                                         e

                               tandard

                                              earer

A  REFORMED  SEMI-MONTHLY   MAGAZINE



IN THIS ISSUE


    Meditation:
       Following in Christ's Steps

    A t t e m p t e d   R o b b e r y

       (see: The Day of Shadows )

    "Reaching For The Infinite"

       (see: 3igns of the Times)

    The Pilgrim and the Bible
       (see: In His Fear)





                                              Volume XL VIII / Number 10 / February 15,19 72


218                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER


         y     1T`."    CONTENTS~:                            i.                                THE STANDARD  BEARER
                                                                           Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July and August.
Meditation  -                                                                   Published by the Reformed Free Publishing Association, Inc.
   i?olloWing In Christ's Steps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .218                  Second Class Postage Paid at Grand Rapids, Mich.
                                                                       Editor-in-Chief: Prof.  H. C. Hoeksema

The Signs of the Times  -                                              Depatztment  Editors:  Mr. John M.  Faber.Rev.  Cornelius Hanko,Prof.
                                                                       Herman Hanko, Rev: Robert C. Harbach, Rev. John A. Heys, Rev. Jay
   "Reaching For The Infinite" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .220        Kortering, Rev. George C. Lubbers, Rev. Marinus Schipper, Rev.  Gise J.
                                                                       Van  Baren, Rev. Herman Veldman, Rev. Bernard Woudenberg
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Meditation
                        Folbwiri~   I n   C~Iji$St'~  S=kPs
                                                           Rev. M. Schipper

               `<For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ' also suffered for us, leaving us an
               example, that ye should follow in his steps: who did no sin, neither was guile found'in his
               mouth: who, when he'was  reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not;
               but committed himself to him that judgeth.righteously:  who his-own self bare our sins in his
               own body on the tree, that we, being dead-to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose
               stripes ye were healed. For ye were as sheep going'astray; but are now returned unto the
               Shepherd and Bishop of your souls. "
                                                                                                                  IPeter 2:21-25.
                                                                                .
   For even hereunto were ye called!                                   which he gave exhortation to Christian servants to be
   The reference is evidently twofold. In the first place, in subjection to their masters with all fear; not only to
the apostle has in mind the  precding  context, in the good and gentle, but also to the froward. All that


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the apostle writes in our text is related to that. It is all the vials of His wrath due-to our sin, and He bore
especially thankworthy, and we conduct ourselves that wrath in our stead until it was completely burned
beautifully when, walking consciously before the face out. There He satisfied God's justice for us, -and so.
of God, we endure grief, suffering wrongfully. But, in completely was this satisfaction made, that henceforth
the second place, the reference is also to what the God could look upon Him, and us in Him, as being
apostle is now about to say, namely, that when  :we perfectly righteous. So perfect is the salvation He
suffer wrongfully, having a good conscience toward wrought, that henceforth we should live unto
God, we are to emulate Christ, - to follow in Christ's righteousness. Consequently, too, we are also dead to
steps. Christ also suffered wrongfully. Who, when .He sins.
was reviled, reviled not again; and when He suffered,         Don't you see, then beloved reader, how that -only
He threatened not, but committed Himself to Him that when Christ is first your Mediator and Saviour,  that
judgeth righteously.                                        on& then is it possible for you to follow in His steps?
   Christ is the unique example!                            Don't you also see how utterly absurd and wicked is
   0, let us be careful not to conceive of Him as an that modem philosophy which denies the vicarious
example in the modern sense of that term!                   atonement, which has no room in it for the satisfaction
   Surely we must have nothing of the philosophy of for our sins in the blood of the cross of Christ; which
those who would have Christ be an example for every proudly boasts that mere natural, carnal, guilty,
man, including the natural man, to follow. These damnable, hell-bound sinners can of themselves choose
philosophers assume that Christ wishes to be an to follow in the footsteps of the Saviour? Unless you
example for every man, and they assume that  Tevery first stand under Him at the Cross, where His atoning
man is capable of following Him as an example. Not blood covers you, you cannot follow Him anywhere.
only is this philosophy absurd and impossible, but it is      Only after He bears our sins in His own body on the
at the same time also very wicked. Absurd it is, tree, and only after by His atoning death He makes us
because, very plainly, Christ never intended to be an dead unto sins, and alive unto righteousness; only after
example to all men. Impossible it is, because no man He heals us by His stripes, is it possible to walk in His
can, nor can he will to follow Him as he is by nature. steps.
And wicked is this philosophy, because it exalts man,         Only the redeemed can come.after Him, no one else!
leaving us with the conclusion that Christ ought to be        And to them, and to them only, is He the unique
very pleased when men consent to follow Him.                example!
  It must be clearly established that Christ-cannot be        And unto them He is the most worthy example!-
our example unless He is first our Mediator!                  He did no sin, nor was guile found in His mouth!
  No one has the right to follow Christ except he is          That He did no sin evidently refers to His outward
first justified by His atoning sacrifice. And no one has walk while He was in the flesh. He did not commit any
the ability to follow Christ, unless Christ firstenables evil before God or before men. He never missed the
him by His grace and Spirit to do so.                       mark of the high calling of God. He always, from the
  That is why the apostle in the text emphasi&s, first manger to the tomb, acted from the love of God and
of all, that the suffering of Christ was in our behalf. He from the love of the neighbor for God's sake, so that
suffered for us. Not, we must understand, merely to be He -never, in all His, life and walk, did anything in
our example, but to be our Saviour.                         respect to which men could lay a finger of accusation
  Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on upon Him. He could, indeed, stand. before men, -as
the tree of the cross!                                      once He actually did, and say unto them: "Which of
  Our sin and guilt was heaped upon Him.. God laid--on you cdnvicteth Me of sin?"
Him the iniquity of us all, by Whose stripes we were          That makes Him unique, doesn't it? He is the
healed.                                                     exception among all men. No matter how holily they
  He is Jesus, Who would save His people from their have walked, or how far advanced the saints may be
sins! Because of our sin and guilt, we were wholly in the way of sanctification, they still are all defiled
unrighteous. We stood in a wrong relationship to God, with sin, and must continually pray for forgiveness and
contrary to His will, and according to His judgment. exclaim from the heart: "0 God, be merciful unto me,
Because of our sin and guilt, we were worthy .only of the sinner." But Christ did no sin, and is therefore the
eternal condemnation, worthy to experience forever perfect example in Whose light we must walk.
the outpouring of His holy wrath.                             Nor was there guile found in His mouth!
  And here is the good news of salvation, - God sent          Never in all His speech was there found any deceit,
His Only Begotten Son into the world, assuming our falseness, hypocrisy. If anywhere sin is apt to be
nature, taking upon Himself the burden of God's wrath found, it is in the speech of man. But nothing of sin
over our sins in His own body, and bringing it to could be found in the mouth of Christ. He spoke only
Calvary and the tree of the Cross. There on that tree, the truth. That the text says: "there was no guile
He became a curse for us. There God poured over Him found in  His mouth, is much stronger than if it had


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said: "He had no guile in His mouth." It stresses the        they are now by the grace of the Good Shepherd, Who
point that men thoroughly examined His speech; they is the Bishop Who  .has the oversight of their souls.
analyzed  His teachings,  His doctrine, and they could        Once they had no inclination to follow that Shepherd,
never detect in Him a lie, deceit, or falsehood.             but were like dumb sheep which are always bent on
  And when He was reviled, He reviled not again!             going astray. But now so it is no longer. That Shepherd
  It .means that when men said evil things about Him,        has atoned for their sins, and has made them alive unto
or called Him evil names to His face, `He remained righteousness. He has brought them by His Spirit and
perfectly silent. He did not reciprocate. 0, that cannot grace under His control. And it is He Who calls them to
mean, that when wicked men confronted Him that He follow in His steps.
always remained silent. The contrary is true. Openly            When you by His grace respond to this efficacious
He charged His wicked adversaries with being                  calling, then you walk where He walked, and as He
hypocrites, white-washed sepulchres, full of dead             showed you how to walk.
men's bones. He told them in no uncertain terms that            What precisely, then, is that calling?
they were of their father, the devil. Many more such            It is to walk honestly in the midst of the world,
condemnations He `pronounced upon them, for He always revealing what we essentially are by the grace of
could judge them righteously, because He knew their          Christ, namely, that we are the children of light. It is
hearts. But none of this was said in self-defense.           to let our light shine before men.
Meekness was the attribute He demonstrated, when His            Moreover,. when men shall hate us, because they
person or His work was attacked.                              cannot endure the light; and when they shall speak all
  When He suffered, He threatened not!                       manner of evil against us falsely; and when they shall
  Watch  Him in the halls of the praetorium, when revile and persecute us and cause us to suffer perhaps
Pilate and his men of war opened furrows on His back,        even unto death; then we shall walk precisely as the
when the whip-lashes of cruelty beat down upon Him.          Shepherd and Bishop of our souls taught us.
Behold  Him as He is stretched out to be nailed by              Our outward conversation will be the manifestation
wicked hands with hands and feet to the accursed tree.       of our new man in Christ. `Out of the love of God we
Never did He threaten to retaliate. Only He prayed:          shall keep His commandments. In our walk among men
"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they we will not sin so that they can rightly condemn us,
do ." Always He lived out of the doctrine He had             nor shall falsehood or deceit ever be found in our
taught His disciples: "When they smite thee on the one mouth. As we live by the truth, so we shall speak it:
cheek, turn to them the other also."                            And when, in spite of this good conduct, we are
  But He committed Himself to Him that judgeth nevertheless falsely accused, shamefully mistreated, we
righteously!                                                 shall commit our case unto God, Who judgeth
  Always He was aware of the truth of God:                   righteously.
"Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, saith the Lord."              And we shall be faithful unto death!
  What a most beautiful example then is given unto              Such faithfulness shall also be rewarded. For the
you who have been made to live unto righteousness Good Shepherd and Bishop of our souls shall not leave
through the atonement He has made!                           our souls in `death, but He shall lead us on to a life of
  That you should follow in His steps!                       righteousness, which shall be realized perfectly in the
  For even unto this were ye called!                         city which- has foundations, where righteousness shall
  For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now dwell.
returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls!            Unto this were ye called, my brethren, in order that
  Tenderly the apostle informs the elect strangers to He may lead you and all the redeemed unto everlasting
whom he is writing of what they were, and of what            glory!


