           The
      STANDARD
          BEARER
            A REFORMED SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE
f



       Never may a believer acquiesce simply be-
     cause the ministers of the church say so.
     This is Romish, not Reformed. In a  Referrm-
     ed church each believer must have spiritual
     judgment and must permit this judgmenit to
     operate, not -out of pedantry or censorioKl.s-
     ness, but out of spiritual obedience. The be-
     liever must do this, never on the groundL of
     his opinion, but only according to a spiritual
     understanding of the Word of God.
                                        (Abraham Kuyper)
           See "Translated Treasures"-page 4174


                                      Volume LVI, No. 20, September 1, 1980


4 5 8                                                            THE STANDARD BEARER




                                CONTENTS                                                                                THE SiANDARD  BEARER
   Meditation-                                                                                                             ISSN 0362-4692
                                                                                                 Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July, and August.
         Final Orders to a Militant Church. . . . . . . .458                                      Published b the Reformed Free Publishin Association, Inc.
                                                                                                        Secon CJ Class Postage Paid at Grand  aprds,
                                                                                                                                                    w        Mich.
   Editor's Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .461             Ediror-in-Chief:  Prof. Homer C. Hoeksema
   Editorials-                                                                          Department Editors:  Rev. Wayne Bekkering, Rev. Arie  denHart
                                                                                        D. Decker Rev. David J. En  elsma,  Rev. Richard Flikkema, w~vs'"&%~~
         An Urgent Suggestion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .461                   H a n k o   Prdf.HermanHando   F?  .
                                                                                                                           ev John A. He4;s, Rev. Kenneth  Koole.  Rev. Jay
                                                                                        Kortering;  Rev: George  C;' Lubbers, Rev.           odnev   M i e r s m a ,   R e v .   Marinus
         Reactions to the CRC Decision                                                  Schipper,  Rev. James Slopsema, Rev. Gise J. Van  Baren.  Rev. Ronald Van
                                                                                        Overloop, Rev. Herman Veldman, Mr. Kenneth G. Vink.
            on the Boer Gravamen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .462                      EditorialOffice:   Prof. H.C. Hoeksema
                                                                                                          4975'lvanrest  Ave. S.W.
   From Holy Writ-                                                                                        Grandville,  Michigan 4941 8
                                                                                        Church  Newsfditoc   Mr. Kenneth G. Vink
         Exposition of Galations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .465                                            1422 Linwood, S.E.
                                                                                                                Grand Rapids, Michigan 49507
   Faith of Our Fathers-                                                               Editorial Policy:  Every editor is solely responsible for the contents of his own
                                                                                       articles. Contributions of general interest from our readers and questions for the
         Of the Fall of Man, of Sin,                                                   QueStionBox  Department are welcome. Contributions will be limited to  ap-
                                                                                         roxrmately  300 words and must be  neat1           written or typewritten, and must
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   Translated Treasures-
         A Pamphlet Concerning the Reformation
            of the Church. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .474
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MEDITATION


                    Final Orders To A Militant Church
                                                                         Rev. M. Schipper

                                        "Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.
                                       Let all your things be done with charity. "
                                                                                                  I Corinthians 16:13, 14.



   Noticeably the words of this text, especially in its                                    of the church as institute and organism, as church
first part, have a military flavor.                                                        visible and invisible, as church militant, tri-
   They are addressed to the church which is                                               umphant, and glorified. With a view particularly to
militant in the world.                                                                     this last distinction, we understand that the church
                                                                                           of Christ when she has finally been delivered from
   Those of our readers who have been trained                                              the present evil world shall enter into glory being
particularly in the doctrine respecting the church of                                      triumphant over all her enemies. This cannot mean
Christ will recall how that they were taught that the                                      that in principle she is not already triumphant, for
church may be variously distinguished. We speak                                            the Word of God declares elsewhere very plainly


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                             4 5 9



that she is more than conqueror through Him that           Heidelberg Catechism, the Belgic Confession, and
loved her. And that signifies especially two things:       the Canons of Dordrecht.
that in the midst of the battle we really suffer no          In the sphere of this objective truth we are to
losses, but all things turn out to our advantage, our      take our stand. Of course, if we are to stand fast, we
triumph; and that we have such a victory that even         must have a place to stand. If we are to stand firmly
our enemies become our servants. Nevertheless,             over against the enemies of the truth, our ground
the final triumph is not attained until we have            must be solely the Word of God, the doctrines of
arrived in eternal glory. But as long as the. church is    our Christian faith. All other ground is sinking
in the present evil world, she is designated a mili-       sand. On the foundation of the apostles and
tant, a fighting church. She assumes the garb of           prophets of which Christ is the chief cornerstone
Christian warriors. And she is constantly beset by         can we have ground to stand fast.
powerful enemies who seek always to destroy her,
over against whom she is required constantly to do           And to stand fast implies that you stand
battle.                                                    immovably. It implies that while you stand you are
  It. is in respect to that militant church that the       pounded by the waves of false doctrines and the lie
apostle in the text assumes the position of a general,     which seek to move you from your place, like the
barking out his final orders. The apostle is about to      waves of the ocean that splash over the rocks
bring his rather lengthy epistle to its close. But         extending into the sea. And like the solid rocks you
before it is brought to its conclusion, with staccato      remain fixed, firmly planted in the ground of the
brevity he issues the sharp commands of the text.          truth.
Indeed, what we have here  is' the final orders to           Quit you like men!
a militant church.                                           The original text uses but one word here which
  Regarding these final orders it is important to see      means: to come to manhood, to show oneself in
not only the significance of each command, but             every respect a man. In the church militant there is
also how they are all related to faith, the faith once     no room for the effeminate, or the sissy. And that
delivered to the saints; and how the first four            applies to women and children, as well as the male
orders are all summed up in the fifth, namely, Let         sex. All must be manly, brave, able to stand in the
all your things be done in charity (love).                 ranks and to bear the brunt of battle.
  Watch ye!                                                  Be strong!
  0, how often the Word of God exhorts the be-               Perhaps this is the strangest of all commands.
lieving church to be watchful! Here are just a few         For how can you say to anyone, be strong?
examples: "Watch, therefore, for ye know not in            Evidently here the apostle means to say: grow in
what day your Lord  cometh." "Watch and pray,              strength, increase in strength. Not, you understand,
that ye enter not into temptation." "Let us watch          in physical strength and stature. The apostle is not
and be sober." "Be sober, be vigilant, because             interested in having us attend a health spa where
your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh       we can exercise our muscles, as for example in
about, seeking whom he may devour."                        weight-lifting. But he refers to the increase in spiri-
  Watchfulness implies, negatively, that we do not         tual strength, which can be obtained only in the
become sleepy, careless, indolent, lethargic, indif-       health spa of the Word of God, under a proper and
ferent with respect to our spiritual calling. Positive-    nourishing diet of the study of the Word, and the
ly, it implies that all our senses are alert-not only      faithful exercise in that Word. One who persistent-
that the eye sees, and the ear hears, but all our          ly neglects the Word of God must turn out to be a
senses are sharp and at attention. One who is              spiritual runt and weakling. On the other hand, he
watching is prepared, not only to detect the               who is consistent in.handling the Word of God will
enemies that surround him and are seeking to               not be afraid to meet all the giants the Philistines
attack, but also the enemy that lurks within his           have to challenge. He will not only have the
own flesh. One who is watching is not caught off           courage to confront the enemy, but he will possess
guard, but he is ready to meet the enemy both with         the strength to triumph over them.
proper defensive weapons and also with the offen-            What we must see at this point is the fact that all
sive weapon, the sword of the Spirit, which is the         of these orders have spiritual reference, and are all
Word of truth.                                             connected to the faith. Not only do we stand fast in
  Stand fast in the faith!                                 the faith once delivered to the saints; but also, we
  The faith here refers undoubtedly to the objec-          watch with respect to the faith, we are men with
tive truth of the Word of God. Briefly this is sum-        respect to the faith, and we are strong with respect
marized in the Apostle's Creed. More elaborately           to the faith. Such is undoubtedly the `relation in
this is set forth in the Three Forms of  IJnity: the       which we must observe the first four orders.


4 6 0                                        THE STANDARD BEARER



   Then, notice the last order: Let all your things be      the Word of the cross.
done in love!                                                  But it was evident that there was also much that
   Observe that in respect to the first four orders         was wanting in this particular church. They were
the apostle says: YE. The address is in the second          not well-grounded in doctrine, particularly the doc-
person plural. But now he says: Let all your things         trine concerning the resurrection. Witness the
be done in love, using the third person singular. He        lengthy chapter fifteen which the apostle writes to
means to say: all of these things (watch, stand fast,       this church on this subject. They had not always
be manly, be strong) which all of you are to do-let         been watching when they laid themselves wide
each one do in love, that is, in the sphere of love.        open for severe criticism relative to Christian dis-
This is, of course, the love of God. It is that love        cipline. Witness chapter five of this epistle. They
which has been shed abroad in our hearts by the             were not adept in settling their differences on the
Holy Spirit of Christ. It is the love which responds        basis of the Word of God, and they did not always
to God's love, and to all that He has revealed to us        live according to the Word of God in single and
in the faith, which produces love.                          married life. Witness chapters six and seven. Their
   Observe, too, that all of the first four orders are      love did not always respond as it should have.
summed up in the fifth. All the first four, though          There were schisms and party strifes evident in this
they refer to spiritual activities, carry, as we said, a    church. Witness the fact that the apostle had to
military flavor. This is because our warfare is of a        remonstrate, and devote a whole chapter (13) to the
spiritual nature. Our warfare, as the apostle says in       subject of love.
another place, is not carnal, it is not against flesh         So it can be understood how the apostle found it
and blood that we  ,fight, nor is our weaponry of           necessary to give orders. The militant church must
earthly material. Though it is true that our oppo-          be alerted to her calling. She must be spiritually
nents may appear in the flesh, and a man's foes             watchful. She must be told to stand fast in the faith.
may be those of his own household, we do not                She must be exhorted to be manly and to grow in
grapple with flesh and blood, but the battle is             strength. And all these things she must do in
spiritual. In that battle we watch, we stand fast, are      love-thus making it become evident that they are
manly, are strong, just as really as if we were in          standing in the love of God. And in that sphere they
physical combat.                                            are doing their thing, as good soldiers of Jesus
   And now that fifth order tones them down as it           Christ, fighting the good fight of faith.
were. We are to watch in love. We are to stand fast           But why is it necessary for us today to have these
in love. We are to be manly in love. And we are to          orders-for us upon whom the end of the ages is
be strong in love. Such is the relation of the orders       come? For us who have been so signally graced
as the apostle lays them down for the militant.             with the truth in its purist form? For us who have
church.                                                     been enriched in the knowledge of the truth from
                                                            earliest childhood, who have heard sound
  And notice, too, that all these orders are durative       preaching all our lives, who have been permitted to
and refer to continuous action. To retire in any            see the revelation of God as the God of our salva-
would be dangerous and even disastrous. As long as          tion in Christ as none others? For us who have been
the church is in the world these orders must be             called to be saints in a world that is steeped in sin
carried out. God has faithfully kept with us His            and fast developing in sin to its destruction? For us
covenant, and most profoundly revealed to us His            who are living in a church-world that is fast  apos-
truth, the mystery of our salvation in Christ. He           tatizing, being carried away with every wind of
now expects us to respond faithfully to keep our            doctrine? For us who have also been called to be a
part of that covenant, that is, to love Him with our        militant church, not only to unfurl our banner sig-
whole being, to keep His truth faithfully unto the          nifying our allegiance to the truth, but armed with
end.                                                        the most sophisticated spiritual weaponry the
  That such orders were necessary for the church            church has ever known? Why should we be under
at Corinth we can readily understand.                       these militant orders?
  By the grace of God this church had received                The necessity of such orders for us should not be
much. Of that grace the apostle wrote in detail             difficult at all for us to understand. We need only to
already in the first chapter of this epistle. They          be reminded how easily we may seek retirement
were called to be saints. They had been enriched in         after so many years of battle. Battle fatigue is per-
all utterance and in all knowledge. They had come           haps the most telling letdown in the experience of
behind in no gift. God had shown to them His faith-         the Christian warrior. When we become weary our
fulness when He called them into the fellowship of          guard is down, and we begin to neglect the doc-
His Son. They had heard through the foolishness of          trines of faith, we fail to sharpen our spiritual wits
preaching the true wisdom of God as revealed in             with consistent Bible study. And when this occurs


