit of Christ gathers, defends, and
the Scriptures with the confident confession, "Thy          preserves His church, brings us into intimate com-
Word, 0 Lord, shall safely lead, if in its wisdom we        munion with Him by the communion of saints among
confide."                                                   each other. He assures us of the resurrection of our
  What is the mark of true faith? The fathers spoke         bodies, and life with Him in His House, to His glory
out of their own experience when they wrote, "That          forever and ever!
not only to others, but to me also remission of sin,           This brief confession summarizes the entire con-
everlasting righteousness and salvation are freely given    tent of the Scriptures, which this Lord's Day so
by God merely of grace, only for the sake of Christ's       properly refers to as, "all things promised to us in the
merit." Three gifts of grace are mentioned here:            gospel." The fathers do not speak of the Scriptures as
forgiveness of sins, righteousness, and salvation. One      a mere proclamation, nor as a general, well-meant
is always impressed that throughout the Catechism           offer of salvation extended to all men, but most
such a strong emphasis is laid on the forgiveness of        emphatically as the glad tidings of salvation to the
sins. But does not Scripture do the same? Psalm 103         heirs of the promise. The promise is God's  oath-
comes to mind with its, "Bless the Lord, 0 my soul,         bound assurance to His adopted sons and heirs, that
and forget not all his benefits." Whereupon immedi-         He is and forever remains our God, Who takes us into
ately follows, "Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who     His heart and life to share with Him His eternal
healeth all thy diseases." I think of the assuring word     blessedness in intimate fellowship. Thereby faith
of the Savior, "Go in peace, thy sins are forgiven          finds expression in the animated cry, I believe in God,
thee." I think of my own greatest need, and  find           MY God, the God of my salvation in Christ Jesus.
comfort in this emphasis of the Catechism as drawn          Faith appropriates the whole of God, the whole of
from the Scriptures. The second gift that is men-           Christ, the whole of God's promises. This is true,
tioned is closely related to the first. This is the         whether that faith finds expression in a three-year-old
imputed righteousness of Christ, "as if I never had         or in a time-tried saint. That faith may sometimes
had, nor committed any sin; yea, as if I had fully          appear to be weak, and sometimes strong. It may
accomplished all that obedience which Christ has            shine brightly as the sun, filled with joy unspeakable
accomplished for me." (Lord's Day 23, ques. 60). I          and full of glory, and it may be dark and gloomy, like
like that. Christ's obedience becomes my obedience,         an overcast sky. Sinful flesh may draw the shades
even before my own consciousness. There lies the            over our souls, so that our prayers die on our lips. Sin
basis for the third gift, complete salvation! This          may cause the Holy Spirit to withdraw Himself from
salvation includes sanctification, perseverance, joy,       our consciousness, casting us into utter misery of
peace, and even hope of eternal life. With our Cate-        doubts and fear, in which we experience anew that to
chism we raise the jubilant cry, "freely given of God       live apart from God is always only death. Yet faith
merely of grace, only for the sake of Christ's merit!"      itself actually never changes, no more than that the
Hallelujah!                                                 Holy Spirit would cease the good work which He has
                                                            begun. The Spirit of Christ leads us through dark
I believe in God.                                           valleys, along difficult ways of trial and affliction to
  Our Catechism asks yet, "What is then necessary           purify our faith as by fire, and to make us more than
for a Christian to believe?" To that question the           conquerors in a world of sin and death. From out of
answer is given simply, yet concisely: I believe in         the bondage of sin and death Christ leads us ever
GOD. That is the essence of the well-known Apos-            more fully' into the glorious liberty of the sons of
tolic Creed, quoted in this Lord's Day and confessed        God. That faith that is seemingly as small and insig-
in our worship service every Sunday. Throughout the         nificant as a mustard seed is able to move mountains.
centuries the believers have confessed their faith with       In the closing hours of his life the apostle Paul
the introductory statement, "I believe in God." The         looked back upon his entire life, and saw his own
Creed also speaks of the trinity, confessing God the        work ready to be burned away as straw and stubble,
Father, Jesus Christ as God's only begotten Son, and        with nothing remaining but the work of God through
the Holy Ghost. In this Creed we speak of the               Christ and by the Holy Spirit within him, causing him
Almighty, Triune God as the God and Father of our           to cry out triumphantly,
Lord Jesus Christ, Who in Christ and by the power of          "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my
His Spirit created all things for our sakes, in prepara-      course, I have kept the faith:
tion for the new world to come. The God of our
salvation has redeemed us in His Son, Who was born            "Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of
of a virgin, humbled Himself to the shameful and              righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge,
accursed death of the cross, and was raised from the          will give me in that day!"
dead, to be exalted to heavenly glory, from whence            Blessed be His holy Name, forever and ever!


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                               317


EDITORIALS
ProJ: H. C. Hoekserna





                                  A Question About Prayer
                                        and Covenant Seed



  In connection with my recent articles about the           we from the heart pray to the one true God only,
covenant and baptism, a reader sent me a question           who hath manifested himself in his word, for all
which was really intended for me rather than our            things, he hath commanded us to ask of him; sec-
Question Box Editor. The question is as follows: "Is        ondly, that we rightly and thoroughly know our need
it right for believers to pray and plead to God that all    and misery, that so we may deeply humble ourselves
their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren      in the presence of his divine majesty; thirdly, that we
will be His elect and will follow His teachings in their    be fully persuaded that he, notwithstanding that we
lives?"                                                     are unworthy of it, will, for the sake of Christ our
                                                            Lord, certainly hear our prayer, as he has promised us
  Even as the question  cqnceming children of be-           in his word."
lievers who die  inmfancy, so also this question is           It seems evident to me that if my questioner means
emotionally poignant. In fact, the question is very         to ask whether we may  flatly, unconditionally, with-
similar, and in a certain sense may even be said to be      out any limitation' pray that our children and grand-
m,ore emotionally "loaded," than that concerning            children will be God's children, the answer surely
children who die in infancy. For some reason or             must be negative. The reasons are: 1) God has
other, questions concerning the place of our children       nowhere commanded us in His Word to ask this of
in relation to the covenant of grace have frequently        Him. 2) God has nowhere revealed in His Word that  -
been reduced to the very narrow scope of the in-            all our children will be children of God; on the
stance of children of believers who die in infancy. But     contrary, He has plainly revealed that the lines of
from every point of view, the question concerning           election and reprobation cut right across the genera-
those who do  not  die in infancy is a, more basic          tions of the covenant. 3) Such a prayer cannot be
question. At the same time, it is surely not less           prayed in the full persuasion that God "will, for the
emotional. For who does not desire that his own flesh       sake of Christ our Lord, certainly hear" it.
and blood will walk in the way of God's covenant,             Or again, apply the test of Question and Answer
manifest themselves as children of God, and partake         129 to such a prayer. Can it be concluded with
of the blessings of God's covenant both in the present
and in the everlasting future of the perfection of that     "Amen"? The Catechism instructs us:  " `Amen' signi-
                                                            fies, it shall truly and certainly be: for my prayer is
covenant?                                                   more assuredly heard of God, than I feel in my heart
  This makes it all the more imperative that we try         that I desire these things of him."
to reach an answer to this question without being             Much more could be said about this question. For
influenced by our own emotions, but on the basis of         example, is the prayer motivated merely by  flesh-and-
the objective truth of God's Word. Our prayers must         blood ties? Does the person who prays this prayer
be in harmony with the principles of true prayer. I         desire the same for his fellow believers and all their
have in mind such principles as are mentioned in our        children and grandchildren? Is the person who prays
Heidelberg Catechism, Question and Answer 117:              this prayer ready in a very real sense (not merely as
"What are the requisites of that prayer, which is           mechanical after-thought) to say, "Thy will be
acceptable to God, and which he will hear? First, that      done"?


 318                                          THE STANDARD BEARER


   All this does not mean, of course, that we may not        covenant, however, does not consist of  all  children
 make known our heart's desire with regard to our            who are born of them, but only of the children of the
 children to our Father in heaven.  .Nor does it mean        promise. Certain it is that believers also bring forth
 that that heart's desire may not be spiritually moti-       another seed. Now, on this side of death and the
vated and need not necessarily be carnal. But when it        grave fleshly ties may draw us, so that we say that we
 comes to ourselves and our dear children, we must be        wish  to see all our children saved, and do not wish
 on guard lest we be carnal and lest we storm the            that our own flesh and blood. goes lost. But in the
 throne of grace merely with our own carnal desires          final analysis also in this respect the righteous must
 and wishes.                                                 live out of, their faith, not from their flesh. If one
   Let me conclude with a pertinent quotation from           lives out of faith, then he will say: `Lord, I thank
 Herman Hoeksema's  Believers And Their Seed,  pp.           Thee that Thou hast counted me worthy to bring
 157, 158:                                                   forth children for Thy eternal covenant. From Thy
                                                             grace I desire to receive my children. According to
   "As far as the objective confession of the church of      Thy covenant I want to bring them up in the fear of
 Christ is concerned, as that confession is founded on       Thy name. For the sake of Thy name and Thy
 the Word of God, the matter must certainly be               covenant, it is also the desire of my heart that all my
 presented differently. By reason of the fact that the       children walk in the ways of Thy covenant. But
 Lord establishes His covenant in the line of successive     ultimately I desire to serve nothing else than Thy
. generations, believers will confess in gratitude before    good pleasure. And bowing before Thy divine maj-
 the Lord that He counts them worthy to bring forth          esty, I thank Thee when Thou dost save Thy children,
 the true seed of the covenant. This true seed of the        out of my children and dost receive them in glory.' "





