 The
STANDARD .'
 BEARER .'
 A REFOPMED  SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE                                          9





      They  who  deny  the  all-clearness   and  all-
   plainness  of the Scriptures, leave us nothing else
   but  darkness.  Moreover   I  declare  against   you
   concerning the whole of the Scripture that I will
   have  no  one  part  of  it  called  obscure;  and  to
   support  me  stands  that  -which  I  have  brought
   forth out of Peter,  that the Word of God is to us
   a "lamp shining in a dark place." (II Peter 1: 19)
   But  if  any  part  of  this  lamp  does  not  shine,  it  is
   rather  a  part  of  the  dark  place  than  the  lamp
   itself.  For  Christ  has  not  so  illuminated  us,  as to
   wish  that  any  part  of  His  Word  should  remain
   obscure,  even  while  He  commands   us  to  attend
   to  it:  for  if  it  be  not  shining  plain,  His  com-
   manding us to.attend to it is in vain.
                                           - Martin Luther





                                        Volume L, Number 18, July, 1974 


362                                            THE STANDARD BEARER


MEDITA TIO N

                             Redeemed With A Purpose
                                                   Rev. M. Schipper

              Thrist  hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is
           written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: that the blessing of Abraham might
           come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit
           through faith.  "
                                                                                        Galatians 3 : 13, 14.

  The context, in which this text is found, bears             sole reason. Rather, are we to understand that the
careful scrutiny. Two or three points'of interest must        apostle refers to Abraham because he exemplifies
be observed shall we come to a clear understanding of         most clearly all the doctrine the apostle had preached
the Word of God in our text.                                  to the Galatians. The Jews had always boasted that
  There is, first of all, the fact that the apostle begins    Abraham was their father, and with him the rite of
the chapter berating the church of Galatia because of         circumcision began. If the Galatians will not listen to
their folly. Through their lack of understanding, they        Paul, then by all means let them honor their father
become susceptible to the bewitching stratagems of            Abraham by listening to what he had to say. And
false, Judaizing teachers. The apostle apparently is          what did Abraham say? Did Abraham say you can be
astonished that this could happen so soon after he            saved by keeping the law of circumcision? Of course
had preached to them the full counsel of God. It              not! You know better! Abraham believed God, and
appeared as if some one had hypnotized them, and              this faith was reckoned unto him as righteousness.
with some evil power had gained the ascendency over           This faith was not another work that Abraham
them. 0 foolish galatians, who hath bewitched you -           performed, but it was a gift of grace. Moreover, the
before whose eyes Jesus Christ has  *been so openly           Scripture foreseeing that `God would justify the
portrayed as having been crucified? Don't you see             Gentiles through faith, preached before the gospel
that if you return to the pernicious doctrines of Jud-        unto Abraham, saying, "In thee shall all nations be
aisim,#you must of necessity deny the truth that Christ       blessed." Shouldn't it be plain to you that he
was crucified to save us?                                     understood this blessing would be realized, not in the
  And to get them to see their folly, the apostle             natural seed that would seek to attain to
appeals to their experience, which is always a                righteousness by keeping the law, but in the spiritual
powerful argument. That Spirit Whom you received,             seed who possessed the faith of father Abraham? If
                                                              you return to the works of the law, then you should
did you receive Him out of the works of the law, or           never speak of Abraham as your father again. He
was it out of the hearing of faith? Having begun by           disowns you.
the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?               Thirdly, it is to be noted that in the immediate
  The answers to all the questions asked, must, of            context the apostle declares plainly that as many as
course, be negative. Implicit in them is the positive         are of the works of the law are under the curse. That
truth that the Spirit of Christ is well able to apply         cannot mean that there was anything wrong with the
unto us the salvation which Christ crucified has              law. The law is good. It is good also for everyone who
merited for us, and that, too, without any                    keeps it. But it is also true that since no one can keep
contributions on our part. It is this truth which is          that law perfectly, it must curse everyone who
most clearly expressed also in our text.                      continueth not to do all that the law requires. This is
  Secondly, also worthy of note is the reference the          not the testimony of Paul, but of Moses, who gave
apostle makes to Abraham. Throughout the                      the law. "Cursed `is everyone that continueth not in
immediately preceding context, in the text itself, and        all things which are written in the book of the law to
even in the succeeding verses, particular reference to        do them."
this Old Testament saint is made. And the question              But here is the gospel I preached to you, and which
cannot be suppressed, Why? Was it merely for the              you evidently never clearly understood. Christ hath
reason that Abraham served as a good illustration of a        redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a
believer who was saved by his faith? Though this is           curse for us. This He became when He was crucified
true when considered by itself, this can hardly be the        on the cross.


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                   363


  And why was He made a curse for us? The answer                   On the tree of the cross He bore our curse so as to
is twofold: that the blessing of Abraham might come         bear it all away, none remaining. And to remove the
unto the Gentiles in Jesus Christ; and that the             curse He must pay the penalty of our guilt, while He
promise of the Spirit we might receive through faith.       Himself .in perfect obedience fulfilled all the law for
  Indeed, we are redeemed with a purpose!                   us.
  Marvelous redemption!                                            Paradox of the cross!
  From the curse of the law!                                       While on the one hand He ,declares: In the volume
                                                            of the book it is written of Me, lo, I come to do Thy
  Not are we to conclude that the curse, of which           will 0 God; on the other Gad lays all one curse on
the Word of God speaks, had its origin in the giving of     His sacred head.
the law. Fact of the matter is, that the curse was
there long before the law, as inscribed by the finger              This He could do because He could truly represent
of God upon the tables of stone on Mount Sinai, was         us. He is so perfectly identified with us that we are
given. The curse does not begin with Moses, but with        bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh. As organic
Adam. The formal expression of the law did not              and federal Head He is not only appointed to
come until Moses' day, but the essence of the law was       represent us, but He is completely of us. Aske were
there from the beginning. The heart of the law, its         subject to the fire of God's holy indignation, Christ
pervading principle is: Thou shalt love the Lord thy        delivers us from that fire, but Himself is consumed in
God with all thy heart, mind, soul, and strength. This      that flame.
law Adam knew, but through the temptation of Satan                 And why did He do it? What was the divine
failed to keep. In the day he sinned, in that day the       purpose in this substitutionary act?
curse came; and it has prevailed upon himmand all his              First of all, that the blessing of Abraham might
posterity ever since.                                       come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ.
  The curse is universal in its scope. It descends not             Of the blessing of Abraham the apostle had spoken
only on those who are reprobate in life and walk, but       more than once in the context. He speaks of the faith
on all those who proceeded from the loins of Adam.          of Abraham which was accounted unto him for
They are not only under the curse when they sin, but        righteousness. Faith, not the works of the law, which
they are under the curse when they are born.                justified Abraham, is the gift of grace whereby the
  That curse is just in its application. God is a God of    believer is united to Christ, in and through Whom is
justice when He condemns all that is not'in perfect         all our righteousness. Faith, which is the living bond
harmony with His holy being and will.                       connecting us to Christ, in Whom is all our
                                                            righteousness and salvation, - not our keeping of the
  That curse is fearful, for it demands that its object     law, is our justification. And this great boon God
be banished from God's holy presence. It is temporal,       purposed to give not only to Abraham, but to his
spiritual, and eternal in its application. That curse       seed; not his natural seed, but spiritual, as that seed is
follows everyone apart from Christ all through his          found in all nations. So it was that through the
earthly existence, and brings him into eternal              preaching of the gospel which Abraham heard and
desolation.                                                 believed, this justified saint of the Old Dispensation
  For those in Christ, God provides the removal of          understood that God would grant the grace of faith
the curse.                                                  that justifies also to the Gentiles, and so all nations
  The miracle of grace!                                     would be blessed in him.
  Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law!               But there was more, much more. Father Abraham
                                                            believed!
  Not merely did He purchase us to `make us His
own, but He redeemed, ransomed us, through the                He believed that this promise of the gospel, this
payment of a price  - a price not paid to the Devil         divine purpose of God, would be realized through the
who held us in the slavery of death, but a price that is    reception of the promise of the Spirit through faith.
paid to God Who had imposed on us the curse, a                This is not another purpose of God connected to
curse demanded by the law of God which had been             redemption, but it belongs to the first. The blessing
violated by our disobedience.                               of Abraham which must come on the Gentiles
  The great Substitute redeemed us from the curse of        through Jesus Christ, is the reception of the promise
the law, being made a curse for us.                         of the Spirit through faith., At the same time the
                                                            Iatter shows how God planned to realize His purpose.
  The curse which was ours, He. removed by                  The Holy Spirit of Pentecost, as the Spirit of the
becoming acurse in our stead.                               ascended and exalted Christ, God would send on all
  Efficacious Substitute!                                   who are of the faith' of Abraham, applying unto them


364                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



the redemption they have in Christ,                         God pertains. And in Christ, that is, to all who are in
  Glorious purpose of God!                                  the sphere of Christ, - to all who are incorporated in
                                                            Him, does the promise also pertain.
  Realized through the Spirit of Christ, not, as the
translation has it,  - "through  .Jesus' Christ," but on      We receive all our salvation out of Christ, when we
all who are "in Jesus Christ." Jesus Christ is viewed       are in Him. We receive it of Christ through faith. And
here, not as the mediator through Whom the Spirit           faith is not of us to God, but of God to us. Faith does
works, but as the sphere in Whom the Spirit is given.       not emphasize what we can do, or must do. But
  Jesus Christ is Abraham's seed, as the apostle            emphatically, what we cannot do, and need not do, -
declares in the verses- that immediately follow the         but what God in Christ has done for us.
text. "Now to Abraham and his seed were the                   Marvelous redemption!
promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of              Wholly unmerited!
many; but as of one, And to thy. seed, which is
Christ." To Him therefore, first of all, the promise of       Given unto us of free and sovereign grace!


E D I T O R I A L S


                           Seminary Commencemgt
                                                    1974.

                                               ProJ: H. C. Hoeksema



  It is always somewhat of an oasis in the midst of         Hartog and Slopsema. And -then, after closing prayer
the busyness of our synodical meetings when we can          by the Rev. D. Engelsma, president of Synod, the two
gather to mark the graduation of new candidates for         candidates received congratulations from our people
the ministry of the Word in our Protestant Reformed         who were present for the occasion.
Churches.  Synodical meetings are busy and require            And so the Lord has given us two more potential
concentrated attention. And while they may be               ministers of the Word, who, we expect, will soon have
pleasant in their own way, they are'not intended to         places in our churches. All thanks and praise be to
be pleasurable experiences. Hence, it is a relief and a     Him!
change of pace when we may gather simply for the
purpose of celebrating a joyful event.                        We are sorry that we are not able to present their
                                                            pictures along with  .this article, especially for our
  And this year was no exception.                           people in areas where they have never met these
  We gathered in the auditorium of our Hope                 brethren. Perhaps they will be kind enough to send in
Church, the site of Synod's meetings. Fortunately -         portraits at the time of their ordination, D.V.
for Hope's auditorium can easily become somewhat              On a temporary basis two of our vacant
like a sauna bath when the weather is hot and sultry        congregations will enjoy the labors of these brethren
- the weather was pleasantly comfortable. The               during the summer months, the Lord willing. Mr. den
Theological School Committee had prepared a brief,          Hartog expects to fill the pulpit of Prospect Park,
well-balanced program, with devotions by the                New Jersey; and Mr. Slopsema plans to spend the
president of the School Committee, Rev. G. Van              summer in Edgerton, Minnesota. [Note: Due to the
Baren, audience singing, and a couple of fitting solos      abundance of copy connected with seminary  '
by Mr. Arnold Dykstra,  - all centered around the           graduation and a report on Synod, the second
commencement address (which follows this editorial)         installment of the Post-Lecture Question Box will not
and the presentation of diplomas to Candidates den          appear until our August issue.]