The Signs of the Times

                            "Reaching For The Infinite"
                                                    Rev. G. Van Baren

  I have often wondered, as have others, what the at the pressing of a switch! How they would have
ancients would have said or done, were they restored wondered at beholding machines washing dishes and
to life on this earth in our day. How they would have clothes! What would they have said upon hearing
exclaimed at the diffusion of light from wall or ceiling music or the spoken word from a little box within a


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room, or seeing pictures, colored at that, coming from                 The f$th doubling (which is thirty-two times
a larger box? What would their remarks have been                  that tihich man knew `in 1 A.D.) tobk only six
upon stepping into a vehicle with no visible power for            years and occurred in 1966.
mobility? How they would stare at airplanes streaking                  The sixth doubling is occurring now in 1970
through the skies! And I doubt if it would be possible            and has taken only four years since 1966. Today's
to convince them that men had travelled to and' walked            knowledge is 64 times the amount known to man
upon the moon.                                                    in 1 A.D. and all this in the last. four years!
  Fact is, that though we take many things simply for           These  feures would suggest a certain geometric
granted, we live in a time of fantastic development and progression in man's development in various fields of
"progress." Some have considered this simply as a knowledge. On the one hand, man constantly increases
normal process  - unrelated to the prophecy of the sum-total of his knowledge. That is a selfevident
Scripture or to the signs of the end of time which are fact. But on the other hand, this increase in knowledge
mentioned in God's Word. I am convinced otherwise. continues at an accelerating rate. According to the
                                                              above quote, man learned as much in four years
Man's amazing "progress"                                      (1966-1970) as he did the preceding two thousand
  Man has developed much in the  realm of the years. By now, two years later, he has likely doubled
sciences. An itemized list of all of his development in that amount of knowledge again. By now, mankind
the past century is both needless (for we repeatedly supposedly knows one hundred twenty-eight times
hear of it) and impossible in limited amount of space. more than he did at the time of Christ.
A  strikili-g recent development, however, is the               The point I would emphtize  is that this accelerating
awareness of man that his "progress" is not in all rate of increase of knowledge has a limit - for man is
respects to his liking. This "progress" has resulted in finite. Man reaches for the infinite - he would be God.
extensive pollution of this globe. Increasingly, evidence But there are bounds which no creature can cross. The
is produced showing the ill effects of recent continuing doubling of man's knowledge over an
"progress." Besides, man is becoming aware of the fact increasingly brief period of time indicates to my mind
that he is depleting available resources at a shocking another clear indication that man has about reached the
rate. Even in present-day abundance, man understands limits which God sets for him. This I would consider to
that shortages are going to develop in the future. Nor be another of the signs that the end of time is at hand.
has recent development satisfied all of mankind. The How  many more years can go by in which man
division between the "haves" and the  "have-nets" continues to double knowledge over ever shorter
grows. Material prosperity has generated greater periods of time?
lusts within mankind  - creating the very situations
man wants to avoid: war, crime, etc.                          Scripture speaks of man's "progress"
  I read an interesting statement from a certain M. J.          One finds in the Word of God mention made of
Kami, president of Corporate Planning Associates. I am some of the development of mankind. Already before
not in a position to verify its accuracy, yet it points the great flood, Scripture notes the inventions of Jabal,
out what I believe is an obvious fact: the rapid Jubal, and Tubal-Cain. After the flood, there was the
development of man in the realm of the sciences in erection of the tower of Babel  - a mighty endeavor
recent years. The statement claimed:                          designed to keep men united and to encourage
       It took man thousands of years to reach the speed      development of a Utopia below.
    of 100 miles per hour. It took him a hundred years          The ultimate development of mankind is presented
    after that to reach a 1000 miles per hour. It took him    finally in Revelation, especially the 13th chapter.
    ten years to reach 25,000 miles per hour.                 There is seen in that chapter some of the marvels
The statement goes on to explain how this came to be: revealed by the beasts which proceed out of the sea
       If you take the amount of knowledge man had            and of the land.
    at the birth of Christ, and double that knowledge,          But of special importance is the idea presented in
    and keep doubling it, you come up with these              Scripture of the full cup as well as that of the fulness
    figures:                                                  of time. The latter is mentioned in connection with the
       The first doubling of knowledge took 1750              coming of Christ (Gal. 4i4). There is that proper time,
    years. It took man from the time of Christ until          ordained by the Father, that Christ does come. That
    the year 1750 to double his knowledge.
       The second doubling took only 150 years and            fulness suggests that all things would be accomplished
    happened in 1900.                                         according to God's plan - then Christ can come. Christ
       The third doubling took only 50 years and              could not come before that time in which He was
    occurred in 1950; this is now eight times that            born.
    which man knew in 1 A.D.                                    The "full cup" likewise suggests that specific things
       The fourth doubling (which is 16 times that            must happen. Just as Christ can only come in the
    which man knew in 1 A.D.) took only ten years .           "fulness of time," so also the end of the world will
    and occurred in 1960.                                     arrive and the wicked shall be destroyed, when their


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cup of iniquity is full. We read of "Babylon the great" tower of Babel when the languages were confused, will
in Rev. 17:4 ". . . having a golden cup in her hand full no longer be a  hind.rance. The result of confusion of
of abominations and filthiness of her fornication." tongues was division of nations. The  anti-Christian
There is a definite measure of wickedness which must kingdom can not be established as long as such
be filled - then final punishment takes place. Even so, confusion continues. However, through scientific
there is the measure of man's development which must achievements, the means are now available to heal that
be full. This goes together with the fumess of iniquity " w o u n d . " By means of modern and mass
of the end-time. Man must develop scientifically to a communications (radio, television, telephone,
full extent, in order that with these means, man will telegraph, etc.) the confusion of tongues has been
reveal his utter wickedness and corruption. And I minimized, and the nations of this world have been
would suggest that one with spiritual eyes to see will brought closer together than ever before. There are
also recognize that man's cup today is well-nigh full.                already such scientific inventions available that when
"Progress" and Antichrist                                             antichrist comes, he will be able to communicate
  I see a definite relationship between man's rapid instantaneously to all nations. Differences in languages
advances in scientific fields, and the coming of the are no longer barriers. Added refinements in the field
antichrist and his kingdom. Man, who refuses to of communications in the years ahead will further
subdue the earth in harmony with God's mandate, will contribute to the "healing of the wound of the beast"
subdue it in the service of man - and ultimately in the and contribute to the coming of the antichrist.
service of antichrist. Man's present-day advances                        Finally, the antichrist, if his rule is to be, effective as
reminds one that the kingdom of antichrist must be at well as universal, must be able to control all men. He
hand.                                                                 must be able to enforce his rule: that without the mark
  Several presuppositions can be  mention24 in of the beast, men will be unable to buy or sell (Rev.
connection with the antichrist. In the first  place, he 13 : 16, 17). Already now, with the computers
must have at his disposal the means to prevent war and presently in use, information can be stored concerning
the means to establish a measure of prosperity and all peoples of the earth. Inventions in the field of
health to all men. He will have the means to prevent computers are already available, that one man could
men from warring with each other (cf. Rev. 13:4). He have the means available to him to know about and to
will be able to perform many wonderful works ("he regulate all men. He can know, through these
maketh  fire come down from heaven on the earth in inventions, who we are, where we go to church, what
the sight of men," Rev. 13: 13). He has the ability to work we do, how much property we  own, who our
give life to the image of the beast so that it both speaks friends are. There are already available the means
and compels all men to worship it (Rev. 13: 15). One whereby the antichrist could demand that all receive
can recognize that today we have reached that state of his mark  - and to know whether that command was
development in the various scientific fields where the being obeyed.
above is already possible.                                               Therefore, when we read of the rapid advances of
  Secondly, the wound of the beast must be healed man in our day, children of God can not but be remind-
(Rev. 13: 14). That wound, probably occurring at `the ed that "the Lord is at hand." (Phil.4:5)


The Strength of Youth
                              Confession of  Fa.ith (2)
                                                      Rev. Robert D. Decker

          "Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But
          whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven." -Matthew 10:32, 33

  In our previous article on this subject we treated in               calls us to confess our faith. Not to confess our faith,
general the idea or meaning of Confession of Faith. then, is to be disobedient to the will of God as
When  the covenant child of God arrives at years of expressed in His Word. This is precisely what Jesus
discretion he stands before God and  His Church to meant in the words quoted above this article:
express with his mouth that which he believes in his                  "Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men,
heart; namely, that he belongs by grace through faith him will I confess before my Father . . . but whosoever
in life and in death to his faithful Saviour Jesus Christ.            shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before
We stressed that this is our calling before God. God my Father which is in heaven" Matt. 10:32,33.


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 223



  This  ,means, we saw, that we not only formally these is that we acknowledge the DOCTRINE of the
confess our faith before the consistory and publicly Holy Scriptures. The churches of the Reformation and
before the congregation assembled for worship; but particularly the churches of Calvinistic origin have
also, that we confess our faith in all of life. By our always placed a high priority on the knowledge of the
whole being; with heart and mind and soul and doctrine of the Bible. The Protestant Reformed
strength; in word, thought, and deed; in every sphere Churches continue in that tradition today. Among the
of life; always and everywhere we say before all the main characteristics of churches truly Reformed or
world: "I belong to Jesus!"                                  Calvinistic are precise doctrinal formulations and keen
  Finally we understood that this confession of our doctrinal sensitivity. This is correct and our fervent
faith is a fruit of the grace of God. "No man can say p.rayer is that God will graciously preserve that
(notice that, CAN say, this means no one is able to say emphasis among our churches and people. The point is
or has the ability to say) that Jesus is the Lord, but by simply this, that in order to confess our faith we have
the Holy Ghost." I Cor. 12:3b. That we are able to say to KNOW that faith. Though that knowledge be more
and  have, the right to say that Jesus is the Lord, our than a mere intellectual knowledge of facts it is a
Lord, is of the Holy Spirit! Unless, therefore, the Holy knowledge of objective, propositional truth (contrary
Spirit of God and of His Christ works within our hearts to the pernicious notion of some would be
we will never confess our faith. Having been chosen by ` `reformational" thinkers in the Reformed
grace in Christ Jesus before the foundation of the community)! It is not difficult. to demonstrate this
world, having been born into the church of covenant Biblically. The Scriptures themselves declare in
parents, baptized into the death of Jesus Christ and II Timothy 3: 16, 17 that because all Scripture is
raised with Him unto newness of life, instructed in the "God-breathed" it is "profitable for  doctrine,  for
doctrine of the Word of God in our covenant homes reproof, for correction, for  instruction  in
and schools, in the church through the means of grace righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect,
(catechism and preaching); the Spirit witnesses with our throughly furnished unto all good works." Notice in
spirits that we are the children of God (Romans 8: 16). this connection that doctrine (literally translated
Then and only then we say with the church of all the "teaching" - in other words that which we apprehend
ages; "Jesus is my Lord!" And because that is the fruit with our minds) is first! God inspired the Scriptures
of the grace of God we have an unfailing comfort and exactly so that we may know the teaching of Himself
an unashamed hope. For by that same irresistible grace first of all. This is further emphasized by the text when
we are preserved in the faith to the very end, when we it speaks of "instruction in righteousness." Besides, the
inherit perfectly life with God and share in the glory of context of these verses underscore the same truth. In
Christ. Of this we may be absolutely sure, "Being verses 14 and 15 the inspired Apostle Paul admonishes
confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun his spiritual son Timothy to: "Continue in the things
a good work in you will perform it until the day of which thou hast  learned  and hast been assured of,
Jesus Christ." (Phil. 1: 6). Having begun the good work knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that
of salvation within us (regeneration), God, through the from a child thou hast  known  the holy scriptures,
Spirit of adoption, continues to work powerfully in us which are able to make thee wise unto salvation
to preserve us to everlasting life!                          through faith which is in Christ Jesus." For this same
  In our present article we wish to continue our study reason Timothy and every minister of the gospel must:
by considering the actual contents of our confession of "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a
faith. "What do we confess?" is the question we deal workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly
with now.                                                    dividing the word of truth." II Tim. 2: 15. Thus, too,
  Take your Psalter and turn with me to page 59 in our consistories painstakingly examine candidates for
the Liturgical section. Here we find in the three confession of faith in their knowledge of the doctrines
questions for "Public Confession of Faith" the sum of of the Scriptures, and prepare these candidates for this
what we are saying when we confess our faith. As we examination by providing detailed instruction in the
examine each of these it will become obvious that doctrine of Scripture in the catechism classes.
confession of faith is a most serious matter with radical      But consider what we are confessing when we
implications for our  daily living  coram  Deo,  "before answer this first question affirmatively. The doctrine
the face of God."                                            we acknowledge to be true and perfect is the doctrine
  The first question put to confessors of faith by of the Old and New Testaments, i.e., the teaching of
Christ through the Church is: "Do you acknowledge the infallibly inspired Bible. The entire doctrine of the
the doctrine contained in the Old and New Testaments Bible, you understand! The doctrine of Genesis
and in the Articles of the Christian faith and taught chapters 1 through 3 as well as the teachings of Jesus
here in this Christian Church to be the true and complete recorded in the Gospel narratives! The two belong
doctrine of salvation?" There are several elements that together! There is no such thing as non-redemptive
demand our attention in this question. The first of teaching in distinction from redemptive teaching in the