                                             Persecution for
                                   Christ's Sake in Rhodesia

   For the most part, we are furnished a very biased         U.S. Literature' received from South Africa  - both
 and one-sided account by both the secular and the           church papers and books and brochures  - has tended
 religious press concerning the situation m countries        to confirm these warnings and assurances.
 like Rhodesia and the Republic of South Africa. The           And while I do not deem myself competent to
 result is that we frequently do not have a true picture     make a thorough evaluation and judgment concerning
 of affairs in those countries. I am referring to such       the political and ecclesiastical situation in that part of
 things as the struggle concerning  apartheid  in South      the world, I have long been convinced that on the
 Africa, the communist character and influence of            whole we do not get the "straight goods" from either
 various anti-white and anti-government movements            the secular or the religious press. Moreover, frankly
 among the blacks, the attitudes of blacks and whites        my sympathies lie. with those who are usually
 toward one another in the church. particularly the          maligned as the "white minority" and as the
 Reformed church, the  .corruption of the World              oppressors of the "black majority." And I have seen
 Council of Churches and its  Fun-d to Combat Racism         much concrete evidence of the fact that this
 (supported in the Netherlands by the GKN), etc.             "oppression" is a myth and that the Dutch Reformed
 Repeatedly  p,rivate correspondents have both warned        Church in South Africa has done much, very much,
 and assured me that here in America we do not               to promote the cause of the gospel of Jesus Christ
 understand the situation in South Africa. They have         among the teeming black majority in that part of the
 warned that we must not think of the situation in           world.
 South Africa, for example, in terms of black-white
 relationships in the United States; that we must not          It is not my purpose, however, to write about these
 think  of.the struggle about  apartheid  in terms of the    matters in detail.
 racial segregation-integration struggle in this country;      Nor is it my purpose especially to oppose the
 and that we must not think of the attitude of               WCC's Fund to Combat Racism and those who
 Reformed churches toward these matters in terms of          support it  - though by implication, because they are
 Reformed churches in either the Netherlands or the          supporters of the rebel groups to be mentioned


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                319



subsequently in this article, they do indeed stand            visit the faithful in their homes. Then the Christians
condemned, and that, too, not merely as revolution-           themselves decided: If we can then as a family come
aries in general, but as explicit enemies of the cause        together, why not as a group?
of Jesus Christ.
   But it is my intention to call-attention to children       Great Joy In The Church Of The Hearth
of God.who are persecuted for Christ's sake.                    It began at first with one elder who  opened his
   For one thing,  we' often think of a struggle such as      home  for such a gathering. The word passed around
that going on in Rhodesia as being purely political  -        and on the Sunday there were more than 30
whatever the nature of that political struggle might          Christians assembled in the house of the elder of
be. But it is more than that, much more. It involves          Gotora. It must have been a sacred moment for those
the lives and the lot of real Christians who are living       believers when the eternal Word of God resounded
there and who are inevitably involved. For another,           there as in earlier years when they were able to hold
while we frequently pray quite in general for people          their congregational gatherings without fear.
of God in the midst of persecution and tribulation for          They were able once more to receive  bread and
Christ's sake, I think we often are not aware-  of,the        wine  and to bring their children to be baptised.
fact concretely that there are indeed such people of            Other elders took courage, especially those in the
God in tribulation, nor of the fact that there are            more settled areas and they  also opened their homes.
churches in this country and elsewhere whose funds            The attendance in one case was 12; in another, 15.
are being used to support and to arm the very                 And thus the church of the hearth is gaining ground
revolutionaries who are responsible for such persecu-         and the community of the faithful in Nyashanu
tion.                                                         brought to worship in a new fashion.
   I was reminded of this recently when I received the
November/December, 1978 issue of the  DRC(Dutch               Communion Wine `In Jacket Lining, He Takes His Life
Reformed Church) Africa  News, published by the               In His Hands
Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk of South Africa.                 And the movements of the Rev. Edward? These
Under the title, "New Pattern of Worship In Rhodesia,"        have to be very circumspect. After the service his
there appears the following graphic account of the            Bible and hymn book have to remain where they are
situation in the African Reformed Church The account          to be restored to him on a subsequent occasion. The
is a bit long, but I quote the pertinent sections in full.    contributions which the faithful insist on rendering to
                     **********                               the Lord, despite orders to the contrary from "the
  The young Church in Rhodesia is increasingly                people in the bush," have to be inconspicuously
becoming aware of the fact that the so-called                 collected and dispatched. Thus does this old minister
"freedom fighters" of the Patriotic Front are not             together with his flock, take their lives in their hands
merely fighting to take over the country but also to          so that the Church of Christ might prevail.
wipe out the Christian faith. No congregation of the
African Reformed Church can function normally any             The Great Struggle of the Church In Rhodesia
longer. The first-hand accounts below testify to this           It was Communion weekend at C., an outpost in
state of affairs.                                             a congregation in the vicinity of Morgenster. As usual,
  Two congregations cannot pursue their customary             the Christians were already gathering on Saturday for
procedures at all and hold services on Sundays. In the        the preparatory  se,rvice and to commune in a sociable
circumstances, a new pattern is unfolding, i.e. the           mood around the cooking fires. There they could sit
church of the hearth.                                         and talk, laugh and sing until all hours of the night.
                                                              For do they not gather  thus only once in three, four
"Ordinary Building Becomes House Of God"                      months?
   It might be a large dwelling hut or a shelter with a         A short distance away, at the church, were the
thatched roof resting on poles or  `even, here and            men, the minister, the Rev. Z., the grey-haired old
there, a brick building with a corrugated iron roof  -        evangelist M., also well into his  70s and the elders
usually the home of an elder, but on a certain day it         and other male members.
becomes the House of God in that ward.
  This is the  new pattern  which,is developing in the        Men Armed With Rifles Appear
Nyashanu congregation, one of the most sorely tried             The sky was overcast early on the Sunday morning.
congregations in the current "war". No services are           But there was also something else to dampen the joy
held any longer in a school or church building, for           of the gathering. In sinister fashion, on the fringe of
fear of incidents. A retired minister, Rev. Edward            the bush, half-a-dozen men with rucksacks on their
Ngara, who lives in those parts, has however agreed to        backs and rifles in their hands, appeared and hurried


 320                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



to the school where the women and girls had slept.         Bibles Are Burnt
Terrorists! It was as if the overcast sky suddenly be-        A drone became audible in the sky above the
came darker. Not long afterwards came the messenger        clouds. Now it was the turn of the attackers to
from the women's camp to tell the men: Come!.              become worried. Would it be a  Defence Force
                                                           helicopter tracking them down? Hastily they collect
                                                           their belongings. The pile of Bibles are burnt and with
Today Is The Day!                                          a parting threat they disappear into the bush.
   Was this to be the end? They had to go. When they
came closer they saw the Bibles and hymn books             Suffering For The Sake Of Christ
already stacked, ready to be burnt. "You don't want           With bruised bodies and filled with fear the little
to listen," the leader of the group from the bush          congregation scattered. No service and no Communion
snarled at them. "We are engaged in a big struggle and     was held that day at C outpost, and it will also not
we have long since told you to desist from your            happen again soon. But here and there in a humble
praying. But you won't listen.  Today you will see         hut in the bush, there will be more than one faithful
what is going to happen!"                                  heart that will have to ponder those happenings at the
                                                           weekend of C: Is this what awaits me if I want to be
                                                           a follower of Christ? Am I prepared for this?
Corporal Punishment For Congregation                          Pray for Christians at C Outpost and for many
                                                           others like them who have to decide anew in these
   The whole congregation of 60 to 70 persons are          days if they want to pay the price of being a follower
commanded to lie flat on the ground, men, women            of Jesus Christ.
and children, including the Rev. Z and the aged                                  **********
`evangelist M. The sticks planted in the ground around
the mango trees in the school yard, are uprooted and,        Thus far the account from the  DRC Africa News.
-as if they were about to begin threshing wheat on a          Not only does this furnish an insight into the
threshing floor, the terrorists proceeded to beat the      antichristian character of the terrorist activities of the
defenceless people lying on the ground. What was to        Patriotic Front, but it should also lend realism and
follow?                                                    fervor to our prayers for God's people in tribulation.

TRANSLATED TREASURES




                                     Pamphlet on the
                        Reformation of the Church
                                                  Dr. A. Kuyper




(The following paragraph is the concluding paragraph       Earthly  Ojfice With the  Heaven& Messiah-Office of
of Chapter 1 in  ,which Kuyper deals with general          King Jesus.
principles of church reformation. In particular, he has      The ascension of Jesus to heaven is an actual
been talking in previous paragraphs concerning the         historical fact which must be recognized in all its
nature of the offices in the Church of Christ. In this     significance. The ascension must not, therefore, be
paragraph he discusses the work of the Holy Spirit in      interpreted as if Jesus was still really on earth after
the office.)                                               His ascension. No, He is now in heaven and remains
12. In What WaJj the Holy Spirit Binds Together the        there until the day of the renewal of all things. He is


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  321


indeed with His own people in the operations of His        has given. And it is exactly because of this that the
grace, majesty, and Spirit, but He is not with them        person-of the Holy Spirit is the One Who really seals
personally. Even in the holy sacrament of the Lord's       the office. In and through that office He,  in'the first
Supper Jesus does not descend to His elect, but pulls      place, works to sanctify persons for the office.
their souls up to feed them not on earth but in            Secondly, in His own time, He internally draws them
heaven with His true body and to give them to drink        to that office. Thirdly, He qualifies, through, for, and
with His blood. In particular, over against the            in that office. Fourthly, by the exercise of this office,
teaching of the Lutheran brethren, the purer               He makes the office fruitful.
Reformed teachers such as Calvin have always                 Actually both operations of the person of the Holy
definitely maintained concerning this point the  `i'n      Spirit belong together. To work internally in the man
coelunz  subvecta" of the redeemed soul, i.e., that the    the Holy Spirit makes use of the human office
soul of the elect is taken up into heaven by the holy      through which He works. And on the other hand, to
sacrament of communion and is thus fed by                  be able to perform a work through the human office
Emmanuel.                                                  the Holy Spirit accompanies the external work with
  Jesus once came to earth: but this mission has now       His personal work in and on the soul.
been replaced by another, the mission of the Holy            Yet we have not fully described this glorious
Spirit; and a mission of the Son shall not again take      operation of the Holy Spirit with these words. The
place until the newest day. Then Christ will not come      operation of the person of the  Holjr Spirit proceeds
in mercy, but to judge the living and the dead.            not only to the individual members but also in those
  In this interim, therefore, the church must seek her     members to the whole body. Hence He "apportions
Head above and "must seek those things which are           the  gift to each as He wills" and impels God's elect to
above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of           seek the fellowship of the saints in order that "they
God." Now, however, because the church still tarries       may have their gifts mutually and apply them to- the
on earth and must manifest herself on earth, the           greatest benefit of the other members." The church is
question arises in what way the bond is established        not for the office, but `the office for the church. As
which binds the ecclesiastical office on earth with the    Israel was itself originally called to send from all her
Messiah-office of King Jesus. The answer to that           tribes priests for the sanctuary of the Lord, and as
question is: this  bpnd is established by the Holy         later only Levi's tribe was separated for the service
Spirit. The person of the Holy Spirit is now the one       because of Israel's sin, thus it is also with the separate
sent Who works on earth and Who is thus not only in        office in the church. Properly, the work  of.Christ
Christ as our Head, but in like manner in us as His        ought to be able to proceed directly through and in
members. In this way He binds Head and church              all believers. And it is only because of sin and an
together. First the Son was sent as our Comforter.         account of our sinful limitation that now that which
But, now He is gone away and another Comforter is          ought to rest on all is limited to a small segment of
come in Whom we have more than the disciples had           the church which holds the office. Hence, through
because the person of the Mediator stood outside           this special office, the office of all believers becomes
their persons. But  now the person of the Holy Spirit      a wider foundation of the special office. Hence also
enters into our persons. "Know ye not that your            the Holy Spirit triumphs continuously over sin by
bodies are temples of the holy spirit, who is in you,      causing this office of all believers to manifest itself. It
whom ye have from God?" "It is for your benefit            manifests itself not only in families, but also in the
that I go away because if I do not go away,  the           church, so that when the special office decays and
comforter cannot come."                                    degenerates, the office of believers powerfully revives
                                                           again. The particular office is and remains necessarily
  This operation of the Holy Spirit is now two-fold:       the essential force. But the office of all believers, as it
an operation in man and an operation through man.          shall some day radiate in heaven, is the only high,
  It is an operation in man because the person of the      holy, and glorious ideal which streams from the
Holy Spirit penetrates the elect, calls and persuades      Messiah-office in the heart of Christ's own.
him internally, brings his will into subjection, and         There is still more. Just as the person of the Holy
declares him innocent and righteous before the             Spirit manifests Himself not only in each believer, but
judgment of the seat of the conscience. Further, He        also in the fellowship of the saints through the office
regenerates and sanctifies him, prays in him with          of all believers, so also the person of the Holy Spirit
unutterable groanings, enlightens and comforts him,        works not only in each one who holds the special
redeems and make& him free.                                office, but He works in the official gatherings of  4he
  But it is also an operation through man because it       officebearers of King Jesus. As frequently as the royal
has pleased -God to bind the person of the Holy            officebearers of King Jesus come together in official
Spirit in all His work to the word which He Himself        gathering,, more is present than the sum of the