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 365





                            Preaching And Perspicuity

                                                Prof H. C. Hoeksema


           (The following is an approximate transcript of an address delivered at the commencement
           program of our Theological School. A more exact transcript was originally intended; but the
           recording tape was defective. Hence, this transcript is from my outline and from memory.


  First of all, I want to speak a hearty word of             view, means that the authoritative interpretation of
congratulations to C a n d i d a t e s Den Hartog and        Scripture can be given only by the clergy, that is,
Slopsema. We are happy and thankful with you for             ultimately, by the pope. The Reformation, on the
the achievement which occasions this commencement            other hand, maintained that Holy Scripture is
program. In a rather distinctive group of graduates          perspicuous.
you have the distinction, too, that you are the first to       The difference between the two has been
receive diplomas with the "Grandville, Michigan"             illustrated by a house with a locked door or a house
address rather than the "Grand Rapids" address. That         with an open door. Several people approach a house.
is not the main thing, however. We are thankful to           The door of that house is locked. And only one of
our God because he has given us two candidates for           that group of people has a key. The rest of the people
the ministry in our Protestant Reformed Churches.            ask that one person, "Open the door, please, so that
And we pray that the Lord may soon give you a place          we may enter and inspect the inside of the house."
in one of our congregations and may then keep you            This illustrates the Romish conception of the relation
faithful to His Word.                                        of the church to Scripture. The pope is the man with
  It is fitting to say something on this occasion about      the key; those without keys are the laity. On the
the preaching of the Word. To preach the Word will           other hand, the Reformed position, it is said, is
be the life's calling of these candidates. And it is that    illustrated by a house with an open door. Several
preaching of the Word, as well as the very possession        persons wish to enter a house; and the door is not
and understanding of the Word - and with them the            locked, but open. All are equally able to enter the
very existence of the church - which are in jeopardy         house and can freely inspect it.
today. Indeed, they are in jeopardy because the                Now it is true that the second illustration
authority and the very divine character of the               represents the Protestant view of Scripture in a way.
infallible Word are being challenged and denied. But         But the illustration is partly misleading. For it makes
they are in jeopardy, as I hope to bring out presently,      the Protestant view individualistic. But Protestants
in a peculiar respect, namely: in connection with the        did not lose sight of the fact that the Holy Spirit, the
perspicuity of Holy Scripture. Theologians today are         Spirit of Christ, is the real interpreter of Holy
attacking and seeking to destroy the idea of the             Scripture, and that the Spirit is not given merely to a
authority and infallibility of the Word; but they are        number of individuals, but to the  church.  However,
doing so especially by attacking and denying that            the Protestant conception of the church is different.
attribute of Scripture called  perspicuity.,  And it is      According to the Reformation, the church is not the
that perspicuity more than any single aspect of the          clergy; but it is the body of Christ, the gathering of
doctrine of Holy Scripture which constitutes our             believers and their children in the midst of the world.
Reformed heritage with respect to Scripture.                 And for that church's well-being our Lord Jesus
                                                             Christ has instituted the offices. One's conception of
The Meaning of Perspicuity                                   the church, therefore, is inextricably connected with
                                                             the doctrine of the perspicuity of Holy Scripture.
  To understand what is meant by the perspicuity of
Scripture we must go back in history to the                    What is meant by perspicuity?
differences between Rome and the Reformation.                  Literally, the term means that Scripture can be
Rome historically has taken the position that the            "seen through." If I may coin a term, the perspicuity
Bible is really a closed book for the laity. The latter      of Scripture is the "see-through-ableness" of
cannot understand Scripture without an interpreter           Scripture. Perspicuity means that Scripture is lucid,
who has authority to speak. And this, in Rome's              transparent, understandable, clear.


366                                           THE STANDARD  BEARER



   Perspicuity implies, in the first place, that             layman or clergyman, be uneducated or learned  -
Scriptureis penetrable, but unfathomable. It does not        every believer is addressed in the Scriptures and also
mean that there are no depths in Scripture which are         experiences that the Scriptures are addressed to him
not easily penetrated; the very opposite is true.            and that they are for him. And is it not a marvel that
Scripture is not closed, but it is profound. It is not       even our little children can read and in their childish
impenetrable, but it is unfathomable. This is one of         way understand the Scriptures? In the third place, it
the unique features, in fact, of the divine Scriptures.      explains why all believers together have not
Any book of man which you may read is soon                   exhausted the treasures of Holy Scripture. Even after
exhausted. You read it a few times, and you soon feel        centuries of reading and studying and interpreting
that you are finished with it. You have fully entered        Holy Writ, we may still find unexplored depths in the
into the sphere of thought of the author. You have           Word of God. No, it is not that in the past they have
penetrated his mind. You have no more need of                misunderstood and misinterpreted Scripture, and that.
reading what he has written. But one of the peculiar         they have failed to grasp its meaning. But they have
facets of ,Holy Writ is this, that the more you turn to      not fathomed and have not exhausted its riches.
Scripture in faith, approach it as the Word of God           There is always something more, something new! The
written, the more you realize that you are exactly not       minister of the Word may well remember this, too.
dealing with a word of man, but with God's Word,             There is no sermon as rich and as deep as the text
and that there are depths in Scripture which you have        upon which it is based; and when the minister has
never yet plumbed and which seem to grow deeper              prepared his best sermon on a given text, he must not
and more unfathomable according as you try to                imagine that he has exhausted the riches of his text.
understand them.                                             There are always new depths to be plumbed, new
  That brings us to a second aspect of perspicuity:          riches to uncover, greater treasures to bring to light.
that  you need not fathom Scripture in order to              The Scriptures are inexhaustibly rich! And, in the
understand it.  In the process of probing into the           fourth place, this truth of perspicuity explains why it.
depths of Scripture, of entering more-deeply into the        is possible to have officebearers, ministers of the
riches of God's Word, you somehow understood the             Word, whose special task it is to interpret the Word,
Word of God all the time! Again, this is a unique            to be busy in its doctrine, to expound it to the
characteristic of the Bible. As far as man's word is         church, to the believers, though, mind you, they
concerned, it can be easily fathomed. But the mere           understand and interpret the Scriptures themselves!
fact that you can fathom it does not necessarily mean          Hence, the Bible is an  .open book, from which
that you can understand its meaning; and though it           every child of God may receive all the spiritual
may be easily fathomed, you do not always easily             instruction and knowledge necessary unto salvation.
understand it. Nor, in fact, do you really understand        And this is the teaching of the Bible itself. In II Peter
a man's word until you have fathomed it. The Word            1: 19 this is taught: "We have also a more sure word
of God, on the other hand, can never be fathomed;            of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed,
yet it can readily be understood by the believer (and        as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the
I wish to emphasize: by the believer!). Nor does the         day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts."
believer have to fathom that Word of God in order to         Notice: the Word of God is a light, not darkness. And
understand it.                                               again, we read in Hebrews 8: 11: "And they shall not
   These two unique features constitute the                  teach every man his neighbour, and every man his
perspicuity of Holy Scripture from an objective point        brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know
of view.                                                     me, from the least to the greatest."
  This perspicuity is the key to several realities of the      But there is another side to this same truth of
Christian life. It explains several facts. It explains       perspicuity, as we have already suggested. The  1
why, in the first place, you may read Scripture every        subjective side of this same truth of perspicuity is the
day, study if often and much, listen to the exposition       indwelling of the Spirit of Christ in every believer. We
of it in the preaching of the Word on the Lord's day,        must remember that the Word of God is perspicuous
and not only never grow weary of reading and                 to the  believer,  to the child of God. Even though
hearing, but experience that your interest deepens           Scripture, objectively considered, is  clear,  we must
and increases according as you read and listen and           remember that the things of the Spirit of God are
study more diligently. It explains why, in the second        spiritually discerned.  They cannot be discerned by
place, the Scriptures are not limited in their address       natural man, but only by the believer, that is, by him
to a certain class of people. They simply do not             who has the Spirit of Christ, and that, too, in the
address one class of people, and they do not find            fellowship of the body of Christ.
receptivity with only one class of people. On the              Every individual believer has the Holy Spirit. The
contrary, every believer - be he child or adult, be he       Spirit was bestowed upon the church. And the church


                                              r


                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 367



      is not the clergy, but the organism of the body of         not approach the congregation in the preaching as
      Christ. Hence, the Spirit was bestowed not on a            though the Scriptures were not clear and
      certain class, or part, of the church, but upon all the    understandable unto salvation.
      members of the body. Only, this is not to be
      conceived of individualistically, but organically. The        Yet this is the very position that is taken  ,today
      Spirit is given not to all the members of the church as    even in Reformed churches. The Scriptures, they say,
      mere individuals and in separation from one another.       are time-bound and are culturally and historically
      But He is given to every believer in the fellowship of     conditioned. The result is that we cannot really
 the church  - never in separation from the body of              understand' the Scriptures unless we engage in the
      believers. And it is by this Spirit that all are guided    science of historical criticism. We cannot understand
 into all the truth, and all have that truth spiritually         the Scriptures unless we `can understand fully the
      applied to their hearts. This implies that no man  -       cultural and historical background of the human
 minister, elder, deacon, priest, pope, council, synod -         writers and of that of which they write. We cannot
 is absolutely necessary for any believer or group of            understand the Scriptures unless we can understand
 believers in order to understand the Word of God                how the human writers themselves understood their
 unto salvation. This is by no means the same as saying          own writings. And the result is, too, that one must
 that believers will despise the pure preaching of the           try to distill out of the Scriptures the Word of God.
 Word and the preachers of that Word. But for the                Thus, for example, as Dr. Harry Kuitert taught
 understanding of the Word of God unto salvation no              already several years ago when he spoke in Grand
 man, even though he be a preacher, is absolutely                Rapids, in Genesis 1 there is not an account of how
 necessary. This must be maintained. It is an essential          things happened, nor a report of what actually took
      element of our Reformation heritage. "But  .ye have        place; but Genesis gives us the accounts of the origin
      an unction from the Holy One, and ye  know, all            of things which were current in Israel's cultural
 things. . . . But the anointing which ye have received          community, accounts which were assimilated by
 of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man             Israel and put into the framework found in Genesis, a
 teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of            frame work suited to their worship of Jehovah.
 all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it         Heathen myths were demythologized and filtered and
 hath taught you, ye shall abide in him." I John                 refashioned and made suitable for a profession of
      2:20, 27.                                                  faith of Israel's God, Jehovah. This same approach
                                                                 and method are applied to all of Holy Scripture. I
 The Relation of Preaching and Perspicuity                       have cited but a single example.
        That brings us to an important question: what is            But I call your attention to the fact that this is a
 the relation between preaching and the perspicuity of           denial of the perspicuity of Holy Scripture. It makes
 Scripture?                                                      Scripture a book which only the experts  -
        Preaching we may define as the authoritative             theologians, scientists, historians, anthropologists,
 proclamation of the gospel by the church in the                 archeologists, etc. - can understand. Without. those
 service of the Word of God through Christ. In this              experts the common people of God cannot
 connection, our attention is drawn to two facts. In             understand the Scriptures. The attitude of those who
 the first place, preaching, in the Reformed view, is            take this position is like the attitude of the chief
 essential  in the life of the church. In fact, we may           priests in Jesus' day, "This people that knoweth not
 safely say that this emphasis is as much a                      the law is accursed." Principally the position of these
 characteristic of the Reformation as is the emphasis            theologians - and there are many of them today - is
i on perspicuity. In the Reformed view, the church is a          nothing but a reaffirmation of Rome's error. It
 preaching church, not a sacramentarian church. And              interposes the preacher between Scripture and the
 preaching, in the second place, is precisely the                believers.
 proclamation of the whole Word of God, that is, of                But what then is the relation between preaching
 the perspicuous Scriptures. Hence, what is the                  and perspicuity? If the Scriptures are perspicuous,
 relation' between the two? If preaching is essential,           why is preaching necessary? And why does the
 and if, on the other hand, perspicuity implies that no          right-thinking Reformed  beli,ever esteem the
 man, not even a preacher, is absolutely necessary for           preaching of the Word very highly,  .so that he
 the understanding of the Word of God unto salvation,            accounts it the chief of the means of grace and so
 how are the two related? And what are the                       that he does not want to be deprived of the pure
 implications of the attribute of Scripture called               preaching of the Word?
 perspicuity for preaching and the preacher?
 I                                                                 In answer to these questions we call attention to
        It should be obvious; first of all, negatively, that     the following important truths. In the first place, it is
 the preacher must not approach the Word and must                indeed a blessing for the church that Christ has