224                                          THE STANDARD BEARER


Scriptures! The whole teaching of the Bible from faithful to the Word of God. And, we are saying that
beginning to end and in every detail is redemptive other churches as we know them do not teach the true
teaching! The first Adam is a picture of the last Adam. and complete doctrine of the Word of God. This does
The first paradise a .picture of the heavenly paradise. not mean that the Protestant Reformed Churches are
Creation is by and for Jesus Christ, the eternal Word of THE true Church while all other churches in our
God, the only begotten God, Who was made flesh and communities and in the world at large are THE false
dwelt among us (cf. John 1 and Col. 1 and parallels). church! That is not Biblical, neither have the
In this connection I suggest you read or re-read the Protestant Reformed Churches ever taught this as some
recent articles on Genesis 1 & 2 by the Rev. J. A. Heys unjustly allege. To that we say with all the emphasis
in this magazine. We must know the dogma of we can muster: GOD FORBID! At the same time we
Scripture.                                                 DO mean to assert with the same emphasis that the
   Still more we acknowledge the Scriptural teaching Protestant Reformed Churches are standing in the line
which is contained in the Articles of the Christian of the Church of Jesus Christ, upon the foundation of
Faith. This means very emphatically that we the doctrine of the Apostles and Prophets, with Christ
acknowledge the truth of Scripture as summed, as the chief cornerstone. These churches reveal
systematically -set forth and preserved in the Three unmistakably (and I cordially urge you to make the
Forms of Unity; The Heidelberg Catechism, the Belgic comparison prayerfully, if you are not Protestant
or Netherlands Confession of Faith, and the Canons of Reformed) the marks of the true church. They are still
the Synod of Dordrecht of 1618,  1619! There, under preaching the truth of the Word, administering the
the guidance of the Spirit of Truth, the Church was led holy sacraments in obedience to the institution of
to express the teaching of the Word of God. Inasmuch Christ, and administering Christian discipline in the
as our confessions are faithful expositions of the Word love of Christ according to the Word of God! We do
of God they must be retained intact. The Truth of the not boast in ourselves. This is not of our doing or our
Bible as expressed in the three forms is as relevant faithfulness. It is ALL of God Who chooses the foolish
today in our 20th century world as it was in the things to confound the wise of this world that no flesh
Reformation days of the 16th and 17th centuries. This should glory in His presence (I Cor. 1). With Paul we
is what we say when we confess our faith . . . we say: "God forbid that I should glory save in the cross
acknowledge, that is, believe and confess that the of our Lord Jesus Christ . . .". (Gal. 6: 14)
doctrine of the Bible as interpreted by the Reformed         This certainly implies that to confess this before
Confessions is the true and perfect doctrine of God and His church and then for the sake of a boy
salvation.                                                 friend, or girl friend, or job, to leave the church and
  There is more, however, to this first question! We become member elsewhere is to sin grievously! And
acknowledge in our confession the doctrine of the let no one say as some have said to this pastor; "I still
Bible, contained in the Confessions, and taught here in believe the truth as taught in our church, and though I
this Christian Church,  to be the true and complete am leaving the church I will never leave the truth!"
doctrine of salvation! This is crucial! This means when That is impossible. God is not mocked by us! Without
we confess our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ we vow the means of the pure preaching of the Word we
before God Himself that we believe and walk in the simply cannot remain faithful to the truth either in
doctrine of Scripture and the Confessions as that doctrine or in life! My fervent prayer for the youth of
doctrine is taught in the Protestant Reformed our churches is that God will grant them grace to see
Churches in America. THAT is the true doctrine. The this and be faithful to this. THIS and nothing less is
genuine teaching of the Bible. And THAT is the what we say when we confess the doctrine of the Old
complete doctrine, the perfect doctrine of salvation; and New Testaments, of the Articles of the Christian
Nothing may be taken away from that doctrine, faith, as taught here in this christian church to be the
neither may anything be added to it. It is complete, true and complete doctrine of salvation! Let us strive
and therefore all we need to know in order to be together for the faith of the gospel (Phil. 1) and
saved!                                                     continue in the things we've learned (II Tim. 3: 14) to
  This is a bold claim, I know. It means we are saying the glory of God, of whom, through whom, and to
that the Protestant Reformed Churches are the purest whom are all things! (Romans 11: 36) . . .
manifestation of the Body of Jesus Christ in the world.                      (to be continued)
Furthermore we are claiming that these churches are                                    -



                              Gift Idea? A gift subscription to The Standard Bearer


                                                       THE STANDARD  BEAdER                                                                       225


All Around Us

                             A New Formula of Subscription
                                                             Prof. H. Hanko

   Apostasy in the Church always must contend sooner                       from the following excerpts from the report.
or later with the Confessions. Apostasy is possible, of                        "A commitment to the Confession is essential for
course, only when the Confessions are forgotten and                        the Reformed Churches. The Synod is thoroughly
unknown documents, filed away in church archives;                          convinced that the unity of our church life can not be
and corrupters of the truth are tolerated in the Church                    preserved in the long run if we do not heartily agree
only when the Confessions have ceased to be the living                     on this starting point. To say it in other words:
confession of the members of the Church. But sooner                        faithfulness to the Confession has always been an
or later the problem of these Confessions must be                          essential unifying factor in the Reformed Churches.
faced. Though they may be forgotten for the most                           This resulted in another pattern of church life than
part, they still stand as silent sentinels of the truth                    for instance the hierarchical-episcopal pattern of the
which retain their power to prick the consciences of                       R o m a n   C a t h o l i c   C h u r c h ,   o r   t h e   m o r e
those who have once sworn to abide by them.                                historical-sociologically determined alliance of the
Ministers, quite obviously, along with other                               Netherlands Reformed Church. The people of the
officebearers are the ones who have the greatest                           Reformed Churches want to be unified in an essential
problems because they are the ones who must make a                         way . . . they want to be united in the essential
written vow to uphold the Creeds. When this vow is                         matter in their confession in the world of Christ who
required of them, they may make it with tongue in                          was delivered for our sins and was raised for our
cheek or as an empty, formal gesture; but the fact                         justification (Romans  4:25). This reformational
remains that the vow has been made. And, unless the                        starting point may neither be taken away by an
whole of church life is reduced to hypocritical                            ecclesiastical hierarchy nor may it be undermined by
game-playing, that vow comes back to haunt them.                           a far reaching toleration. In their resistance at these
   In the Reformed Churches, such a vow is made by                         `points the Reformed Churches derived their existence
signing the Formula of Subscription. In years gone by                      (sic), their place - one could say their identity - in
this was considered a very solemn and important                            the churches as a whole (Catholica).
promise to which an officebearer bound himself.                                "Here is also the `strategic position' of the form of
Today, to those who no longer wish to bind themselves                      subscription. The commitment to the ecclesiastical
to the Confessions, the Formula of Subscription has                        confession which is herein expressed intended first of
become an intolerable evil. And so efforts are made to                     all to underscore the commitment to the Scriptures.
alter it.                                                                      "It is no wonder therefore that the mutual
   One such effort is being made at present in the                         spiritual trust in our churches is determined by the
R e f o r m e d   C h u r c h e s   i n   t h e   N e t h e r l a n d s    carefulness with which action is taken in these
(Gereformeerde Kerken).  Because of its importance,                        matters. For here the `accord of the church
we quote a news item appearing in the  RES News                            communion' is at stake."
Exchange in its entirety.                                                      The committee expressed its objections to the
     REFORMED CHURCHES OF THE NETHERLANDS                                  current form of subscription as follows. "In summary
     DECIDE TO REFORMULATE ORDINATION                                      then we are of the opinion that the present form of
     v o w s                                                               subscription - taken literally with its heavy-as-lead
        The General Synod of the Reformed Churches in                      stipulations - had a rigidifymg effect through its lack
     the Netherlands decided recently at its meeting in                    of nuances, upon the spiritual development of our
     Lunteren to reformulate the "form of subscription"                    churches. Every `movement' threatened either to be
(ordination vows) for the office bearers of the                            suppressed or to lead necessarily to a new system. It
     church. This decision was taken during the second                     looks as if all office bearers in all branches of service
     week of October on the basis of a report submitted                    must think alike in all minor points of the  entire
     by a study committee appointed by the previous                        confession. That in practice it has actually usually
     Synod. It has been felt for a number of years that the                gone so well in our churches - except for a few dark
     present form now in effect is too strict and needs to                 periods in recent church history - was possible
     be changed.                                                           because of a somewhat broader interpretation of the
        That the report was not written by men who think                   very stringent letter, for instance: We promise
     lightly of the Reformed heritage, but was rather                      further that if we later should have objections against
     drafted by an unmistakably `Reformed hand' appears                    any teaching or any minor part thereof 01 entertain


I    226                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER


            diverging sentiments, we will neither express this              ordination vows to the General Synod at a later session.
            openly nor in secret.-. . '                                   We do not have a lot of space left to comment on
               "However, one would do injustice to this classic        this. But a few remarks ought to be made.
            Reformed pattern of commitment by accusing it of              The  RES News Exchange  speaks of  the  fact that the
            the thirst for a dictatorially imposed spiritual           report was drafted by "an unmistakably `Reformed
            uniformity. The real incursion out of which they           hand'." We fail to see this. It is true that commitment
            came to this form of subscription was of another           to the Confession is spoken of as an essential unifying
            kind, namely the conviction that to be a member of         factor in the Reformed Churches. But the point which
            the church means to be incorporated in the Body of         needs clarification is the question of what is meant by
            Christ and this meant the end of individualism."           "commitment" to the confessions. The committee
               Two members of the Synod submitted a substitute         gives reason to conclude that this must be interpreted
            motion in which any reference to complete                  in a very broad way. This becomes especially plain in
            agreement with the confessional standards  is              their objections against the present form of
            eliminated. They proposed that office bearers be           subscription. One gets the idea that they mean little
            asked to "declare that they recognize Jesus Christ our     more than a general agreement with the general thrust
            crucified and resurrected Lord and Saviour as He is        of the confessions as a whole, and not specific
            proclaimed in the witness of the Holy Scriptures, the      agreement with specific doctrines. This is substantiated
            only norm, source and content of preaching and life,       by the recent doctrinal departures in the Reformed
            to follow Em faithfully, and to persevere humbly in        Churches which have been tolerated.
            the unity of faith with the catholic church." After a         The objections which the committee has against the
            lively discussion the decision was taken in agreement      present form of subscription are really summed up in
            with the proposals of the Study Committee.                 one criticism: that the form prevents any "spiritual
               The Synod decided that the new Form of                  development of our churches." And the committee
            Subscription should contain i.a., the following            presses home the point that there has been some
            elements:                                                  spiritual development only because the rigid
               1) The recognition of the Holy Scriptures as the        restrictions of the form have been loosely defined.
            Word of God, the authoritative revelation of the           Apart from the fact that a very strange expression is
            Gospel of God in Jesus Christ and as such the only         used-. in this objection (one would almost expect
            rule and guide for faith and life;                         "theological development" instead of "Spiritual
               2) The promise to hold faithfully to the teaching       development"), the point the committee makes here is
            of the church in unity of faith with the three catholic    simply not true. Since the time of the Synod of Dort,
            symbols and the three forms of unity;                      when this form was first put into use, the most
               3) The readiness on the one hand, if one considers      flourishing periods of development of the truth of
            any part of the church confession to be in conflict        Scripture have been those times when the officebearers
            with God's Word, to bear witness hereof under the          of the Church bound themselves in all their life to the
            constraint of brotherly love, at the ecclesiastical        confessions of the Church. It is only in recent years,
            gatherings,. and on the other hand to submit to the        when doctrines of the confessions have been openly
            judgment of the church when it would fmd in a clear        repudiated, when ignorance of the confessions is at an
            and acceptable way that any significant point of           all-time high, that doctrinal development has
            doctrine, the obedience to Scripture and the unity of      deteriorated into rampant heresy. And we are afraid
            faith and confession would be attacked or                  that the  cprnmittee means the latter by "spiritual
            contradicted.                                              development."
               The Synod submitted a number of suggestions to            There is good reason for this, of course. And the one
            the committee which will draft the new ordination          reason is that the Confessions contain the truth of
            vows according~to  the following guide lines:              Scripture. One who is not afraid to be bound by the
                  1) there should be a greater degree of               Scriptures will not be alarmed at being bound by the
            qualification in the censure of pastors and professors     Confessions. But one who is of a mind to depart from
            of theology; 2) there must be a more active                the Scriptures will find the Confessions an intolerable
            involvement of the Classes (regional group of              strait-jacket.
            churches) in the confessional supervision of office          While the new Form of Subscription is not yet
            bearers; 3) they should study the relationship             drawn up, the guidelines given the committee by
            between juridical discipline in doctrine and judicial      Synod are sufficiently broad that we predict that the
            discipline. Prof. N. H. Ridderbos explained judicial       new form which is ultimately adopted will do away
            discipline as an ecclesiastical declaration in which a     with any real binding power of the Confessions. This
            certain idea is condemned without involving any            has, in reality, already happened in the Reformed
            direct ecclesiastical cohsequences.                        Churches in the Netherlands. To draw up a form which
            The committee  will submit a draft of the revised          expresses this will be a recognition of the reality.


