                                            IIe



                                                   e a r e r


     A   R E F O R M E D   SEMI-MONTHL,Y   M A G A Z I N E





I       IN THIS ISSUE
                         Meditation: Evidence of the Holy Spirit


                         Editorial:  The Committee on the Atonement


                         David in Hiding


                         The Elder's Task



                                                    Volume XLIII/ Number  16/ May 15, 1967


r---
  362                                                                                       THE STANDARD BEARER


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  MEDITATION-

                                          Evidence  if the  Holy Spirit

                                                                                                   by Rev. J. Kovteving                  .
                                      Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived  that they weve
                                 unleamzed and  ignorant  men, they  marvelled;  and they took knowledge  of  them that
                                 they had been with Jesus.                                                                                                           Acts  4:13

       The lambs were in the den of lions.                                                                                 There, is  only one thing that can account for this:
       Peter and John were in the midst of the Sanhedrin,                                                                  the Person of the Holy Spirit dwelt in them. When God
 the same group that had condemned Jesus to death.                                                                         dwells in  His  people, His presence becomes evident.
       Yet, they were not afraid. Undaunted they spoke                                                                     The glory of His name shines forth as He kindles in
 concerning the greatness of God in raising Jesus from                                                                     them the flame of life.
 the dead. With irrepressible zeal they bubbled over                                                                          Pentecost had produced quite a change.
 with the message of salvation. Even threats could not                                                                        The resurrection of Christ had made them per-
 dampen their joy.                                                                                                         plexed. During the dark hours of the Jewish Sabbath,


                                             THESTANDARDBEARER                                                   363


as the body of Jesus lay in the heart of the earth, the       may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall
disciples had gathered together in the upper room. A          come from the presence of the Lord."
dark cloud of gloom hovered over them. Even during               This was too much for the Sanhedrin. They were
the early days of the resurrection, the doors remained        not about to let this go unchallenged. They sent out
locked for fear of the Jews. The perplexed disciples          soldiers to take them and place them "in hold unto the
struggled to understand .what this was all about. Grad-       next day." Having assembled together,  Annas, Caiphas,
ually this cloud evaporated, as the living Christ             and all the members of the council, they placed Peter
explained to them the necessity of His suffering and          and John in their midst and asked, "By what power or by
death as the way to His exaltation. During these forty        what name have ye done this?" This was a loaded
days Christ expounded to them the importance of His           question; they had decided ahead of time that their
finished work and how this related to His kingdom which       purpose could best be accomplished by asking it just
was in heaven.                                                this way. If the disciples would dare to identify their
    When Christ ascended up into heaven, the disciples        work with that of Jesus, they would by that very fact
understood that something was still going to happen           expose themselves to the same condemnation that Jesus
that would sharpen their spiritual vision and give them       received.     If they would deny that it was in Jesus'
understanding.      They were commanded to wait in            name, the Sanhedrin would have no problem.
Jerusalem for the Spirit.                                        The answer of the Apostle Peter is the classic
    Ten days later the Holy Spirit came to them. The          retort of the church of all ages, "If we this day be
exalted Christ had, not forgotten His people that still       examined of the good deed done...be it known unto you
remained upon the earth. As our great Intercessor,            all that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth...
He prayed the Father for the Comforter Whom He                doth this man stand here before you whole...neither is
would send to His beloved church that was upon the            there salvation in any other, for there is none other
earth. The Father answered this prayer and crowned            name under heaven given among men whereby we must
the work of the obedient servant with the gift of His         be saved."
Spirit.                                                          The amazing wonder of this answer is two-fold.
    When the day of Pentecost was fully come the 120          Even the Sanhedrin recognized this. Here standing
disciples were gathered together in the early morning         before them were "unlearned and ignorant men." That
hour.' Suddenly the Spirit was poured out upon them.          could better be translated, unlearned and commonmen.
His presence was demonstrated by profound signs: the          Peter and John had the ordinary schooling of their day.
cloven tongues as of fire, the sound as of a mighty           John. was the son of Zebedee, who was a fisherman;
rushing wind, and the disciples began to speak in             Peter's father was in partnership with Zebedee. It
tongues.                                                      must have been in the interest of this fishing business
    A marked change overtook the disciples.            The    that John had come to Jerusalem and was acquainted
perplexed and confused minds were released from               with Caiphas the High Priest. The point is that they
the bonds of doubt, and they understood things as they        had little formal education, especially compared to the
had never done before.       The fear that held them in       council members who were doctors and men of letters.
subjection dissipated, and the locked doors were thrown       Peter and John were crude fishermen from the region
open so thousands could listen to them preach. It was         of Galilee. They didn't rank in the higher echelons of
`the dawn of a better day in the history of the church.       society; they were common ordinary fellows who had
    The moment the church glories in victory the              followed Jesus.
enemies of the truth  Blot destruction. The fire of evil         The council couldn't help marvelling that even
passion was kindled anew in the hearts of the Sanhedrin.      though. these differences existed they still spoke with
They were determined that those doors would belocked          authority.    They didn't stammer out of an inferiority
once again and the mouths of the disciples stopped.           complex when they realized that they were called upon
    In the words of our context we observe that Peter         to speak before such learned men. Peter preached in
and John were taken from prison to be tried. On the           clear and concise language the deep mysteries of the
previous day they had gone to the temple to worship.          faith. He spoke with the tongue of the learned.
At the Gate Beautiful they had encountered a man that            The council marvelled, and well they might!
had been lame from birth. Daily his friends brought              Besides this, Peter and John were bold! If ever
him to this place in order that he might beg alms from        there was a time of crisis, it was at this very moment.
the worshippers.     Peter had fixed his eyes upon this       This was the first time the disciples had to face the
man and by the forceful words, "Silver and gold have          enemy without Christ being bodily with them. They
I none; but such as I have give I thee, in the name of        were alone with the lions that snarled at them and
Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk," he was            threatened them. Was it not the time to use tact, to
healed. A large multitude gathered and Peter preached         exercise every form of diplomacy?        Should not the
to them, warning them that this was accomplished not          disciples concede that they had been too radical and
by his power, but that of the living Lord. In the course      they would go about their preaching without accusing
of his sermon, Peter waxed bold, "But ye denied the           the Jews of sin? No, it was not the time to cover up,
Holy One and the Just and desired a murderer to be            it was the time for boldness. Without fear or hesita-
granted unto you and killed the Prince of Life, Whom          tion, Peter and John emphasized that they would not
God raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses...         keep silence, "we cannot but speak the things which we
repent ye therefore and be converted that your sins           have seen and heard."