368                                             THE STANDARD BEARER



instituted the office of the ministry of the Word:          must occupy first place in the study and preparation
through the preaching of the Word it pleases Christ to      of the preacher. It is very easy to turn to other
`gather and build up and instruct His church in the         sources, and meanwhile to do lip-service to the truth
midst of the world. In the second place, we must            of perspicuity.  ,To confess the truth of perspicuity
remember that it will not do to say that the preaching      and immediately to turn to a commentary when we
of the Word is not necessary. This is simply not true.      seek to understand a passage of Scripture is
For according to Scripture and the confessions the          inconsistent. To prepare sermons which are nothing
preaching of the Word is the God-ordained means for         more than an eclectic conglomeration of the opinions
the working and strengthening of faith. "How shall          of men about the meaning of a passage of Scripture is
they believe in him whom they have not heard? and           wrong, dead wrong! We may indeed value
how shall they hear without a preacher?" Romans             commentaries highly; and we may respect the labors
10:14,ff. We must not, therefore, create a false            of other children of God, both past and present. But
disjunction between the preaching of the Word and           the writings of men, even though they be men of God
the reading and studying and understanding of the           and though their expositions of Scripture may be
Word by the believers. In the third place, and in close     valuable, - the writings of men may not be allowed
connection with the preceding, we must remember             to take the place of Scripture, nor to intrude between
that the preaching of the Word is given as a means of       Scripture and ourselves. If we fall into the habit of
grace to the church. It is not the clergy, therefore, as    turning to commentaries instead of to Scripture, we
a separate class, that preach the Word. But it is the       form a very bad habit. Finally we assume the fixed
church, the body of Christ, that preaches the Word.         and false attitude that without the help of man the
And the church accomplishes this calling to preach          Word of God is to us a closed book. And that is, of
the Word through the office of the ministry which           course, a blatant denial of the perspicuity of the
Christ has ordained in and bestowed upon His church.        Word of God. The preacher must, therefore, always
This, in turn, stands in close connection with a fourth     turn to that perspicuous Bible before all else.
truth: the preaching of the Word exactly has as its           In the second place, the minister of the Word
premise the perspicuity of the Scriptures. It is not an     should read and study the Scriptures  confidently.  I
obscure, dark, unintelligible Word which the church         do not mean that he should do so in self-confidence,
proclaims. Then the preaching itself could not be           that is, in conceited trust in his own wisdom and
understood. Then we would never be able to hear             intellectual ability. But I mean that he should read
Christ Himself through` the preaching. On the               and study the Scriptures  in the confidence  offaith.
contrary, it is exactly because the Word of God is          We must read and study in the confidence that the
clear and perspicuous that it can be  preached,  and        Bible is the Word of God, so that we certainly believe
that through the preaching we may indeed hear and           that God will speak to us through the Scriptures. We
behold and embrace Christ unto salvation. If that           must read and study and prepare to preach in the
were not true, preaching would be of no avail. And          confidence that according to His promise, the Lord
finally, therefore, the authority of the preaching also     our God  will through the Spirit of truth guide us
rests exactly in the perspicuous Scriptures. You see,       through the means of the Bible into all the truth. We
the a&or@ of the preaching and the content of the           must read and study the Scriptures in that confidence
preaching are inseparably connected. The former rests       that is the result of a prayerful attitude.
in the latter. That is, that preaching only is
authoritative which has for its content the Word of           Then we will not proceed from the false
God. And the church may and does accept the                 assumption that we will not understand the true
preaching as authoritative only in as far as and            meaning of Scripture from mere reading. Nor will we
because of the fact that she recognizes in the              easily give up and abandon our efforts when a given
preaching the Word of God. And the church is able to        portion of Scripture does not yield its significance to
judge the preaching exactly because the Scriptures are      us immediately. When we do that, we really are
perspicuous.                                                blaming Scripture instead of putting the blame where
                                                            it properly belongs  A on ourselves. But laboring in
  But there is also a very important practical side to      this confidence, we will read Scripture again and
the relation between preaching and perspicuity. I may       again, t  we&y-five or even a hundred times if
observe here that what I am about to say is true for        necessary.
every believer, and not only for  pre'achers and
preachers-to-be. But on this occasion I want to               In the third place, we will not simply thoughtlessly
emphasize these points especially for our candidates,       read a passage of Scripture *over and over again. That
who look forward to a place in the ministry.                would be a futile exercise. But we will read carefully
                                                            and attentively. Believing that Scripture is its own
  In the first place, because Scripture is perspicuous,     interpreter, we will read it in its own light, comparing
the Bible itself, not any word of man about the Bible,      Scripture with Scripture. We will strive to understand


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  369



its figures, its symbols, its visions, etc. We will read       the congregation.
the Old Testament in the light of the New Testament.             Woe to the church that accepts an attitude of false
And thus we will understand and grow in the                    authoritarianism on the part of its minister! Woe to
understanding and the ability to expound the                   the church that allows the minister to become a little
Scriptures and to preach the Word.                             pope, whose word is with authority. No word of
                                                               man- not even if it is an interpretation of the Word
The Significance of Preaching the Perspicuous Word             of God - has any authority whatsoever! The Word of
                                                               God is the only authoritative Word!
   Finally, and briefly, what is the significance of all
this?                                                            And this means that the congregation  - all of it,
                                                               ordinary member as well as elder, from the least to
  In the first place, this is significant for the position     the greatest  - must always judge the word of the
and the attitude of the minister of the Word himself.          preaching in the light of the Word of God. The truth
He must not imagine and assume the attitude that the           of perspicuity gives no place to the devil of hierarchy!
congregation is bound to accept his word because it is         But all believers are called to watch, lest false
HE, the minister, who speaks. He has no authority              doctrines should be introduced in the church of
whatsoever in and by himself. The mere fact that he            Christ, to -watch even over the officebearers and the
occupies the place of minister, or the fact that he            official work of the ministry. And ultimately they
may be intellectually superior, or the fact that he has        have the power and the calling to depose their own
been thoroughly educated - all this clothes him with           officebearers, the power of reformation, if in no
no authority and gives him no right to impose his              other way the purity of the preaching can be
word upon the congregation or upon any believer                maintained. and'if in no other way false doctrines can
with the expectation that it will be and must be               be kept out.
unconditionally accepted. Nor, we must remember, is
the danger of assuming such an attitude by any means             To this end we must all, with one accord, be
imaginary! Nevertheless, the faithful minister of the          diligent in the study of the Scriptures.
Word must expect desire only that his word is                    But especially does this hold true for the ministers
accepted by the congregation only because it is the            of the Word!
W O R D   O F   G O D   ACCORDING,TO   T H E                     May God give our candidates grace to be mighty in
SCRIPTURES.                                                    the perspicuous Scriptures, and never to depart
   In the second place, this is of great significance for      therefrom!




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370                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


ALL AROUND US

                                        Synod of 1974

                                                  ProJ: H. Hanko


 The Synod of the Protestant Reformed Churches              to us nearly fifty years of faithfulness to His Word.
of 1974 is now part of the history of the Church of         This places upon our Churches an awesome
Christ. This report of the Synod is unofficial; it is a     responsibility with respect to our calling. Repeatedly
general survey of the work of the Synod to give our         Synod was reminded that there are people of God all
people an over-all view of what Synod did. The Acts         over the world who are struggling to maintain the
of the Synod will be published in the near future, and      truth and are seeking to grow in the knowledge of the
all our people will receive a copy of the official          truth, but who have few or none to lead them. To
record of Synod's business.                                 provide such leadership is the need of the hour. And
   Before discussing the actual work of Synod, there        God has given us this calling. We cannot and may not
are a few general remarks which I want to make by           shrink back from it. Yet this has its problems. These
way of introduction.                                        problems are of a practical sort. They root in the fact
                                                            that our Churches are small and our resources both of
   In the first place, I shall try to give some idea in     men and of money are limited. We simply do not
this article of how Synod works. Those who have             seem to have either the man-power or the financial
been delegated to Synod or who have attended                resources to do all the work that needs to be done.
Synod's sessions at one time or another know pretty         But the Lord knows these problems too; and Synod
much the "mechanics" of Synod; but there are a large        sought to do its work in such a way that the Churches
number of people who have little conception of this.        could perform their task to the best of their ability
   In the second place, I think it can be said without      without placing hardship upon the congregations. It is
contradiction that this was a good Synod. There are         true, the budget will go up..again next year. But if one
several reasons why one can come to this conclusion.        figures that inflation has raised the cost of everything
For one thing, there were no serious problems arising       and that prices are rising astronomically, Synod held
out of Church troubles which occupied Synod's               the budget within reasonable limitations. The
attention. This is reason for gratitude in itself. Synod    Synodical budget will be $183.00 per family for
could concentrate on the positive aspects of her            1975. This is up a little more than $20.00; but it is
calling. In close connection with this, there was a         far from the $50.00 plus dollars which it first
deep-seated unity on the Synod  - a unity of one            appeared the budget would be. It is hoped that our
faith, one doctrine, one hope and one calling. If we        people will, know the urgency of our calling in these
stop to think of how rare this is in today's                days.
ecclesiastical world, we cannot be thankful enough
for this gift of the Spirit of Christ. All our Churches        Fourthly, it was rather striking to me that Synod,
ought to rejoice and give thanks for what the Spirit        on several occasions, and in several connections,
has wrought. Most of Synod's decisions passed by            rather directly faced the question of the relationship
unanimous vote. And the differences that did reflect        between the broader ecclesiastical assemblies and the
themselves in the final voting were never on matters        local congregations. This is rather striking because it
of principle or matters of doctrine. In the third place,    is characteristic of many (perhaps, most)
Rev. D. Engelsma, Synod's president, proved to be an        denominations that there is a growing tendency in the
excellent president. He kept the Synod to its               direction of hierarchicalism. By this latter term is
business, and, while allowing plenty of time for            meant that there is a growing concentration of power
deliberation, he moved Synod' along to the                  in the broader assemblies and a corresponding
completion of its task.                                     w e a k e n i n g   o f   t h e   a u t h o r i t y   o f   t h e   l o c a l
                                                            congregations. It is not at all uncommon to hear
   Thirdly, Synod labored profoundly impressed with         people complain that their Synods or General
.the calling of the Church in the days in which we live.    Assemblies are robbing the Churches on the local
There are several aspects to this that need to be           level of their God-given authority. Synod becomes
mentioned. Synod labored in the awareness that the          the body to dictate to the local Churches what should
Lord has richly blessed us as Churches and has given        be done; and the affairs of the Churches are taken out