                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                                            227





        Developments in New Zealand  (5)
                                                   Pro5  H. C. Hoeksema

  In the February 1 issue we pointed out that the                          br. van Rij be not suspended but, be officially
doctrinal controversy in the Reformed Churches of                          reprimanded and subsequently discharged."
New Zealand was accompanied by personal cases                     this Session advises you that it considers you have
involving some of those who had brought the doctrinal             erred in:
issues to the fore. These personal cases involved grave              1. failing to lodge your objections against the
charges of wrong-doing against these brethren, charges                     decisions of Synod 1969 with your own session
                                                                           before making them public.
which, if true and if upheld, certainly would make                   2. judging the courts of the `church without
them worthy of suspension from office. We contended,                       lodging proper appeal through the appropriate
however, in the first place, that in dealing with these                    channels.
personal cases the churches made themselves guilty of                3. adopting the attitude of "I am right and doing
persecution and of a perversion of one of the marks of                     God's will" without providing scriptural
the church: the proper administration of Christian                         grounds for your strong statements. We believe
discipline. In the second place, we contended that this                    that you as the plaintiff have the obligation to
corruption of discipline is at the same time proof that                    present the evidence.
even though some of the doctrinal decisions may have              We strongly urge you to reconsider your actions.
somewhat of a sound of orthodoxy, nevertheless these              We also remind you that it is your obligation to
                                                                  respect the courts of the church until you can clearly
doctrinal decisions were basically unsound and                    prove from the Word of God that their actions are
constituted a failure to exercise doctrinal discipline.           contrary to God's will.
For, so we reasoned, if the Synod and the churches                   With this you are discharged from the office of
had been truly of a mind to maintain doctrinal purity,            elder in the Church of the Lord Jesus (the term of
they would certainly have done justice in the related             which office terminated for you at the end of 1970).
personal cases of the very brethren who had                          May the Lord grant you true insight and humility
championed the cause of doctrinal purity in the                   as you seek His will, the glory of His Name and the
churches. But justice they surely failed to do, as we             edification of His Church.
shall now see.                                                                                      On behalf of the Session
                                                                As I said, this was a very strange action. It is not any
What Happened In the Personal Cases?                          kind of disciplinary action found in the Church Order,
  In the case of the Session of Christchurch versus           It might be classified as a kind of verbal spanking and
Elder W. van Rij, charges were preferred against Mr.          unnecessary discharge from an office which a man had
van Rij and an abortive attempt was made to discipline        in actual fact left three months earlier, when his term
him while he was still in office. In December of 1970,        expired. From this point of view, this letter is a kind of
however, his term expired with the Session's case             "nothing." Yet, because of its heavy charges and
against him unfinished.                                       disorderly character, it was far too serious to be
  What then happened? The Session sought the advice           ignored. Besides, there had been no final resolution of
of the neighboring Session of Dunedin (which, by the          this case, nor any final adjudication of the charges of
way, itself had a  gravamen pending against the               slander which had been laid against Mr. van Rij by
Westminster Confession on the sabbath).                       others, outside of the congregation and session of
  Together these two sessions (consistories) came up          Christchurch. Hence, this could not be the end of the
with a decision which is, to say the least,  h.igMy           matter; that would have been injustice compounded,
unusual and altogether unknown to the Church Order.           let alone the fact that at this point there was no
Here follows what Mr. van Rij received under date of reconciliation of those involved.
March 23, 1971:                                                 Hence, there was a further exchange of letters. First
    Beloved Brother,                                          of all, Mr. van Rij asked four things of his Session: 1)
       The Session asks you to carefully consider the         He asked the Session to specify his alleged sin. 2) He
    following, as it is our mutual responsibility to seek
    the will of the Lord and by His grace and Spirit to       asked for an explanation of that strange discharge from
    perform it.                                               office: was it a disciplinary action, or was it merely a
       With the consent of Session  Dunedin, which            statement of the fact that he retired from active
          advised that "Whereas brother van Rij as an         eldership at the end of 1970? 3) He called attention to
          elder did not choose to act within the accepted     the clear Scriptural support of his statements and
          structure of our churches, we recommend that        asked if Session had considered this. 4) He inquired


                                 .


228                                             THE STANDARD BEARER



whether this letter of admonition is also Session's              11~4-`71,  and in PUBLIC in the Congregational
answer to the accusations and charges made against               meeting at Silverstream, on 19-7-`71.
him by others.                                                      According to the Church Order, and the whole
   In reply the Session sent- a lengthy communication            teaching of Scripture, such removal from office in the
which was unsatisfactory, which largely repeated                 Church of Jesus Christ, must be made ONLY upon
previous positions, and which also dealt with a van Rij          the ground that the persons so suspended, have been
communication of March 8 which was intended for                  found and adjudged guilty of committing GROSS
                                                                 SIN. This is clearly taught in Art. 79 and 80 of the
Synod and which dealt with the doctrinal issues. In              Church Order. By thus PUBLICLY ANNOUNCING
connection with the latter, Session not only expressed           that they consider us worthy of such suspension, they
its disagreement, but also charged that van Rij had              have thereby inferred that we are guilty of some
falsely accused Dr. Runia, and further required of him           GROSS SIN, and that we have been adjudged guilty
to retract and apologize for "all such writings as infer         of such GROSS SIN.
that: 1) Dr. Runia denies the sovereignty of God with          Here, therefore, is the fundamental issue.
respect to reprobation. 2) Dr. Runia denies the                The grievance is stated as follows:
historicity of Genesis 1, 2, 3. 3) Dr. Runia is an                  This is casting aspersions on our names, as is
unbeliever." The last, of course, Mr. van Rij had never          evident from the fact that we have never, according
stated and had never implied. The Session simply                 to those directions given in the Church Order to
pulled this one out of thin air!                                 safeguard the persons of officebearers, been adjudged
  And thus matters went to the Synod of 1971 in                  guilty of committing GROSS SIN.
August. They were sent directly to' Synod, partly                   The following facts indicate this without question:
because the last communication of the Session was not               a) The Church of Wellington, (being the
received by the appellant van Rij until July 9, too late         neighbouring Church of  Silverstream/Wainuiomata)
for him to go first to Presbytery (classis); besides, Mr.        has on two occasions refused to accede to the request
van Rij informs me that the meeting of Presbytery was            of the Session of Silverstream/Wainuiomata to agree
not even made known to the congregation, and                     to our suspension;
even that he was erroneously informed by an elder that              b) The Presbytery of Wellington, having received
there would be no meeting of Presbytery. However this            the same request from the Church of Silver-
may be, Synod dealt with his appeal in a way, as we              stream/Wainuiomata,  passed no judgment, but
shall see presently.                                             returned the matter to Silverstream/Wainuiomata;
  First, however, we must backtrack and see what                    c) The Church of  Silverstream/Wainuiomata has
happened in the personal cases of Messrs. Koppe and              never advised us of disciplinary action being decided
van Herk, whose suspension the Session of                        upon, that would restrain us from the Lord's Table,
Silverstream-Wainuiomata had decided upon and                    but to the contrary, has permitted us to sit at the
announced to the congregation. We may be brief in this           Lord's Table, and has agreed that we may thus
account. In the first place, the Session sought, but             partake.
failed to get, the support of a neighboring session for        This appeal concludes with a petition to Synod to
this suspension. In the second place, when this attempt      direct the Session of  Silverstream/Wainuiomata to do
failed, the Session sought to get the support of the         one of two things:
Presbytery of Wellington. But this also failed! At this        1) Either specify the gross sin with which they have
point one would think that the Session was                   by implication publicly charged the brethren, and then
duty-bound to retract its serious charges and                act according to the requirements of Scripture and the
announcement and to apologize to the brethren                Church Order;
concerned. If they at all  .wanted to maintain the             2) Or publicly retract and apologize, and reaffirm
charges, they would have to appeal the matter to             the standing of the brethren as officebearers.
Synod. Mind you, they did neither! Messrs. Koppe and           This, I say, is very clear. It might be termed as
van Herk were left in a kind of limbo. To get the matter     open-and-shut case.
resolved they themselves had to bring a personal appeal        Thus matters stood at the time when Synod
to the Synod.                                                convened.
  This appeal is very clear; and it presents a case in       What Happened At Synod?
which there was only one proper decision for Synod to          The actual decision of Synod is very brief. After
make. Let me quote a couple' of paragraphs to make           treating these personal appeals in closed session, Synod
this plain:                                                  passed an identical decision on the appeal of Mr. van
         The Church of  Silverstream/Wainuiomata has         Rij and on that of Messrs. Koppe and van Herk. It is as
       PUBLICLY STATED the fact, that they have decided      follows: "Synod pleaded with all concerned to seek
       to have us removed from this holy office in the       reconciliation on the basis of Scripture and confessions
       church of Jesus Christ, both in the Silver-           as also reaffirmed by this Synod." (Articles 113, 115,
       stream/Wainuiomata  bulletins of  21-2-`71,  and      Acts of Synod, 1971)


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 229



   We should notice that this can by no stretch of the      charges have not been removed. And in the case of W.
imagination be termed a treatment of the appeals and van  Rij, the session even continued to maintain its
an answer thereto. On the contrary, this is a trampling charges and to insist that the apologizing had to be
of the Church Order, which guarantees of the right of done by Mr. van Rij!
appeal to any member or officebearer. And it is a case        And there is only one possible course in such cases
of gross  injustice. Synod was called to make a - after the ecclesiastical way has been followed all the
judgment in these cases; it made no judgment. Synod way to Synod. It is the way of separation. The
was called to enforce the provisions of the Church churches have not given satisfaction in the doctrinal
Order concerning the suspension of elders; it issues. On the contrary, they have perverted justice in
completely failed to do so. Synod was called to uphold      the case of the very men who called them to doctrinal
righteousness m-two cases in which brethren-elders had purity and to doctrinal discipline. They have used
clearly been wronged by their consistories (sessions). discipline to persecute those who sought to maintain
The issues could not have been more clearly and the confessions. The Synod itself has done nothing to
correctly stated than in the appeal of Koppe and van help the brethren even though it called for
Herk. The wrong was entirely and obviously on the reconciliation. It did not point the obviously erring
part of the session, which had persisted in its attempt sessions to the  right  way of reconciliation. By its
to suspend in  .spite of the fact that neither a            failure it became co-responsible for the injustices
neighboring consistory nor  classis (presbytery) would committed.
agree with them, and which had then compelled the             Separation has been the course followed.
brethren to take the initiative in seeking to have their      It is to be hoped that some in the Reformed
names cleared. The way of the Church Order was Churches of New Zealand will still see the light in these
surely followed by the brethren. Their appeal was matters, and that they will have the courage to take a
evident: either prove their charge of sin and follow the stand.
Church Order in disciplining, or retract and apologize!       Meanwhile, let us remember the few brethren who
  Yet Synod took what sounds like a neutral decision have had the courage to fight this battle and who now
and urged "all concerned" to seek reconciliation. This stand alone; and let us also do what we can to help
may sound pious, but in actual fact it is a trampling of them!
truth and justice.                                            I would also warn the Reformed Churches of New
The Outcome                                                 Zealand that though they may have gotten rid of the
  Obviously, the brethren concerned had failed cases under discussion, they have not really solved any
completely to get justice done at either the local level problems  by their failure to exercise the necessary
or the broadest level. After Synod's decision, they doctrinal discipline and to take a clear stand over
were right back where they had begun.                       against false doctrine. In fact,the very same issues may
  What is worse, their sessions showed no inclination face them sooner than they think! To this I will call
to reconcile in the sense of retracting and apologizing attention - with evidence - next time,                 D.V.
for their heavy charges of gross sin. To this day the