322                                             THE STANDARD BEARER



individuals. A gathering of Jesus' royal officebearers,      Holy Spirit formulates as clearly as possible before
provided that they come together officially, repre-          the consciousness of the church that truth which is
sents the power of Christ over His whole church              brought to us by the word concerning the eternal
whether it be a gathering of the officebearers of a          counsel of God. Such a dogma sinks deep roots in the
local church over that local church, or whether it be a      heart of the churches because the person of the Holy
gathering of the royal officebearers of more churches        Spirit prepares it in the hearts of the believers
over those churches in common. And finally, the              through the struggle between the truth and the lie,
power of Christ is represented in a convocation of           and deeper still through the struggle with sin itself.
officebearers of all the churches from one land over         Secondly, the Holy Spirit raises up heretics so that
that national church, or of the churches of many             the form of the lie which is suppressed in the hearts of
lands over the whole visible church on earth. In all         the believers is made to gallop away in full armor
these convocations, gatherings, or councils, whether         against the welfare of the church. This has the
one calls them consistories, classes, synods, or             purpose of compelling the church and her teachers to
councils, the organic unity of the body heightens the        exert herself spiritually in order that in the sweat of
significance of each individual officebearer. And it is      that spiritual labor the life-giving food of the church
exactly in this organic union of many that the person        may be produced. The result is that the gathering of
of the Holy Spirit can reveal better and more                Jesus' royal officebearers, in whom the word of the
powerfully than in the limitation of the individual the      Lord has power and Jesus Himself presides  in the
majesty of his divine, infinite, irresistible operation.     Holy Spirit, harvests this labor of the men present
Therefore, such a gathering of officebearers, where          and thus the word finds the form in which the truth
the word of the Lord only has power and where                of God is confessed.
,Christ  presides in the president through His Holy            When that confession is brought out, be it but in a
Spirit, stands above every particular conference,            still fallible form and always subject to appeal to the
council, or group of believers in spiritual authority.       word, this official work now returns to the congrega-
   The key of wisdom for these  officitil gatherings lies    tion of believers upon whose lips is now laid this
in the opening words of the decree of the Jerusalem          discovered confession.
Synod : "`It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to             Thus the church receives that confession not as the
us."                                                         fruit of the thought of learned  thirikers  but as
   The expression of a gathering must never, after the       precious jewels gloriously prepared for her by the
passing away of the apostolate, be identified with the       Holy Spirit in the soul-struggle of believers and in the
utterance of the Holy Spirit. Rome fell into error. by       frightening needs of the church. She finds in her
taking this position. There always remains a yawning         confession a piece of her own life. She cherishes that
chasm between the infallible word of the Spirit and          confession as a costly document by which her
the fallible word of man. But also through this fallible     triumph  over: heresy and error is recognized, thanks
word of man the person of the Holy Spirit carries the        to the Spirit's operation.  IKe approaches that con-
church on earth forward and leads it into all truth.         fession as the only comfort which leads her safely to
The calling of the Holy Spirit is that which glorifies       the true meaning of the word through the thicket of
the Father and the Son. Therefore the Holy Spirit is         many interpretations of that word. She desires to see
the witness in the word of prophets and apostles and         that confession more precise, more correct, more
comes to us as witness in the written word. But that         pure. But she never permits one part of this beautiful
word must not only be read and echoed; it must be            organism to be mutilated or much less cut out. And
taken up by the church, continuously brought from            without ever or in any way bringing that confession
the obscure to clearer consciousness, and thus be            to a level with the unique Word of God, she
transmitted to the church of all ages for their              nevertheless maintains her conviction in the power of
independent proclamation of the virtues of Him who           the Lord God that as long as no purer confession is
has called the church out of darkness into His               found, her confession is the simplest and yet most
marvelous light. And now the person of the Holy              complete prepared expression of the glorious truth
Spirit works in the formulation of dogma. I.e., the          which God has revealed to us.



       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

                  is a thoughtful gift for a "Shut-in".


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                              323



THE LORD GAVE THE WORD





                                 The Biblical Ground
                                            of Missions
                                              Proj? Robert D. Decker





  It ought to be quite obvious that the mission work       etc. Others interpret the scope quite narrowly and
of the Church of Jesus Christ must be grounded in          insist that missions is limited to preaching and
Scripture. It is only from the Word of God that tie        teaching only. What does the Bible have to say to this
are able to learn the principles which govern missions.    point?
From the Word of God either directly or by                   A third question is: to whom must mission work
implication we are also able to learn the proper           be directed? To the Jew? To the Gentile? Both? Is
methods or practice of missions. Whatever we say           there a priority here? Does the Biblical formula, "to
concerning missions both from a principle and a            the Jew first and also the Gentile," still hold? This,
practical point of view, we must say what Scripture        after all, was the method followed by the Apostles,
says.                                                      notably the Apostle Paul. Even Paul, the missionary
                                                           to the Gentiles, went to the Jew first. In this
Some Questions                                             connection, what does the Form For The Ordination
  There are certain questions concerning the mission       Of Missionaries mean by, "Unto The Heathen" and
task of the Church which must be answered in the           "Unto The Dispersed"? Who are these? Is the object
light of God's Word. The first is basic: does the          of missions properly the heathen? Must the object be
Church in fact have the call to do missions? The           sought among those within the immediate vicinity of
answer to this question probably appears self-evident.     the established congregation? Does mission  work also
We would be inclined to say that this is not even a        include "Evangelism" among apostates or "covenant
question. Of course the Church has the calling to do       wanderers" as J. H. Bavinck calls them?
mission work. In the minds of most, this is not a            A crucial question, especially in our day, involves
questTon. But there are some, a few to be sure, who        the proper subject of mission work. Is the subject of
argue that the gospel has already been preached            missions the Church through the threefold office of
among all the nations of the earth. Therefore, they        minister, elder, and deacon? Is it the local Church,
say, the Church no longer has the task of doing            the individual congregation? May mission work be
missions. What does the Bible have to say about all        done by the broader gatherings of the Church:  Classis
this? Assuming that the Church does have the call,         and Synod? Does the Bible permit "mission soci-
exactly in what does this call consist? Just exactly       eties " or "evangelistic associations" to do mission
what must the Church be doing in missions?                 work? May these latter work in conjunction with the
  In this connection we must face and answer the           Church? The Protestant Reformed Churches have
question: what is the scope of missions? Some              always insisted that mission work may be done only
interpret the scope of missions very broadly. These        and exclusively by the Church. Mission work belongs
assert that missions includes many activities, such as,    to the official ministry of the Word which is the sole
preaching and teaching, civilizing, healing, educating,    task of the Church. Is this position that of Scripture?