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                               371



of the hands of the congregations and concentrated in      sermon will be printed in the Acts. It is our hope that
Synods and committees of Synods. This is common            all our people will take the time to read it when the
today. And yet this is destructive of the very genius      Acts comes out.
of Reformed Church Polity. This question was faced           Wednesday morning, June 5, Synod began its
more than once on our Synod, not directly, but             meetings. The president of last year's Synod, Rev.
indirectly in connection with other matters. It was        Heys, lead in opening devotions, presided over the
good to see that our Synod was very careful about          acceptance of the credentials from  Classis East and
this, and that our Synod was very intent on leaving        Classis West, and presided over the election of the
matters which belong to the local congregations in         new officers. Rev. D. Engelsma was elected president;
their hands.                                               Rev. C. Hanko, vice-president; Rev. J. Kortering, first
  Finally, there are two suggestions which come to         clerk; and Rev. G. Van Baren, second clerk. After the
mind which in my opinion would be of benefit to            new officers took their places, Rev. Engelsma spoke a
Synod and the Churches. The first is that the              few words of welcome and introduction to the
committees of pre-advice should be a little more           Synod, read the Declaration of Unity (found on pp.
careful in their work. It is quite amazing how             73 and 74 of the Church Order) to which Synod rose
important the work of the committees of pre-advice         in agreement, and began Synod's work by appointing
is. Very often when Synod gets bogged down it is           a committee which divided the work of Synod into
because the committees of pre-advice have not been         four  ptits and the Synod into four committees, and
thorough enough or have not been careful enough in         assigned a part to each committee. Committee I was
the formulation of their advice. Nevertheless, all the     given all the matters which are related to the
blame for this cannot be placed at the feet of the         Seminary; Committee II was given all matters relating
committees of pre-advice. Sometimes the fault lay in       to  missibns;  Committee III was given all the other
Synod's standing committees. These standing                work with the exception of finances; Committee IV
committees ought to see to it that the reports             de&t with all the questions of finance. In my opinion,
submitted to Synod are thorough enough and well            Committee IV has the most difficult work; but this
enough formulated so that Synod has  all  the              work was done well.
pertinent information before it. Sometimes, on some          Ordinarily, this would be the end of Synod's work
important points, the reports of the standing              for the day because the rest of the day is usually
committees were too sketchy.                               needed for the Committees of Pre-advice to meet. But
  The second remark I have to make concerns the            Synod reconvened in the afternoon to hear the
minutes. It seems to me that it would be of benefit to     sermons of Candidates Den Hartog and Slopsema.
our people if the Second Clerk of Synod would write        After the sermons were finished Synod recessed for
the minutes in such a way that only the actual             the remainder of the day.
decisions taken would be written down. Anyone who            Most of Thursday and Friday were taken with the
has made use of the printed Acts knows that it is very     examinations. The students gave an excellent account
difficult to make head or tail out of these printed        of themselves and were declared by Synod candidates
Acts. There are simply too many letters and numbers.       for the ministry of the Word and sacraments in our
And, to find a complete decision, one must page            Churches. This is always a thrilling moment in
about through the minutes proper, the supplements          Synod's business. After the final vote on their
and the index, finally to find what  Syriod decided.       candidacy was taken, Synod paused to sing the
Our Stated Clerk has done a fine job of making the         doxology (May the grace of Christ our Savior), pray
Acts as readable as possible for our people. And there     together, and congratulate the young men who have
is little more that he can do. But if Synod could          completed their work. God has blessed us with two
prepare a printed Acts which would eliminate all the       new candidates. They will be eligible. for a call after
letters and numbers in the articles and give only the      July 7. May God give them a place in the Church and
official decision, this would be of considerable           bless them in  their ministry. Their graduation took
assistance to understanding what Synod decided. It is,     place Wednesday evening, June 12 in Hope Church.
I think, something worth thinking about.                     Beginning Monday morning,  .the work of
  To turn now to the actual work of Synod.                 Committee I was placed before the Synod. This
  Synod began its meetings Tuesday night in Hope           committee. dealt exclusively with matters of the
Church for the Pre-synodical prayer service. Under         Seminary. Most of the matters were routine and need
Hope's Consistory, Rev. J. Heys preached from Psalm        not be included in this report. We mention the
23:4: "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the        following items of interest.
shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with      - The Lord has richly blessed the Seminary and
me; thy rod and thy staff they  comfoit me." This          maintained our school in the truth of the Scriptures.


372                                            THE STANDARD BEARER


   - Our people have responded beyolid expectations        expanding its work. 50,000 copies of 16 lessons of
to the support and payment of the new building.            Bible Studies have been translated and are ready for
Apart from a few details and some landscaping, the         distribution      in Indonesia.    These lessons were
building is completed. I would guess that the building     originally prepared by Rev. Woudenberg. The
is nearly 3/4 paid for.                                    committee is also investigating fields of labor in
   - While two students have graduated, it appears         Ghana and Rhodesia. The committee has contact
now as if the School will have new  prsseminary            with someone in Accra, Ghana who already receives
students at various levels of study  ,and two new          tapes on Bible Doctrine.
students beginning Seminary work. Of these six, five          - Synod decided to call a second missionary;
are at present not members of our denomination. It is      Hudsonville was appointed the calling Church.
evident that the work of our Seminary is expanding.           It seems sometimes as if the Lord has given to us
  - There were matters which required Synod's              more work than we can manage. We know this can
decision relating to licensure, tax exemption status       never be the case, but the responsibilities are
and accreditation. It appears that accreditation is not    awesome. Surely the injunction comes to us: Work
advisable for the foreseeable future. To take such         while it is yet day ere the night cometh in which no
steps would involve a sacrifice of principles which        man can labor.
would eventually ruin our school.                             Other matters of interest include the following:
  Committee II dealt with matters of missions. The           - The Catechism Book Committee is busy with
following items are of particular interest.                several projects to revise our present Catechism
  - Jamaica. The work of Rev. Lubbers was                  Books. This work should be fruitful in the years to
completed on the island. Synod noted with gratitude        come.
all that Rev. and Mrs. Lubbers had done over the last        - The Catechism Book Distribution Committee
years for the cause of the Church there. Revs. Hanko       reports that our -Catechism materials .are being used
and Heys visited the island last spring and helped         by several outside our Churches who are unable to
ordain the four young men who had graduated. These         find any satisfactory material.
young men now have Churches of their own. Synod              - The Fiftieth Anniversary Committee has done a
decided to send a couple of men again the early part       lot of work in preparation for our commemoration of
of next year to evaluate the progress of the work and      the fiftieth anniversary of our Churches to be held,
to help with any problems which may have risen. In         the Lord willing, `next year. I will not report the
the meantime, the Mission Committee will advise            details here, for the tiommittee itself will want to do
Synod next year on the future course of the work           this when its plans are definite. But I can report that
there. Synod also recommended to First Church that         a very useful and interesting book is being prepared as
Rev. Lubbers be released from his work there, that he      part of our celebration of this event, and that an
be given temporary emeritation and that he be              interesting set of plans is being readied.
declared eligible for a call in our Churches. The
Churches in Jamaica are, for a year  at least, pretty        - The proposed trip to Australasia has been
much on their own. Our brethren there need our             postponed for one year. Several considerations
continual prayers. Our Churches will continue to give      entered into this decision. One benefit from the
some financial assistance, especially in matters of        postponement will be that more careful preparation
building.                                                  will now be possible. This may come as a
                                                           disappointment to those in Australasia who were
  - The home mission program of our Churches               looking forward to our coming; but the  bentfits of
continues to expand. The real problem is a lack of         delaying the trip are great.
manpower. However, Rev. Harbach is now established
in Houston, Texas. Work is at present being carried          These are the highlights of Synod's work. We have
on in Skowhegan, Maine, and in Edmonton, British           much to be grateful for. Let us never lose sight of the
Colombia. But the Mission Committee is busy also           many blessings of our covenant God; let us ourselves'
investigating various other fields, for there are many     be thankful and let us teach our children to be
letters received from many places sent by people           thankful for all that God has done lest we come
expressing interest in our Churches. I wish I could        under His wrath for our callousness and ingratitude.
quote excerpts from the various reports submitted,           It is difficult, if not impossible, to see at this point
but room will not permit this. The fuu'reports will be     what the results of Synod's decisions will be. All we
published in the Acts.                                     can do, in the assurance that the Spirit has guided
  - Foreign Missions. The Foreign Mission                  Synod, is wait for the Lord to do His work as we
Committee, located in the West has also been               labor and pray for the cause of His kingdom.


                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER                                                             373


SIGNS OF THE TIMES

                                                       cc 666 $7
                                                   Rev. G. Van Baren


  In treating the signs of the times, one can not help               levels of Albuquerque residents' concern about
but recall the prophecy of Revelation 13 which                       possible.invasions of their privacy, and then to see if
describes the two beasts, one from the sea and one                   those levels could be raised through an intense
from the land. These picture the kingdom of the                     advertising campaign.
antichrist from the viewpoint of his political                          The levels were low when the researchers took
development as well as his social-scientific-spiritual               their first poll, they reported, and significantly higher
development. Concerning that antichristian kingdom                   in their second pbll, which followed a month-long
and the image of the beast which is constructed, we                  media "blitz" that this city will not soon forget.
read in verses 16-l 8, "And he causeth all, both small                  With ads in newspapers, on television, on radio, on
and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to deceive a                billboards,  and on a'hot-air balloon, and with a
                                                                     blizzard of pamphlets, residents were warned that Big
mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: and                 Brother society may be only 10 years away.
that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the                     Along two freeways that intersect in Albuquerque,
mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his                 30 billboards were filled with an eerily staring human
name. Here is wisdom. Let him  : that hath                           eye, or a pyramid with a staring eye similar to that on
understanding count the number. of the beast: for it is              a dollar bill, or a young girl wearing a placard
the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred                   containing a Social Security number.
threescore and six."[                                                   "What we find today are Social Security numbers
  Many have trieh to show what that number                           being used on medical records, credit records,
represented. An in&resting pamphlet by the late Rev.                 employment records, so that all the information from
H. Hoeksema treats this "Mark of the Beast."                        the conglomeration of records can be stored in a
(Available without charge by writing to our business                 centrally located computer," says Charles Daniels, a
                                                                     professor who aided in the study. "This is what we
office.) Many have wondered what that  bark could                    are against." . . .
possibly represent. Would this be placed literally on
the forehead or right hand? Or does it describe some             In another article,               several quotations were
condition which has already taken place in the                 presented from national magazines and news services
history of the world -- such as the rise of the Roman          to show how there is developing a system whereby all
empii-e?                                                       transactions are done by number. There is a
                                                               quotation from Parade of Dec. 26, 197 1 in which is
  This mark, and its placement, surely is given in             presented an account of an experiment in Upper
connection with the rise of the kingdom of the                 Arlington, Ohio where numbers are used, instead of
antichrist. We can expect that this mark will be               checks, to buy groceries and other products; to
demanded for all at the end of this age - and without          deposit wages; etc.
it one can not buy or sell.                                      Another quotation is presented from U.S. News  &
  I would suggest that the time is ripe for the                World Report, Sept. 4, 1974:
issuance of such a number. We, too, ought to be
aware of developing events and be on our guard.                         California banks, which introduced the popular
                                                                    bank-credit card systems . . . are now preparing to
  Two articles recently came to my attention, one                   take another bold step into the checkless society
submitted by a reader, which points out how near                    foretold for the future. Beginning Oct. 16, many
this "mark of the beast" may be to us. The first                    banks in the state will permit individual customers in
article appeared in the National Observer of April 13,              California to authorize employers to deposit their pay
1974. The article stited:                                           into      their    checking    accounts    automatically.
                                                                    Individuals will also be able to arrange for automatic
       Is a Big  Brat, er
                       i,    society like that of George            payment of some or all of their predictable, recurring
    Orwell's 1984 enierging in America? They didn't                 bills.
    think so in Albuquerque a few weeks ago. But now
    they're not so sure.                                                Employers can sign up with their own banks . . .
                                                                    Over the next five years, it is expected that 35% of
       In an unusual poll of public attitudes, the New              payroll checks in the State will be converted to
    Mexico Civil Liberties Union set out to measure the             automatic deposits. In order to participate, an