Question Box
                      As To The Sign of Jonah
                                              Pro5 H. C. Hoeksema

  From a Wisconsin reader I received the following Sabbath, Mark  15:42, Luke  23:54, 56, John  19:31,
question: "If Jesus was crucified on Friday afternoon, 42. In the second place, this necessarily means that
and arose very early on Sunday morning, how must we Jesus was not in the grave for an exact and entire
explain that He was three days and three nights in the period of three days and three nights, that is,
heart of the earth? Matt. 12:40."                           seventy-two hours, but only for part of Friday, all of
Reply                                                       Saturday, and part of Sunday. In other words, what we
  To the specific question here my answer can be very have in this expression is an instance of the part for the
brief. First of all, I believe that we must accept as a     whole; and this is very common usage with respect to
fact that Jesus (not: was crucified) died on Friday time, even among us. Thus, for example, I might say
afternoon. This, it would appear, is plain from the fact that I was out of town for a preaching engagement for
that, according to Scripture, the next day was the three days, while actually I was out of town for only


230                                             THE STANDARD BEARER



part of Saturday, all of Sunday, and part of Monday. question that we lose sight of the thrust of the passage
This, by the way, is plainly the meaning in the light of in which the verse in question is found. The "sign of
Scripture itself. The Bible does not only say that Jesus the prophet Jonas" does not hinge on an exact three
arose from the dead after three days; strictly speaking, days and three nights whatsoever. I have neither time
this would mean that He arose on the fourth day. But nor space to explain this "sign" at present; perhaps at a
Scripture says  - as we also confess in the Apostles' future date I can do so. But let me at least call the
Creed, that He arose on the third day:  -"And that he readers' attention to the very significant and pointed
was buried, and that he rose again the third day passage in which this sign is mentioned: "Then certain
according to the scriptures," I Cor. 15 : 4.                of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying,
   I am aware of the fact that there are some who Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he
think to solve this imaginary problem by placing the answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous
death of Jesus earlier. But even this attempt would not generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign
solve the alleged problem. For in view of the be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as
time-of-day of Jesus' death and the time-of-day of Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's
Jesus' resurrection, it can never be reckoned that Jesus belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three
was literally and exactly in the grave three days and nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh
three nights, and that, too, in such a way that He arose shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall
on the third day.                                           condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of
   In conclusion, I would caution that we should not Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here," Matt.
become so preoccupied with this rather technical 12:38-41.


                   As To Job I$26 and I Corinthians 15:50
  Another question from a Wisconsin reader is as              Was Job mistaken? I think not.
follows: "We read in Job 19:26, `And though after my          Does Job contradict I Corinthians 15? Not at all.
skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I         Does Job indeed express the hope of his bodily
see God.' In I Cor.  15:50 we read, `Now this I say, resurrection in this passage? I am convinced that he
brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the           does. I surely cannot go along with the suggestion of
kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit             some that Job only expresses the hope of a future
incorruption.' What does Job mean when he says that bodily restoration on earth. And while the
he will see God in his flesh?"                              interpretation is at least more plausible, and also more
Reply                                                       acceptable, that Job is here referring to the so-called
  The problem in this question centers on the               intermediate state, in which he shall spiritually behold
expression "in my flesh shall I see God," in                God, but not in the body, I nevertheless believe that
comparison with the statement in I Corinthians 15:50        the passage says more than this.
that "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of           What, then, is the explanation? As I see it, it lies
God." The correct assumption is that "flesh" (Job)          along the following lines:
and      "flesh     and blood" (Corinthians) mean             1) We must discard the rendering of the King James
substantially the same thing. Hence, if it is true that in Version. It is not in harmony with the original on some
our present earthly, corruptible bodies (flesh and important points, especially the one concerning Job's
blood) we cannot inherit the kingdom of God, how is         "flesh." Nor can I see how one can escape a
it possible that Job says that he will see God in his       contradiction between Job and Corinthians on the
flesh (that same earthly, corruptible, natural body)?       basis of the KJV without improperly stretching the
  The problem is complicated, perhaps, by the fact meaning of "in my flesh."
that this passage, from Job, as translated in our King        2) What Job says in this verse is, indeed, quite the
James Version, has become a much loved expression of opposite of what the King James Version conveys. He
personal faith with respect to our bodily resurrection. actually says: "from  (in the sense of: separate from,
For those who love sacred music, such as the oratorio       free from, outside of) my flesh shall I see God." This
Messiah, this complication is probably strengthened by translation is fully in harmony with the Hebrew
the fact that we would not like to give up that preposition used in the text. This translation occurs in
inspiring solo based on this passage. For myself, at any various forms in other versions. The American Revised
rate, I know that for some time after having heard, the Version has:  ". . . Then without my flesh shall I see
solo referred to I can carry that song about in my heart    God." And in the margin this same version has: "And
and thoughts.                                               after my skin hath been thus destroyed, Yet from my


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 231



flesh shall I see God." For those who can read Dutch, however, we look at verse 27, it is rather plain, I think,
the  Statenvertaling  has: "En als zij na mijne huid dit that by implication Job expresses here the hope of the
doorknaagd zullen hebben, zal  ik uit  mijn  vleesch  God bodily resurrection. For in this verse Job speaks
aanschouwen." (italics added). Personally, I like the emphatically of beholding God with his eyes: "Whom I
rendering by the commentator Delitzscli: "And after shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and
my skin, thus torn to pieces, And without my flesh not another; though my reins be consumed within
shall I behold Eloah." Thus translated, Job says here  me." This is, I believe, too strong an expression to
not that he shall see God in his present, earthly, refer only to the bliss of the intermediate state, but
corruptible body, or "flesh." But he says the opposite: presupposes that Job shall be raised in the body and in
that he shall see God out of the flesh, when he has put that body (the new, heavenly, glorified body of the
off and been stripped of his present flesh.                    resurrection) shall see God with his eyes.
 3) But should we then understand Job as saying that            Thus, briefly, I would interpret the passage in
he shall see God in the intermediate glory of the question and solve the problem posed by my
disembodied state immediately after death? If we take questioner.
verse 26 all by itself, this would seem to be the case. If,


E d u c a t i o n   F e a t u r e   I
     Discipline In The Christian Home And School (1)
                                                   Mr. T. De Vries

          [Editor? Note: This is the first of two articles on this subject. The two articles together
          .constittite  a, paper delivered by Mr. De Vries, of the Free Christian School bf Edgerton,
          Mirinesota, at a convention  of  teachers from the schools  of  Doon, Iowa, Edgerton, and
         Loveland,. Colorado. We welcome this contribution from one of our Protestant Reformed
          teachers.1

  Just what does the word ,discipline mean to you?             to show that there is a need on our part to understand
  Sadly enough, the word discipline leaves a bad taste that discipline, I would like to tell `you of a few ideas
in the mouths of many people. This is something that of modern educators and psychologists. After seeing
is becoming more' and more apparent in today's these ideas we have little difficulty understanding the
permissive society. Even to some Christians the word breakdown of law and order today, the new morality,
has to do with a distasteful task which is brought unrest on college campuses, and the general attitude of
about by the natural perversity of children. To other rebelliousness.
people the word conjures up such thoughts as                     Some two hundred years ago the French
punishment or severity, or even hatred.                        philosopher, Rousseau, reflected the spirit of his times
  Another view of discipline is that it is an essential in his writings. He told the world that man is born
element of childrearing, but that it has little to do with good, and that his unhappiness came not because of
the teachings of `Scripture. In this view, discipline sin, but because of an unsuitable social environment.
means punishment, brought about, however, as Man, he said, could be free and happy when he took a
nothing more than a chance to get even with children full share in his own government. That is to say, man
for their faults. Others even use children as objects for was to be his own authority. His ideas are still in force
getting rid of their own frustrations.                         today' and are the basis of our own political
  The goal of ~discil?line is often perverted also. Why documents. Some of Rousseau's ideas applied, to
does the Christian want to have so called "disciplined" children are: never command a child; leave children
children? Do we desire peace and quiet at home or an alone as much as possible; allow children to grow and
atmosphere of learning at school? Do we discipline develop according to their own minds and wills. This is
because we want to appear to be a good parent or the kind of child that will grow into a happy adult.
teacher, as a craftsman is identified with his product? I        In modern America, John Dewey taught how we
am afraid that all of us have fallen into these false goals could achieve this social equality and. therefore
at one time or another. This evening we ought to take individual happiness. Man's problems should be
the chance to view what God has to say about scientifically analyzed, and the solution should be
discipline in His Word.                                        applied to the school system. This would mean that all
  To offer a contrast to Christian discipline, and also children and, therefore, in later years, all adults would


232                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER


be happy, well-adjusted persons.                                    Only those who love God can discipline, and discipline
  Modern psychologists carry these ideas a little                   comes only because of the love of God. Discipline
farther when they tell us that our sinless children involves instruction in God's ways and correction for
ought to go through a process of socialization. That is             those acts which are not pleasing to God.
to say, children must be trained by the school system                  I would like to divide the body of this speech into
to be well adjusted individuals who can live happily two parts: first, the person disciplining, and second,
with others. Children rebel, not against God, but only              the person being disciplined.
to preserve their own personal identity. All challenges                In order for a person to discipline he must be in a
of parental authority ought to be met with tolerance position of authority. Just what is this authority, and
and kindly understanding. Punishment, it is said, will where does it come from?
only deepen frustration or cause resentment.                           Webster tells us that authority is "the power or right
  These ideas are carried to the extreme by an English to give commands, and force obedience, take action, or
educator named A. S. Neill. He will have nothing to do make final decisions." Scripture tells us that God is the
with authority, claiming that adults are power hungry final authority. He is authority by His very nature.
tyrants in their demand for obedience. Children should God's authority does not come because He is
be made the equals of adults in all judgments. The all-powerful or all-wise, but because He is Lord and
object of a person's life is to find happiness, in nearly           Creator of all. He is the Author or Originator. There is
any way he pleases. Discipline will bring only guilt no authority apart from God. We must go farther than
feelings, hostility, and hypocrisy, not happiness.                  Webster's definition and see what God says of His own
  These are the sort of ideas which the Christian authority.
parent and teacher must be prepared to cope with and                   When God led His people from Egypt, He said to
to resist. It is with these ideas surrounding them that Moses: Tell the people that I Am That IArn hath sent
Christian children must grow up.                                    you. When God gave his commandments to Moses, He
   In order for us to define discipline in the light of established His authority by saying, "I am the Lord
Scripture, we must look to God's purpose in placing thy God." In these simple statements we understand
His people on the earth. We cannot take an earthly the profound knowledge that is given in Psalm 103: 19,
definition such as Webster gives, that discipline is "The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens,
training that develops self-control and orderliness. God and his kingdom ruleth over all." We can understand
demands more of us than that we are orderly or have Webster's definition in relationship to God by giving
self-control. There is more of a goal in our lives.                 capital letters to all the nouns. God gives not just a
  Discipline is not a process which again partially or command, but the Command, takes not just action,
totally restores us in favor with God. This is impossible but is Himself Action.
on the part of man. It is only by God's grace, and not                 God confers His authority to Christ and then to man.
through our works of discipline, that we or our God has highly exalted Christ and has commanded that
children are saved.                                                 every knee should bow before Him. It is through Christ
  Today's worldly definition of discipline cannot be that the authority of God is bestowed on parents, and
ours. It is not a process whereby a child becomes a from parents to teachers. God has established all
good citizen or a person who is free from emotional positions of authority, and that of parent is most
hangups. God's children are to be good citizens, but important of all.
this is only a part of their fear of God.                              It is important that we understand that the
  Mark tells us that "to love the Lord our God with all             authority of the parent is not his own but that he uses
o u r   h e a r t   a n d   m i n d   a n d   s o u l   i s   t h e   f i r s t God's authority. A person in authority has no right to
commandment." I think all of us know what that demand obedience or respect simply because of
means. God must be all-important in our lives. Our superior wisdom or strength. A parent may not make
goal is to serve Him, and to subordinate our own                    demands because of natural ties between himself and
desires to nonexistence. It is for this reason that we his children or because he is their procreator. These
are on this earth.                                                  things may go .along with authority but are not reasons
  Because of sin, we find this goal impossible to meet. why a person must be obeyed.
Because of sin we must have discipline, not as a                       The parent or teacher must establish himself
restorative process or to better ourselves in this world, confidently in his God-given position of authority. We
but because God has commanded us to hate sin. God may not say, "Child, it is time to go to bed because my
instituted positions of authority before He created the experience has told me that if you do not, you will be
world., Discipline by these authorities became tired tomorrow." Rather we say, "Child, go to bed
necessary because sin came into the world.                          because your parent has said to go." The teacher may
  We as authorities, parents or teachers, are to train not say to his students, "Obey because I am your
our children to love the Lord their God. This, then, is physical superior and can punish you." Rather he must
discipline: the act of training our children to love God. say, "Obey because God has given me the authority