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                              461



we cease to be manly and strong.                         cessfully battled with all these evil forces, and per-
   Nor should it be difficult to understand how that     haps boasting a little that we are still Reformed,
in this age of spiritual lukewarmness and indiffer-      that we will not succumb to the foes of  "Anti-
ence our flesh urges us to compromise and to go          nomism" and "worldlimindedness"?
along easily with the spirit of our times. And when        Whatever the nature of the opposition will be, or
this condition obtains, we become spiritually dull       with what power the enemy shall assail, it is incum-
and have no desire to do battle.                         bent upon us that we heed the orders the apostle
                                                         clearly sounds to us.
  And need we be reminded how that God's
prophetic Word warns us repeatedly how as time             And be sure that there is a blessed positive fruit
rushes to its end that the battle will become in-        in heeding them. 0, indeed, there will be fruit also
creasingly hot? Knowing this, how can we assume          in disobedience. That there will be disobedience we
the lackadaisical attitude which rests on the laurels    must also expect. For when the Scriptures repeated-
of battles past? How dare we believe that because        ly predict a great falling away, who are we to
we have overcome the enemies of "common grace"           assume such apostasy will not affect us? But
and "conditionalism," and have not succumbed to          remember there is also. a positive fruit of
the pestering foes of "Pentecostalism,"  "Premil-        obedience. He who heeds the orders faithfully will
lenialism," and "Liberalism," that we need not pre-      be alert, standing in the faith, manly, and strong
pare for other inroaders that will seek to move us       unto the end.
from our place? Is it not possible that having suc-        Let us be faithful, that no one take our crown!

EDIi'OR `S NOTES

  Elsewhere in this issue you will find an ad listing    speak this year. We are happy and thankful to
various Seminary publications. We have included it       announce that we will have several new students
in this issue with a view to the fact that the           this year, both in our seminary and pre-seminary
society season will soon be upon us in our               departments. Among them is Mr. Lau Chin Kwee,
churches. And we believe that among our Seminary         who has just arrived in the States from Singapore.
publications there are several which may be useful       There will be more about the Seminary in a forth-
to our people in their studies in Men's Society,         coming special issue of the Standard Bearer. Please
Ladies' Society, or Mr.  & Mrs. Society. Yes, and in     remember the school in your prayers as we begin
Young People's Society, too! Meanwhile do not            this new term.
forget various helpful RFPA publications.                                         *****
                       *****
                                                           One more Seminary item. (You can tell I have the
  Speaking of Seminary, our school will open,            start of school on the brain!) Prof. Hanko informed
D.V., on Wednesday, September 3, at 9:00 A.M.            me the other day that contributions for our Library
Our Grand Rapids people are cordially invited to         will be most welcome! The fund is a bit depleted at
the Convocation Program which will be announced          the moment. Help keep our Library growing!
in the area churches. Prof. Decker is scheduled to

EDITORIALS
Prof. H.C. Hoeksema


                             An Urgent Suggestion

  As you might have learned from the news in our         tances with many friends whom we met five years
August I issue, we made a little tour this summer to     ago and to make many new friends, as well as to
Australia and to Singapore. The tour was a private       savor the exciting work in Singapore. Several
venture, mainly in the nature of a vacation. But         readers have already asked whether I intend to
along the way we had occasion to renew  acquain-         share some of my experiences in these columns.


4 6 2                                               THE STANDARD BEARER



Probably I will do this after I have had an oppor-              are making. This is not to say that they are unhappy
tunity to catch up on work which piled up during                or that they consider themselves martyrs. Far from
my absence and to let my thoughts and judgments                 it! They are busy in the Lord's work and among the
concerning the trip jell a bit.                                 Lord's people, and they are deeply engrossed in the
  There is one suggestion, however, which I wish                work there. Moreover, there is a thrill and an
to bring to your attention immediately.                         excitement about the work in Singapore which is
                                                                hard to convey by mere telling.
  We spent a very enjoyable eight or nine days in
Singapore as guests in the apartment-home of Rev.                 Nevertheless, those letters from home mean so
and Mrs. den Hartog and had much opportunity to                 much!
talk with them about the work and about their new                 It only costs.  224: for an aerogram, and it only
and foreign style of life there.                                costs a half hour of your time. Even if you don't
  In the course of our conversations it became                  know the den Hartogs personally, write them.
plain that there is expecially one cloud in the sky of          Write about yourself. Write about events in your
their personal and family situation in that faraway             church. Just let them hear! It means so very much!
place. What is it? The fact that they receive so very             By the way, Rev. den Hartog promised me that
few letters from the home churches! The folk of                 we will be hearing regularly from them in the
their former congregation in Wyckoff are an                     Standard Bearer; if you don't get a personal reply to
exception; but for the rest, they receive very few              your letters, consider that he writes to all of us by
letters.                                                        that means.
  When I learned this, I promised to try to do                    Here, once more, is the address:
something about it. I think few of us can fully                       Rev. & Mrs. A. den Hartog,
understand what it means to be-as the den Hartog                      Block C, 32-D, Pacific Mansion,
family is-strangers in a strange land, and far from                   River Valley Close,
the folk of the home churches. Nor can one grasp,                     Singapore 0923
unless he has been on the scene, the sacrifices they


                     Reactions To The CRC Decision
                                On The Boer Gravamen


   As might be expected in the light of  The Outlook's               There was considerable discussion of this issue, as
evaluation of the Study Report on the Boer Grava-                  expected, and there were a few speeches pleading for
men, the reaction to the  synodical decision on that               a delay of decision as Dr. Boer had requested. But we
matter was also favorable. It appears on page 5 of                 were also reminded, and rightly so, that we were be-
the August issue in a "Report on Synod 1980" from                  ing asked to adjudicate a gravamen, not adopting a
the pen of the Rev. Harland  Vanden Einde. He                      study report. As the hour approached noontime, the
                                                                   vote was taken on recommendation number one, and
writes as follows:                                                 it was passed with less than a dozen negative votes.
         The entire morning session on Tuesday was devo-           The recommendation basically stated that "synod do
    ted to a consideration of the Confessional-Revision            not accede to the request made in Dr. Harry Boer's Con-
    Gravamen of Dr. Hany Boer relative to the subject of           fessional-Revision Gravamen."
    reprobation.  The adivsory committee requested that              A second recommendation, that "synod refer report
    Dr. Boer be given an opportunity to address the                30 to the churches for elucidation of the teaching of
    synod, and that privilege was granted by voice vote.           the Canons on election and reprobation" was also
    Dr. Boer indicated that his strong plea before us              passed, with the point being made that this report was
    would be directed to urging us to put off a decision on        not intended to be for further study or debate, but for
    this issue for at least one year to give the churches an       "elucidation." Throughout the discussion, there was
    opportunity to study the report of synod's committee.          a good spirit, and we can be grateful that  our confession
    He ardently declared that synod would be radically             and its teaching re: election and reprobation was so signi-
    changing the basis for the teaching of reprobation by          ficantly upheld by the synod.
    adopting the recommendations of the study commit-
    tee, and would be, in fact, acting in a hierarchical          Comment on this report and evaluation may be
    way.                                                        brief. I am sorry that it is necessary to say this, but


                                                        THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 463


say it I must. The "good spirit" referred                                 how to maintain the appearance of upholding the
to-another way, I suppose, of saying there was no                         doctrine of reprobation, the Study Report made
sharp conflict-was not of the Holy Spirit. He was                         some use of this idea. In the Report it speaks of this
not present, or the outcome of the whole matter                           in connection with the alleged teachings of Beza in
would have been different. In the second place,                           connection with preterition, as follows: "The
Rev.  Vanden Einde's gratitude is without                                 sovereign will and good pleasure of God which is
foundation. For it is simply not true, as we have                         the efficient cause of election functions, however,
abundantly shown, that the confession teaching                            as a deficient cause in reprobation in the sense of
concerning election and reprobation was either                            preterition. The secondary, mediating, or historical
"significantly upheld" or upheld at all by the                            cause for the execution of the decree of reprobation
synodical decision. The contrary is true. Just how                        understood in the sense of condemnation is man's
many delegates were aware of the fact that the                            actual sin and unbelief." In a footnote the following
Study Report tore away all the Scriptural support in                      explanation is given: "Deficient causality  occurs
the Canons for the doctrine of reprobation and that                       when a person who does not  make  a given thing
the Report radically reinterpreted the Canons I                           happen could, nonetheless, have prevented it from
cannot say. But some were surely aware of it and                          happening but does not-when, not making a child
said so, a n d   a l l - i f   t h e y   h a d   s t u d i e d   t h e    fall off his bike, I could nevertheless have
Report-could have been aware.                                             prevented him from falling off, but do not do so."
   Meanwhile, one wonders whether the Rev.                                (Agenda, p. 347). The Study Report later makes use
Vanden Einde is whistling in the dark or whether                          of this notion in a couple places. On p. 365 we read:
this is a case of the ignorance that is bliss.                            "Reprobation is the passing over of some for the
                                                                          gift of faith, the consequence of which is the
   Thus far I have seen no, written reaction to the                       consignment of them to destruction on account of
synodical decisions from the pro-Gravamen side. In                        their sin and unbelief. But the Canons teach that
a personal conversation I was assured that the                            this passing over is not a cause of their unbelief and
synodical decision was certainly not the end of the                       impiety, except in the sense of a `deficient cause.' "
matter, and that the very decision to refer the Study                     Again on pp. 372, 373 the Report argues that the
Report to the churches as an "elucidation" of the                         Canons say what Boer thinks ought to be said
teaching of the Canons on election and reprobation                        concerning the cause of unbelief: "It's true that
surely opened the door to further debate: in other                        God, from the mass of unbelieving humanity,
words, the pro-Gravamen forces are not willing to                         singles out some for the gift of faith. And when it is
concede that the Report is an acceptable                                  asked, `What about the others?' it can be said of
elucidation. I. would expect-even though                                  them that God is the `deficient cause' of their un-
fundamentally Boer gained almost all that he                              belief. So far as `deficient cause', is concerned,
wanted to gain-that objections from the Boer                              however-and Boer seems clearly to be working
camp might center on one or more of the following                         with this concept of cause-they themselves are the
points:                                                                   agents of unbelief. By contrast, God is the `efficient
1.  The recommendations adopted by Synod give                             cause' of faith. And that is surely what lies behind
the`appearance of condemning the Gravamen and                             the famous denial of `in the same manner' (eodem
upholding the Canons while the body of the Report                         modo)  of the Conclusion." Men like Dr. Boer and
in every major respect upholds the Gravamen and                           Dr. Daane will surely. not be satisfied even with
condemns the Canons, be it in a very devious                              these weak statements, but will insist that every
manner.                                                                   notion of divine causality in connection with
2. The Study Report definitely reinterprets the                           reprobation be condemned and eliminated from
Canons, and that, too, in an altogether untenable                         the church's vocabulary.
manner. Along with that, it cuts away the very                            4. If they are alert, the pro-Gravamen men will
Scriptural underpinning of the Canons which Boer                          surely attack the way in which the Study Report
criticized. A two-pronged attack could be make                            tampers with the translation of Canons  I/15,
here: a) Demonstrate that this new interpretation is                      something which significantly affects the meaning
indeed untenable. b) Raise the question how the                           of that article.
C a n o n s   c a n    b e   m a i n t a i n e d   w h e n   t h e i r
underpinning has been removed. After all, though                            In. conservative circles the only Christian
the Report itself was not treated and adopted, the                        Reformed voice raised against the synodical
Synod nevertheless recommended the report as an                           decision thus far is that of the ACRL (Association of
' `elucidation. ' '                                                       Christian Reformed Laymen). In their News Bulletin
3. In all probability the pro-Gravamen forces will                        dated July, 1980 they lead off with an article
attack the Study Report's  .use of the notion of                          entitled "Synod Thanks Boer." They voice their
"deficient causality." In a very weak attempt some-                       criticism as follows:


4 6 4                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER



           Synod decided in Recommendations  #5: "that                  "hardening" as `Jfinnly  decreed" .in Romans 9:18, as is
         synod express its appreciation to Dr. Harry Boer, and          done in the Rejection ofErrors, I, 8.
         to the study committee, for their sincere efforts to                To cite Romans 11:33-36  as referring to the `,Ysteries"
         help the church in coming to a clearer understanding           of election and reprobation is improper. This doxology is
         of the Scripture and the creeds with respect to this           an expression of faith and hope for the believer as he
         difficult doctrine." Yet Dr. Boer in his gravamen said        reflects upon hiselection.
         "I do not believe,  and I refuse to entertain,  that my
         election `ipso facto' requires a corresponding reproba-             It must be observed that the Canons rightly use
    tion of others."                                                    Romans 9:11-13 in I, 10 to substantiate the doctrine of
                                                                        election. It is also noteworthy that this passage was
           Even though synod maintained its public facade of           `not used elsewhere in the Canons to substantiate the
    orthodoxy and did not tamper with the official text of              doctrine of reprobation. Boer rightly objects to a popular
    the Canons as you have it in the back of your Psalter               use ofthe Esau reference to support reprobation.
    Hymnal, it most certainly altered forever for the CRC,
    its binding and clearly expressed doctrine when it                       Some may question Boer's emphasis upon the
    says this in Recommendation  #3: "that synod                        corporate meaning of  Jacob'and  Esau in the Malachi
    recommend report 30 (Committee Report on Harry                      passage quoted in Romans  9:13. Recent exegesis has
    Boer's Confessional Revision Gravamen) to the                       also focused on this collective sense. However, this
    churches for elucidation of the teachings of the                    collective sense need not negate the individual and
    Canons on election and reprobation."                                personal element in election. In conclusion, Romans
                                                                        9:13 [with Malachi  1:3)  clearly displays God's great
   The ACRL then proceeds to cite several pertinent                     displeasure regarding Esau. The passage does not
excerpts from the Study Report. What they have                          motivate this attitude of God, but from the context it is
underlined we have italicized. The excerpts are                         clear that God's attitude is a consequence of the unbelief
quoted respectively from pp. 380, 386, 387, 389,                        and rebellion of the sinner (Esau) and is not due to an
and  389  & 390  of the  Agenda.  They write: "We                       eternal decree. On the other hand, the. context clearly
reproduce for you just a few excerpts of the                            indicates that God's love for the elect (Jacob) is
committee report which are now an elucidation                           motivated by his grace and kindness, not by the
(literally a making clear the meaning) of the Canons                    actions of the individual.
of Dort. Underlining indicates objectionable                          Alongside the above quotations from the Report
teachings."                                                         which is now recommended as an "elucidation"
                                                                    the ACRL adds the following sharp comments:
           The second question Paul answers with a theologi-                 These statements reflect the very ideas that the
    cal argument. The sovereignty of God, which defines                 Synod of Dort convened to condemn and now these
    God as God, grants him the right to deal with his                  statements (and more like them] are officially
    people as he pleases. This sovereignty, however, must              recommended to the CRC as an elucidation of the
    not be construed in a crass or despotic way. Rather,               Canons. The conservatives who were so jubilant in
    two considerations must. be kept in perspective                    their "victory" at synod `80 will undoubtedly have
    regarding this: (1) God's selection is an act of grace             time to be sorry. And Harry Boer, like other heretics
    and love; and (2) those not selected have disqualified             that have been tested and emerge exonerated in the
    themselves through their sins. On the one hand, God                CRC, is not only in the clear but officially thanked!
    could exercise his sovereignty as a potter  exercies               It's sickening!
    control over the clay he manipulates. In fact, God
    even did so in the history of Israel in his use of                       The attitudes of CRC officialdom are backwards.
    Pharaoh. However, this gives man no occasion to                    The heretics are praised and the concerned ones
    challenge or blame God. On the other hand, in all of his           barely escape official admonition. We can't help but
    dealings with mankind, both with the elect (vessels of             remember how the synod of 1979 was asked by its
    mercy) and the nonelect (vessels of wrath), he exercises           study committee to "caution it (Dutton CRC) not to
    great long-suffering and  mercy.                                   continue to make unwarranted and unsubstantiated
                                                                       charges against Dr. Verhey." It's a matter of record.
          As was shown earlier, the salvation-history or
    Heilsgeschichte approach to Romans 9-11 is a valid                We can only commend the ACRL for their
    and preferred interpretative framework for these                discernment. They at least recognize the fact that
    chapters. Furthermore, the focus on the historical and          the Study Report is a contradiction of the Canons
    limited dimension of "hardening" which Boer                     and essentially an upholding of Boer.
    suggests is a proper interpretation of this concept, as           Now they should take another step, and
    indicated in the interpretation of Romans 9-11 given            recognize that all of this roots in the First Point of
    above. Hence, it is improper to cite "having mercy" and         1924!

                                      Know the standard and follow it.
                                      Read The Standard Bearer


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                465


FRQM HOLY WRIT


                            Exposition of Galatians 6
                                                    by Rev. G. Lubbers



PAUL'S GREAT AND EXEMPLARY CONFES-                              "concision," a mere mutilation of the flesh. Paul
SION (Galatians 6:14-15) Continued                              will make his boast on the solid ground of the
  2. This Cross is the Cross of the risen Savior, the           "rock" on which Christ builds His Church, and
Lord of glory (I Cor. 2:8). He is now made of God               against which the gates of hell will never prevail.
both Lord and Christ by His resurrection and as-                He will boast of the outer and chief cornerstone on
cension (Acts  2:36). All the house of Israel must              which the entire building of the Church rests in all
know assuredly that God has made this crucified                 her bulwarks and palaces. For in the Cross of Christ
Jesus both Lord and Christ, Who is placed over all              Paul's legal and spiritual relationship to God, to the
things. He is OUY Lord! He is Lord of Paul and has              Church, and really to all things has changed. He is
absolute lordship over the entire household of                  not a slave any more, but a son, and heir of all
faith. 0, how often Paul speaks of Jesus, the risen             things! What a boast on solid ground, a boast which
and glorified Christ, as being  "OUY Lord" (I Thes.             will not be put to shame in the day of Christ (Matt.
1:3;  2:19;  3:13;  5:9; Gal.  6:14;, 18, etc.). He is given    16:16-19, Eph. 2:20).
to us to be the head of the church over all things                Now all things have become new. He now knows
(Eph.  1:22). He is legally our Lord because He has             no one according to the flesh any more, nay, not
bought us with His blood and has made us His own                even Christ Jesus Himself (II Cor.  5:16, 17). God
precious peculiar treasure forever (Gal. 2:  19,20).            was in Christ reconciling the world (kosmos) unto
We were crucified with Him. We were given to                    Himself. Now we stand under the ministry. of
Him by the Father from all eternity, and it is the              reconciliation. And, therefore, Paul makes no over-
will of the Father that He should lose none of us,              statement when he cries out triumphantly, of the
but that He should raise us up in the last day (John            Cross of Christ, that "through which the Kosmos
6:39,40).                                                       (world) is crucified to me" (Gal.  6:14). Paul stands
  3. Emphatically He is "Jesus Christ." He is the               in a new relationship to the entire kosmos of God,
historical Jesus, born from a woman under law in a              both in heaven and on earth. In the Greek text Paul
lowly cattle-stall, a truly humble birth. And He was            places "me" on the foreground. The world is cruci-
named JESUS by the angel Gabriel to Mary (Luke                  fied to me. This indicates that the crucifixion of
1:31). Of the kingdom of this Jesus there shall be no           Christ has Cosmic proportions. It will result in the
end. He shall truly and surely save all His people              city four-square, where heaven and earth shall be
from their sins. He is Immanuel, God-with us                    united: the tabernacle of God with man! Therefore
(Matt.  2:21,22).  And this is the name which was               it indeed entails heaven and earth and all the rela-
blazoned on the Cross of Jesus, while He was num-               tionships of God, angels, and men. From now on
bered with the transgressors. It was written in three           the starting-point, the center of all things in heaven
languages, that all the world might read it as they             and earth, is the Cross of Jesus Christ. This was not
passed by! Savior of the world, Light of the nations            only an earth-shaking event, an act of God's grace,
is He! He is also "Christ" the Lord, the. promised              but it also shakes the heavens to its very founda-
Messiah,  .the One to come. He is the anointed of               tions and present structure (Haggai 2:6; Heb. 12:26-
God to sit upon God's throne in Zion forevermore                28). The entire curse and vanity which is upon all
(Psalm 2:6-8).                                                  creation in heaven and earth is removed, so that
  4. In this Cross of Jesus will be Paul's own                  now all things have a right to be renewed with eter-
                                                                nal youth and pristine freshness and beauty of
ground of boasting. It is a glorying injehovah-Tseda-
quanu,   the Lord our righteousness (Jer.  33:16). He           God's grace.
will place this boasting over against all the hollow              Yes, all the fulness of the Godhead dwells in
and vain boasting of those who are really not the               Christ bodily. Through this Christ, Who has the
circumcison  at all (Phil.  3:3), but who are the               pre-eminence over aZZ things, God has reconciled all