324                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



  Another important question which needs answer-              the head of the seed of the serpent. Christ had not
ing is: what is the proper motive for missions? Is it         yet. come in the Old Dispensation, and the Kingdom
compassion for the heathen? Is it the salvation of the        of Heaven had not yet come. There was a type of the
heathen? Ought we to be motivated by a passion to             Kingdom in the Theocracy of Israel in Canaan but the
win souls for Christ? Is the extension of God's               realization of that type had to wait until the cross
Church the proper motive? Is it the realization of            and resurrection of Christ and the outpouring of the
God's counsel and thus the manifestation of God's             Spirit by the Ascended Lord. This was the age of the
glory? Is it either of these exclusively or is the motive     promise. Everything was future.
a combination of the above? If it be the latter, what           For this reason salvation was entirely  particularis-
is the relationship between the above?                        tic. This was true not only as far as the elect were
  Closely related to the preceding is the oft-debated         concerned  - although it was that, too, obviously.
question: does the pagan world itself seek the gospel?        From that point of view salvation is always particular.
J. H. Bavinck raises this  point:Are we sent into the         But salvation was particularistic also as far as
pagan world solely by God Himself or does the world           generations and tribes and  ,nations were concerned. In
itself  also. long for our coming? Is there, to put the       a word, in the Old Dispensation salvation was limited
question -another way, a "point of contact" in the            to the nation of Israel.
heathen to which the missionary may address the                 In this light one might not expect to discover
gospel? At this point we are involved in the whole            mission principles in the Old Testament Scriptures.
question of General Revelation.                               At that time the gospel could not yet be preached to
  Again, closely related to this point is the question        the nations, for the Holy Spirit had not yet been
concerning the proper approach in missions. May the           poured out upon all flesh. The "Day of the Lord" (cf.
missionary or ought he to adapt himself and the               Joel 2) had not yet dawned.
message of the gospel to the foreign culture, the               The Old Testament does, however, have a good
heathen concepts and practices? Or must the mission-          deal to say concerning the principles of missions. The
ary radically deny the heathen culture and concepts           Old Testament clearly suggests that all the nations,
and work to eradicate heathen customs and practices?          that is, the elect from all the nations, will ultimately
Ought the Protestant Reformed Churches,  ,for ex-             enter the Kingdom of God. This is undoubtedly why
ample, advise the Jamaican Christians to put away             there is the table of nations given in Genesis ten
their choruses, tamborines, and drums? Is there,              already. In the light of the whole of Scripture this
perhaps, some middle ground at this point?                    table of nations indicates, to be sure, that these
   Finally, we must deal with the whole problem of            nations are arranged as to their time and place with a
the content of the preaching and teaching. Does the           view to Israel. They are there in order that Israel,
Church preach a sort of "simple gospel"? Is this what         the people of God, His elect and precious, may stand
is implied when Scripture speaks of the "milk" of the         in the midst of them for all the world to behold as
Word in distinction from the "meat"? Must the whole           the WONDER of God. Not only that, but these
counsel of God be preached, or something a bit less           nations are arranged with a view to Israel so that they
than that? Should truths such as election and                 may serve Israel. The nations are there for the sake of
reprobation and the eternal counsel of God be                 God's people and for the sake of the Kingdom of God
preached? There are many who argue that the                   represented by God's people.
message  on  the mission field must be kept as simple
as possible. What does Scripture have to say to this            Nevertheless, the fact that these nations are
point? What may we learn from the example of the              enumerated indicates that it is not the purpose of
Apostles and the early Church in this regard?                 God to abandon these nations. God will preserve
                                                              t`hem for the sake of His people and for the future of
  All these questions and more perhaps must be                His Kingdom. The day is coming when God will call
carefully answered in the light of the Word of God.           His elect out of all the nations of the earth. For this
                                                              reason all of the families of Shem, Ham, and Japheth
Missions in Old Testament Perspective                         are enumerated in detail. The Scriptures even tell us
  One probably does not expect to discover much in            the place of their habitation, their place in the earth.
the Old Testament relating to the missionary task of          Thus the last verse of Genesis ten reads: "These are
the Church. The Old Dispensation was a period of              the families of the sons of Noah, after their
preparatiorz   for the gospel. It was a period of the "not    generations, in their nations: and by these were the
yet," a period of anticipation. What our fathers were         nations divided in the earth after the flood." The
fond of calling "the mother promise," Genesis 3: 15,          point of all this is that ultimately God will call His
was, as far as its realization is concerned, futuristic.      people out of all the nations of the earth. And this is
God promises that the seed of the woman shall bruise          the task of missions.


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                    325


FROM HOLY WRIT





                               Exposition of Galatians
                                                    Rev. G. Lubbers





CALLED UNTO LIBERTY IN CHRIST  (Galatians                     is not circumcision, nor baptism, but a new creature,
5:13)                                                         which has power unto godliness and holiness and
  Christian liberty is not the same as sinful, fleshly        love. (Gal.  5:6) In this liberty of those born from
license. It is true a thousand times that we are not          Jerusalem which is from above we must stand! And
"under law" but we are "under grace." (Rom. 6: 15)            we must stand in it spiritually in our liberty in Christ.
To be  under  law means to be under the power of law,         We must remember that he that doeth sin is a servant
as this law is the power of sin! (I Cor.  15:56) They,        of sin. (John  8:34) But our calling to liberty is of
who are under law, are under the curse of the law; the        such a nature that the truth has made us free, so that
law only works wrath apart from grace in Christ!              we abide in Christ, as a branch abides in and lives out
(Rom. 4: 15) The letter  kills!  (II Cor.  3:6) From this     of the vine. Without Christ we can do nothing. But,
bondage and slavery of the law we have been                   abiding in Him, we bear much fruit; therein is our
redeemed; all the just demands of the law have  beep          Father in heaven glorified. (John 15 : l-l 0)
fulfilled in Christ; they have also been fulfilled in us,        This freedom which is ours we have by virtue of
who walk not after the flesh, but who walk after the          the "calling" wherewith we have been called. This
Spirit. (Rom.  8:4) The law of the Spirit of life  has        calling is no mere invitation to accept some profered
made us free from the law of sin and of death. (Rom.          salvation; it is the efficacious calling which is
8:2) And, therefore, we do not say: let us continue in        life-giving by the Holy Spirit of  llife. Paul refers to this
sin, that grace may abound. God forbid! (Rom. 6: 1)           already in Chapter  1:6 where God is designated as the
  Such is here the clarion-sound of the  Gospel-              "One having called you." This is a calling of God Who
precept as set forth here in our text in Galatians            raises the dead to life, and calls the things which be
5:13!                                                         not as if they were.  (Ram.  4:17)  It is the calling
  The apostle writes rather emphatically that the             which is a link in the "golden chain" of Romans
Galatian believers have been called unto liberty. In          8:30.  Here the links of the chain are:  predestination-
the Greek text this is indicated by  humeis . . .             calling-justification-glorification! The calling is as sure
eklcetheete-ye,  ye have been called unto liberty! No         and unchangeable as is God's eternal election itself. (I
matter what these false teachers may say, the truth is,       Cor.  1:26-3 1) We make all diligence to make our
once and for all, that ye had once  arzd  for  all  been      calling and election sure. (II Peter  1 : 10) Paul had a
called, yes, called unto liberty. Such is indicated in        good confidence in these Galatian brethren. It is
the Greek text which uses the Aorist tense. And it            rooted in their having been called in Christ Jesus. Paul
was a calling out of darkness into God's marvelous            himself is  such  a product of the efficacious calling in
light. (I Peter  2:9) This efficacious calling constitutes    Christ. (Gal. 1 : 15)
these believers to be new creatures. They have been             Why is this placed here on the foreground? Why
created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God            does Paul  speak in connection with the walk of
before prepared, that they might walk in them. (Eph.          sanctification so emphatically of this calling in Christ
2:9, 10) Such new creaturehood is all that matters; it        unto  liberty? Why does he remind these "brethren"


326                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



of their calling? It is just as in Ephesians 4: 1. There    outward  formal legalism, nor some mores of the
Paul exhorts the believers "to  walk worthily of the        moralist, but that it is: "what I now live, I live by the
calling wherewith they have been called." Only when         faith of the Son of God." (Gal.  2:20) Also in
we see the exalted nature of our calling will we have       Sanctification it must be quite evident that our life is
the incentive to walk in all good works of love. Only       Christ, the hope of glory! The walk of sanctification
when we know that we are justified by faith alone           is one in which the believer says: Through law I died
and. that his justification is ours because we have been    unto Law that I might live unto God and walk in
efficaciously called unto faith, will we have the           newness of life. (Rom.  6:4) This newness of life is a
assurance that we are not "debtors" to live after the       newness wrought by the Spirit, and thus we bring
flesh. (Rom. 8: 12) When we are called we are those         fruits unto God. (Rom. 7: l-6) It is the covenant, the
who "are born out of God," sons of God renewed              new covenant, written in our hearts by the Spirit.
after the image of God. (John 1: 13) As such we have        (Heb.  8:8-13;  Jer.  31:31-34)
the "right" to become the children of God. Only thus          Now the danger is that in this walk of liberty we
do we have the right to walk at liberty, no longer to       shall fall into the bondage of sin. Satan would tempt
walk in sin, to live by the Spirit and thus walk in the     us, the world of unbelievers will entice us, and our
Spirit and not in the flesh.                                own flesh, in which there dwells no good thing,
   It is in this "calling" that justification and           allures us from our liberty in Christ. If Satan cannot
santification  have their meeting-point in our life.        succeed in alluring us in the lie of needing good works
Never is the one without the other. Here we see the         of law to be justified, then he will do all that is in his
Divine wisdom of the Cross. Christ became for us            power to allure us to fall into his trap of having us use
righteousness, sanctification, and complete redemp-         our Gospel-liberty as a spring-board to serve the flesh
tion. (I Cor.  1:30, 31) Here the believer, walking in      and the lusts which war against the soul. Satan then
good works, glories only in the Cross. That the             comes as an angel of light. He succeeds in assuring us
unbeliever can only be "under law" in all his attempts      that we can sin with impunity as Christians. Where sin
at morality is thus evident, isn't it? But it is also       abounds, grace does much more abound. Let us then
evident that the believer is made free to walk in all       sin that grace may abound. That seems to be the
good works by the power of Christ's death and               logical conclusion, but it is not the logic of the
resurrection from the dead. It is, indeed, newness of       wisdom of God in His salvation of the Cross of
life.                                                       Calvary. It is the logic of sin!
   What wondrous grace is this calling! Take notice of        Paul raises a warning finger. And what a necessary
it! Not the wise according to the flesh are called, not     warning for us who are ever like sheep to go astray.
many mighty and great in the world, not many of             Do not make of the doctrine of grace a pillow for sin,
noble birth. Why? Because God has  elected  the             to sin. comfortably. Ever there are the sins of anger,
foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise.       jealousy, the not walking according to the "law and
No flesh may glory in God's presence. He that glories,      the Prophets." "Whatsoever ye would that men
must glory in the LORD, Jehovah our righteousness,          should do to you, do ye even so to them; for this is
whether this be in  his justification  or in his            the law and the prophets." These sins are bad enough
sanctification!  And that is what the Galatians, and we     as such, but when we would "use" our liberty in
with them, must have, as the anchor-point in our            Christ for perpetrating sin, then it is doubly wicked.
faith. We have been called unto liberty according to        Do not do this, warns Paul: "only do not use your
the eternal good-pleasure of God, and by His                liberty as an occasion for sin." Rather work out your
matchless, glorious grace. Amen!                            salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God that
   In this calling unto liberty in Christ there is an       worketh, energizes in you both to will and to do
implied  precept  of the Gospel. Here I  must most          according to His good-pleasure.
emphatically warn any and every preacher, by the
tender mercies of the Lord, not to place upon the           SERVING ONE ANOTHER THROUGH LOVE
congregation the hard yoke of the law. Do not haul          (Galatians 5 : 13)
into the back door what you have thrown out of the            Here is the basic precept of the Gospel of grace!
front door. Let your admonitions to the saints be and       Paul adds a very positive commandment in this text.
remain forever:  precepts of the Gospel,  anchored in       It is part of the "great commandment" which is as
the Gospel-note: Ye have been called unto liberty. We       great as "thou shalt love the Lord Thy God." We are
must admonish the congregation to reach out and             to serve one another through  `"the  love." This is the
grasp that for which they have been apprehended             well-known love which has been shed abroad in our
(grasped) in Christ Jesus their Lord. (Phil 3: 12) The      hearts by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has been
saints must most emphatically press forward in              given us. That is gift. But the love is also gift of God
sanctification in such a way that it is not mere            to us, taking away the hatred for God and our