                                                     THE  STANDARD  BEARER                                                  233
~


     over you." This is not to say, of course, that there is         also discipline out of the fear of the Lord. We will see
     not to be punishment through superior strength, or later that it is also the love of Christ which will bring
     judgments because of greater experience. These are              about obedience on the part of children as a result of
     only earthly reasons why children must obey. The our discipline.
     parent or teacher is answerable to Christ for the                                   (to be continued)
     nurture of children in the fear of the Lord. We must


     In His Fear
                                           The Pilgrim Life

I                                                       Rev. D. H. Kuiper

     A Double Reason                                                 (which I am convinced is the King James or
       That the Bible is the Word of God and not simply Authorized Version) and if we understand that
     the word of man is so clear that every pilgrim, even variations in this translation according to the best
     pilgrim  children,  can understand it. There is, first of manuscripts are very minor and do not touch a single
     all, a negative reason. . . . "it came not in old time by doctrinal issue or an article of the Christian faith, we
     the will of man." Scripture did not have its origin in can be sure that what we have in  our homes and
     the will of man. Man's will had nothing to do with the churches and schools is the inspired, infallible Word of
     Scriptures. Whether there would be a Bible, when it God. Because the Spirit poured out on the church not
     would be written, by whom it would be written, what only gave the Word, but also preserves it, our copies
     form it would take, what its contents would be . . .            today. partake of the infallibility that the original
     man's will had nothing to do with these things! Let manuscripts enjoyed. The Holy Spirit sees to it, and
     that be impressed upon us in such a way that it never will see to it, that the Pilgrim stranger in this world
     be forgotten. The truth is that  God  determined there always has a guide-book that does not err!
     would be a Bible; God determined to reveal Himself as             All this is being denied by many, by the instigation
     the God of salvation in Jesus Christ. The Scriptures of the Devil. It has become fashionable to say that the
     came by the will of God, and, therefore, His will               Bible contains the Word of God. The idea is that if you
     decided the matter from every point of view! So want to discover the Word of God in the Bible, you
     important is the will of God in this matter that if He must first strip away the trivia and the myth. Get rid
     had not graciously decided to reveal Himself to us, we          of the human framework and figures. In this way,
     could never, never know Him. Oh, we would have a much of God's precious revelation to  usward is
     certain knowledge of Him that works fear, but we discarded at the whim of man. He will judge what is
     would never know Him as Father, and as the God of God's Word and what is not. Others say that since the
     covenant friendship and life! But God be praised, He Bible is the revelation of salvation- and contains
     was pleased to uncover Himself in human language,               covenant history, it is infallible.only in matters of faith
     and that revelation we have in the Bible.                       and doctrine. But in matters scientific and historical it
       This blessed fact implies, first of all, that the Bible is    obviously errs and cannot be trusted. Thus, God's own
     the Word of God from beginning to end. Oh, it was               Word concerning creation is thrown out, and evolution
     written by man in human language, but that does not or theistic evolution with its period theory is
     make it less Divine. They contain no word of man at introduced. (The reasons for this will not be discussed
     all. The Scriptures in their entirety are the revelation here, but one cannot escape the feeling that the desire
     of the mighty God of our salvation! Secondly, this of many theologians to be accepted by  academe is
     means that the Bible is the inspired, infallible Word. prominent here.) It is said that there are errors in the
     The original manuscripts, which are now lost,                   genealogies, historical accounts that do not harmonize,
     contained no errors, no contradictions, no untruths. misconceptions concerning the solar system,
     And what about the Bibles we use today? Are they to             inconsistencies in the gospel accounts. It is no
     be trusted? I know there are a lot of versions being coincidence that those who deny the infallibility of the
     pressed upon us today, and I am aware of many Bible continue to chip away, and imagine they fmd
     differences in translations, some of which are more and more errors. If the child of God is aghast
     deliberate perversions of the clear meaning of the text.        thus far by the attacks upon the Scripture, bt him be
     But as God's people we ought to be impressed by this warned that he has seen only the beginning. The point
     fact: if we concern ourselves with the best version is, if you deny one part of the Bible as God's Truth,


234                                               THE STANDARD BEARER


you have denied the whole Bible. The Word stands in                 Hence,  -ionceming the doctrine of inspiration, the
to to or it falls in to to. Is it not clear that if you cannot    child of God may and must believe, fust, that God's
trust God's Word in respect to creation, you cannot Word was given in such a way that it is infallible and
trust His Word regarding recreation in Jesus Christ inerrant: it cannot err because it is the Word of God,
(confer Rom. 4:  17)? If you deny the existence of don't you see? That means that any attack on the
Adam, you deny the Last Adam, the Lord from                       Word of God is an attack on God Himself! When you
Heaven? If you deny Paradise, you deny Heaven? If say something about the Bible, you are saying
you deny that all men died in Adam, you deny that something about the living God! And, therefore,
the elect are made alive in Christ? But the Bible does            modern attempts to derogate the Bible are an attack
not err! It contains no mistakes and no word of man on Theism itself, for a God Who errs is no God at all.
because it came not in old time by the will of man.               With Jesus we must say, "Father, Thy Word is Truth!"
  The positive reason why the Bible is in all its parts           And if that invites persecution and ridicule, let it be
the Word of God is given us by Peter in the words:                so! Secondly, such a Word of God is authoritative, of
"Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the course! That's so important for the pilgrim. In future
Holy Ghost." To show how little man had to do with                issues we hope to consider various aspects of the
the coming of the Scriptures, we are instructed here              pilgrim's calling, and we will discover that the calling is
that even that small part that God allowed man to play often contrary to the flesh. How important for us to
in the production of the Bible is actually thoroughly understand, then, that the authority of the Sovereign
God-determined and God-controlled. Before the                     God of heaven and earth is embodied in His Word. The
foundations of the world, He set apart and qualified              ring of its authority must be heard and recognized in
each writer of the Scripture. He gave, in His counsel, to         every area of life. To it we must bow! And, thirdly,
each one certain gifts and abilities, a certain position          such an infallibly inspired Record is completely
and circumstance in life. David, whom God determined trustworthy. The pilgrim may give himself over to its
should write the Psalms, grew up as a shepherd of his             promises without fear of disappointment! The Word
fathers sheep on the hills of Judah. Moses had to be will not lead astray, will not cause unnecessary
educated in the palace schools of Pharaoh.  Paul was              suffering; rather, it will guide him to Heaven and
taught at the feet of Gamaliel. These circumstances               Home.
and preparation exactly enabled each sacred writer to             The Result of Knowing This
write a certain, fore-ordained, part of the Bible. Thus,            The apostle Peter assumes that these things may be
the Spirit did not find men in this world that He would known by the church, and that this knowledge lives in
use, but these men were raised up and prepared by                 the consciousness of the believer. How may we know
God for that work!                                                concerning the Divine origin of Scripture and
  Secondly, these men spoke and wrote in a very                   wonderful truths of inerrancy, authority, and
special way . . . "being moved by the Holy Ghost." trustworthiness? As the late Dr. E. J. Young of
The idea is that they were carried by, borne along by Westminster Seminary puts it in his excellent book,
the Holy Spirit. The sacred writers were caught up in             Thy Word  Is  Truth  (Eerdmans, 1957, p. 1  S), "If a
the Spirit! So inspiration is that act of God whereby he foreigner comes to our shores, and we should desire to
breathed His Word into the hearts and minds of chosen know his nationality and something about his
men, so that, under the infallible direction of the Holy background and history, there are many ways we
Spirit, they were guided and directed to record that might proceed to obtain this information. We might
Word. It follows that this implies a verbal, or graphic           call in a number of people and engage in a guessing
inspiration. God did not simply convey to his chosen game on a large scale. We might ask different
writers the general idea or broad outline of revelation,          individuals to make a thorough study of the man's
and then trust they could carry on from there. No, appearance and clothes, and then give us their
every line, every word, every letter, is God breathed!            `unbiased' judgment as a result of such `scientific'
Consistency demands of us, that with such a view, we              study. There is also another way in which we might
do not engage in debates about the human and Divine               proceed. We might ask the man himself to tell us the
factor in the Bible. The Bible is not the product of              answers to our question." Dr. Young's point is that the
God and man. It is not necessary to speak of a human              Bible itself tells us all we need to know about the
and Divine author. The Holy Scriptures are all Divine.            doctrine of Scripture. We ought not ask the scientist or
The Bible as it presents us with the living Word of God,          the philosopher to formulate this doctrine, God
which is Jesus Christ, is fully inspired in all its parts. It I-Iimself is the only One to be trusted in making
comes to us directly from the mouth of God, Who                   statements about the  Wo@ of God. Go to the Bible
cannot lie and Who cannot err. "He is the Rock, His               believing that! What a wide range of proof you will
work is perfect, for all His ways are judgment. A God             then find. The text we have been considering belongs
of truth, and without iniquity, just and right is He." at the heart of this body of proof. What beautiful
(Deut. 3214).                                                     evidence that every word of the Bible comes to us