3     6    4                                    THE STANDARD BEARER


     The council marvelled at this too.                     our boldness is expressed in the sphere of the will of
     There was only one explanation, and even the           God.
enemies of Christ understand this, "they took knowl-            Through this ministry the church of Jesus Christ is
edge that they had been with Jesus."                        gathered.     Yet, the more faithful we are in this calling
     What a beautiful testimony, even though it came        the more we may expect the councils of the world to
from reprobate lips. The world is without excuse. The       call us to account. The false church prates about a
glory of the church is not in man; it is in Christ Jesus    Jesus who is a good example, a Jesus who loves all
her Lord. Pentecost was His crowning work upon His          men and thus as the son of God desires the brother-
precious church.                                            hood of all men under the universal fatherhood of god.
     The explanation for such knowledge and boldness        It already has set up the machinery to accomplish this
did not rest in the mere fact that Peter and John           vain dream; the ecumenical movement and all connected
followed Jesus while He was preaching on earth. Judas       with it is geared to this end. Yet, even as Peter and
had done this also, but Judas betrayed Christ. This         John stood before the Jewish council and condemned
indicates to us that Jesus was not simply a good            them without fear and compromise, so we too must
example and that the power of His disciples rested in       condemn this evil design of the apostate church of our
their following His worthy example. This would be           day.
impossible, for then Peter and John would be no                This will involve persecution. It only took a little
different than Judas.      The "being with Jesus" con-      while and the Jews of the council unleashed the whip
sisted in knowing what Jesus taught and believing it.       upon the disciples, stoned Stephen, beheaded James, and
This was given unto the disciples through the Holy          breathed threatenings and slaughter in the church. So,
Spirit. The presence of this Spirit in the church can       too, in our day, even though the clear testimony of the
be the only possible interpretation of such boldness        church must bring the admission from the world, "we
and knowledge displayed by Peter and John before the        have been with Jesus," yet this Jesus the false church
Jewish council.                                             and world do not want. They want to still the voice of
     And thus it ever is for the church.                    a guilty conscience by removing the testimony of the
     Well may we meditate upon this glorious truth and      faithful church. They constantly design to silence the
pray the Spirit to apply it unto our lives today. The       faithful witness and leave their bodies lying dead in
mark of the church is that "she has been with Jesus."       Jerusalem.
That mark is clearly seen as the church, through her
ministry, proclaims the living gospel of Jesus Christ.          Shall we fear? Shall we resort to compromise?
The disciples of Christ must not sit at the feet of         Shall we under the pretense of using tact soften the
philosophers, scientists, and would-be learned men, and     gospel?
drink at the fountain of their lie and deny the word of         God forbid!
Jesus Christ given to us in the infallible Scriptures.          For our strength is not that of men, it is given us of
The Holy Spirit does not dwell in the sphere of the lie.    Jesus Christ. Sitting at His feet we need not doubt but
The very nature of the Spirit is holiness; the sign of      He will continue to reveal to us His truth and give us
the cloven tonguesof fire conveyed this truth on Pente-     the courage we need to be faithful in maintaining it.
cost. Holiness means that the church is consecrated             Jesus promised, "when they deliver you up, take
unto God through Jesus Christ. This consecration is         no thought how or what ye shall speak, for it shall be
expressed in two ways: we must believe what God says        given you in that same hour what ye shall speak, for it
to be true, we must do what God says must be done.          is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which
The power to accomplish this is given us by the Holy        speaketh in you."
Spirit. Our learning is governed by the Word of God;            Take courage in the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ.