                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER                                              327


neighbor. (Rom.  5:5)                                          are no longer in the prison-house of sin. In God's
  Perhaps we do  well to listen to what we read in I           family we are loving each other, helping each other,
John  4:7. "Beloved, let us love one another, for love         praying for each other. Here we visit the dying and
is of (out of) God." That is the keynote also here.            the sick, care for the poor and needy, give a glass of
For "everyone that loveth is begotten of God, and              water in the Name of Christ.
knoweth God." Such have eternal life abiding in
them. He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God                This service is newness of life. It is not walking
is love. (I John  4:8) And "if God so loved us, we also        according to the oldness of the letter, but according
ought to love one another." That is the deepest motif          to the newness of the Spirit. Here we see the law
of this exhortation also here in Gal. 5 :  13!                 written not merely upon tables of stone with the
                                                               finger of God, but upon the tables of the hearts. (II
  But this love is one of "service" to one another. It         Cor.  3:3) Yes, here is the Lord Who is the Spirit,
is the mutual love for one another as fellow citizens          dwelling in the saints; and where this Spirit is, as he
of God, fellow-heirs of the grace of life. Loving each         sheds the love abroad in our hearts, there is liberty.
other we walk at liberty. We are not servants of sin,          Here we are changed from glory unto glory as by the
but very willing servants in the day of Christ's power.        Spirit of the Lord..
It is a service where the shackles of sin have fallen
from us. We are the captives, who were set free; we              0, the joy of loving service to the neighbor!

IN HIS FEAR




                                                  The Origin
                                            of Godly Fear
                                                   Rev. Arie den Hartog





  In our last several installments we have been                sovereign, majestic, infinitely great, almighty, per-
considering the very important scriptural theme of             fectly holy and righteous God. Godly fear comes to
the "fear of God." It is our intention to continue this        the man who knows God's infinite greatness and
consideration for some time. We have seen how                  holiness and his own smallness in God's sight, and
predominant this theme is in Holy Scripture. Every-            furthermore his own awful sinfulness in God's holy
where, again and again, the Word of God exhorts us             presence. The more profoundly that the child of God
to fear God and characterizes the true people of God           comes to know what this means in all its implications
as a God-fearing people. In fact, the very heart of true       the more he will fear and tremble at the presence of
godliness, of true religion and sincere Christianity, is       God. If a man really spiritually knows who and what
the fear of God. No man can say that he is a Christian         God is there  cati be no other reaction than one of
if he does not manifest in his life true godly fear. We        exceeding great fear and trembling. Godly fear comes
have seen something of what it means to fear God.              to the one who is deeply conscious of the fact  $hat
Godly fear is a profound, humble, holy, reverential            this God is everywhere present. In Him we live and
awe in the presence of God that dominates and                  move and have our being. Our whole life is lived in
controls one's whole being. Godly fear is born out of          His presence. All things are naked and open before
a profound spiritual knowledge of who and what God             Him with Whom we have to do. We cannot escape
is. The god-fearing man knows that God is the                  His presence. His all-knowing and all-seeing eye


 328                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



 beholds the whole of our life. He not only sees our         dwell safely; and they shall be my people, and I will
 outward life He knows every thought and inclination         be their God; and I will give them one heart, and one
 of our heart completely. Godly fear is characteristic       way, THAT THEY MAY FEAR ME FOREVER, for
 of the one who has a true sense of what this great          the good of them, and of their children after them;
 sovereign, holy, and righteous God requires of man.         and I will make an everlasting covenant with them,
 God has sovereignly made man for His own purpose            and I will not turn away from them, to do good, but I
 to glorify Him. God requires that we love Him with          WILL PUT MY FEAR IN THEIR HEARTS, that they
 all our heart and soul and strength and mind. God           shall not depart from me. Yea, I will rejoice over
requires that we be holy even as He is holy. These are       them in doing them good, and I will plant them in
 exceedingly awesome and fearful requirements.               this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my
   We must hasten to consider another aspect of the          whole soul." Jeremiah  32:37-41.
 fear of God. Where does the fear of God come from?            It. would take much more space than this article
How is it that the godly man fears God? What is the          permits to give a detailed consideration of this
 origin of this fear? The reason why this is so urgent is    passage in all of its beautiful parts. I would like to call
that we know from scripture that it is not natural for       attention especially to some of the details of this
the sinful man to fear God. The apostle Paul in              passage as they relate to our subject of the origin of
 Romans 3: 18 characterizes all men as they are by           the fear of God. Notice first of all that this passage
nature when he says, "There is no fear of God before         states very clearly that it is God Who places His own
their eyes." The natural man knows the terror of the         fear in the hearts of His people. This is His sovereign
Lord because the wrath of God is revealed from               working. He places His fear in the hearts of those who
heaven against all unrighteousness of men. The               formerly did great evil in His sight and therefore did
natural man knows nothing of true godly fear. He             not fear Him. Notice in the second place that this is
ever flees from the presence of God because he hates         according to God's wonderful goodness. God delights
God. His greatest desire is that God would not be. He        to do His people good. Therefore He places His fear
seeks to deny God, to expel Him from every sphere            in their hearts. The fact that God placed His fear in
of his life and from all his thoughts. In this of course     the hearts of His people is for their own good and for
he is the greatest fool. For God is. And God is the          the good of their children after them. Notice that
awful, righteous, and holy judge of those who deny           God placed His fear in the HEARTS of His people.
Him and who do not live up to what He requires of            He does not merely reveal to them in an outward way
every man. So awful and terrible is God that He is a         that He is a fearful God. This they would soon forget
consuming fire to all the workers of iniquity.               as they so often did. After the fearful revelation of
   Scripture is very clear on the fact that the only         God on Mount Sinai when God spoke to Israel amidst
reason why men fear God in true godly fear is                thunderings and lightnings and the voice of a trumpet
because He Himself has placed that fear in the hearts        exceeding loud, the people of Israel trembled with
of men. How urgent it is for us to understand this if        great fear and they pleaded with Moses that he would
we are to understand the crucial scriptural exhorta-         intercede on their behalf. But how soon Israel forgot
tion, "Fear God"! There is especially one passage of         that fear. Within forty days they were worshiping the
scripture which mentions this specifically and  heauti-      golden calf.  .The same thing happened in Israel after
fully that I would like to consider in some detail. This     the fearful demonstration on Mount  Carmel  at the
passage is found in Jeremiah 32. In this chapter the         time of Elijah. This fearful demonstration caused
prophet Jeremiah prophesies of God's wonderful               Israel to fall on their faces and cry, "The Lord, He is
dealings with His people Israel after they have been         God, the Lord, He is God." But how soon after this
chastened in Babylon because of their great abomina-         they forgot the Lord their God and turned again to
tions against the Lord their God. Jeremiah speaks of         do great wickedness and worship Baal. But our text
the wonderful dealings of God's sovereign grace and          says that God will now place His fear in the HEARTS
mercy according to His everlasting covenant with His         of His people. The heart, we know, is the spiritual
people. The amazing wonder of these dealings is that         center of a man. Out of the heart are all the issues of
the Lord performs this in spite of the fact that, as the     life. As a man thinketh in his heart so is he. And God
Lord says earlier concerning Israel, "they have done         will place His fear in the hearts of His people with
only evil from their youth, for the children of Israel       such sovereign efficacy that they will FEAR HIM
have only provoked me to anger with the works of             FOREVER. Surely all of this refers to the New
their hands." Jeremiah  32:30. Yet God speaks                Dispensation. It refers to the coming of Christ Who
concerning Israel these beautiful words of comfort,          will do this through the pouring out of His Spirit in
"Behold I will gather them out of all countries,             the hearts of His people. Finally it refers  tq the
whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my          everlasting blessed state of God's people.
fury, and in great wrath; and I will cause them to             Central to this whole passage is the wonderful fact


                                               IliE STANDARD BEARER                                                329



that God will do this, that He will place His fear in        of Philippians 2: 12-l 3 : "Work out your own salva-
the hearts of His people, according to His everlasting       tion WITH FEAR AND TREMBLING. For it is God
covenant of grace with His people. The very fact that        which worketh in you both to will and to do of his
men fear God is because GOD causes them to fear              good pleasure." God places His fear in our hearts
Him as a blessing of His everlasting covenant of grace.      through the wonderful power of His Holy Spirit. By
According to that everlasting covenant of grace God          that Spirit He has shed His love abroad in our hearts.
delights over His people, He rejoices over them to do        And by that Spirit He makes us willing from our
them good. He will plant them in the everlasting land        hearts to fear Him with godly reverential fear.
of His covenant assuredly with His whole heart and             Therefore also the scriptures often speak of the
with His whole soul.                                         Lord's teaching us His fear. It is for this reason that
  It is especially the fact that it is according to God's    God reveals to us His greatness, His holiness, and His
everlasting covenant of grace that He causes His             righteousness that we might learn to fear Him. God
people to fear Him that has tremendous implications          teaches us His law that we might learn to fear Him.
for all that we have said concerning this theme of the       How this was brought out on Mount Sinai! Moses
fear of God. We have seen that the fear of God is very       speaks of this in Deuteronomy 4: 10: "Specially the
much related to our knowledge of God. In the                 day that thou, stoodest before the Lord thy God in
measure that we know who and what God is, and that           Horeb, when the Lord said unto me, Gather me the
in a true spiritual way, we shall also fear Him. The         people together, and I will make them hear my
covenant, we know, is God's intimate personal                words, that they may learn to fear me all the days
relationship of friendship with His people. In the           that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may
covenant God declares concerning His people, "They           teach their children." The whole of God's revelation
shall by My people and I will be their God." In the          is given to God's covenant people that they may learn
sphere of the covenant God causes His people to              to fear Him.
know Him in all that He is, in the fullness of His             The Lord's dealings with His people are for the
goodness and blessedness, His wondrous love and              purpose of teaching them His fear. Even when the
grace and mercy. In the sphere of the covenant God           Lord chastens us He chastens us in love as a Father in
causes His people to know His greatness and power to         order that we  .might learn His fear. This was true of
save them and His wonderful faithfulness and mercy           Israel when they were led into the Babylonian
to forgive all their sins and blesses them with His own      captivity. The Lord chastened them that they might
highest good. It is when the child of God knows this         learn to fear Him.
that he truly fears God.                                       That man who fears Jehovah is truly blessed. How
  How does God work that fear in the hearts of His           often the Psalmist speaks of this. Surely then it ought
people? Surely He does this not as though they were          to be the earnest prayer of all of God's saints, "Place
stocks and blocks but in harmony with the fact that          Thy fear, oh Lord,  in my heart; teach me daily all of
they are moral rational creatures. The truth of this is      Thy law that I might fear Thee; show me Thy glory
most clearly brought out in that well known passage          and Thy righteousness that I might fear Thee."