                                                        THE STANDARD BEARER                                                       235



from the mouth of our loving, caring Father! There is                      before- the Word when it comes to you and says,
II Timothy 3: 16: "All Scripture is given by inspiration                   "Pilgrim, this is your calling. This is how I would have
of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for                   you walk in the midst of the world." You will begin to
correction, for instruction in righteousness." Countless                   wonder if Christ is really going to return, to receive
times we read, "Thus saith the Lord," or, "The word                        unto Himself His redeemed Church, and to give her the
of the Lord came unto me saying.. .  ." We pass over                       eternal inheritance, the new heavens and earth in
this lightly, but these phrases hammer home the fact                       which dwelleth righteousness. Let no man say that the
that God is speaking!                                                      doctrine of inspiration with all its implications is
  From a slightly different point of view, consider the                    something cold and hard, or perhaps out of date. It is
amazing unity and harmony that the Bible displays:                         vibrant and warm. It is a matter of life and death. If
sixty-six books written over a period of hundreds of the gospel is to have power, if it is to give consolation,
years by scores of different men. Yet, there is not one                    if it is to save, then it must be the Word of God! And it
conflict, or discrepancy, or loose end! This objective                     is!
proof no man is able to gainsay! The Belgic                                       It is sad and it is inexcusable that in the
Confession, Art. 5, states that the Scriptures carry the                   nineteenseventies the church on earth dares to take a
evidence in themselves that they are the Word of God.                      new look at this doctrine. As one of the first principles
That evidence is simply overwhelming!                                      of religion, it may not be questioned or even
  And yet, all that proof means nothing to you and investigated. It may only be believed; and if an attack
me personally, unless the same Spirit Who gave it                          is launched against the Bible, this doctrine must be
testifies in our hearts that these things be true! God                     applied. Before this Word of God Satan will flee.
works faith in His Word; God engraves them upon the                               What a treasure, then, the Bible is for the
tablets of our heart!  Thu% the pilgrim child of God,                      often-weary pilgrim. He may trust it with all his soul.
living out of faith, is not shaken by the so-called                        In a world of change, of darkness and the lie, he has
discoveries of science and modern theologians. He                          Light and Truth for every possible situation. He cleaves
knows the Bible is the Word of God. He knows it is                         to its promises as they all center in Christ. He is willing
without error. Therefore, nothing can shake his                            to suffer loss of all earthly things, he is willing to
confidence in the Word, not even the gates of hell.                        endure affliction and even die, he will go where that
  T h e   i m p o r t a n c e o f   a l l   t h i s   c a n n o t   b e    Guide-book sends him . . . all because that Word
over-emphasized, for the church as a whole, nor for the                    cannot be broken!
individual believer. Notice that Petei- places the truth                          For this reason pilgrimage is a matter of joy! I am
of this text  in  the category of a  basic principle  by afraid we are inclined to view the pilgrim life as a
insisting that we know this  first.  The truth that the negative type of thing. As if it is all deprivation, denial,
Bible is God-breathed is fundamental to Christianity,                      and sadness. Sometimes our children react that way
to pure and undefiled religion, and to a faithful when we instruct them in the ways of the covenant:
pilgrimage! Establish this, by God's grace, as an                          "Why can't a Christian have fun?" How can we fail to
immoveable fact in your lives. Hold on to it, teach it to                  see that being a pilgrim is a privilege, and thus a matter
your children, and never let it go: for if this is allowed                 of great joy? Because he can trust in the Word of God,
to slip away from us, then we have nothing left. If you the psalmist sings: "Thy statutes are my song in the
wonder if the Word of God be true, then you will                           house of my pilgrimage!" That  jpy may be  otis,
wonder if you'are a pilgrim,. and even if being a bilgrim                  because Father's Word is Truth!
is all that important. You will not be inclined to bow


The Day of Shadows
                                   Attempted Robbery
                                                            Rev. John A. Heys

  That fust sin of Adam and Eve injured neither one had no more painful effect upon their bodies than the
of them bodily.'                                                           eating of any piece of fruit from any other tree in the
  There was no violence of the one upon the other in                       garden.
that deed. No painful blow was struck to injure each                              To any of us fallen children of Adam, could we have
other's flesh. No cutting words were spoken that been there to witness that first sin, it would have been
wounded their souls. The eating of that forbidden fruit nothing more than the eating of a piece of fruit from a


236                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


tree that arbitrarily had been designated as one having without being troubled by Him. They would rob Him
forbidden fruit. The fruit of that tree was good for of His glory as God!
food. That tree did not bear poisonous fruit. Consider          That apparently harmless act of eating of the fruit
once what a weak poison that would have been. For of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was a
then it did not kill Adam (though he ate of it only root sin that has brought forth all the hatred against
once) until nine hundred thirty years later,! A piece of God that is in the world today and  will develop to
fruit that takes that long to bring to death can hardly greater heights in the remaining years of this world. All
be called poisonous.                                          the rebellion against God man has ever committed, or
  Yet, though the deed brought no physical pain or will commit, came out of this sin. You see, that tree
grief to Adam and Eve, and though it seemed like a was not arbitrarily chosen to be the tree of the knowl-
very arbitrary decision to single out this tree as one edge of good and of evil. It was created by God to.be
with forbidden fruit, it was a most vicious sin that His means of teaching man, made in His image, what
Adam and Eve committed when they ate of that tree! was ethically good and what was ethically evil and
  It was man's declaration of hatred against God, be- would, therefore, bring him material good or material
cause of which he would set himself on a course of evil. Adam knew the good but had to know it as op-
fighting Him in order to rob Him of His glory!                posed to evil. He had to live antithetically. He had to
  It was unbridled hatred!                                    serve God in love with a complete hatred of all that
  It was bold rebellion!                                      which did not serve Him and did not glorify Him. And
  It was attempted robbery!                                   eating of that tree would mean that man had begun to
  That was Satan's goal, and it was also his very ap- hate God, refused to serve Him, would declare, or in-
proach as well. He had turned in hatred against God. deed in that eating did already declare war on God,
He had rebelled in heaven. And he had also sought to and that he was out to rob Him of His glory of being
rob God of His glory. Paul tells us  iq I Timothy  3:6 the sovereign ruler of heaven and earth!
that Satan was lifted up with pride, which means that           We do well, then, to cast far from us all this silly
he sought to exalt himself above God. It means that he talk about little and big sins. Look at that sin  qf
died spiritually before man did, and being spiritually Adam! It is in every sin we commit whether from our
dead the only joy he could find was in spreading that viewpoint it is called big or little. Every time that we
hatred to God's image bearer. And he found the ser- sin we simply say, I will decide for myself what is good
pent to be a valuable tool for working hatred into the and what is evil. I want no God above me to tell me
heart of man, and the scheme of robbing God of His what I have to do! I want the forbidden, and I am
glory into man's mind. Eat, he said, and you can rob going to get it!
God of His position in which He tells you what is good          The friend-servant relation in which we were created
and what is evil! Eat, that you may be able to decide we have in Adam changed to one of enemy-rebel. And
for yourself what is good for you and what you will we have carried it on into every sphere and department
consider to be evil!                                          of life. We are out to rob God of His glory. We want
  Understand well, then, that this first deed of Adam Him dead and are going to behave as though He is. But
touches the very sovereignty of God. For if He cannot since we are quite sure that He is not, we are going to
decide anymore what is good for His creature and what fight Him with everything that we have.
is evil, if the creature does obtain this right and power,      Of course we do not rob Him. We speak of at-
then God loses His sovereignty, must step aside, and tempted robbery, because it did not and could not
that will be a God beside Him. And that simply means succeed. It was all Satan's lie, and he knew that it was
that God is dead! It is inherent in being God that one not true. He had not succeeded himself. He knew that
is God alone. Two gods would nullify and limit each God is God and God alone. The creature that depends
other, and both would lose the very characteristic of upon God for every breath of his life cannot get God
being God. It is, therefore, as far as Satan's approach is out of his way, cannot rob God of any of His glory.
concerned, Jehovah or Adam, and not both. When God is glorified in that very attempt of man to rob
Satan suggested being like God, he lied, of course. But Him of His glory. His almighty power to maintain Him-
in his lie is the alternative. to  Adam and Eve: Let self as God shines all the more strongly through that
Jehovah continue to be God and control your life, or very sin of Adam. That He still is God, and that He is
rob Him of this and take that place yourself! Adam God alone became so very plain in the punishment that
and Eve did not eat in the thought that now they at once came upon them for their sin. They robbed
would be like God in the sense that they would be on God of no glory. They robbed themselves of all their
His level. No, when they would know what is good and glory. They lost their life and all of their spiritual gifts
evil (after Satan's suggestion) they would be above to become enemies of the God Who still continued to
God. They would rob Him of that which He now had. determine for them what is good and what is evil. They
They would wrest from His hands the control He now lost all their ability to call the good good, and the evil
had over them. They could go their own merry way evil, and to choose the good and to reject the evil.


                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER                                                      237


They took nothing from God, but God took from His mouth, and condemned the very thought  as a
them the excellent gifts which in their creation He had loathsome, evil thing. He always maintained and mani-
given to them.                                                     fested a love for God as the Sovereign One. And be-
   Let us clearly understand that, whether we are                  cause He did, the world robbed Him of His Life at
speaking of. spiritual death, by which we mean that                Calvary.                                ..,
man is completely unable to do what is spiritually                    Let the fact of Adam's sin then open our eyes to the
good (and into this Adam did fall the day that he ate); holiness of God and the awfulness of our sin. We tie.so
or physical death, which is the separation of body and             inclined to view God as less than holy. At least we like
soul, with the body beginning to return to the dust; or            to consider Him to be less than holy. 0 yes, we do! We
the eternal death, which is the suffering of the ever-             try to console ourselves and deceive ourselves into
lasting wrath of God in hell, death is punishment! It is           thinking that He will condone a.little heresy and a little
God's punishment upon the sinner, ,and not a natural sin. He will overlook, we like to think, a few points of
consequence of eating forbidden fruit. The tree did not            false doctrine. And we even dare to say that for one sin
kill Adam, but God did. The wages, the payment of sin              He will not cast us into hell. If we continue, and if the
is death. That is saying much more than that death is pile gets too big, then He will lose His temper and say,
the result of sin. And so, without minimizing that                 "Now, that is enough!" How often do we not-hear
awfulness of their sin, the truth expressed in our title           those who despise the means of grace on the Sabbath
that it is attempted robbery declares the folly of man's and serve the flesh instead;who  drop a word that takes
deed, and the impossibility that God could be robbed His name in vain, that pull off a shady business deal,
of His sovereignty. Man meant to rob. With him it was              say, "The good Lord is not going to put me in hell for
not a mere attempt. He had been deceived into think- just one sin."
ing that he would succeed. He ate because he was con-                 Better that we remember that He killed Adam and
vinced that his sin would bring him advantage, not                 Eve for one sin. Better that we look at sin from His
disadvantage. He rebelled because he  .was convinced               point of view and not from our sinful position. Better
that he could become like God to know good and evil.               that we judge with His pure eyes rather than with our
But the outcome of the deed is that it was only a evil eyes. Do we not in Habakkuk 1: 13 read? "Thou
foolish attempt that failed completely.                            art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and  canst not
  And the Saviour of this fallen man, and of mankind,              look on iniquity."
will have to earn life before this God. He will have to               Follow not the philosopher who declares that if you
obtain it from the same God Who took it from us. He                lead a good, clean life there is a certain place for you in
will have to satisfy His, not the devil's, demands. He             God's kingdom, and then by a good, clean life means
will have to buy us from His justice by suffering fully one of keeping the second table of the law, as though
our punishment and by fulfilling completely God's de- this were possible without keeping the first table.
mand to us of unswerving obedience and love. There is Adam and Eve broke not that second table in their
no tree whose fruit we can eat and thereby restore first sin, and all hell broke loose upon them as far as
ourselves to the life we lost: There must be the tree of           what they deserved is concerned. Your hands -may be
the cross that serves to inflict this punishment upon              ever so clean as far as that second table is concerned,
that Saviour and that serves as' an altar where He may             that is, in man's opinion and according to his judg-
offer up a perfect life to God.                                    ment, but are you denying God His sovereignty? Are
  Very beautifully Paul writes of Him iti Philippians you denying Him the right to tell you what is good and
2: 6 that He thought-not the robbery to be equal with what is evil? Live in peace with men but fight God, and
God. That is a better translation than the one which death is the wages for that sin, regardless of how nice
declares that, "He thought it not robbery to be equal you were to men.
with God." In His pure mind and holy will the thought                 Confess God to be sovereign both by your mouth
and desire of taking from God His sovereignty was and your deeds. And then run to the tree of the cross
never entertained. Satan spoke also to  Him, and that for healing, since so often we seek to rob Him of that
on many occasions. But he never succeeded in- getting honour and  glory. Attempt not the robbery of God,
the Son of God in our flesh to entertain in His                    but cast yourself in humility before Him and seek His
thoughts or harbour in His heart the robbery of God.               sovereign grace.
Always when Satan suggested it, He spewed it out of



           "The excellent, infallible and sole preparation for grace is the eternal election and predestination of God."
                                                                                                      Martin Luther