4 6 6                                       THE STANDARD BEARER



things by the blood of the Cross, and thus Christ          PEACE AND MERCY UPON THE ISRAEL  OF?
has made the peace of reconciliation (Col. 1: 19,20).      GOD  (Galatians 6: 16b)
Christ came to take away the sin of the world, the           Paul makes here an illusion to Psalm  125:5,
one great world-sin which started in heaven (John          where we read  ". ..but peace shall be upon Israel.
8:43, 44) and which entered into the world                 They are like mount Zion which cannot be moved
(kosmos) through one man, Adam (Rom.  5:12; I              forever." There are those who turn aside to
Cor.  15:21).  Thus  the world was crucified to Paul,      crooked `ways; They do not put their trust in
and to all the multitude of the children of Abraham,       Jehovah in the sacrifice on mount Zion. These do
the free-born sons of Sarah, born from above.              not overcome in the blood. Hence, they turn aside
   But the text here adds: "and  I unto the world."        to crooked ways, and will be led forth to perdition
Paul is also crucified unto the world. He is no            with the workers of iniquity. Upon these comes the
longer under the law-principle, the weak and               anathema of God, just as upon the false preachers
beggarly principles of this world. This worldly            who disturb the Galatians (Gal. 1:7-g). They are not
ethics and moral standards, aims and purposes are          the Israel of God, and upon such is not the blessing
his no longer. His is the privilege to stand on higher     of peace with God, neither in the Old nor in the
ground and on holier ground. His is not, we repeat,        New Testament. For the Israel of God are not the
the position of a servant, but it is that of being a       sons of the flesh, sons. of Hagar, but the sons of
son, an heir of God and joint-heir with Christ. What       Sarah, Jerusalem above.
a sure ground of boasting which calls for a  new             Upon this true Israel is "peace and mercy." Here
norm of measuring. What Paul now lives he lives by         is the mercy, which God shows in thousands of
the faith of the Son of God, Who lived and died and        generations of those who love Him and keep His
arose again. He stands in the new world of the             commandments. These love the Gospel and walk in
heavenly in the midst of the earthly (Eph. 2:1-10).        newness of life (Ex.  20:6;  34:7; Ps.  89:34-37;
                                                           Romans  11:28). It is the never-failing mercy of
THE NEW NORM "KANON" ACCORDING TO                          which Israel sang in their choicest music (Ps. 136:l
WHICH WE WALK (Galations 6: 16a)                           ff). It is new every morning (Lam. 3:22,23). And the
   Paul not only himself walks according to the new        fruit of this mercy is the peace of God which passes
"norm" in Christ, but he would have all the saints         all understanding. It is peace with God in justifying
walk according to "this rule." Are they not created        grace and mercy (Rom. 5:l). It is peace in the blood
in Christ  .Jesus unto good works which God has            of the Lamb, Who was delivered for our offenses
before prepared that we should walk in them (Eph.          and Who was raised for our justification (Rom.
2:10)? The free-born sons of Sarah do not walk in a        4:23-25). It is peace with God in the knowledge that
balance-act between antinomian licentiousness of           if we are saved by Christ's death, we shall much
the would-be-righteousness justified boaster, and          more be saved by His life. For we are never
the righteousness of the legalistic neonomist, the         separated from the intercessory prayers of our
free-born sons walk in newness of life both legally        advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
(justified) and spiritually (sanctified). That newness     righteous.
of life is the entire goal and aspiration of their life      Such is the peace upon Israel, the Israel of God.
(Phil. 3:12-14). The great aspiration is to be found in
Christ, not having one's own righteousness, which          PAUL IS JESUS' BRANDED SLAVE-SERVANT
is so much refuse and dung, but constantly to press        (Galatians 6: 17)
forward to grasp that unto which they have been
powerfully and graciously grasped of Christ Jesus.           Paul gives firm notice that no one shall trouble
Such is newness of life which calls for a new              him as the God-called gospel-preacher any more,
"rule," more exalted than mere circumcision of             henceforth! The phrase in Greek translated
foreskin. It is to bear fruit wnto God, in which He as     "trouble ye" is a peculiar term in Greek. It is
our heavenly Father is glorified (Rom.  8:4; John          hopous-parechetoo. It means to be the author of, or
15:5-8).                                                   to cause one to have evil. It is simply evil: intent to
                                                           hurt. And there is deviltry back of it. Thus Judas
   This is the new Canon!                                  was such an instigator against Mary when she
                                                           anointed Christ with very precious ointment
  Flesh means nothing! The spirit gives life. Let it       against his burial (Matt.  26:lO; Mk.  14:6). See also
always be remembered (John 6:63)! And if any man           Luke 11:7; 18:5. Paul is here speaking as an apostle,
teach something else than this new rule for Sarah's        who was called not from men, nor by a man, but
free-born children let him be anathema, even               through Jesus Christ and God the Father, Who
though he were Paul or Gabriel from heaven (Gal.           raised His Son from the dead. He stands in the ser-
1:8, 9).                                                   vice of Jesus, Who has been made both Lord and


                                                      THE STANDARD BEARER                                                            467


Christ at God's right hand (Gal. 1:6-9;  5:11, 12).                 what was lacking in the sufferings of Christ (Col.
There must come an end to this seemingly                             1:24).  Paul endured all things for the elect's sake (II
needless, endless defense of his apostleship, and                   Tim. 2:lO). These scars are marks of honor of a real
the discrediting of his approved credentials. This is               preacher of the Gospel, who was persec.uted  for the
nothing less than an attempt to assassinate him as a                 sake of the Gospel, and whose steps were hounded
bona fide preacher of the Gospel of Christ.                          everywhere. Yes, these "marks" which Paul bears
  Paul uses a great argument of fact to convince his                in his body show him to be the earthen vessel,
hearers and to shut the mouth of evil agitators. He                 weak, discouraged, pressed down, bearing in his
is an old battle-warrior for the Gospel's sake. He is               body the dying of the Lord Jesus Himself. And
a marked man, a branded man, as was a runaway                       through his preaching, which was a  stumbling-
slave whose master had put on him with hot irons                    block to the Jew, God's power to save those who
the "stigma" of a slave. Paul bears in his body the                 believed was revealed (I Cor.  1:18, 25; Gal.  5:ll).
"marks" of the Lord Jesus (II Cor. 11:24,25).  These                Henceforth, let no man trouble him by denying his
were great welts and deep scars from the  scourg-                   apostleship or his message from Christ. Paul utters
ings, beatings, and stonings which he had endured                   here the holy impatience of a weary yet genuinely
for the Gospel's sake. In him was being filled up                    sent preacher (Rom. 10: 14,15).

FAITH OF OUR FATHERS


                             Of the Fall of Man, of Sin,
                      and of the Punishment Thereof
                                                        Rev. Ron Van Overloop




  The previous two chapters of the Westminster                          corrupted nature conveyed to all their posterity, des-
Confession have dealt with creation and provi-                          cending from them by ordinary  generation.b
dence. The Confession next treats, in Chapter VI,                          a. Genesis  1:27,  28; and Genesis  2:16, 17; and Acts
the fall of man into'sin. God's relationship to man                           17:26; with Romans  5:12, 15-19; and I Corin-
before the fall is saved for Chapter VII, sections 1                          thians 15:21,22,45,49.
and 2.                                                                    b. Psalm 51:5; Genesis 5:3; Job 14:4; 1514.
  Let us now consider, with the Westminster                             4. From this original corruption, whereby we are
Confession, man's fall into sin.                                        utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all
                                                                        good,a  and wholly inclined to all evil,b do proceed all
   1. Our first parents being seduced by the subtilty and               actual transgressionsc
   temptation of Satan, sinned in eating the forbidden                    a. Romans 5:6; 8:7; 7:18;  Colossians  1:21.
   fruit.a  This their sin God was pleased, according to                  b. Genesis 6:5; 8:21; Romans 3:10-12.
   His wise and holy counsel, to permit, being purposed                   c. James 1:14, 15; Ephesians 2:2,3;  Matthew  15:19.
   to order it to His own  glory.b                                      5. This corruption of nature, during this life, doth
     a. Genesis  3:13; II Corinthians 11:3.                             remain in those that are regenerateda and although it
     b. Romans  11:32.                                                  be through Christ pardoned and mortified, yet both
   2. By this sin they fell from their original righteous-              itself, and  ah the motions thereof, are truly and
   ness, and communion with God,a and so became dead                    properly sin.b
   in  sin,b  and wholly defiled in  ah the faculties and parts           a. I John  1:8,  10; Romans  7:14, 17, 18, 23; James
   of soul and body.c                                                        3:2; Proverbs 20:9;  Ecclesiastes 7:20.
     a. Genesis 3:6-8; Ecclesiastes 729;  Romans 3:23.                    b. Romans 7:5, 7, 8,25;  Galatians 5:17.
     b. Genesis 2: 17; Ephesians 2: 1.                                  6. Every sin, both original and actual, being a trans-
     c. Titus  1:15; Genesis  6:5; Jeremiah  17:9; Romans               gression of the righteous law of God, and contrary
          3:10-18.                                                      thereunto,a  doth in its own nature, bring guilt upon
   3. They being the root of all mankind, the guilt of this             the sinner,b  whereby he is bound over to the wrath of
   sin was  imputed,a and the same death in sin and                     God,C  and curse of the  law,d  and so made subject to


468                                                      THE STANDARD BEARER



     death,e with miseries spiritual,*  temporal,g and              not being and not doing what God requires, besides
     eternal.h                                                      being and doing what God forbids. Not being
       a. I John  3:4.                                              conformed to God's law is a much a sin as commit-
       b. Romans 2:15;  3:9, 19.                                    ting a crime. A lack of love toward our neighbor is
       c. Ephesians  2:3.                                           as much sin as hating him. An absence of right as
       d. Galatians 3:lO.                                           well as the presence of wrong is sin.
       e. Romans  6:23.
       f .        Ephesiansk18.                                        Why did God determine such a fall? All we may
       g. Romans 8:20; Lamentations 3:39.                           say is, "Even so, Father; for so it seemed good in
       h. Matthew 25:41;  II Thessalonians 1:9;                     Thy sight" (Matthew 11:26).
   It seems to be with care that the fathers of the                    Section two gives the effects of the sin upon
Westminster write this chapter on the fall of man                   Adam and Eve. "They fell from...communion with
into sin, and the effects of that fall, describing also             God." Notice that before the fall the relationship
the nature of sin and defining the punishment                       which man had with God is described as com-
brought against sin by God. Undoubtedly the                         munion. That communion is the essence of the
reason for this care is its importance in relation-                 covenant. Loving fellowship with the Divine Being
ship to the subject of salvation. According to one's                was lost. That is the essential effect of sin. Man was
conception of sin will be his conception of grace. If               created in a covenant relation to God and the
sin is a light matter, so is grace. Anyone who makes                instantaneous punishment for disobedience was
light of sin, sees little accomplished upon Calvary.                exclusion from the source of all moral and spiritual
Is that your problem? And mine?                                     life. That is death.
   Once again the readers of the Confession are told                  Consequently our first parents lost their original
that the glory of God is involved. God decreed the                  righteousness. They lost the image of God. Immedi-
original sin "to His own glory." No one can deny                    ately they fell from allegiance to God (holiness).
that the Westminster Confession is theocentric. It is               Love of God no longer dominated their hearts (true
from that perspective that one must understand the                  knowledge of God).
word "permit." To keep from repeating ourselves                       The Confession goes on to describe the totality of
we refer you to our previous article  .on chapter V                 their fall and depravity. The fathers of the
(Of Providence), particularly section 4. Thus,                      Assembly use language which many of today's
Adam's original sin was not a mistake. It was not                   Presbyterians should heed. Nothing is left untouched
something God did not plan. Woe to those who                        by the fall. In fact, everything is completely
think such. God, from eternity and already at the                   defiled:  "whoZZy  defiled in  all  the faculties and
very beginning of time, was making way for the                      parts." Not just the heart became totally depraved
second Adam. All is planned. To God be the glory.                   (Jeremiah  17:9),  but also the mind, the will, the
   God made man perfect, yet "subject to change"                    conscience, the emotions, every part of man was
(Chapter IV, section 2). In this state Adam and Eve                 defiled. And that defilement of every part was
were to show  .their love of God in the way of                      "wholly."
obedience to His command not to eat of the fruit of                   Theologians have tried to change the language of
the Tree of Knowledge of Good and.Evil. Obedience                   Scripture and of the Confession on this, but they
proved their allegiance and submission to God.                      fail miserably for all their verbal gymnastics. Fallen
   The dreadfulness of the original sin was disobe-                 man is "utterly indisposed, disabled, and made
dience. They doubted the wisdom of God's prohibi-                   opposite unto all that is spiritually good and wholly
tion to eat of the fruit. of that tree. They set their              inclined to all evil, and that continually" (Larger
will in opposition to His will. God did not cause or                Catechism, q. 25).
approve of this sin. God forbade it. He gave the                      Simply stated, man by the fall into sin "became
penalty of death as a deterring motivation.                         dead in sin."
   Although the Confession states that sin is disobe-                 Sections three and four explain the sinfulness of
dience to God ("eating the forbidden fruit"), the                   sin as it affects the descendants of Adam and Eve.
Westminster Assembly defines sin in the                             Because they stand as the root of all mankind their
catechisms.                                                         original sin affects their posterity in a two-fold way:
  Q. 24. What is sin?                                               guilt is imputed and corruption is conveyed. This is
  A. Sin is any want of conformity unto, or trans-                  the reason why all mankind, with only one
gression of, any law of God, given as a rule to the                 exception, fell in the first man.
reasonable creature. (I John 3:4; Galatians 3:10, 12)                 "Guilt" is the just liability to the punishment of
   The definition comprehensively defines sin by                    sin, namely, death. "Impute" is the act of God of
showing the negative as well as the positive. Sin is                laying to one's charge or credit as a ground of