                       TEACHERS                                                     TEACHERS
     Hope Protestant Reformed Christian School needs        Adams Street Christian School has need for six teachers
teachers for the 1967-68 school year.                       for the 1967-68 school year. Four needed in lower
     We need one full time teacher in one of the lower      grades, two in Junior High. Half day basis available
grades. We need one teacher in one of the lower grades      for some grades. If interested, or for further details,
for 1st semester only. We need one teacher 3 days           call collect to:
each week in the 5th grade.                                                         Mr. Edward Ophoff
                         Mr. Clare Kuiper                                            1107 Boston St., S.E.
                         2450 Boulevard S.W.                                         Grand Rapids, Michigan 49507
                         Wyoming, Michigan 49509                                     Phone CH 3-5874
                         LE 4-0098


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                      365



 EDITORIAL-


             "Report  of  the  Doctrinal  Committee"

                                             A Critical Study

                The  Committee  on  the  Atonement

                                               by  Bof. H. C. Hoeksema

    The Atonement Issue In The `Dekker Case'                  bluntly, Prof. Dekker really came to the conclusion
   There are, as I see it, three main issues in the           that his denomination was not consistently and to the
debate concerning the "Dekker Case," all of which are         fullest extent conforming its preaching to the  well-
closely related.                                              meant offer position of the First Point.
    The first issue concerns the preaching of the                And in a very real and practical sense this is indeed
gospel, especially the questions concerning the nature        the  first  issue. Always the church has been confronted
of that preaching (is it grace to all who hear?) and          by the question as to the nature and contents of the
concerning the contents of that preaching (is it a  well-     preaching of the gospel.       And it is inevitable that as
meant offer to all who hear?), as these questions are,        soon as one says anything about the nature and contents
of course, related to the First Point of 1924. We must        of the preaching, he is bound to say something about
not confuse these questions with the question whether         the facts of salvation, that is, about the objective work
the gospel must be promiscuously, or generally, pro-          of Christ that lies at the basis of the gospel-message
claimed.    The latter is not and cannot be in question.      and that forms the content of it, -hence, about the
No. preacher can possibly avoid  proclaiming  the gospel      atonement.      And then, in turn, it is inevitable that one
promiscuously. Moreover, it is the Reformed position          is bound to say something about the divine purpose and
that the gospel must be promiscuously proclaimed to           motive and intent that lie behind that atonement of
all to whom God in His good pleasure sends it. But the        Christ and that are revealed in it.            And thus one
question is: what gospel must be proclaimed promis-           arrives at the deepest issue, the issue of God's love
cuously? Is it a general gospel or a particular gospel?       and grace, and, inevitably, the issue of election and
The position of the Christian Reformed Church, adopted        reprobation.
in 1924, is that the gospel is a general and well-meant          That is also the reason why in this critical study I
offer of grace. and salvation to all who come under the       treated the matter of the so-called offer first. And
preaching. The trouble is that this position was adopted      that is also the reason why I have pointed out not only
along side of the position of our confessions, which is       that this matter of the offer has bothered the commit-
the very opposite position. Besides, there has always         tee throughout its report, but also emphasized that as
been a certain amount of confusion due to the fact that       long as one takes the position that the preaching of the
in the First Point the Christian Reformed Church              gospel is a general offer of grace, -is, in fact, an
actually adopted two doctrines, -the Kuyperian doc-           offer at all, -there is no solution possible for the
trine of common grace and the Arminian doctrine of            difficulties which Prof. Dekker has caused by his
general grace. But Prof. Dekker took hold of the First        writings.     The position of the First Point and its offer
Point and carried it to its logical conclusion. The           of grace is intrinsically an Arminian position, and it
Doctrinal Committee, as we have seen, felt the pinch          will inevitably give rise to Arminianism as respects
of the First Point, tried mightily to avoid the compul-       the atonement and as respects the love of God and
sion of Prof. Dekker's reasoning, but failed. They            predestination.      Basically, therefore, the Doctrinal
ended, as was to be expected, by saying in effect,            Report is just as Arminian as Prof. Dekker's writings
"Yes, the preaching of the gospel is a well-meant             are.    The only difference is that the latter are more
offer of salvation and grace to all who hear it."             consistent and less confused.
    I call this the first issue because it is historically       And now we come to the second main issue, that of
first.    We must remember that the underlying issue          the atonement.
in the entire "Dekker Case" is this: what must be                In this part of our evaluation we are not confronted
preached, especially on the mission field? This was           by the question whether Prof. Dekker holds to the
Prof. Dekker's basic approach, an approach to which           Reformed doctrine of the atonement. It is plain that he
he was led by his dismay about the meager fruits of           does not. It has become plain from his writings, and
Christian Reformed mission work.           And to put it      plainer still from his statements to the committee,