238                                                THE STANDARD BEARER


Book  Review
                       The Sdience And Creation Series,
THE SCIENCE AND CREATION SERIES,  Creation                   its application to the investigation of man and his
Science Research Center; Editors: Henry M. Morris &          cultures, showing the inadequacies`of any evolutionary
Jimtiy F. Phelps. (Reviewed by Prof. H. Hanko)               theory of hum& origins and development."
  The Creation Research Society, which has published a         Book Six: "Worlds Without End" (The Origin and
large amount of  ex&mely valuable and worthwhile             Structure of the Universe). "A study of the  ~
material in defense  .of the  Biblican  presentation of fundamental nature of the physical universe, from  1
creation, has now come out with a series of books            atom to galaxy,  and the fallacies of all naturalistic
which are particularly designed for use in the               theories of cosmic beginnings."
classroom;.. The series contains a "Handbook For                Book Seven: "Beginning of the World" (Creation,
Teachers" plus. a set of eight books for use in the          Evolution, and Modem Science). A comparative survey
classroom. Each of these eight books has a companion         of the creationist and evolutionist models for the study
book which is for the teachers' use. While we cannot         of science, demonstrating that creation is at least as
describe in detail the contents of all these books, we       effective as evolution for the correlation and
think the series is important enough to give some            prediction of scientific phenomena."
summary of each volume.                                        Book Eight: "The World and Time" (Age and
 The teachers? handbook  c.ontains chapters on the           History of the Earth). "A critical study of the methods
following subjects:                                          in current use for the estimation of dates in' the
   I. The Scientific Study of Origins.                       pre-historic world, giving much evidence that the earth
  II. Creation and the Conceptual Systems of Science.        may be relatively young rather than billions of years in
 III. Creation and the Scientific Disciplines.               age as preferred by evolutionists."
 IV. Classical Arguments for Evolution: A                      All  these  individutil  books are $1.75 each. The
   R e - e v a l u a t i o n .               .,              Teachers Handbook is $3.50 per copy. But the Society
  V. The Origin of Life.                                     also makes combination offers:
 VI. Creation and the Problem of Time.                         One copy of each student book: (8 books) . . $12.95
VII. The Creation of the Universe.                             One copy of each student book: (8 books) ; . . 12.95
   .The series of books for use in the classroom plus          One copy of each student book + one copy of each
their companion teachers' books certain the following            teacher book + Handbook for teachers . . . . . 28.00
m a t e r i a l :                                              The student books are well-organized, well-written
   Book  On& "This  `Wor&rful  Wbrld" (Order and             and lavishly and `beautifully illustrated. They are
Design in Nature). "Evidence of beauty and order in          especially  suited to the teaching of science in our grade
the natural` world, demonstrating the necessity of a         schools and junior high schools. The teacher books are
Designer and the impossibility of naturalistic origin." prepared in such a way that they are of a great deal of
   Book Two: "Our Changing World" (The Nature of assistance in explaining the material and preparing
Physical Processes). "Introductory study of matter and       lessons for the classroom. They contain suggestions for
energy, and the laws of energy conversion,                   vocabulary development, extra projects, sample
demonstrating that the basic -processes in nature are        worksheets and quizzes and additional reading. The
those of conservation  tind decay, rather than               Teachers Handbook is a very worthwhile book in itself
evolution."                                                  and can be recommended not only to our teachers for
   Book Three: ' "The World of Long Ago" (The                their own personal libraries, but also to all our readers
Testimony of the Fossils). "A survey of the fossil           who are at all interested in this matter of creationism
record and `its significance, stressing the ecological vs. evolutionism.
communities in the former world and their                      There is, however, one aspect of the Beries which we
catastrophic burial in the sediments, instead of the         mention by way of criticism. We are aware of the fact
naturalistic concept of successive evolutionary ages." that the series was prepared for use in the public school
   Book Four: "The Living World" (Structure of system, and is, as a matter of fact, used in the San
Living Systems). "An elementary study of the nature          Diego City Schools. But because these books were not
of life and its many levels, from the cell to the            specially prepared for Christian  .Schools,  their
ecosystem, indicating the impossibility of its origin and    approach is deliberately scientific in distinction from
development by any process other than special                Biblical. The authors explain why this is done in the
creation."                                                   Teachers Handbook. But the result of this approach
   Book Five: "Man and  I-l& World" (Origin and              leads to several undesirable features. The intent of the
Nature of Man). "A study of the scientific method and        series is to present creationism as a  viable option  to


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                         23`9


evolutionism. The intent of the series is to show that, school system.                                   :
even from a scientific viewpoint, creationism has as            Nevertheless, we want to take this opportunity to
much "proof' as evolutionism . and that it is in a applaud the excellent-`work. of the Creation Science
position to explain the facts of creation as well as or Research Center; There has been a crying need for such
better than evolutionism.                                    books to be written as these. Now one organization is
   The approach is not, therefore, the approach.-of devoting its time and efforts, to publishing such
Scripture and the obligation to bow in submission to material. The many writers who have contributed to
the authority of the Word of God. The series takes the this series are to be commended for their excellent
position that, from an epistemological viewpoint, work. We hope that more such books will be
evolutionism must be accepted by "faith" without f o r t h c o m i n g .
proof as well as creationism; that, therefore, it is only       And so we highly recommend this series to our
fair and intellectually honest to consider creationism as schools and teachers. Serious consideration should be
an explanation of the origin of the universe along with given to introducing this series into our schools. The
evolutionism. But the series uses the word "faith" here criticism which we have offered can, in our opinion, be
in two different senses. When the unbeliever accepts overcome in the classroom; and the series is far
evolutionism by "faith,"  .the word "faith" means preferable to anything which presupposes the whole
"without scientific proof." But when the child of God heresy of evolutionism. If any of our teachers or
accepts the Scriptural account of creation by faith, the administrators would like to look over the series, they
word "faith" means "saving faith in Christ whereby are welcome to contact me and make use. of the set I
the child of God puts his confidence in God's have.                                                           -r:
                                                                                                :_
unchanging promises." The faith by which we                     As a footnote we add that the Creation Science
understand that the worlds were framed by the Word Research Center has other material available  ,which
of God .so that things which are seen were not made include: .A biology textbook, film strips;.other books
from things which do appear (Heb.  11:3) is the faith of particular value to teachers and scientists and an
which is the substance of things hoped for and the abundance of pamphlets and brochures. A list .of these
evidence of things not seen. (Heb. 11: 1).                   can be obtained by writing to Creation Science
  This approach is, of course, due to the fact that the Research Center, 27 16 Madison Avenue, : San `Diego,
books were specifically prepared for use in the public California, 92116.


  Classis West of the Protestant Reformed Churches              "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His
will meet on March 1,  1972. at the Protestant Re- saints." (Ps. 16: 15).                    Mrs. P. Zandstra, Sec'y.
formed Church of Pella, Iowa, the Lord willing. Classis
will begin at 8:30 A.M. Delegates in need of lodging
should inform the clerk of Pella's consistory of their                     WEDDING Aii?NIVERSAR  Y
need.                                                           On February 24, 1972, the Lord willing, our
                     Rev. David Engelsma, Stated Clerk beloved parents
                                                                        MR. AND MRS. JOHN HOEKSTRA
                                                             will celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary.
           RESOi UTION  OF SYMPA THY                            We, their grateful children, are thankful to our
  The Mary-Martha Society of the  Redlands  Protesi          covenant God  for. the many years of love, and
tant Reformed Church herewith expresses their sympai instruction they have given us.
thy to one of its members, Mrs. Jeanette Vander Veen,          It is our prayer that they may continue to experience
in the recemloss  of her brother,                            the Lord's blessings in their remaining years as in the
              HENRY VAN. DALFSEN.                 '          past..
  May our covenant. God comfort with His Word and                                           Their children,           1
Spirit in the assurance. that 1 "All things work togeth-                                     Miss Beverly Hoekstra
er for good to them that love God.?' (Romans 8: 28).                                   Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Driesen
                                     Sue Porte, President                             Mr. and Mrs. John J. Hoekstra
                      Audrey Van Voorthuysen, Sec'y.                                                  and 6 grandchildren

           RE~OitiTION  OF SYMPATHY                                                NOTICE!!!
  The  Ladies.Society "Ruth" of the Hope Protestant            The new Clerk of The Hope Protestant Reformed
Reformed Church  .expresses  sincere sympathy to our Church (Grand Rapids). is:
President and- one of our members, Mr. and Mrs. Alvin                  DAVID. MEULENBERG
Rau, in the loss of herfather,                                         1743 MOELKER S.W.
             MR. REINHOLD DEWALD.                                      GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 49504. ; .              `,

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


240                                                THE STANDARD BEARER



                                News From Our Churches
  Rev. Decker has declined the call extended to him           singing of English tunes, as well as, as we suggested,
from Hope Church of Redlands, California.                     songs  -in the German tongue.  "`Dies2 ist der Tag, den
                          ***ic**                             Gott gemacht!" A well-planned program it was, in our
                                                              opinion, and one well-calculated to be spiritually
   Rev. Moore, pastor of our Doon congregation, was stimulating.
in Forbes, South Dakota, on classical appointment on                                 *****
January 16. On that Sunday a tape service was held in
his own congregation.. It was the hope of the                   The Standard Bearer  business manager receives,
consistory, according to the Sunday bulletin,-"that the needless to say, countless letters from likewise
congregation will find this to be an improved means of countless readers of our magazine. We're happy to say
receiving the edifying Word in the absence of our that he has passed along to us excerpts from a few of
minister." An elder conducted the entire service, as those letters sent to the Business Office. Here they are:
usual, "with the tape replacing the reading."                   From California - "Besides the Standard Bearer and
                          *****                               the tapes, I have been able to obtain some of your
                                                              Seminary Notes, and I must say that I know of no
  Also from a  Doon bulletin we learn that the                other organization that makes available material of
Reformed Witness Committee of Doon, Edgerton, and             such depth."
Hull planned a series of lectures on "The Christian's           From England  - "Literature. received so far has
Witness." The lectures were scheduled to be held in           been greatly appreciated, particularly the  Standard
-`Doon on February 3, 10, and 17. We understand that Bearer magazine."
each of the three ministers (Revs. Kortering, Lanting,          From New Zealand - "Your Standard Bearer is very
and Moore) was to deliver one of the three lectures.          much appreciated, mainly for its sound Reformed
The announcement read, further, "we ask that you position."
begin talking up these lectures ,to your neighbors now.         From Belfast, Northern Ireland - "Do you publish a
Tongue speaking, lay preaching, conversion                    catalogue of your publications? We have at the
experiences, and Jesus People are some of the things to       moment works by Hoeksema.(Behold He Cometh, The
be treated."                                                  Triple Knowledge)  which are excellent things, and
                          *****                               should be pleased to know of any further of your
  Amor; Veritas. Dice.                                        publications."
  Strange looking words? Then how about the                    From Australia - "I am a bookseller, specializing in
f o l l o w i n g :                                           Reformed literature, and have been asked for a set of The
                Stille Nach  t, Heilige Nach t!               Triple Knowledge  - Herman Hoeksema, by a
                Alles schlaft,  einsam wach t,                customer. I have read a few copies of the  Standard
 Perhaps you're now beginning to see das licht  . . . I Bearer  myself and enjoyed them, so I am happy to
mean, the light. The first three words were used as forward his request to you. If it is possible I should
subject headings for the three parts of a Christmas like a catalogue of all the books and booklets you
program entitled `ln Amori Veritatem Dice" (In Love print, with the published prices."
Witness the Truth). That's Latin, of course; but the            From Paris, France - "I have already read some of
verse, which you might have immediately recognized as Rev. Hoeksema's books. A few months ago I bought
the first two lines inthe first stanza of Silent Night, is    the one -' on the Book of Revelation. I am interested
German  ,-- which fact probably betrays the source of in almost every one of the. books listed in your folder."
this information as being the printed program of                And, from another reader in California - "Through
the Christmas presentation in our church in Loveland, the kindness of a friend, we get to read the Standard
Colorado.                                                     Bearer,  which I think is the best church paper in the
  It seems that the program was a sort of joint U.S.A. All the articles are worth reading, but I find the
venture, consisting of the efforts of the Sunday issue of Nov. 15 (197 1) outstanding."
School, the day school, and the Young People's                  Mr. Vander Wal adds, appropriately, that "the above
Society. There were numbers by individual classes, as lines are not -to be taken as our boasting. God forbid!
well as by various combinations of the different groups- But, rather, as our calling, as God has so instructed us
involved. And audience-participation included the in His Word (II Cor., Chap. 1 l)."                             D.D.