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                          4 6 9



judicial punishment or justification (cf. Romans 4:6      for unlawful activities. Although this section is
and II Corinthians 5: 19). The Confession states that     simply recognizing the fact of our sinful flesh
the guilt  (just liability to the penalty) of Adam's      remaining with us all our earthly life, notice the
disobedience is by God imputed to (judicially laid        perspective taken in this section. There is no other
to the charge of) each of his descendants. Adam           way one might describe this activity of the
was divinely constituted to represent and act for all     believer's flesh than  bythe word "sin." Let us not
his posterity. This is because "the covenant being        use other terminology than that of Scripture to
made with Adam, as a public person, not for               describe this activity of the flesh: sin. No excuse is
himself only, but for his posterity, all  .mindkind"      given here, but rather continual reason for humilia-
(Larger Catechism, q. 22). This truth of original         tion and constant fleeing for refuge to the cross of
guilt is taught in Romans  5:12ff and I Corinthians       Christ. "We have this treasure in earthen vessels,
15:21,22.                                                 that the excellency of the power may be of God,
  Besides original guilt, there is original corrup-       and not of us." Sin, corruptible, damnworthy sin
tion. Death in sin and a corrupted nature is              remains in us until death. No frue believer finds an
conveyed to all mankind. Every human being by             excuse for sin here.
nature comes into existence morally and spiritually         In the last section of this chapter the Confession
dead, i.e., without communion with God. Our               treats the subject of the punishment of sin.
actual sins and miseries occur as the natural conse-        Notice that it is emphasized that sin is "the trans-
quence of our being conceived in sin. The "same           gression of the law" of God (I John  3:4). Sin is not
death in sin" is being "utterly indisposed, disabled,     something one commits only against his  fellow-
and made opposite to all good, and wholly inclined        man. A man in flirtation does not merely do some-
to all evil."                                             thing against his wife. A mouthy child is not only
  How can anyone talk about the natural man               offending his parents. The horror of sin is that it is
being able to think, will, desire,- or do good? Man's     "committed against the most high majesty of God"
moral corruption is so radical and deeply rooted          (Heidelberg Catechism, q. 11). God establishes the
that he is disabled from right, moral action. This is     rule of the perfection of His "most high majesty" in
the teaching of Scripture in Romans 3:1-19 and            the Ten Commandments. This is the sole standard
Ephesians  4:18, 19. Man by nature is dead in             for good and right conduct. .Anything less is sin.
trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:l and John 3:4, 5).        Therefore, any sin deserves the curse of the law.
Sin reigns, has dominion, and makes man its               God is described in Chapter II, section 1 of the
servant (Romans 6: 12-16).                                Confession as "most just and terrible in His
  Sin is not merely in actual deed. The actual trans-     judgments; hating all sin, and who will by no
gressions are the most evident and obvious, but           means clear the guilty." Therefore men are "by
they are neither the majority nor the most serious.       nature children of wrath" (Ephesians  2:3). Hence,
The greatest burden of sin is not in what we have         too, salvation comes in no other way than by Christ
done, but in what we are. "0 wretched man that I          redeeming "us from the curse of the law, being
am!" This is the root of actual sins.                     made a curse for us" (Galatians 3: 13).
  Such depravity is not removed easily. Moral               The wrath of God for sin brings upon man death,
reformation or change of purpose accomplishes             "for the wages of sin is death."
nothing. Only the Almighty in regeneration can              Also the wrath of God against sin brings upon the
cause a change in such men. Recall the forcefulness       unbeliever "all miseries, spiritual, temporal, and
of the language of Scripture in speaking of regener-      eternal." Consider the terrible consequences of sin
ation: a new birth, a new creation, and a quicken-        as stated in the Larger Catechism.
ing from the dead.                                              Q. 28. What are the punishments of sin in this
  The fifth section of the Confession deals with the         world?
corruption that remains in the regenerated. As we               A. The punishments of sin in this world are either
just saw, the only escape from death in sin is by            inward, as blindness of mind, a reprobate sense,
regeneration. But the corruption of nature remains           strong  declusions, hardness of heart, horror of
with the regenerated and forgiven saint as long as           conscience, and vile affections; or outward, as the
he lives in this life.                                       curse of God upon the creatures for our sakes, and all
                                                             other evils that befall us in our bodies, names, estates,
  Innate moral corruption remains with the                   relations, and employments; together with death
believer in this life, contrary to what perfectionists       itself.
might, say. "If we say we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (I John 2:8).            Q. 29. What are the punishments of sin in the world
                                                             to come?
  Let none of us let our flesh find here an excuse              A. The punishments of sin in the world to come,


4 7 0                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER



         are everlasting separation from the comfortable                       After reading of such punishment let us repent
         presence of God, and most grievous torments in soul             and believe in Jesus Christ. Thanks be to God for
         and body, without intermission, in hell-fire for ever.          One Who bore such punishments for us.

QUE$TIONBOX



                                        More On Benevolence
                                                                   C. Hanko




   In the March 1, 1980 issue of the Standard Bearer                     we1 eens van de dam  halen." (One could open the
a question was answered in regard to thestatement                        sluices of the dam-C.H.) But must such an error be
in  1 our Form for the Ordination of Elders and                          kept because of other considerations? Could the
Deacons, which reads, "And ye poor, be poor in                           offending phrase not simply be elided? Do your
spirit, and deport yourselves respectfully towards                       churches have a "Liturgical Committee"? Or put
your benefactors, be thankful to them, and avoid                         Prof. Decker's Liturgical class to work."
murmuring.. . ." In that answer I agreed with the                              It is most encouraging to hear from our readers,
one who had sent in the original question, that I did                    especially when they give evidence of having read
not like the idea that the poor should be thankful to                    the Standard Bearer and supply material for our
the rich, as if they owe a special gratitude to the                      Question Box. I also sincerely appreciate the
benefactors who give out of their abundance. The                         remarks of the reader concerning the individualis-
thanks should be directed to Christ, Who inclines                        tic strain in our form when it speaks of the rich
the heart of the willing giver.                                          giving to the poor and of the poor being grateful to
   One of our readers feels that more could and                          their benefactors.
should be said about this entire matter of benevo-                             It is so very true that "the rich do not give to the
lence within the church of Christ. He writes as                          poor." On the one hand, it is only the grace of God
follows:                                                                 that prepares the hearts of the believers to be
"You state in your answer that the rich are                              cheerful givers. Paul writes in II Cor. 8:1,3, "More-
stewards of the gifts which God gives and that also                      over, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God
the poor must be charitable, while, at the same time                     bestowed on the churches of Macedonia; . . . For to
they must be thankful. I fully agree with you and I                      their power, I bear record, yea, beyond their power
fear that many people do not understand the full                         they were willing of themselves (to abound unto
import of Lord's Day 10. However, I sense in the                         the riches of their liberality)." God does not appre-
language of the form something else and I would                          ciate those who send a trumpet before them when
like to hear your comments and/or criticism of it.                       they present their gifts, but God loves the cheerful
(Pardon the imposition!) Is there not a wrong                            giver, who gives evidence of God's grace working
ecclesiology presented here? The rich do not give to                     mightily in him. On the other hand, we owe our
the poor. They give to the Church, i.e., the Body of                     thanks, not to the rich, but to God who bestows
Christ, and that body distributes to its members as                      every good and perfect gift upon us and cares for
they have need. The way the form reads now this                          us, either directly or through the grace bestowed on
idea is excluded and in its place is something which                     others. It is still blessed to receive, even though it is
fosters individualism and, as you pointed out, the                       more blessed to give.
idea of a caste system. Both of these errors are so                            Another important truth that is brought out here
foreign to the Word of God, especially as it                             is the fact that we should give, not as individuals,
expresses the beautiful truth  of.the corporate idea                     but as members of the body of Jesus Christ. When
of the Church, that I wonder whether it is not time                      one member suffers we all suffer. The needs of one
to consider a correction in the form. I, too, fear                       member are actually the needs of all of us, for we
making changes. Apart from anything else, the                            are members of the same body (I Cor. 12:26, 27). It
"spiritual climate" is not right. "Men kon het hek                       is exactly for that reason that the office of deacons


                                          THE STANDARD BEARER                                               471


has been instituted in the church. To them God           this we have in mind that we are not merely giving
entrusts the relief of the poor and the distressed       to the poor and indigent, but we are presenting our
(John  12:8, Matt.  26:ll). Through this office          gifts to Christ as good stewards in His house. And
deacons are called, according to our Form for            those who receive these gifts from the church
Ordination, "that they in the first place collect and    receive them from Christ. As needy we do not go to
preserve with the greatest fidelity and diligence,       Philistia or to Moab for aid, that is, we do not
the alms and goods which are given to the poor:          appeal to  medicaid or other government welfare,
yea, to do their utmost endeavors, that many good        but we appeal to Christ, in order that Christ may
means be procured for the relief of the poor. The        say to His faithful servants, "Verily I say unto you,
second part of their office consists in distribution,    Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of
wherein are not only required discretion and             these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
prudence to bestow the alms only on objects of             This does not prevent the individual members of
charity, but also cheerfulness and simplicity  .to       the church from performing deeds of mercy. There
assist the poor with compassion and hearty               are so many ways in which both men and women
affection: as the apostle requires, chap. 12; and II     can fulfill the office of believers by helping the poor
Cor., chap. 9. For which end it is very beneficial,      and distressed. We can possibly prepare a meal,
that they do not only administer relief to the poor      lend a helping hand in some manner or another,
and indigent with external gifts, but also with          read to those who are unable to read for
comfortable words from Scripture." The deacons           themselves, speak a word to the weary, or even
must visit the needy, speak with them, read the          discover many other ways which an observant
Scriptures to them, pray with them and care for          person can soon detect. Also in this instance a visit
them in the Name of Christ as ambassadors of our         must not be an occasion for a mere chat or to
High priest in Heaven.                                   spread some neighborhood gossip, but must serve
  This has many implications. For example, it has        to comfort and strengthen the `weary in their trials.
long been a commendable practice in the churches         This also God will bless, not only in the one who
to receive an alms offering at least once on every       receives the. visit, but even more in the one who
Sunday, and also to take a special offering for the      remembers any one of Christ's little ones in love
needy at every communion service. When we do             and in the mercies of Christ.

A L L A R O U N D   U S
Rev. G. Van Buren



                 Another "Victory" Like This.. . *.


472                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER



       committee on the issue, maintained that the idea of       supposed to have said, after losing half his army in
       rejection does not necessarily follow from the idea of    a victorious battle, "Another victory like this, and
       election.  .He  said a person must earn rejection or      we will have nothing left." So in the C.R.C.:
       condemnation by God.. .                                   apparently the Canons are vindicated-but at the
  Note especially that last paragraph. Let anyone                cost of a new interpretation which effectively
compare that with the traditional teaching of the                destroys what the Canons teach concerning
Christian Reformed Church, let him compare that                  reprobation. One more such victory, and the whole
with Berkhof, let him compare that with what the                 cause would be lost-if it is not already.
Canons actually teach. A certain general is


                                       Dr. Daane reeds.. . . .