MY SHEEP HEAR MY VOICE




                                     Letter to Timothy


                                         April 15, 1979
Dear Timothy,                                                ly of certain qualifications which the pastor must
  In our discussion of the pastoral labors of the            have. You  recall that in our last letter we spoke of the
minister with those who are troubled and have                fact that the fundamental qualification was that the
problems of many sorts, we were speaking  particular-        pastor must be a minister of the Word.


330                                             THE STANDARD BEARER



    I want to mention a few other things before we            God, cares enough for his flock to pray for them
proceed into other areas with our discussion.                 constantly. Paul uses some very sharp language when
   You have learned in Seminary that the pastor must          he speaks of this. In Ephesians 1: 15, 16 he writes:
be a man of prayer. We ought to pause for a few               "Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the
moments and discuss together what this implies.               Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, cease not to
                                                              give thanks for you,  making'mention of you in my
   That it is an important qualification no one can           prayers." And this same truth is expressed elsewhere.
deny. We read rather strikingly in the gospels that           Paul, more than once, tells the church that he makes
Jesus Himself was One Who prayed much. In fact, he            constant mention of the saints in his prayers.
spent whole nights in prayer to His Father at crucial
moments in. His ministry. Mark records, in the very              But, while all this is true and necessary, I refer
first chapter of his gospel record, how Jesus was very        more specifically to the fact that the minister must
busy late into the night healing the sick. All the city       learn to wrestle in prayer concerning specific prob-
was gathered together at the door. After such a busy          lems which he faces in connection with the needs of
day the Lord must have been exhausted. And yet He             the people of God. If he is a pastor to his sheep, he
did not spend the whole night in sound and refreshing         must pray specifically for his sheep as he works with
sleep, for we read  t.hat "in the morning, rising up a        them. Before he goes "on a call" he ought to spend time
great while before day, he went out, and departed             in prayer that he may bring the problem he faces
into a solitary place, and there prayed." (vs. 3.5) The       before the throne of God's grace. This is important
disciples could not understand why Jesus would hide           for several reasons. By prayer he will become
Himself. They were excited by His popularity. And so          conscious of his need of grace as he does the work of
we read, "And Simon and they that were with him               Christ. In prayer he will bring the sheep whom he
followed after him. And when they had found him,              must help to God so that he will seek God's
they said unto him, All men seek thee." (vss. 36, 37)         indispensable blessing upon the labors he puts forth
They could not understand this profound need of               and so that he will commit to God the outcome of
prayer.                                                       the matter. Through prayer -he will seek guidance in
   Luke, in the first vss. of chapter 11, suggests that it    the solution to the problem he faces, for this solution
was exactly this practice. of the Lord which led  the.        can come only through the work of the Spirit and the
disciples to request Jesus to teach them. to pray. It         preaching of the Word.
was almost as if they thought to themselves: If our              Without prayer, much prayer, he cannot expect to
Lord Who is perfect needs prayer so much that He              do his work.
spends whole nights in prayer, how weak is our life of           Another qualification of which mention ought to
prayer. And it was that which prompted their                  be made is the need to establish with his sheep what I
request.                                                      can only call rapport. My dictionary defines this word
   There is also `a striking passage in Hebrews  5:7, 8       as- meaning: relation; connection; especially harmo-
which speaks of these prayers of the Lord: "Who in            nious and sympathetic relation.
the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers            There are several elements which are involved in
and supplications with strong crying and tears unto           this.
him that was able to save him from death, and was
heard in that he feared; though he were a Son, yet               In the first place, a pastor who establishes rapport
learned he obedience by the things which he                   with his sheep is one who is willing and able to listen.
s u f f e r e d . "                                           This matter of listening is not as easy as it sometimes
                                                     _.       seems. There are pastors who want to do all the
   We need not enlarge upon this. It ought to strike-us       talking. They do some strange things sometimes.
with considerable force that if Christ Himself Who            When they go on sick calls, they tell the person who
was without sin needed prayer to accomplish the               is sick about their last bout with the flu or about the
work which God had given Him, how much more do                operation which they themselves had on their gall
not we, the servants of Christ, need prayer to do the         bladder. It is doubtful whether a person who is sick
work which Christ has assigned to us.                         has any interest in the gall bladder of his or her
   It is true, of course, that every child of God needs       pastor. Or, if it seems a bit crass to talk about these
prayer. The Scriptures are quite clear on this. It is         things, they talk about any other matter which may
also true that the minister of the gospel needs to be a       come to mind. But when people are distressed and
praying minister because the truth of the Scriptures          suffering under the heavy hand of God, they need a
can and will become clear to him and will be able to          pastor who will bring to them something other than
be expounded by him in the preaching only as he               any one in the congregation can bring. Pastors must
prays for a heart of understanding. It is also true that      be careful that they do not talk too much, and that
a minister, burdened `with the cares of the flock of          when they talk, they talk about the right things.


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                      331



  But there is more to this matter  of~listening.  It        able to put himself in the place of those' with whom
seems to me that the majority of the times when              he  labors. This is the true meaning of sympathy. To
people discuss their problems with their pastor they         by sympathetic is to suffer with; that is the meaning
do not really, in so many words, express what their          of the term. Scripture tells us that we have a perfect
problem really is. There are various reasons for this.       Highpriest in Jesus Christ. And He is a perfect
Sometimes they do not dare to discuss their                  Highpriest because He is able to be sympathetic with
problems. Sometimes they do not know how to put              our infirmities. This is the literal meaning of Hebrews
their problems into words. Sometimes they do not             4: 15, 16. And He is able to be sympathetic with our
even know precisely what their problem is. It is the         infirmities because He was tempted in all points like
exception rather than the rule that a person is able to      as we are, yet without sin. It is for this reason that we
express clearly and concisely the particular problems        may come boldly unto the throne of grace to obtain
which  he faces. And so, listening is very difficult. One    mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
must listen in such a way that one hears what is not            But a pas'tor must be sympathetic in this way. He
really being said, what is  ,between the lines, what lies    must be able to suffer with his sheep. And to do this
behind the words which are spoken. One listens not           he must be able to put himself into the place of his
so much to what the lips are saying, as to what the          sheep. He must look at their life with its problems
heart is saying.                                             and burdens from inside them. He must see things the
  That is one element in rapport.                            w a y   t h e y   s e e   t h e m   a t   t h e   m o m e n t .   H e   m u s t
  Another element in rapport is the need to know             understand truly what is happening to them and what
the sheep. This takes time for a pastor when he comes        suffering they are enduring because he is able to see
to a congregation. But it is necessary. For him to           things from their perspective. Only when his sheep
know his sheep he has to see them and understand             know that their pastor understands will they be able
them in a general way. He must understand human              also to talk with him freely about  the,troubles  which
nature in general  - what it is like, what it is capable     are their lot in life.
of doing, what sin does to people, what reactions               But finally, a pastor must also maintain his own
people have under different circumstances. The               role as pastor. There is a kind of delicate balance
Scriptures are a  goldmine of information on this            implied in this. A pastor must be able to take his
subject. In fact, we could almost say that the               sheep to his  owri heart while at the same time holding
Scriptures give  us all the information we need              them at arm's length. He must maintain his role as
concerning the realities of sin and the work of grace        pastor. I.e., he must maintain his position as an
in the hearts and lives of God's sinning saints. It          ambassador of Christ who is sent in Christ's name and
always struck me that Rev. Ophoff, whom I had in             with Christ's authority to speak the Word of Christ.
school for my three years of Seminary, had a                 Nothing must obscure that role which is central to it
profound understanding of human nature. He was,              all.
strangely enough, a man who was not very adept at               And, strangely enough, this a part of establishing
applying this knowledge always to particular  circum-        rapport. For the rappoi-t which must be established is
stances in which he found himself as'a pastor. But he        that, finally, between the individual Christian and
knew and understood human nature., He made                   Christ Himself. The pastor acts in this respect only as
observations about human nature which I remember             intermediary. The child of God must be brought face
to this day and which have been of great help to me          to face with  &ist and with Christ's Word. Before
in my work.                                                  that Word the child of  God.must bow. The sympathy
  But a general knowledge of human nature is not             and understanding  tihich the pastor shows must have
sufficient. One must know his sheep individually. He         as its purpose to reflect Christ's sympathetic  under-
must know them  in all the relationships of their life.      standing of the needs of His people.
He must know them in their families, in their work,             When there is such rapport, then the pastor can
in the company of their fellow saints, in their walk in                                        `.
                                                             indeed work  well'and   with effect in the strengthening
the world. He must know the kind of people they are.         of the people of God.
And only in this way will he be able- to establish              But we must bring this letter to  i,ts conclusion.
rapport with those with whom he works.                                                                       Fraternally in Christ,
  Furthermore, this rapport requires that a pastor be                                                                        H. Hanko

                              Know the standard and follow it.
                           Read  The Standard Bearer