374                                                             THE STANDARD BEARER


       individual bank must join the automated clearing                    being reduced. Often, one's social security number is
       house system and agree to comply with Federal                       used as  the one number identifying an individual.
       Reserve regulations. The plan is designed to permit                 Thus, one's insurance might be numbered with the
       participation of all California banks; regardless of                social security number, one's bank account is, one's
       size. Banks representing more than 95% of banking                   withholding tax is, one's saving account is. In most
       offices in the State have indicated they will
       participate.                              ,                         cases, the government has ready access to information
                                                ::.
                                                :.:  ;,,  L1               concerning an .individual's  earnings from wages and
                                                                           from interest. "Big Brother" knows what you earn.
  Or another striking  quotatioi is presented in the
same article from the  New York Times;  Jan. 2, 1973,
                                                                               As the above quotations point out, the time can
                The Federal Reserve System has endorsed the                well come when this numbering system is so
       development of a vast nationwide network of                         organized that every transaction will be carried out
       computers to transfer money from one person to                      with it. This makes possible the enforcement of
       another. In a long statement on "the evolution of                   restrictions and regulations  - under threat of
       payments mechanism," published in the December                      withdrawal of one's number. It will be possible then
       issue of the Federal Reserve Bulletin, the nation's                 that one can neither buy nor sell - unless he is able
       central bank spelled out in far greater detail than ever            to retain the mark of the beast.
       before its ideas on how the coming age of electronic
       money should be organized. The nation's payments
       mechanism can be expected to evolve in the direction                    What could a central authority require of the
       of a system where credit to the payee's account is                  church? What demands could such make to which the
       made at the same time the payor's  account is charged
       . . .                                                               child of God can not submit? Some of the demands I
                                                                           can see on the horizon now. With the emphasis upon
                The Federal Reserve said its role "in facilitating          "civil rights," I can see the time coming when this is
       the development of automated crediting systems or                   strictly applied to church and school. What would we
       pre-authorized debiting systems may pioneer a similar               do if the government insisted that because of one's
       role in the experimental point-of-sale terminals.                    "civil rights," none might be kept out of the church
                                                                           - in spite of his religious convictions? What would we
           The Federal Reserve statement . . . made clear that             do if the government insisted that our restrictions
       in the future such systems should operate over large                concerning entrance into the ministry or into the
       geographic areas . . . "The consumer," the Federal                  offices of elder and deacon violated the "civil rights"
       Reserve concludes, "will be able to complete financial
       transactions through the use of a card or SIMILAR                   of women? What would we do if the government
       IDENTIFYING DEVICE, and this procedure will be                      insisted that each must do his share of Sunday labor?
       accomplished through            automated teller units              Many other instances could be mentioned. The time
       conveniently located in shopping centers, in other                  may well shortly come when the government insists
       places handling numerous consumer sales and in the                  on compliance - or one's number is taken away. In
       h o m e s . "                                                       the latter case, one could finally neither buy nor sell.

  This current development, which we have simply                               The time of the antichrist is close at hand. What is
taken for granted as being a part of our "automated"                       our calling  then?  Many suggest organized opposition
society, appears strikingly similar to the description                     to this "dehumanizing" of society.  Where there is
presented in Revelation 13.                                                legitimate room for protest, we can well do that.
                                                                           However, there will be no stopping of this "progress."
 We see today, and shall increasingly see, reliance                         The kingdom of the antichrist must come  - before
upon the computer. This handles purchases and sales                        Christ returns on the clouds of glory.
of most individuals in this country. And, admittedly,
this proves to be quite efficient.                                             But what we must do is to be, alert to developing
                                                                           events of our day. Both we and our children ought to
  But also, the computer relies on numbers. Whether                        be warned as we see Scripture being fulfilled before
it  is a  credit card number, a social security number, or                 our eyes. Let us be aware of what a computerized
some other number, the computer can immediately                            society will likely mean for the child of God. Our
identify an individual, record his account, add or                         children too must be instructed that the time shortly
detract from his balance, present billings. Most of us                     comes when they (and even we) might face the
are familiar with this already.                                            alternative: forsake Christ and His Word - or lose the
                                                                            number of man so that one is no longer able to buy
  Increasingly, the numbers per individual used are                         or sell.


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                          375




                                         Book Reviews

THE LONG DAY OF JOSHUA` AND SIX OTHER                       referring to these catastrophes. One example of this is
CATASTROPHES,  by Donald W. Patten, Ronald R.               found in the author's interpretation of Psalm 46 on
Hatch, and Loren C. Steinhauer; Pacific Meridian            page 5 1. The Psalm, according to the authors, refers
Publishing Company, Seattle, Washington, 1973; 328          to the destruction of the Assyrian forces. Vs. 2 refers.
pp. Reviewed by Prof. H. Hanko.                             to "orbital shift"; vss. 3 & 4 to giant tidal waves and
   The authors of this book are men who are                 crustal deformation earthquakes; vs. 6 to Rabshakeh
dedicated opponents of the theory of evplution and          and to vulcanism; vs. 8 to the burial of the 185,000;
firm believers in creationism. Their work is intended       vs. 9 to the Assyrian war and to "bolidic explosion."
to be a defense of the Scriptures as overagainst those      This is repeatedly done throughout the book.
who deny the Scriptures in the name of science.               4) Non-canonical writings are relied on too heavily.
However, their main purpose in writing this book is         They are used as proof for the Mars "fly-by" and are
to give scientific credence to the miracles - especially    sometimes given an authority which is almost equal
the miracles which involve  catastrohhes. They              to that of Scripture.
concentrate their attention especially upon those             5) But most seriously, there is a strong tendency in
catastrophes which are mentioned in the Old                 the book to explain the miraculous so scientifically
Testament.                                                  that the miracle is lost. This is serious business. The
  These catastrophes are explained in the book by a         tower of Babel incident is said to be B catastrophe in
rather elaborate theory which the authors have              spite of the fact that Scripture speaks only of the
worked out concerning the orbits of earth and Mars.         confusion of languages by God. The calamities which
It is the contention of the book that up until the time     befell Job are also explained by this same theory even
of the destruction of the Assyrian host at the gates of     though Scripture speaks of them as brought about by
Jerusalem during the days of Hezekiah, the orbits of        Satan under God's direction. No mention is made of
earth and Mars were of such a kind that in fixed            the fact that Job confesses that God has taken all his
cycles Mars passed very closely to earth - sometimes        possessions away from him. Even the plagues of
as close as 60,000 miles or less. This periodic "fly-by"    Egypt and the passage through the Red Sea is
of Mars is the explanation for the catastrqphes which       explained this way; and the authors are forced to
the Bible mentions. For example, this "fly-by" of           crowd all the plagues into a period of seven days or
Mars is the explanation for the long day of Joshua          less to fit their theory  - even though this is
and the hailstorm that destroyed the armies of the          manifestly impossible. The drought which came upon
Canaanites, for the catastrophe at the Tower of             Israel in the days of Elijah is also explained
Babel, for the troubles which came upon Job, for the        scientifically even though James says that this came
ten plagues which came upon Egypt at the time of            about by  the prayer of Elijah. (The authors would
Israel's deliverance, for the destruction of the            explain this to niean that Elijah was acquainted with
Assyrian host which surrounded the walls of                 the astronomical phenomena which brought about a
Jerusalem.                                                  Mars fly-by, and simply predicted accurately that
  The book is filled with a great deal of data of a         such an event was in the offing and would result in a
scientific, mathematical, astronomical nature to prove      famine.)
the point of the authors.                                     The irony of the matter is that the authors
  We are however, not persuaded of their position.          repeatedly plead for a  literal  interpretation of the
We offer the following objections.                          Scriptures; yet they themselves often depart from this
                                                            rule. They expressly state that the slaying of the
   1) There is no proof as such for the fa;t that Mars      firstborn in Egypt is not to be taken literally:
and earth were in different orbits than toddy.
   2) The chronologies of Scripture are often forced              Scriptures indicate death on the night of the
badly to fit the necessary cycles which the theory              cosmic fly-by was so wide-spread that in Egypt, the
requires.                                                       "first-born" of every family died (that is every family
                                                                which did not have the blood of the lamb on the
  3) Many passages of Scripture are given forced                door). Under these conditions, destruction was so
explanations so that they can be interpreted as                 widespread that no count could possibly be made.