  It seems that when our books are reviewed in the                  election is individualistic and thus excludes the
Banner,  inevitably Dr. James Daane is asked to                     Biblical idea of  corporate  election. Hoeksema with a
write the review. This is true again in the June 13,                sweep of the hand dismisses the idea that Jacob and
1980 issue of the  Banner  in which he reviews the                  Esau can stand for nations, and that in Paul's thought
recently published book,  God's Eternal Good                        they are  not mere  individuals. After all, says
Pleasure  by Rev. Herman Hoeksema. His                              Hoeksema, "Is not a nation composed of the sum total
comments are not only interesting with respect to                   of its individual members?" This sounds much more
                                                                    like the Baptistic John Locke, or American individual-
the book itself, but also some of his recollections of              ism thought, than that of the Bible. In Biblical
the past. The review is interesting, too, from the                  thought, election is  always informed by the structure of
point of view that it comes precisely at the time the               the covenant, the interconnection between "Abraham
Christian Reformed Synod was treating Boer's                        and his seed," and the unity of Christ with the nation of
Gravamen concerning reprobation. Dr. Daane fully                    Israel. When Paul says that "They are not all Israel,"
supports Boer's position-and rejects the teachings                  the second "Israel" refers to unbelieving, rejected
of Rev. H. Hoeksema as these appear in the book.                    individuals, but the first "Israel" is obviously more
This he has to say:                                                 and something other than a number of Israelite
                                                                    individuals, namely, the elect nation of Israel is no
         By any standard, these are sermons of substance,           more mereiy the sum of its parts than the Church, as
   and quite unlike much current pulpit fluff. In the late          God's elect, and the Body of Christ, is the mere sum of
       193Os,  Herman Hoeksema preached a series of                 its parts. [In Biblical thought, even ordinary marriage
   sermons on the Epistle to the Romans. I recall hearing           in which two become one flesh is not the mere sum of
   many of them, a fact that so disturbed the Christian             its parts. In a recent  Standard Bearer,  its editor, the
   Reformed classis  from which I was being supported at            Rev. Homer Hoeksema, expressed his total inability to
   the rate of $200 a year that a committee visited me to           understand what I meant by the corporate election of
   inquire whether I was using CRC money to prepare                 Israel as a nation.) But until `this is recognized, both
   for ministry in the Protestant Reformed churches.                the CRC and the PRC can reduce election to a
   What disturbed them then theologically, disturbs me              numbers game. Had the PRC played this game more
   now but seems to disturb them no longer.                         diplomatically and less belligerently, I think they
         This book contains H. Hoeksema's sermons on                would have made serious inroads into the
   Romans 9 through 11. They reveal a concept of divine             membership of the CRC.
   sovereignty which still lies deep in the CRC soul,                 I recommend this book to the CRC readership. It
   namely, that Gods sovereignty  explains  all that                may learn something about itself from which it may
   happens in this world and the dual outcome of the                wish to rid itself.
   world's history. Even the 1980 Study Committee's                Interesting! It may be also that the CRC- reader-
   report on Dr. H. Boer's gravamen cannot wholly                ship might find in this book that which attracts-for
   shake loose the idea that God is at least the
       "insufficient cause" of the reprobate's unbelief.         it does indeed emphasize the old Reformed truths
   Somehow deep in the CRC and the PR theology lies              which once were held in high esteem in the CRC as
   the notion that in Biblical thought divine sovereignty        well. Obviously, Daane recognizes within the CRC
   means that God is, in one fashion or another, the             many who still believe the traditional Reformed
   cause and thus also the explanation of man's sin and          truths-which we believe to be Scriptural. But
   unbelief.                                                     Daane considers these, obviously, to be in the
         These sermons also reveal the theologically             minority. Perhaps he is correct.
   dominant notion in both CRC and PR theology that                One wonders, too, what might have happened


                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER                                                            4 7 3



had Daane not been reprimanded by a classical                  Protestant Reformed Church. He seemed attracted
committee about too frequent attendance at the                 then to that which now constantly disturbs him.


                   Toorak's Church "marriage". . . . .

  A reader in Australia sent in a clipping from a                   The three congregations have been working
paper there which points out the growing unity                    together for some time, but the formal agreement
within churches-but a unity not based on oneness                  established guidelines for local ecumenical
in the faith. The article states:                                 agreement.
      Three Toorak churches yesterday confirmed a                   . . .The minister for the Uniting Church.  ..said  yester-
   unique ecumenical agreement which brings close co-             day that the agreement put into practice what had
    operation between the Roman Catholic, Anglican and            been discussed at higher levels of the church. It was
   Uniting Church congregations.                                  the first time he knew of it happening in Australia.
      The agreement, which is believed to be the first of           "We are sharing our convictions and moving closer
   its type in Australia, allows for regular joint-worship,       together in human terms. We  recognise  and accept
   monthly meetings of ministers and combined                     each other."
    community work.                                                 "There were probably 600-700 people there in St.
      A joint meeting of the congregations in St. Peter's         Peter's. It was standing room only," he said.
    Catholic Church yesterday formally accepted the                 "We have now affirmed our intention to continue
   scheme.                                                        and deepen our relationship."




      Further Threats for Christian Schools.. . . .

  From Liberty, May/June 1980, published by the                   guidelines for expanding the existing school
Seventh Day Adventist Church, the following inter-                curriculum to include materials on the culture of
esting aritcle appeared (written by Gordon Engen):                ethnic, religious, and racial minority peoples, and the
                                                                  contributions of women, as defined by the state
      I can hear it now:                                          board...for grades K to 12 in every public or nonpublic
      "All right, fifth grade. Today we are going to cover        school. The guidelines shall include (a) History and
   word meanings and usages by two groups you find on             heritage of, .  ..living  conditions, beliefs and customs
   pages 547 and 654 of Volume XIX of your manual                 of,. .  .problems  and prejudices encountered by,. .  .word
   from the state department of education. The first part         meaning and usages as employed by,. . .culturally-re-
   of your assignment was to develop a list of words used         lated attitudes and behavior of ethnic, religious, racial
   only by women. Then you were to list usages by                 minorities and women."
   women that differ from those used by men. You were               Bill No. 358 would change  may  to  shall  in the
   to do the same for the religious minorities in the world       introduction and mandates that "the guidelines shall
   from the list you found in appendix WZ. Now, how               be incorporated into a regular course of instruction in
   many of you have completed-----?"                              which every pupil shall be involved for not less than
      This is no hare-brained bit of speculation dreamed          two years."
   up by some fanatic or reactionary or inventor of wild            Can you imagine a kindergartner in a Michigan
   rumors.                                                        Catholic parochial school learning about the beliefs,
      If Michigan Senate Bill No. 358 should become law,          customs, and word meanings and usages of the Hare
   stranger things than the above fantasy could take              Krishnas, or the Moonies, or the Hindus?
   place. Mind you, S.B. 358 seeks only to amend a law              . ..What would high school seniors be taught
   (Section 380.1174 of the Compiled Laws of 1970) that           regarding the living conditions and beliefs of religious
   already provides for such an assignment.                       minorities? Which religions would be chosen? Which
     The current law says, "The state board  may  develop         left out? Who would be certain they were correctly


4 7 4                                              THE STANDARD BEARER



    portrayed? How would so-called cults be treated?              impossible to continue to operate our Christian
    Who would distinguish between so-called cults and             Schools. Let us use wisely and diligently what we
    "legitimate" religions?....                                   have while we may-before those days come when
   Some of these laws, long on the books, now being               the state makes such demands which might make
amended (often without our being aware of what is                 continued operation of our schools impossible.
being done), are of a nature that could soon make it

TRANSLATED TREASURES


         A Pamphlet Concerning The Reformation
                                            Of The Church
                                                         Dr. A. Kuyper



    (Dr. Kuyper has finished his discussion of the special          This office of believers exists first of all in this
    offices in the church: minister, professor, elder, and        that where the ruling office falls away, the office of
    deacon. In this paragraph he turns to a discussion of
    the office of believer.)                                      believers takes its place. In a church on a solitary
                                                                  island, where a plague drags all the office bearers
26. The Office of Believers in the Church of Christ.              to the grave, the believers themselves, by virtue of
   In Article 28 our Belgic Confession states, among              their office, would have to take the place of these
other things, that there is an office of all believers.           office bearers and execute the official work of the
In this way the Confession reproduces clearly and                 church. Further, they would have to choose new
accurately  .what Scripture means when it adorns                  office bearers. The one office, by falling away,
the people of the Lord with the honorable title of                pushes its task over to the next office. If the
kings and priests. This honor comes to all, without               minister of the Word falls away, then the ruling
the character of the office being lost. What you do               elder takes his place. If the elder falls away, then
by virtue of your office you do, not out of your own              the deacon takes up his task. And if also the deacon
person, but as a result of a dignity laid upon your               falls away, then the office of all believers enters in
person. On the other hand, that which I do outside                its place. This rule, as we shall see, also holds
of my office is done by me as an outflowing of my                 where the office bearers are not taken away
personal good pleasure without any reference to a                 through death nor through moving to a different
delegated power. In the United States of America,                 place, but apostatize through unbelief or unfaith-
just as in France, a common right of voting belongs               fulness, or are deficient through neglect or pride.
to the citizens, but between both lands this right                Unfortunately, this is so broad an area that, as an
exists with a definite difference. The Frenchman                  accusation against office bearers and parents, the
says, "I vote because this is my right as a man, a                Sunday School or some other organization
right which I possess and for which I have no one                 (unnaturally and, therefore, unlawfully) sometimes
to thank." The American who understands his                       took the place of office bearers. Yet this did stand
Constitution would say, "I do not vote.by virtue of               as an unmistakable corrective and is, because of
my right as a man but by the grace of God because                 this, to be appreciated with thankfulness. Yet this
God has loaned me this office." This same                         official work of other organizations is a product of
difference now exists between the ideas of the                    the more common task which is locked up in the
fanatics and those of the Reformed. Both recognize                office of all believers, to wit, the obligation to
that power rests in the church with believers. But,               exercise constant control in matters of confession,
while the fanatic shouts, "I, I as personal believer              church rule,, liturgy, and the activities of the other
have to decide in Jesus' church," the Reformed                    office bearers. Never may a believer acquiesce
man testifies, "As believer I have nothing but the                simply because the ministers of the church say so.
obligation to thank eternally my God for His grace.               This is Romish, not Reformed. In a Reformed
Because King Jesus has laid an office upon me, I                  church each believer must have spiritual
possess in the church a responsible power."                       judgment and must permit this judgment to  oper-