332                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



TAKINGHEED TOTHEDOCTRINE





                             The Reformed .Doctrine
                                        of Reprobation

                                                Rev. David Engelsma





        "The Well-Meant Offer of the Gospel"'               His prescription of their solemn duty. The external
  Against the attack on reprobation  tiithin the            call of the gospel to the non-elect, "Repent and
Reformed community by means of the well-meant               believe ! " is a serious call inasmuch as God shows
offer of the gospel, our defense is. simple: the            them the way of salvation, confronts them with their
well-meant offer is not Reformed.                           duty to walk on that way, declares that He will give
                                                            eternal life to every one who repents and believes,
  It is not  historically  Reformed. The Reformed           and, points out that penitence and faith please Him,
faith has always distinguished the external call of the     whereas  impenitence and unbelief displease Him.
gospel and the internal call of the gospel. The internal
call of God's efficacious drawing of a. sinner unto               Two quotations will fairly serve to show that
Christ by the Word of the gospel bound upon his             Reformed theologians have not viewed the external
heart by the Holy Spirit. The internal call is directed     call to the non-elect as a gracious, well-meant offer of
to the elect only, as Romans  8:30 teaches; "Moreover       salvation. The first is from an old, Dutch dogmatics,
whom he did predestinate, them he also called." It is       Kern der Christelijk  Leer Dat is de Waarheden van
gracious. It is motivated by God's  fairor  towards the     den Hervormden Godsdienst (Essence of Christian
undeserving sinner, which favor desires his salvation;      Doctrine, that is, the Truths of the Reformed
and it is the means by which the power of sovereign         Religion).  The author was the Reformed pastor,
                                          _
grace actually saves the sinner.                            Aegidius Francken.  .The book dates from 1713.
                                                            Written in question and answer form, it has served as
  The external call is the  .authoritative voice of God     a popular catechism of the Reformed faith for
in the preaching of the gospel, without the internal,       generations of Dutch Reformed believers and their
drawing operation of  ihe Spirit. This call comes to all    children. In the chapter, "Concerning the Calling,"
who hear the gospel, reprobate as well as elect. Of         we find the following (my translation of the Dutch):
this call, Matthew 22: 14 speaks: "For many are
called but few are chosen." God directs this call to        Q. 5. What is the Calling?
the reprobate, not with the purpose of their salvation
(for He has purposed their damnation), not as an            A.         The calling is a gracious work of God, by
expression of grace (for He has excluded them from                     which He powerfully translates the elect
the grace of the gospel in His righteous wrath), and                   sinner out of the state of sin into His
certainly not to give them a chance to be saved (for                   fellowship.
they have no ability to obey the call); but rather as       Q. 6. Whom does God call unto His fellowhsip?


                                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER                                                    333



A.         Only the elect. Rom.  8:30: "Whom He did                                     Then follows a description of the internal calling as
           predestinate, them He also called."                                       "gracious, efficacious, irresistible, unchangeable," and
Q. 7. Does not God call all men by a sufficient                                      for the elect only.
           grace?                                                                      Were Reformed parents once again to rear their
A.         By no means; for many men are ignorant of                                 children on such a catechism, and to feed on it
           the way of salvation, without which knowl-                                themselves, it might be hoped that God would
           edge no one can be called  .unto God's                                    remove the name, "Ichabod," now written over much
           fellowship.                                                               that is called Reformed.
Q. 10. How does God call man?                                                          A s   Francken represents the Dutch Reformed
A.         Externally and internally.                                                tradition, James Henley Thomwell represents the
                                                                                     Presbyterian tradition. Thornwell, a southern Presby-
Q. 11. By what does God call man externally?                                         terian, who died in 1862, served as professor of
A.         By the word of the gospel, in which God                                   theology at the Theological Seminary in Columbia,
           presents to him Christ and His benefits.                                  South Carolina. In volume 2 of  The Collected
Q. 15. Whom does God call then by the gospel unto                                    Writings  of  James Henley Thornwell  (published by
           the fellowship of Christ?                                                 The Banner of Truth Trust) appears an extended
                                                                                     essay on "Election and Reprobation." After ex-
A.         All who live under the gospel.                                            plaining and proving predestination, Thomwell de-
Q. 18. Does God then intend  (beogen)  the salvation                                 fends the doctrine against various objections. He
           of all whom  He calls externally?                                         notes that "the doctrine of election is supposed to be
A.         By no means; God intends only the salvation                               inconsistent with the sincerity of God in the general
           of His elect.                                                             invitations and call of the Gospel, and with His
                                                                                     professions of willingness that all should be saved."
Q. 19. Prove that God in the external calling does                                   Thomwell's response, first of all, is the flat assertion
           not intend to save all.                                                   that "God has no purpose of salvation for all."
A.         That would conflict with God's eternal                                      It is true that this doctrine (of election) is wholly
           intention of reprobation, in which He has                                   irreconcilable with the idea of a fixed determina-
           determined to damn some on account of their                                 tion on the part of God to save, indiscriminately,
           sins, because He cannot intend in the preach-                               the whole human race. The plain doctrine of the
           ing of the gospel to save those whom He had                                 Presbyterian Church is that God has no purpose of
           fitted unto vessels of wrath.                                               salvation for all, and that He has not decreed that
Q .   2 0 .   D o e s   n o t   G o d   t h e n   d e a l   d e c e i t f u l l y      faith, repentance and holiness, and the eternal
           (bedriegelijk),   when He calls reprobates unto                             blessings of the Gospel, should be efficaciously
           salvation, whose salvation He does not in-                                  applied to all. The necessary consequence of such a
           tend?                                                                       decree would be universal salvation. The Scrip-
A.         By no means; for in the calling God only                                    tures, which are supposed to prove that God sent
           makes known to a sinner the way of salvation                                His Son into  the world with the  speci.fic intention
           - faith and conversion, and promises salva-                                 of saving all without exception or limitation, it is
           tion only to those who believe and convert                                  confidently believed, teach, when correctly inter-
           themselves; in this, God does not deal                                      preted, no such doctrine.
           deceitfully with them, but only shows that He                               Although Thomwell supposes that God has a
           has made an inseparable connection between                                "general benevolence" which is common (which he at
           faith and salvation.                                                      once designates as "the` common bounties of Provi-
Q. 21. Is not then the external calling and the moral                                dence"), this "general benevolence . . . implies no
           influence of the truth upon the conscience of                             purpose of salvation at all." In fact, Thornwell thinks
           men enough to translate a sinner unto God's                               it "preposterous . . . to deduce a purpose of universal
           fellowship?                                                               salvation" from the texts that speak only of the
                                                                                     common bounties of Providence, e.g., Matthew  5:44,
A.         No, it is not enough; for the man is by nature                            45, "as though God could not send rain upon the
           wholly incapable of any spiritual good. II Cor.                           wicked and unjust without designing to save them."
           3:5: "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves                             That men, nevertheless, make this deduction is
           to think any thing as of  ourse1ve.s."                                    "amazing" to Thornwell.
Q. 22. What must then be added, if a sinner is                                         With regard to the gospel's call of all who hear,
           actually to come unto God's fellowship?                                   Thornwell calls attention to the important, Biblical
A.         The internal calling.                                                     distinction between God's  preceptive will and His


334                                             THE STANDARD BEARER



decretive will: "The preceptive will of God is the rule      Calvin, that mighty instrument of the God of truth for
of duty to us; the decretive will, the plan of               the restoration of the gospel of His grace and glory in
operations to Himself." That God calls every man             the world. Commenting on the history of Israel
who hears the gospel to believe does not imply that          recorded in Deuteronomy  2:24-37, Israel's "words of
God purposes, or desires, the faith and salvation of         peace" to Sihon of the Amorites, that he let them
all. The imperative of the preaching, "Believe!"             pass through his land on their way to Canaan, Calvin
prescribes  man,`s duty; it is the preceptive will of God    notes the striking fact that God called Sihon to allow
- His command.                                               Israel to pass in peace through his land (vss.  26-29),
   The Reformed faith, by its confession of double           although God had determined the destruction of
predestination, denies that God has a purpose of             Sihon and his Amorites by way of Sihon's refusal to
salvation toward all men. Always, the objection              let Israel pass by him (vss. 24, 25). Sihon's refusal is
arises, "if God has no purpose of salvation toward all       explained in verse- 30: "But Sihon  king of Heshbon
men, the invitations of the Gospel become only a             would not let us pass by him: for the LORD thy God
mockery. God cannot possibly be sincere in the               hardened his spirit, and  made.his heart obstinate, that
indiscriminate offer of salvation if He does not intend      he might deliver him into  tiny hand, as appeareth this
to bestow it upon each and every individual."                day."
Thomwell dismisses this as a "specious objection." It           Calvin sees in this history, "as in a glass," a truth
"proceeds upon a gratuitous assumption that the              that destroys the notion of a well-meant offer as
external call of the Word conveys to every sinner to         completely as Israel destroyed Sihon:
whom it is directed a specific intimation that God             Whilst God earnestly invites the reprobate to
designs his own salvation in particular. But this is far        repentance and the hope of salvation, He has no
from the truth. The Gospel offer is not an expression           other object than that they may be rendered
of  God's  purposes or decrees, but a plain and                 inexcusable by the detection of their impiety. Hence
intelligible ground of duty to  man.  It comes to  nb          is their ignorance refuted, who gather from this
one and says, `You individually and particularly are            that it is free for all promiscuously to embrace
included in God's purpose of saving mercy.' If this             God's grace, because its promulgation  (doctrina)  is
were the nature of it, none could pretend to reconcile          common, and directed to all without exception; as
its acknowledged universality with the doctrines of            if God was not aware of what Sihon would answer
election and reprobation.                                      when He would have him attracted to equity by
   "God is sincere in His invitations and entreaties,          friendly and peaceful words; or as if, on his free
because He is only urging the sinner to the faithful           will, the purpose of God was suspended as to the
discharge of solemn and imperative duty. And surely            war, which was soon after carried forward by His
God as a Sovereign may require of man and urge                 decree  (Harmony  of  Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteron-
upon him the perfoi-mance of duty without duplicity            omy, Numbers,  Vol. IV, pp. 170, 171).
or deceit, and yet withhold that strength which man            Weightier still, the well-meant offer is not  confes-
has basely forfeited, and is now guilty for needing."        sionally   Reformed. Both the Canons of Dordt and the
  Thornwell sums up the Reformed teaching thus:              Westminster Confession refer to the call of the gospel
  Let is be borne in mind that the external call of the      by the term, "offer," but they mean by "offer" that
  Gospel simply points out a ground of duty, and all         God presents Christ and His salvation in the gospel to
  difficulty is removed. This call merely represents         all who hear and seriously commands all without
  God as a sovereign Legislator and man a dependent          exception to repent and believe on Christ. That these
  subject  -. a truth with which the doctrines of            creeds do not mean that God loves all, sincerely
  election and reprobation by no means interfere.            desires to save all, and extends the grace of salvation
  This external call says not a syllable about the           to all for all to accept if only they are willing, is so
  purposes of God in giving or withholding the grace         plain in the creeds themselves that he who runs may
  of faith. But when the call is proclaimed among,           read.
  men indefinitely, then comes in election and                 For the well-meant offer is not Biblical. God loves
  persuades some to receive and obey it, while others        the elect only  - Jacob, not Esau (Rom. 9: 13). God
  are left utterly without excuse for refusing to do         desires to save the elect only  - there are vessels of
  what they . . . were . . . solemnly bound to do.           mercy  afore prepared unto glory, and there are vessels
  To  Thornwell, it was not a Reformed doctrine, but         of wrath fitted to destruction (Rom  9:22, 23). God is
"the Arminian hypothesis, that God actually wills or         gracious in the preaching of the gospel to the elect
seriously intends the salvation of all men."                 only  - He has mercy on whom He will have mercy,
                                                             and whom He will He hardeneth (Rom. 9: 18).
  Both Francken, the Reformed, and Thomwell, the
Presbyterian, are faithful to the teaching of John                             (to be continued)