376                                                      THE STANDARD BEARER


       Some entire communities perished with falling                the reader can see and understand the Bible in its
       bolides. Earthquakes levelled most structures.               historical context, and will find answers to almost
         The word "firstborn" in Hebrew is  bekowr                  every imaginable question about biblical times and
       meaning elder, chief or firstborn, and comes from the        places."
       prime verb baker, to burst from the womb. We
       suspect the death toll throughout Egypt that                    This  Handbook  is divided into four parts: 1) An
       cataclysmic night was 15% to 25% and that, on the            overview and introduction to the Bible, its
       average, "one born" of most families perished. This          translations, and its interpretation. 2  & 3) Brief
       principle also extended to animals as. earthquakes,          explanations of the books of the  Old and New
       bolides, meteors, prairie fries, respiratory reactions       Testaments, book by book, interspersed with essays,
       and shortly, tidal waves, took an unimaginable toll. p.      charts, and maps. 4) Key themes, doctrines, persons,
  212,213.                                                          and places are listed for easy reference.
  Not only is the word "firstborn" interpreted                         For the student of the Bible who wants to know a
figuratively in this passage, but the angel of death is             distance mentioned in a given text, a weight or
also interpreted in terms of earthquakes, bolides,                  measure, or who wants to see a map or topography of
meteors, prairie fires, etc.                                        the area of his study and illustrations of various
  The same is true of the destruction of the Assyrian               aspects of life in Bible times, this book has ready
host. The "Angel of the Lord" is simply defined as                  answers.
being a bolide, which is very similar to'a meteor.                     Along with Bible history, the Handbook provides a
   In all this the miracle disappears. And the result is            background of the current secular history, with
that we have a lot of scientific data in Scripture, but              calendars, charts of civilizations, and time lines. For
no Gospel.                                                           easy reference when studying the book of Proverbs,
                                                                    the authors have listed two pages of important
  It has been said: "A'poor argument in the defense                 themes in the book, with chapter and verse.
of the truth can often do more harm than a good
argument against it." This book strikes me as being an                 Various Bible scholars have written introductions
example of that observation.                                         to the books of the Bible, giving the theme and very
                                                                    brief comments about each chapter. If these
  The book is interesting reading, and we                            comments were written by men who heartily
recommend it for that reason. But it must be read                    embraced the doctrine of Scripture's infallibility, this
with caution.                                                       Handbook would be a very valuable book.
                                                                       However, under the heading "The Origin of
Eerdman's Handbook To The Bible, edited by David                    Religion" the writer, Robert Brow, tries to give the
Alexander, Pat Alexander; Wm. B. Eerdmans                           answer to the question of the origin of religion. He
Publishing Company, 1973; 680 pages, $12.95.                        concludes that Adam and Eve were the first people,
(Reviewed by Prof. H. C. Hoeksema)                                  b u t `  ` were they half-stooping gorilla-faced cave
  This attractive and well-illustrated book was                     dwellers beginning the long ascent to civilization? The
compiled by the editors and consulting editors                      Bible is silent." In the same vein, Israel is treated as
through the use of pictures, charts, maps, and                      one of the ancient civilizations, against the
diagrams from museums and libraries over the whole                  background of evolution.
world. Well-known Bible scholars were asked to                         About inspiration Peter Cousins says that "the
supply information. The need for such a handbook as                 Bible is both divinely inspired and fully human." He
this is told  ,on the dust jacket: "The Bible is the                adds that the writers of Scripture did all they could
world's most frequently read book. But it was written               to make the Bible an accurate record. With this
in a world far different and far removed from our                   philosophy of a pervading human factor in the
own, and even in its modern translations there is much              Scriptures, the Handbook continues to undercut the
it does not tell us about that world. From the pages                element of the wonder in Scripture. And it does this
of the Bible itself we learn relatively little, for                 insidiously. For example, the book states plainly that
example, about everyday life during the time of                     the first chapters of Genesis  aye historical. A few
Moses, or about geography, climate, weights and                     sentences later we read, "The problem is the degree
measures, or money. And we learn even less about the                of symbolism used in describing these events." And
culture and the character of those early civilizations              still later we find out that the order of creation on
that surrounded the nation of Israel, and that played               the six days is not necessarily chronological.
so prominent a role in the scriptural account."                     Moreover, the element of the miracles disappears in
  "The Eerdmans' Handbook To The Bible has been                     the book. The flood was not universal. The ninth
designed to meet that need. Here, in this                           plague was a dust storm. A map of Israel's leaving
comprehensive and fully illustrated reference volume,               Egypt shows no crossing of the Red Sea. The earth


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 377



opened naturally (by a storm) to swallow Korah and           Paul is much more cautious about this (`What if
his company. The fall of Jericho was a war of nerves         . . .?`).`, These examples show the superficial and
for the men of Jericho. And Elijah may have used the         distorted view of the higher critic regarding Scripture.
"kiss of life" on the widow's son.
     The truths in the New Testament epistles are                  Some of the information in this  Handbook  is
treated briefly and rather superficially. However, in        nicely arranged and attractively presented. This book
supplemental paragraphs, cardinal doctrines are              can be useful for the information which it furnishes,
treated in more detail. In a discussion of election          but it is badly marred by its unbelieving approach to
(Romans 9-l 1) the author speaks of God's choice of          the truth of Scripture. If the book is used, it must be
some men, but says, "If God selects some men for             studied with an extremely critical eye and must be
forgiveness, does He select others for destruction?          used with much spiritual discernment and discretion.


FROM HOLY WRIT

                    Exposition of Hebrews 11: 32-34
                                                      Continued

                                                by Rev. G. Lubbh


     We must yet listen to what the writer tells the         would refer to him as standing at the beginning of the
Hebrew readers concerning David, Samuel and all the          prophets, which truly have their beginning in Samuel
prophets. This may seem like an attempt not to wax           in Israel's history and end in the greatest of them all,
long and tedious in his exemplification of the power         John the Baptist! Thus we are here given a grand and
of faith; fact is, that the writer really gives us a deep    panoramic view across Israel's history.
and profound view and insight into the mighty power                In each age we see greater things done by the Lord
of faith in these worthy saints, which he summarizes         in delivering Israel from the enemies, and in the
in a few words. What is here stated in Hebrews 11 will       establishment of the Kingdom of God. The darker the
have a deep and profound meaning in the same                 night the more the light of the sure prophetic word
measure as we have studied the Old Testament                 and the heroic deeds of the prophets point toward
Scriptures from which the Hebrew writer gleans these         the power and coming of the Lord. And we do well
insights!                                                    to give heed unto this more sure word of prophecy
     We are often so slow and dull in grasping the           even in our day, until the day dawn and the day-star
import of such passages as these because we fail to          arrive in our hearts. (II Peter 1: 19) In this frame-work
believe these Scriptures with a deep and perceptive          of the fulfillment of the mighty promises of God we
faith. The Bible wills to be studied; the spiritually        are to view David, Samuel and all the prophets!
lazy do not profit, failing to see the import of the
God-inspired Scriptures.                                     THE FAITH-LIFE OF KING DAVID (Hebrews
I                                                            11:32,33)
CONCERNING DAVID, SAMUEL AND ALL THE                               David served the counsel of God in his day. (Acts
PROPHETS (Hebrews 11: 32)                                    13:36) He lived to serve the counsel of God by faith.
     The writer to the Hebrews is not concerned simply       What David wrought no other saint could have done.
about chronological order here. Were that the case he        When that work was finished he was gathered to his
would have mentioned Samuel before referring to              fathers. It was a life of sin and grace; nothing else can
David. But he mentions David and Samuel together,            be gleaned from the Scriptures concerning David. Not
as very nearly associated in their importance in the         all in David's life was "by faith." There was also
history of Israel and in the coming of the Kingdom of        something of the flesh and of unbelief and littleness
God. Both have their unique place in the prophetic           of faith in David. We have but to think of the time
history of the Old Testament; we cannot, understand          when he said, after God had so signally delivered him
the one without studying the other. The writer also          from the hands of Saul, "And David said in his heart,
speaks of Samuel in the second and last place for he         I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul; there


378                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



is nothing better than that I should  ,escape into the      due to the Lord's chastisement for Israel's sin. Not
land of the Philistines . .  ." We know how poorly          only did Israel serve idol-gods of the heathen, but the
David fared during that time. There were no noble           very "house of prayer" had become a veritable den of
and great deeds of faith; it simply was a cowering          thieves. The priests, the sons of Eli, were sacriligious
before Saul. And no good became of David until once         and adulterous. They despised the sacrifices and
more "by faith" when all seemed lost in Ziglag, David       ceremonial ordinances of Christ. They so maimed and
"strengthened himself in Jehovah his God." Then out         destroyed the sacrifices that their import, as pointing
of weakness he waxed strong. (I Sam.  30:6b) It is          to the LAMB of God, was effaced. At such a time as
really needless to speak of the lack of faith and of the    that was Samuel born to be a Nazarite child! He was
obedience of faith in David when he committed               to be standing in the service of the LORD in a special
adultery with the wife of his trusted servant, Uriah,       way in God's Tabernacle. His prophetic work began
and then murdered him by the hand of others. But            when but a little child; he received the call from the
even here David "`by faith" walked in contrition and        Lord in the Tabernacle and must bring dreadful
sorrow and wrote the immortal fifty-first Psalm.            tidings to the aged high-priest Eli concerning his
   However, the writer to the Hebrews cites here the        house and wicked sons.
mighty deeds of David, which were "by faith." David           Samuel sees, in his day, the word of the Lord
was a man of war. And in this warfare he was a man          fulfilled concerning the "departure of the glory"
after God's heart. It was walking in the faith which is     from the house at Shiloh. The Ark of God is taken,
the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of          and is captured by the uncircumcised Philistines and
things not seen! David "subdued kingdoms"; he slew          this Ark never returns to Shiloh, but after being in
his ten thousands. As a youth he slew the mighty            many different places in Judah, is finally brought to
Goliath before whom the entire army of Israel               the LORD's resting-place in Jerusalem under David.
trembled, including king Saul. He did so "by faith"           Samuel, too, walked "by faith." He, too, was a
with a sling and stone in the name of. the Lord. Says       prophet through whom the Lord "subdued.
he, "Thou  comest to me with a sword and a spear,           kingdoms." We have but to think of the signal victory
but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of               under Samuel over the Philistines at Mispah and
hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou           Bethcar. Did not the Lord there under Samuel, the
hast reproached and defied." (I Samuel  17:44) Yes,         delivering Prophet-judge, discomfit the Philistines
:David walked in faith in the unseen God when he            with thunder, rain and hail? Was that not the place
delivered the entire army into the hands of Israel that     where the faithfulness of the LORD is marked by the
day. Hear him speak in faith, "This day will the            stone of remembrance, "Eben-HaEzer"?
LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite            By faith Samuel, too, was a teacher in Israel, one
thee, and take thy head from off thee; and I will give      of the first and great prophets, teaching and operating
the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day     in that very prophetical history wherein the kingdom
unto the birds of the heavens, and to the wild beasts       of God is in the offing under David. It seems that
of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is     Samuel was the last of the judges and the first of the
a God in Israel and all this assembly may know that         prophets. We read in Acts  13:20, "and after these
the LORD saveth not with the sword and the spear;           things he gave them judges until Samuel the
for the battle is the LORD'S, and he will give you          prophet." Thus also we read in Acts 3:24, "Yea, and
into our hand." (I Samuel 17:46,47)                         all the prophets from Samuel and them that followed
  Here we see David, a mere stipling waxing strong in       after, as many as have spoken, they also told of these
weakness, subduing nations, working righteousness'          days." How great Samuel stood is evident from
and obtaining the promised victory. When we see this        Jeremiah 15: 1 where we read, "Then said the LORD
we see faith in action; we see the faith which              unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me,
conquers the world! From this comes the mighty              yet my mind would not be toward this people: cast
testimony out of the cloud of witnesses to the              them out of my sight and let them go forth." Samuel
church: press on in faith, do not fall back by unbelief     was a great judge-prophet who interceded for Israel in
into perdition as did Saul, the son of K&h.                 his day as did Moses in the days of Israel's wanderings
                                                            in the wilderness.
SAMUEL THE PROPHET-JUDGE J.N ISRAEL                           "Samuel and all the prophets" takes in the entire
  Samuel was a child who was given in answer to his         era from Samuel till the coming of Malachi. It was
barren mother's prayer in Shiloh, in the tabernacle.        during these days that we see the great deeds of faith
He was a- child who was promised to the LORD in             here spoken of. We have but to think of Elijah ashe
anticipation of his birth., Hannah vowed that the child     stood alone before God fighting the entire house of
would serve the Lord, and that, too, in a time when         Ahab and wicked Jezebel! He brought down
Israel was under the cruel yoke of foreign bondage,         kingdoms, wrought righteousness and obtained


                                  /            THE STANDARD BEARER                                           379


promises. He wrought this by the sword of the Spirit,      faith of David when he killed a lion. (I Samuel 17:34)
and was mighty in prayer, even though he was a man         They, like Daniel, were delivered "because they
of like passions as we. Or turn to Elisha who received     trusted in God." (Daniel 6: 23)
a double portion of Elijah's spirit. See how, upon his        Yea, they "extinguished the power of the fire."
word, the king Jehoshaphat had the victory of Moab         The three friends of Daniel refused to bow down to
and the host of it. It was all by faith.                   the image of king Nebuchadnezzar in the plain of
  We will only remind you, dear reader, of such men        Dura. We know the history. It was because the "Son
as Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel and Daniel. We know       of God" was with them. By faith in him the very fire
that Isaiah prophesied before the captivity of Judah       could not touch them. The fire lost its burning
in the Emmanuel-prophecies, and Jeremiah prophesied        power. Their clothing were not touched by the
during the time of Judah's being taken captive, while      terrible heat. Such was their faith.
both Ezekiel and Daniel were prophets in the land of         And they "fled the edge (mouth) of the sword."
Babylon with the captives. All the prophets stood          This was true of David fleeing before Saul, and of
together in this one work of subduing kingdoms,            Elijah and Elisha when pursued by Israel or when
working righteousness and obtaining promises.              surrounded by the armies of Syria. Even the hosts of
                                                           God that were for Elijah were more than those
GREAT DELIVERANCES BY FAITH (Hebrews                       against him. Jeremiah fled the edge of the sword
11:34)                                                     more than once. He stood in faith, even when put in
  What faith was there not exhibited in "stopping          the. damp dungeon in Jerusalem. Moses was delivered
the mouth of lions!" Think of the power of Daniel's        from the sword of Pharaoh. (Ex. 18:4) David escaped
faith, when, he, rather than ceasing to pray to the        the javalin of Saul. And those who escaped the edge
Lord, was cast into the lion's den by king Darius.         of the sword are many in the annals of Israel's
(Daniel 6:24 f.f.> Conversely we see what happened         history.
to the men who threw Daniel into the lion's den.             Truly this is a great cloud of witnesses, who
Perhaps the writer also has in mind the faith of           interpret for us the meaning of faith, which believes
Samson when he killed a lion (Judges 14: 6) and the        to the saving of the soul.