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                              4 7 5



ate, not out of pedantry or censoriousness, but out         abridged in any way. As the church expands in
of spiritual obedience. The believer must do this,          peaceful times, on the other hand, especially in our
never on the ground of his opinion, but only                climate, the possession of one or more church
according to a spiritual understanding of the Word          buildings is indispensable. A definite place is also
of God. Thus all that is confessed within the               indispensable for smaller gatherings of office
church, decided, and carried out, must have its             bearers or meetings of the congregation. Besides
constant support in the spiritual enlightening of the       these buildings, a church usually possesses a fixed
conscience of believers. And if strife arises between       capital of movable or immovable possessions,
this enlightened conscience of the believer and the         donated by testators or donors, the income of
decisions or acts of overseers, then it is the office of    which is intended for the maintenance of buildings,
believers to form a judgment concerning this, to            public worship, or the salaries of church ministers.
deal secretly with this judgment; first, out of             And if the income of these fixed possessions is not
respect for the ruling office, then to bring the            sufficient to take care of the rent of buildings and
matter in as a complaint, and finally, if need be, to       the salary of the people who work for the church,
make it generally known as a public witness. This           to maintain the worship services and to pay a
is a very serious task out of which another official        proper salary to the office bearers, then the church
obligation follows. This other official obligation is       ought to make up the difference by collections of
to join the true church or to reveal the true church        free gifts or by a head tax.
anew when it appears that every attempt to keep               The management of these possessions and
the ecclesiastical ruling body faithful to the truth is     incomes belongs to the church itself. They are her
fruitless. Then one must sever himself from                 goods, her money which must be used for her bene-
overseers who prove to be no more of the church.            fit and for which she is responsible. The manner in
  Yet also in normal times there is in this office of       which the church can carry out this management
believers another very active. and positive calling.        differs. In former times this was usually left to the
Not only is the office of believers (as we touched on       Reformed magistrate. Now that the Reformed
a moment ago) to be constantly filled by the youth          magistracy has disappeared, the church has
who, short in knowledge, are trained by Sunday              appointed its own guardians and managers and
Schools and other organizations, but the office also        they take care of these things partly directly and
involves the obligation to proclaim the gospel              partly through the consistory. As a matter of
where this' has not taken place or where the gospel         principle, the following rules are helpful. 1) In very
has been preached in pretense. This happens only            small churches this management can be given over
when God gives the gifts for it; provided that (and         to the deacons as part of their common service of
everything hinges on this) one does this officially,        tables, i.e., of all the money and not only the money
by virtue of his office, and not in a fanatic way. One      for the poor. 2) In larger congregations this is
must not have a lust for this work as one imagines          neither practical nor advisable. It is not practical
he feels an impulse of the Spirit.                          because the deacons, due to their faulty organiza-
  The old Reformed Churches, following the                  tion, must already leave two-thirds of their own
example of the early church, forced this even to the        work unfinished. And, in similar fashion, it is not
extent that they instituted what were originally            advisable because the spiritual character of the
called prophecies, i.e., gatherings within the con-         diaconate suffers when this is done. 3) One does
gregations in which common believers, under the             better by not permitting the consistory to do the
guidance of the consistory, attempted to edify the          providing in this matter because the consistory, as
congregation out of the Word of God so that all the         an official group, has its own calling, and church
gifts put in the church by Jesus might be used for          finances are not official work but only a matter of a
the benefit of the church. It has been said that            commission. 4) One proceeds in a better way,
Comrie encouraged this ministry of the Word by              therefore, if one names a special group of church
virtue of the office of believers. With this also           trustees taken from the membership of the church
stands connected the idea that the way to the office        at large and which is under the direction of the con-
of the ministry of the Word is open for men of              sistory to do this work. Further, other church
"extraordinary gifts" who obviously were qualified          members, in addition to these, ought to be appoint-
for this by the Lord without university training.           ed to do the auditing.
27. Concerning the Church's Possessions.                      The budget does not rest upon the principle of
    Ownership or possession of property is not              love, but on the principle of obligation, according to
indispensable for the essence of the church. Even           right. An assessment such as the budget must never
without a fixed church building a church of God             be used to take up alms and to provide for the poor
can come together in the open air; in a barn or             in their need. It must be used to pay the expenses
warehouse, without the nature of the church being           which people as a church incur. A church which


4 7 6                                               THE STANDARD BEARER



uses a building, hires church personnel, permits an                  collections than he is obligated proportionately to
organ to be played, and binds itself to pay a                        give does not in any way contribute to the church
preacher, incurs each year a joint expense and joint                 alms, but pays, in addition to his own indebted
costs, and thus acquires a yearly debt. All that                     part, another part in the debt of less willing
which is expense for its own use, its cost for its own               payers.
enjoyment, and debt for its own expense, never                         If the church is to function, well people should,
comes under the heading of alms, but is and                          in ordinary churches and times, have to pay about
remains a tribute, i.e., what one is rightly indebted                five dollars per person or twenty-five dollars per
to pay. The people can bring this money up by free-                  family per year. The rule in this matter is that one
will offerings, or, if that does not work, then the                  should pay according to his ability. But, even
people must make a reckoning and divide the cost                     though the enjoyment of the things of the church is
among themselves. And even when people bring                         for all alike, nevertheless those who are unable to
this money up by free-will offerings, the money is                   pay, pay nothing while the more ordinary citizens
not yet alms, but always is payment for that which                   must pay as much as thirty or forty dollars per
has been or will be enjoyed. He who imagines that                    family per year and the more able as much as one
with the practice in our churches the collections for                hundred or more dollars per family per year. (We
the church and for the poor are on a par.is in danger                must remember that this was written in the latter
of ascribing to himself a good work which is not his                 half of the 1800's, H.H.)
due. Even he who gives more in the church

THEDAYOFSHADOWS


                              Jacob Refuses Protection
                                                          Rev. John A. Heys



   The Prince of God, Jacob, had met the enemy,                      harm to one than that one did to us?-Esau was in a
Esau, face to face, and had walked away without a                    position not simply to kill him, but to destroy the
scratch, even though the enemy had made known                        whole family. He could have made his brother
his intent to kill this Prince of God. Both men after                suffer tremendously before taking his life. He could
this meeting parted without a drop of blood being                    have killed all of his children, one by one before
shed, even though the situation was tense for a                      Jacob's eyes, and then slain Jacob as well. A time
time. Esau had come with four hundred men to                         for revenge, a setup that would satisfy rage and
meet his brother, who was now a cripple and was                      bitter hatred was there. And yet Jacob walks away
encumbered with, and held back from fleeing by,                      without a scratch; and instead Esau offers to help
two wives, their handmaidens and twelve                              him on his way back to their father.
children, n o n e   o f   w h i c h   w a s   a   t e e n a g e r      We must not, however, fail to see that this
yet-though the oldest was very close to it.                          amazing turn of events is not due to a mellowing of
   This Prince came with great riches in the form of                 Esau over a period of twenty years. It was not
oxen, asses, flocks, menservants, and  womenser-                     because of the abundant gift that Jacob pressed
vants. Anyone who wanted to become rich in a dis-                    upon the man who threatened to kill him. It was
honest way would find this group an easy prey in                     not because Esau now believed that Jacob was
this open country near the River Jabbok. Jacob and                   harmless and could be trusted. It was because there
his family sat there like sitting ducks. There, alone                is a God in heaven Who is faithful to His promises,
and without bodyguards, they could easily be                         and protects His people in a mercy that faileth
robbed of all that which they had. And for a man                     never and in a grace that abideth ever.
seeking revenge, things could not be more suitably                     Proverbs  21:l applies here: "The king's heart is
arranged.                                                            in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: He
   To get even with Jacob-and why do we speak of                     turneth it whithersoever He will." No, Esau is not a
getting even, when we always mean doing more                         king, even though Jacob bowed so often before him


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                             477



and called him his Lord. But the principle is there.      10 he mentions God by name. In verse 11 he
God had Esau under complete control. Esau could           confesses that God had dealt graciously with him.
not lay one finger upon God's Prince. God stood           But his old man of sin manifests itself so clearly,
between Jacob and Esau. And Jacob was as good as          and so plainly has the upper hand here, that before
ten thousand miles away from Esau, as far as Esau's       Esau Jacob does manifest much practical atheism.
power to hurt, and the strength of these four             Would you commend Jacob for telling Esau that
hundred men, are concerned.                               seeing him face to face was "as though I had seen
  And let us take hold of that truth for ourselves.       the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me"?
We tend to quote it and think of it when we get           Was Jacob there declaring that he did see the face
marvellous deliverances like Jacob did. When the          of God in this complete turn about on the part of
enemy of the Church is frustrated, when his intent        the man who intended to kill him? Jacob saw Esau,
and attempt to destroy is thwarted, we say that God       and that Esau was pleased with him. He is tremen-
is on the throne and fighting for us. And that surely     dously relieved to find himself in the good graces of
is true. But let us understand that every king, every     Esau. And though he speaks of God, he does not
authority, every temporal ruler over us on the local,     confess God to have turned Esau's heart, because
state, or national level is, as far as his heart is       he, Jacob, was the one in whom God was pleased.
concerned, in the hand of God, and is turned by           And that God blessed him and had dealt graciously
God whithersoever it pleases Him. When they               with him is language that an atheist can and often
bungle things, when they show ineptness for the           does use. Many of them in our land sing, "God
duties of their offices, when they squander the           bless America" rather than "God bless His Church
money they demand unnecessarily, when they lead           in all nations, tongues, and tribes."
the nation to ruin, all this also is because the Lord       But what particularly shows that the old man of
has their hearts in His hand as rivers of waters.         sin in Jacob has the upper hand here-even while
These are not above His power. These do not act           there is that undercurrent of faith of the new man
apart from His sovereign, eternal counsel. Solomon        in Christ-is the fact that he  .behaves as one who
makes no exception, and we ought not make any             must turn the heart of Esau as the rivers of water by
exception to the truth that all men in authority over     his own ingenuity. Esau offered protection to Jacob
us are in the hand of God as far as their hearts are      there on the way to his father's house. And Jacob
concerned; and what they do, that hurts as well as        refused it. Understand well, that protection of the
benefits, must be understood in the light of this         unbeliever is not always to be rejected. Besides, did
truth that the God of our salvation has them in His       Jacob know Esau to be an unbeliever? He knew of
hand to execute what He in His wisdom, and love           his sins of spiritual carelessness, of marrying
for His Church, has planned so that the day of            heathen wives, and of his threat to kill. But did he
Christ may come. All too often we look at the ruler,      have anything concrete on which to base a convic-
the man in authority over us, and in spiritual near-      tion that Esau was an unbeliever? It is true that
sightedness fail to see the hand of God upon him.         Esau does not utter one word in this whole
No, we are not atheists, and we confess God and           encounter that shows any faith. But is that not true
pray to Him, worship Him in the sanctuary on the          of us so often; even though we are believers, and
Sabbath, and insist that our children be taught the       have the new principle of life in us?
things of their natural life in the light of His Word.      It is what Jacob does not say that is as important
And yet in many instances we are practical atheists       as what he says. He gives an excuse for not travel-
in that we rule Him out of the works which He does        ling in the company of Esau. And his reason is a
through men.                                              legitimate one. The children, the women, the cattle
  And it must be admitted that Jacob did exactly          could not travel at the speed that Esau and his four
that here in this incident. He had prayed a very          hundred men would want to travel. Esau felt the
earnest prayer when he heard that Esau was                reasonableness of Jacob's objection. He did not
coming with four hundred men. He sought God's             flare up with anger and call Jacob a tricky old cus-
help. He lifted his eyes up to Him Who has the            tomer with which to deal. No, there was logic in
heart of every man in His hand to turn him                Jacob's answer. He spoke the truth, and Esau was
whithersoever He pleases. There is not atheism to         convinced of it. But was this Jacob's sole and chief
be found in Jacob in his prayer in Genesis 32:9-12.       reason for wanting to go it alone? Was this a mani-
There was no atheism in Jacob when he threw               festation of his faith in God, and an evidence that
himself upon God after he had been touched in the         he was trusting in Him to turn the hearts of his ene-
thigh and crippled. Then he cried out for a blessing      mies, so that he could have that protection that God
from God. But find one word in Genesis 33 that            had promised?
indicates that before unbelieving Esau Jacob is con-        There is a matter here also that we can learn
fident with implicit trust in God. Indeed, in verse       from, and that we do well to note. We, sometimes,