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                                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                       335


                              NOTICE!!!                                                                    NOTICE!!!
   According to the decision of the Synod of 1978, the Consistory of            On Wednesday, May 2, 1979, at 8 PM, in the Hudsonville Protestant
the First Protestant Reformed Church, Grand Rapids, Michigan, was             Reformed Church, the Lord willing, the Annual Spring Lecture will be
appointed the calling church for the 1979 Synod. The Consistory of            given.  The speaker will be Prof. Herman Hanko. His subject  - "The
First Church hereby notifies our churches that the 1979 Synod of the          Virtuous Woman." Plan now to be there!
Protestant Reformed Churches in America will convene, the Lord                                                                  The Lecture Committee
willing, on Wednesday, June 6, 1979, at 9 AM in the First Protestant
Reformed Church. The pre-Synodical service will be held Tuesday
evening, June 5, at 8 PM in First Church. Rev. John Heys, President of                       RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
the 1978 Synod will preach the sermon.  Synodical delegates are
requested to meet with the Consistory before the service. Delegates in          The Council of Southwest Protestant Reformed Church wishes to
need of lodging should contact Mr. Theodore Looyenga, 1125 Adams              express its sympathy with one of its fellow office bearers, Deacon
St., S.E., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49507.                                      Duane  Alsum in the death of his wife, MARLENE  ALSUM, who passed
                                               Theodore Looyenga, Clerk       to her eternal rest on March 16, 1979. May he and his family find much
                                                                              comfort in the knowledge that  - "Precious in the sight of the Lord is
                   WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                                        the death of His saints." (Psalm  116:15).
                                                                                                                   The Council of Southwest Protestant
   With special joy, we announce that on April 18, 1979, our beloved                                                                     Reformed Church
parents,                                                                                                                      Phillip J. Lotterman, Clerk
                     Mr. and Mrs. PETER B. REITSMA

will celebrate forty years of married love. We thank our heavenly                            RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
Father for the gift of covenant parents and for sparing them for each
other  and for us these many years. With  them,.we  look to the future in       The Junior Mr. and Mrs. Society of Southwest Protestant Reformed
faith, confident that the God of all mercies Who has led them hereto'in       Church  (Grandville,   MI) extends their sympathy to Mr. Duane  Alsum in
grace will faithfully guide them in the years ahead.                          the sudden loss of his wife, MARLENE.
  Their grateful children,                                                      We pray that the Lord will sustain him and his son, Jason in their
            Cal and Lynn Reitsma     Shari, Julie, Barbie, Brenda, Susann     sorrow.
 Richard, Alice, Peter, Edward                   Marilyn and Gary Bylsma        "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us
      Dale and Carole Reitsma                       Christie, Steve, Danny    a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."  (I I Cor. 4: 17).
       David, Jonathan,  Phillip                           Chuck Reitsma
            Barb and Jim Huizinga                                                                                               Mr. Darrel Huisken,  Pres.
                                                                                                                             Mrs. Randall Boone, Sec'y.
Grand Rapids,  Mich.

                                                                                               WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
   On the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of our dear father- and
mother-in-law,                                                                   On April 19, 1979, the Lord willing, our parents, MR. AND MRS.
                     PETER B. AND NELLIE REITSMA                              DOWIE VAN DER SCHAAF, will celebrate their 30th wedding
                                                                              anniversary. We, their children, are thankful to God for the years He
we, their sons- and daughters-in-law, wish to thank them for the love         has- given them together and to us. It is our prayer that they may
they have shown each of us in so many special ways. We are forever            continue to experience God's blessing and guidance in the years to
grateful for the loving children, stalwart in the truth, whom they have       come.
given us as life-mates. It is our prayer that their love and faithfulness
will return to them again and yet again in the generations to come               "The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion: and thou shalt see the good
through our children. God has given us the seed of the Church to give         of Jerusalem all the days of thy life. Yea, thou shalt see thy children's
to you again in love, Mom and Dad. Blessings be yours always!                 children, and peace upon Israel." (Psalm  128:5,  6).
                                            Lynn Reitsma, Carole Reitsma,                                            Peter and Dorothy Van Der Schaaf
                                            Jim Huizinga, and Gary Bylsma                                                       Jessica, Delia, Katherine
Grand Rapids,  Mich.                                                                                                                   Gary Van Der Schaaf


                 Corrections in the March 15 Issue
   The read is asked to note the following corrections                        2. The first sentence in the last full paragraph in
of errors in the March 15 issue:                                                 column 1,  p. 272, read "Poimenics" instead of
1. The first sentence in column 2, p. 270 should read:                           "Polemics."
   Do not overlook the fact that Articles 6 and 15
   themselves do not consider reprobation as a                                3. In the title of Prof. Decker's article on p. 285, the
   separate decree from that of election, but as part.                            word "Judgment" is incorrectly spelled  "Judge-
   and parcel of the one decree of which election is                              merit."
   also an aspect.                                                                                                                               - HCH


                                                 REPORT OF  CLASSIS WEST

                                                        March 19, 1979        assembly was both weighty and lengthy. Meeting in
                                                                              committee or in official sessions of  Classis, the
   Classis West of the Protestant Reformed Churches                           delegates worked all day and long into the night,
met in Edgerton, Minnesota on March 7-9, 1 979. The                           Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.  Classis adjourned


THE STANDARD  BEARER
       P.O. Box 6064
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506





336                                           THE STANDARD BEARER




about 10: 00 P.M., Friday evening.                          which request was granted with Synod's approval this
  Eleven ministers and thirteen elders attended             past year. Since we have decided to become
Classis as delegates from the congregations in the          self-supporting we would like to remove our request
West. Elders H. Hoksbergen (Hull) and H.  Nieuwen-          and return to Synod the  $l,OOO.OO  subsidy granted."
kamp (Edmonton) attended  Classis for the first time          Randolph's letter went on to thank the churches
and signed the Formula of Subscription. Rev. R.             for their past help: "Since our formation as a
Miersma opened the sessions of  Classis on Wednesday        Protestant Reformed congregation, we have received
morning by reading from I Cor. 15 and speaking to           financial assistance. For these past tokens of ungrudg-
the delegates. on verse 58 : "Therefore, my beloved         ing charitableness we are grateful to our sister
brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abound-        congregations and to our God of grace. We are also
ing in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know           thankful that God has given us at the present the
that your  labour is not in vain in the Lord." Rev. R.      means to support ourselves. A word of thanks is also
Moore presided over the  Classis.                           in order to  Classis West for her benevolent considera-
  One of the main matters on the Agenda was                 tion of our past requests. We pray that such
treated in executive session. With the concurrence of       benevolence may continue to characterize our
the  synodical  delegates ad examina,  Classis advised      churches and broader assemblies in all their future
that Mark Hoeksema be released from the office of           decisions."
the ministry of the Word to enter upon a secular              Classis adopted the following classical appointment
vocation, under Article. 12 of the Church Order.            schedule:  Hull  - March 18  & 25, Slopsema; April 8  &
 The other main matter before the  Classis was an           15, Koole; April 29  & May 6, Flikkema; May 20  &
appeal from a member against a decision  -of a              27, Kuiper; June 10  & 17, Lanting.  Doon (in the
consistory regarding a certain teaching of its pastor.      absence of Rev. Kamps on mission-work in Singa-
Classis condemned the teaching in question as               pore)  - March 25  & April 1, Bekkering; April 15  &
un-Biblical and instructed the consistory both to           22, Moore.
require its pastor publicly to retract the errors and to      Results of the voting were:
labor with the pastor to bring him to the Biblical view       - Classical Committee: Rev. Slopsema and Elder
of the matter at issue.                                          A. Kooiker (1 year).
  In response to a  consistor&  request, under Article        - Primus delegate ad examina: Rev. Miersma.
41 of the Church Order, that a committee of  Classis          - Secundi delegates ad examina:  Rev. Slopsema
be sent to it to give judgment and help for the proper           and Rev. Koole (2 years).
government of its church,  Classis appointed such a           - Church Visitors: Rev. Engelsma and Rev.
committee.                                                       Kortering.
  Classis heard the reports of several standing               -  Primi  minister delegates to Synod: Engelsma,
committees and of its Church Visitors. As was                    Kamps, Kortering, and Kuiper.
requested by its Reading Sermon Committee  (Edger-            - Secundi  minister delegates to Synod: Bekkering,
ton),  Classis asked each minister in the West to                Miersma, Moore, and Slopsema.
prepare two reading sermons before the next  Classis.         -  Primi  elder delegates to Synod: B. Menninga
                                                                 (Pella), M. Poortenga (South Holland), M. Smits
  Five churches (Edgerton, Edmonton, Isabel, Pella,              (South Holland), and J. Sugg (Houston).
and Houston) requested subsidy for 1980 in amounts            - Secundi  elder delegates to Synod: A. Brummel
varying from $1,000 to $16,000.  Classis granted the             (Edgerton), H. De Vries (Randolph), R. Ezinga
requests and sent them on to Synod for final                     (Loveland), P. Van Den Top  (Doon).
approval. The total granted was $47,332.  Classis was
happy to receive a letter from Randolph informing
Classis that she, has "adopted a budget which will            The next meeting of  Classis will be in Isabel, South
enable her to meet all her anticipated financial            Dakota on September 5, 1979, the Lord willing.
obligations for the fiscal year 1979, apart from any                           Rev. David Engelsma, Stated Clerk
subsidy. We requested aid, at this  Classis last March,                        Classis West