            Glimpses From The Past --
              Eleven Years With J.M.F.
                                        Donald Doezema


              "May this column serve as a means to reach out to the farthest outposts of Redlands,
           Lynden, and Loveland, drawing them into a closer circle with the rest of our churches,
           binding us closer in the bonds of love; yea let it be a means to embrace one another in the
           communion  of  sain ts. "


  The above paragraph marked the birth of a new            entitled  News From Our Churches,  which appeared
column in The Standard Bearer. In that first issue of      above the initials, J.M.F.
the thirty-fifth volume year, the editor-in-chief, Rev.
H. Hoeksema, requested that "the ministers of each           With a view to submitting a requested article for
congregation, and the presidents of consistories of        the 50th anniversary volume of the Standard Bearer,
vacant churches, (mail) their bulletins and other          giving, as suggested, glimpses from the past, via the
important news directly to the editor of the column."      Church News rubric, I read every one of those
And, ,for eleven years and two months, those bulletins     columns written by Mr. John M. Faber. Beginning
provided the main source of material for the column        with the introductory column in the October 1,


380                                             THE STANDARD BEARER



1958, issue, I took note of all the items which struck      funeral sermon and Rev. C. Hanko spoke at the
me as being "glimpses" worth relating. By the time I        graveside . . . Rev. Ophoff will be missed by all of us,
had `reached the November 15, 1969, issue, I had            but he has left us a legacy in the volumes of  Tlze
accumulated enough of them to fill the better part of       Standard Bearer, as over the years he has delved into
an entire issue of the Standard Bearer. Since it was        the nooks and crannies of the Old Testament
highly unlikely that our editor-in-chief would allow        Scriptures from whence to bring out its treasures,
me that much space, I selected only' a few of those         new and old."
items which concerned beginnings, or milestones, or                                  *****
culminations, of interest sometimes to congregations
in particular, often to the denomination as a whole.          In Mr. Faber's second news column, we find
                                                            information concerning a proposed new church
                        *****                               building:
    The very first news item concerned the health of          "South Holland presents us with some real news.
one of our then aging Seminary professors. It read as       Their church is becoming too small for their
follows:                                                    congregation, and they have unanimously decided to
    "What is the news from our churches in which we         purchase two acres from their School Society for a
are all interested? The number one news item today is       future site for a church and parsonage. The land in
Rev. Ophoff, of course. Our beloved G.M.O., whose           question adjoins their present property to the south,
signature under any  Standard Bearer  article               and seems to be the only land available in that locale
guaranteed it to be worthwhile reading . . .                . . . This activity in South Holland reveals the zeal
    "G.M.O.`s pen is resting. The Lord : told him to lay    with which they are endued and the confidence they
it down for a while. Our beloved Rev. Ophoff has            have in the future."
suffered's stroke which has become a stroke for us all
         ,,
. . .                                                         Some years later, in a September, 1966, issue, Mr.
                                                            Faber noted that "South Holland's congregation
    Throughout the next several years, there were in        planned two evenings, July 19 and 20, for a double
the news column occasional references to "the old           celebration: their 40th anniversary and the dedication
Professor." In the December 15, 1959, issue, our            of their new church."
people were informed that "Rev.. G.M.  Gphoff has
taken up one of the many labors laid down when                Coincidentally, it was in that same issue that we
struck with illness. He is again leading the Bible          find the following "News Flash" concerning another
discussion in the Eunice Society of First Church.           church building: "The newly acquired church in
Although partial blindness prohibits any reading, his       Forbes, N. Dak. suffered extensive damage from a
wife is the old Professor's eyes, reading the. Scripture    tornado Sunday evening, July 3 1. The steeple was
portion to him until he memorizes it; then the              blown down, and the entire building was set askew on
Dominee ponders over the passage, his years of Bible        its foundation, wrecking much of the interior. It is
study experience bringing clearly before his mind the       estimated that repairs would cost more than the
truths contained in them."                                  original investment."
    The September 15, 1960, column noted that Rev.            The late 50's and early 60's were years in which a
Ophoff led in opening prayer at the celebration of the      number of our congregations found  -it necessary to
forty-fifth anniversary of Rev. H. Hoeksema's               erect new church buildings. The January 1, 1960,
installation into the office of the ministry. "We were      issue reported that:
all happy that Rev. Hoeksema's best friend and
stalwart ally was able to do this for him. By                 "The December `Indian Summer' weather enjoyed
coincidence it was a red letter day for Rev. and Mrs.       in Michigan gladdened the hearts of Southeast's
Ophoff too, for they were remembering their fortieth        Building Committee, for the builders were able to
wedding anniversary on that date."                          accomplish much in that unexpected warm spell. The
 Then, finally, the July, 1962, news column carried         church, when completed, will be furnished with pews
this notice:                                                designed to seat 3 17 worshipers."
    "Our beloved Rev. G. M. Ophoff, Emeritus                  And, in a 1965 column we read that "Holland's
Professor, was taken to his heavenly rest Tuesday,          congregation experienced an evening of unbounded
June 12, at the age of 71 years. Southwest's bulletin       joy Feb. 18. The occasion was the dedication of their
expressed it this way: `After standing in the line of       new church . . . Rev. Laming remembered the loss of
battle for the truth, God has given His servant rest and    their first church, which also had been dedicated to
a wreath of victory.' Rev. Ophoff's old-time  .friend       the Protestant Reformed preaching of God's Word,
and colleague, Rev. H. Hoeksema, preached the               and their meeting in cold and gloomy store buildings


                                                        THE STANDARD BEARER                                                        381



for over eleven years."                                                      of the Home Missionary. The February 15, 1960,
                              *****                                          column, for example, noted that Rev. Lubbers "is
   Back in the third issue (Nov. 1, 1958) we learn,                          laboring in the Pella area for nine weeks, giving that
from a paragraph entitled "Do You Know," that                                tiny congregation the enjoyment of preaching services
"Rev. Herman Hanko teaches Church History in our                             during that time. Let us join them in their prayer,
Seminary." Rev. Hanko was pastor of Hope Church                              `that the Missionary's work may be blessed; that God
at the time, and he subsequently accepted a call from                        may add others to our number, confessing His name
Doon. Almost exactly seven years after the above                             with us.' "
1958 announcement, the "Church News" contained a                               According to a January, 1962, issue "Rev. and Mrs.
report of "another milestone in the history of our                           Lubbers went to Houston, Texas, to interview people
churches." Giving instruction in the Seminary became                         who are interested in our churches." And in
a full-time task for Rev. Hanko, for on September 9,                         September of 1963 "the Mission Committee has
1965, he was installed into the office of Professor of                       directed our missionary, Rev. G. Lubbers, to work in
Theology.                                                                    the Patterson, New Jersey, area. Rev. R. Harbach, of
   Less than a month later, incidentally, Rev. Robert                        Kalamazoo, has been requested by the Committee to
Decker, who would one day become a colleague of                              accompany the missionary for two weeks because of
Prof. Hanko in the Seminary, was installed into office                       his familiarity of the territory and many people
in  Doon, Iowa. "And so we have," wrote Mr. Faber,                           residing therein."
"a new worker in the vineyard of the Lord." But, he                            Fruits of those efforts were also noted in the
added, "now a look at `the other side of'the coin.' It                       Standard Bearer News. In November, 1958, we read
h a s   p l e a s e d   t h e   K i n g   o f   H i s   C h u r c h   t o    that "Rev. H. Kuiper has accepted the call extended
counter-balance the above news. Rev. G. Vos has                              to him by our newest church, Loveland." And in May
requested Hudsonville's consistory for emeritation                           of 1959 - "From the Mission Field comes the report
due to failing health . . . Rev. Vos preached his                            that the congregations of Forbes, N. Dak., and Isabel,
farewell sermon Sunday, Oct. 24."                                            S. Dak., have filed official requests to the coming
   The urgent need for ministers in our `churches at                         Synod to be admitted as sister churches." Other of
that time was a theme oft-repeated by Mr. Faber. In                          Rev. Lubber's labors, as you know, are coming to
the June, 1962, issue for example, he wrote:  "The                           fruition at the present time. A congregation has
acute minister shortage in our denomination is more                          recently been formed in Patterson, and Rev. Harbach
and more being reflected in the bulletin notices of                          is serving as Home Missionary in Houston.
our churches, even in those of Classis East which are
closer to the available supply. Reading services and                                                 *****
change of service times are becoming more and more                             According to an item in the February 15, 1962,
commonplace in the Eastern Churches, as the Western                          column, "First Church's bulletin carried an urgent
Churches have experienced for some time. Young                               request for summer clothing and shoes from the
Men, the Vineyard of the Lord needs laborers."                               churches in Jamaica who have been corresponding
   And the Lord did indeed provide. It must have                             with Rev. Hanko and receiving our literature and who
been with great pleasure that the news editor                                express a keen interest in our doctrine. The
reported in August of 1968 that "our Seminary will                           consistory decided to heed the plea and the Deacons
be a much busier place this Fall. At least six young                         boxed and shipped the donations contributed by the
men will join seminarian Rodney Miersma in many of                           congregation."
his classes as they receive pre-seminary training . . ."                       In a September issue of that same year, the
Of those students, one is now in Isabel, another in                          following item appeared: "Our last synod decided
Redlands, another in Hope, another in Forbes,                                that there was an urgent need to send a committee to
another in Randolph, and still another has graduated                         investigate the Island of Jamaica as a possible field for
from the Seminary this June and is now, with his                             our missionary effort. The Mission Committee acting
fellow graduate, Mr. Arie Den Hartog, eligible for a                         upon this mandate appointed the brethren H. Zwak
call.                                                                        (Hudsonville) and H. Meulenberg (First) as a
                              ****x                                          committee to visit this field."
   In the fourth news column, in November of 1958,                             For a number of years thereafter, the Mission
Mr. Faber reported that "our Home Missionary, Rev.                           Committee continued to explore the Jamaica field
Lubbers, spent a little time in his home city lately. He                     and to send laborers there. In March, 1969, it was
appeared at Hudsonville Ladies' Aid Society to show                          reported that First Church, the calling church, had
his`pictures of Loveland, Forbes, and Isabel."                               chosen "to call Rev. J. A. Heys, of Holland,`Mich.,  to
   Subsequent news columns related further activities                        be Missionary to Jamaica." Mr. Faber noted that