4 7 8                                       THE STANDARD BEARER



try to find and give "good" reasons for our deeds                And then it is that so often we find the same
which are contrary to the teachings of the Word of        tactics as used by Jacob. Men will say, "But it is my
God. How often do we not hear of the joining and          God-given duty to provide for my family." A
yoking of believer with unbeliever on the basis of        principle of God's Word is presented as a reason for
the calling of man to provide food and clothing and       not walking according to the principles of God's
shelter for his family? The Word of God in no un-         Word. Our statement before men, our reason, is in
certain terms and in unmistakable language in II          itself legitimate. But does it hold before God?
Corinthians 6: 14-18 not only warns against unequal              The allotted space is almost filled, all too early.
yoking with an unbeliever, but emphatically insists       But let me make one necessary observation yet.
that there can be no fellowship, no harmony               Will it be any different when the mark of the beast
between them. The only way that believer and              is demanded in the days of the Antichrist? Will not
unbeliever can agree and work together is that the        that calling of the father and husband to provide for
believer walk in unbelief. The unbeliever cannot          the needs of his family be MORE pressing and
meet the believer on holy ground. The believer will       painfully real? Now, in this day, a man can get
have to leave the principles of the Word of God to        another job with less pay, and live on a lower
get along with and work together with the                 standard of living in order to live on the standards
unbeliever.                                               of God. Now a man can become poor in this earth's
   The unbeliever says, "Let us break the fifth com-      goods to be laying up for himself treasures in
mandment. Who cares about honouring those in              heaven. But in these days not too far ahead of us,
authority over us? The things of this earth are more      there will be no way to buy or sell without unequal
important than God's law. Let's go on strike. Let's       yoking with the unbeliever.
get the owner over the barrel so that we can make                Let it be clearly understood therefore that,
more money fall out of his pockets and into our           although it is man's calling to provide for his
hands." And the believer, unequally yoked with            family, it is not his calling to do so in a sinful way.
him, as a member in his organization, has either to       He may not do so in the way of denying his faith.
say, "I cannot go along with breaking of God's            And understand well that in the days of the
law," or, to retain his membership and benefit            Antichrist, we will not be dealing with a man like
from the coercion and dishonouring of the  God-           Esau who leaves Jacob unscratched. We will be
ordained authority, he must say, "I agree with you.       dealing with a cruel instrument of Satan who
There is concord between us. I will drop my Chris-        desires and seeks our complete ruin. And we will
tian principles. I will with you break the fifth          not have to satisfy either Esau or Antichrist but
commandment for the sake of my flesh." It is the          stand before a holy God with our reasons for our
believer who has to give in., not the unbeliever. The     behaviour. That we satisfy men-yea even the
leopard cannot change its spots, and so the lamb          spiritual leaders in the Church-is not what counts.
has to take on spots to be like the evil-doer with        Will God agree with us as to the reason for our
whom he is unequally yoked.                               behaviour in this vale of tears?


                                         Book Review
INShATION,   by Archibald A. Hodge  & Benja-              while endeavor. Their writings are completely rele-
min B. Warfield, (Introduction by Roger R. Nicole);       vant to the present debate. The book is especially
Baker Book House, 1979; 108 pages, $2.95 (paper);         interesting because it has been maintained that
(Reviewed by Prof. H. Hanko. )                            Hodge especially deviated significantly from the
                                                          doctrine of infallible inspiration (cf. Vander Stelt's
   Both A. A. Hodge and B. B.  Warfield wrote ex-         book, "Philosophy and Scripture"). This book
tensively on the doctrine of Scripture when they          proves conclusively that such charges are false.
were professors at Princeton Theological Seminary                It must be remembered in reading this book that
in the latter part of the Nineteenth and early part of    the Princeton theologians were not adverse to
the Twentieth Centuries and when they were the            bolstering their arguments in theology by appeals
leading Presbyterian theologians in this country.         to rational lines of argumentation in addition to
This brief book contains a small but important part       appeals to Scripture. This appears also in this book.
of their writings and demonstrates clearly how te-        Nevertheless, the book is well worth the price and
naciously they held to the doctrines of infallibility     is a worthwhile addition to the libraries of those
and inerrancy. Because the doctrine of Scripture          who do not already have the works of Hodge and
and its inspiration is once again a critical issue in     Warfield in them. We urge our readers to purchase
the Church, the reprint of these articles is a worth-     it.


                                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                            4 7 9



                                         SEMINARY PUBLICATIONS
Old Testament History Series: (Prof. H.C. Hoeksema)
   Introduction, Creation To The Protevangel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5.75
   The Prediluvian Period. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.00
   The Postdiluvian World. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2.50
   The Patriarchal Era: Abraham. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.50
                                      Issac................................................~........~  4.95
                                      Jacob. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.95
TheBondageAndExodus.............................................................3.00
The Wanderings In The Wilderness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6.75
   The Conquest of Canaan. . . . . . . . . . . :. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4.50
NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY (Rev. H. Hoeksema). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.50
OUTLINES ON THE CANONS OF DORDRECHT (Rev. H. Hoeksema). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2.00
NOTES ON THE CHURCH ORDER (Prof. H. Hanko). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.50
DISCUSSION OUTLINES ON THE BOOK OF ACTS (Prof. H.C. Hoeksema). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.95
(Please add 10% for postage.)
Send your order to: Prot. Ref; Seminary Bookstore, 4949 Ivanrest Ave., S.W., Grandville, MI 49418


                 WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                                                                NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING
   On September 1, 1980, our parents, MR. AND MRS. EDWIN                                The annual meeting of the Reformed Free Publishing Association
GRITTERS,  celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary.                                will be held on Thursday evening, September 18, 8:00 P.M., at Faith
  We are grateful to our heavenly Father for giving us God-fearing                   Protestant Reformed Church.
parents who have brought us up in the fear of His name. May they                        Nominees, three of which are to be chosen, for new board
continue to experience blessings in abundance in the years to come                   members are G.E. Bylsma, George De Vries, Arnold Haveman,  Dale
from the hand of our faithful God.                                                   Mensch, John Vander Woude, and William `A. Lafferty. Rev. M.
   "Blessed is everyone that feareth the Lord; that walketh in His                   Schipper will speak to us on the topic, "The Standard Bearer as a
ways. The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion: and thou shalt see the                  Responsible Witness." Mark your calendar now and plan to attend
good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life. Yea, thou shalt see thy                  this important meeting.
children's children, and peace upon Israel." (Psalm 128:1, 5, 6).
               their children and grand-children,                                                      WEDDING ANNlVERSAliY
                  Jerry and Shirley Vander Kolk
                     Brian, Brent, Jared                                                On September 5, 1980, the Lord willing, our parents, Mr. and
                  Ed and Jeanne Karsemeyer                                           Mrs. Peter Lubbers will celebrate their 40th year of marriage. We,
                     Shaun                                                           their children and grand-children, are thankful to our covenant God
                  Barry and Lori Gritters                                            who has given us God-fearing parents, Christian education, and a
                  Mike and Brenda Gritters                                           home where we may know the fear of the Lord.
                  Roger Gritters                                                        Our prayer is that God may bless them with His grace in the way
                  Ricky Gritters                                                     that lies ahead, and that in all their experiences they may enjoy that
              RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                                                 perfect peace which is only found in the cross of Christ.
                                                                                                     Their grateful children,
  The Consistory and congregation of the Southeast Protestant                                            Jason and Carolyn Redder
Reformed Church of Grand Rapids expresses their sincere sympathy                                         Richard and Gloria Smith
to Mrs. Henry Helmholdt and her family in the passing of her husband,                                    Larry and Sandy Lubbers
MR. HENRY HELMHOLDT.                                                                                     Klaire and Pat Berens
                                                                                                         Rog and Kathy Berens
  -"For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." (Philippians 1:21).                               Jim Lubbers who went to be with his Lord in 1971
                  Rev. Carl Haak, Pres.
                  Gerald De Vries, Sec'y.                                                                and 10 grand-children




                                News From Our Churches

   Our congregation  in Redlands, California has                                     meeting held on Monday, July 14. Professor Robert
extended a call to Rev. Marvin Kamps to "Come                                        Decker preached in  Redlands for six Sundays,
over and help us" at a special congregational                                        concluding with Sunday, July 20. Rev. Herman


  THE STANDARD BEARER
         P.O. Box 6064
Grand Rapids, Michigan49606    ___~._~     ~-.~     .~     _~~     .~     -     -~-        -~~~        -             -1.- 





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4 8 0                                          THE STANDARD BEARER


 Veldman plans to preach in  Redlands for six                                   in November and continue, if possible, through
 Sundays, July 27 through August 31. It is interest-                            198 1. The consistory requested financial assistance
 ing to note that Redlands has called Rev. Kamps for                            for this work from the Mission Committee of our
 the second time.  Redlands was Rev. Kamps first                                churches. Funds were granted by the Mission
 pastorate.                                                                     Committee but later denied by Synod.
   At the time this page was written (August 9) two                                     The siding was being applied to the new church
 other calls were outstanding: Holland, Michigan                                building of our Covenant Church in Wyckoff, New
 called Rev. James Slopsema, and Hope Church in                                 Jersey the last week in July.
 Walker, Michigan has extended a call to Professor                                      Our congregation in Kalamazoo, Michigan,
 H.C. Hoeksema.                                                                 received final approval on their bank construction
   While Rev. Ronald Hanko was absent from his                                  loan. Construction of their new church building
 church in Wyckoff, New Jersey, on vacation in                                  was to begin on June 17. Their new building is
 Michigan, Seminarian Dean Wassink took his place                               scheduled for completion in about six months  - or
 on the pulpit at our Covenant Church.                                          about Christmas time.
   The new address of Rev. G. Lanting is 1040 W.                                        Cur Southwest congregation planned to hold
 8th St., Loveland, Colorado 80537.                                             their church picnic at Palmer Park. The rain forced
                                                                                a change in location to Hope School gym. In spite of
   Mr. and Mrs. Dewey Engelsma, members of our                                  the weather, all present seemed to enjoy
 Hope Church in Walker, Michigan, returned home                                 themselves.
 on July 18 after spending about two and one-half                                       As the fall society season will soopbe  upon us, it
 months in Singapore. The following report from the                             may be of interest to review some of the special
 Engelsmas was printed in the Hope bulletin on                                  topics discussed in some of our society meetings
June 8; "We greet you all in the name of our Lord                               during the past season. The Reformed Fellowship
Jesus Christ from hot and humid Singapore. Even                                 in South Holland, Illinois viewed Dr. James
 the natives state that it is unseasonably warm. The                            Dobson's series of films on the Family. The
 work of our churches with the GLTS is progressing                              Summer Society in Hudsonville viewed slides
 very well. The Reformed Truth as held by our                                   taken by deacon Marvin Lubbers of the recent visit
 Protestant Reformed Churches is eagerly received                               of the deacons to Jamaica. In a previous meeting
 in the preaching, also in the several study classes                            the society saw slides of the work of Dr. Richard
 that are taught by Rev. den Hartog, and in many                                Kreuzer in Ethiopia several years ago. Paul Griess
 private conversations. We are thankful to be of                                introduced the subject, "Is there a place for
 assistance to the GLTS and Rev. den Hartog."                                   Fasting,`! in a Loveland Men's Society meeting.
   Rev. Rodney Miersma, pastor of our church in                                 Covenant's discussion group discussed "Prayer" in
 Pella, Iowa, conducted a Bible class once a week                               their June gathering. Rev.  DeVries spoke on "Our
 during the month of June in the Pella Nursing                                  Personal Witness" for the combined meeting of the
 Home.                                                                          Ladies and Men's Societies of Southwest Church.
   A special congregational meeting was held the                                Redland's young people discussed the special topic
 last week in June in our First Church in Grand                                 introduced by Dave Buiter, "Should we enlist in
 Rapids. The pastor, Rev. Joostens, Rev. C. Hanko,                              the Armed Forces?" John Kalsbeek introduced the
 and the consistorial Church Extension Committee                                topic, "Human Engineering: A Christian's
 reported on the history, progress, and future plans                            Concern," for the Redlands Men's Society.
 of the church extension (mission) labors conducted                                     Convocation Services for our Seminary will be
 by First Church in Bradenton, Florida. All of these                            held in our Southeast Church in Grand Rapids on
 rep'orts  were optimistic that with continued                                  Wednesday, September 3, at 8:00 P.M. Professor
 intensive labors a church can be organized in                                  Decker will be the speaker.
 Bradenton. The Committee plans to resume work                                                                                                         K.G.V.