382                                           THE STANDA RD BEARER


"this is a first for our denomination  - a foreign               is lamentably losing its distinctiveness. Will the 451st
missionary elect! "                                              anniversary see the Reformed churches in joint
   Rev. Heys subsequently declined that call, and, in a          services with Lutherans and Roman Catholics . . . ?"
November 28 congregational meeting, First Church                    Perhaps in Pre-Key `73 days that seemed a little
extended the call to Rev. Lubbers, who accepted, and             unlikely. Events in the church world around us today,
remained in that post till 1973.                                 however, can only make us all the more thankful that
                       *****                                     changes in the personnel in our Seminary have not
  Towards the middle of the 60's there was                       brought with it any change in the content of the
increasing reference in the news column to the failing           instruction. Ten years before the youngest of our
health of Rev. H. Hoeksema. In January of 1965, for              professors assumed his duties in our Seminary, Mr.
example, Mr. Faber sadly reported that "Rev. H.                  Faber, in reflecting on this maintenance of the truth,
Hoeksema is gradually beginning to experience the                had this to say:
time allegorically described in Eccl. 12 . . . The                  "The complaint is often heard among church-goers
infirmities accompanying old age prevent him from                that seminary students sound so much alike that it is
exercising his most desired activity - preaching from            difficult to detect the identity of their  alma mater
the pulpit of First Church."                                     from their sermons. Sunday, January 27, First
  The September 15 column of that year included                  Church's pulpit was occupied by one of her sons,
the following paragraph:                                         Seminarian Robert Decker, preaching on, "Come
                                                                 unto me all ye that are heavy laden, and I will give
  "On September 2, 1965, Christ, the King of His                 you rest.' Contrary to the above mentioned
Church, translated His .faithful warrior-servant, Rev.           complaint, the sermon preached in First Church that
H. Hoeksema, from the Church Militant to the                     evening (and in other churches previously) clearly
Church Triumphant. Even to outsiders Rev.                        divulged the identity of the seminary in which he
Hoeksema was famous as a voluminous writer, a                    receives his training.  The churches thank you,
strident lecturer and an eloquent pulpiteer; but to our          Professors!"
denomination, and especially to his congregation he                                          *****
will always be remembered as a kind and loving
pastor, a prodigious worker, an able  .teacher, and a               If my calculations are correct, two hundred and
faithful minister of the Word of God." :                         thirty-three issues of the Standard Bearer included a
                                                                 column which was closed with
                       **:a**
  With the illness of Prof. Ophoff, Rev. H. C.                                                . . . see you in church. J.M.F.
Hoeksema had been installed into the office of                     Mr. Faber once mentioned to me that, as Church
Professor of Theology. That installation, on                     news editor, one has "his finger on the pulsebeat of
September 4, 1959, had been, according to Mr.                    the denomination." Having just reread all of his news
Faber, a "first in the history of our denomination."             columns, I'm convinced that he not only had his
Then, with the resignation of Rev. H. Hoeksema from              finger well placed, as it were, to pick up that beat,
his place in the Seminary, Rev. H. Hanko "received               but he was able to, for the benefit of his readers, put
and accepted the  Synodical call to professorship in             it in clear perspective.
our seminary." And, more recently, with the                        Mr. Faber remains active in our churches, but he
introduction of the preseminary courses and the                  retired from his work as news editor of the Standard
increase in the size of the student body, a third                Bearer  after the November 15, 1969 issue. Perhaps
professor has been added.                                        you recall the closing of that column:
  In commenting on Prof. H. C. Hoeksema's 1967                     ". . . see you in the church triumphant, where we
Reformation Day lecture entitled "Four Hundred                   shall join the angels in their worship saying, `Blessing,
Fifty Years, and Then . .  .?", Mr. Faber noted that             and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor,
"listening to this lecture one becomes acutely aware             and power and might be unto our God for ever and
of the fact that . . . the Reformed Church community             ever. Amen.'                                       J.M.F."


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                                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                                           383


                                      News From Our  Churches
    Rev. G. Lanting preached his farewell sermon in                        on your eyes to look in the pulpit direction."
Edgerton on Sunday, May .26. On the 29th he moved                               According to its June 2 bulletin, Southeast has
to Colorado, and on the 30th he was installed as                           acquired a new Allen organ. "The organ has sixteen
pastor of the Loveland congregation. Isabel's pastor,                      speakers which have been placed in the speaker areas
Rev. Miersma, who was Loveland's moderator during                          on both sides of the pulpit . . . The instrument is
her vacancy, conducted the worship service and                             capable of producing tones most comparable to that
installation.                                                              of a pipe organ. We trust you will be pleased," the
   After Rev. Van  Baren declined  the. call from                          announcement continued, "with this beautiful
Edgerton, the consistory there formed a new trio                           addition to our church auditorium."
consisting of the Revs. Heys, Lubbers, and Kortering.                           And then, keeping the new purchase in proper
The calI was extended to Rev. Kortering.                                   perspective, Rev. Schipper added that, "It is well to
   And, from a trio consisting of Rev. Kortering, Rev.                     remember, however, that this beautiful instrument
Kuiper, and Rev. Miersma, Prospect Park elected to                         cannot of itself lift one note of praise to God. It is
call Rev. Miersma.                                                         the inspired playing of dedicated organists, and the
                                *****                                      voices of a Spirit-filled congregation that can extol
   Southwest's congregation, at a meeting held on                          the virtues of the God of our salvation. Let us
June 10, approved a "proposal from the Council                             therefore not rejoice in things, but in the Giver of alI
regarding the paving of the parking lots," in order to                     good and perfect gifts!"
meet city regulations. In addition they voted approval                                                                *****
of the Council's proposal that a committee be                                   The graduation exercises of seminarians Arie Den
appointed to study the possibility and feasibility of                      Hartog and James Slopsema were held ,on Wednesday
relocating and rebuilding.                                                 e v e n i n g , June 12, in Hope Church. The
   Several of the members of Southeast's                                   commencement speaker noted that they were the
congregation have been busy recently with some                             first graduates of our seminary to receive diplomas
work in their church building. The work included the                       bearing a Grandville, rather than a Grand Rapids,
finishing of the organ loft, redecoration in the                           Michigan address.
basement, and the effecting of a change in the pulpit                           I'm sure that the sentiments expressed by the
lighting. The result of the latter change is that,                         writer of Southwest's bulletin, concerning the
"instead of shining on the light-colored walls, the                        graduation of Mr. Slopsema, are shared by all of us,
light will come down on the pulpit, making it easier
                                                                                                         (continued.on back cover)


              NOTICE TO THE CHURCHES!                                                             WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
   The Rev. G. C. Lubbers has been released from his labors in                 On  June  16.  1974, our parents, MR. and MRS.  GERRIT  BOL,
Jamaica, and is recommended by the Synod of the Protestant                 commemorated their 30th wedding anniversary. As their children we
Reformed Churches for a call in the aforesaid churches. His address:       give thanks to God for uniting them in the Holy bond of matrimony,
                                  Rev. G. C. Lubbers                       and for bestowing upon them sufficient grace to trust in the Lord and
                                  7501 Terrace Lane                        call upon Him for all their needs. Surely, "All the paths of the Lord are
                                  Jenison, Michigan 49428                  mercy and truth unto such as keep His covenant and His testimonies."
                                                                           (Psalm  25:lO). We pray that the Lord may continue to bless and keep
                                                Rev. D. H. Kuiper, S.C.    them throughout the remainder of their wedded life.

                                                                                                                           Mr. and Mrs. David Bol and Kristen
                   NOTICE OF CANDIDACY                                                                                     Rev. and Mrs. Mark Hoeksema
                                                                                                                           Priscilla Bol
   The following seminary graduates have been declared eligible for a                                                      Jonathan Bol
call to the ministry of the Word in the Protestant Reformed Churches
in America. They may receive calls after July 7, 1974.

   Mr. Arie den Hartog                   Mr. James Slopsema
   c/o Clarence  DeGroot                 930 Mechanic St.                                        .WEDDlNG ANNIVERSARY
   176 Prescott                          Edgerton, Minn. 56128                  On July  2nd,  the Lord willing, our beloved parents, MR.  & MRS.
   Prospect Park, N.J. 07508                                               S I M O N   O F F R I N G A ,   w i l l   c o m m e m o r a t e   t h e i r   5 0 t h   w e d d i n g
                    - Rev. Dale H. Kuiper,  Synodical Stated Clerk         anniversary. We are thankful to our Heavenly Father for sparing them
                                                                           these many years for each other and for us. It is our prayer that God
   Classis West of the Prot. Ref'd. Churches will meet in Randolph,        will continue to bless and care for them through their remaining years.
Wisconsin on September 4, 1974 at  8:30 AM. Material for the Agenda                                                        Their grateful children,
should be in the hands of the Stated Clerk thirty days before  Classis                                                     Mr.  & Mrs. Robert Offringa
convenes. Delegates in need of lodging should notify the clerk of                                                          Mr.  & Mrs. Richard Kamminga
Randolph's consistory.              Rev. David Engelsma Stated Clerk                                                       and 4 grandchildren
                                                                                                                            ~--


 THE STANDARD BEARER                                           SECOND CLASS
         P.O. Box 6064                                         POSTAGE PAID AT
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506                                 GRAND RAPIDS, MICH.





384


for both of the graduates. Congratulations "for
having successfully completed Seminary is hereby
extended, along with our prayers that the King of the
Church may soon call (them) to labor :in the vineyard
of His choice." Candidate Slopsema, incidentally,
plans to spend the summer in Edgerton, and
Candidate Den Hartog in Prospect Park.
                          *****
  On Friday, June 14, the ministers and their wives
spent a day of well-deserved rest and relaxation at
Camp Manitou-Lin. The day began with a discussion
of Phil. 2: l-l 1, after which the minister's wives
enjoyed a presentation by Mrs. Hoeksema, on the
teaching of Bible to children,  and, the ministers
attended a demonstration by Rev. Van Baren, on the
use of the overhead projector as a teaching tool for
catechetical instruction.
  The remainder of the day was intended, no doubt,
as a time to "unwind" after more than a week of
concentrated effort at Synod. Activities included
swimming, canoeing, and valiant attempts at handling
kayaks, which were "rather tippy, so ,that we didn't
stay all that dry." Difficulties encountered in
handling the kayaks, however, were not the only
cause for wet clothing. Prof. Decker, we understand,
was drenched by "what was more like a tidal wave"
coming off the paddle of, would you believe, his wife.'
The day ended, as it began, on a serious note, with
psalter-singing around a campfire.
                          ***se
  Bulletins from Randolph took on a different
appearance, beginning on Sunday, May 19. Not only
were its covers, for the first time, in printed form, but
it included also a picture of the church building. And
the mimeographed type on the inside included a
reminder concerning the Dedication Service for the
new building. "Let us prepare," advised the writer,
"to dedicate our new building in thankfulness to God
and to the glory of His holy name." Open House was
held in the afternoon of May 24, and, at the evening
service, Rev. C. Hanko delivered the dedicatory
message.
  The f o 11 o wing week, incidentally, Randolph's
pastor, Rev. W. Bekkering, left for Maine, having been
released by his consistory in order that he might
preach in Skowhegan for the first four Sundays in
June.
                                          \         D.D.