366                                            THE STANDARD BEARER

that Prof. Dekker's position as to the atonement is          of  The Banner  seems to think so: for he evidently
one hundred per cent Arminian. He denies all efficacy        writes in the same April 7 issue with an eye to Mr.
in the atonement, and he even denies, in effect, that        Peters' criticism of the committee, as is plain from
the atonement is expiatory in character. What could          his answer to the very strange question, "Does the
be more Arminian?                                            fact that our Protestant Reformed brethren are em-
   The question is rather one concerning the  commit-        phatic in affirming limited atonement mean that this
tee's position.    Does the committee correctly and          doctrine is therefore to be regarded as suspect?"
consistently and justifiably condemn and refute the          Editor Vander Ploeg also tries to avoid this implica-
position taken by Dekker? Does the committee itself          tion of "guilt by association" by denying the connection
hold to the Reformed and confessional and Scriptural         between limited atonement and the First Point. But
doctrine of particular (limited) atonement?                  underlying his and others' position seems to be the
                                                             assumption that the committee actually holds to the
            The Importance Of The Question                   Reformed and Scriptural doctrine of particular atone-
   It remains to be seen, of course, whether the             ment .
coming Christian Reformed Synod will actually adopt                 This is also the assumption of many opponents of
any recommendations of its committee whatsoever or           the committee's report.         An example of this is the
whether it will again try to avoid saying anything           article of Mr. Leo Peters in  The  Banner  of April 7.
definitive. I will not prophesy the outcome; but some-       Incidentally, I deny that my doctrine of limited
times I get the impression that nothing definitive will      atonement is "a personal theology outside of the
be said. There surely are loudly critical voices, both       official creeds." I also thank him for characterizing
journalistic and official, clamoring that the Report of      my articles on the atonement as "vigorous." I also
the Doctrinal Committee must not be adopted, and, in         am happy that he finds us "at the other end of the
fact, that nothing at all of a binding nature must be        scale" from Arminianism, for the latter we certainly
adopted.                                                     want to avoid like the plague, and we wish to be known
   Frankly, I cannot see how anyone, whether  pro-           as anti-Arminian. I also suggest, to put it mildly, that
Dekker or anti-Dekker, could be happy with the adop-         Mr. Peters does not  .seem to know what fatalism is.
tion of the committee's work, even from a Christian          But my main point is at present that Mr. Peters
Reformed point of view.                                      assumes that the committee holds to limited atonement,
   But there are those who apparently would consider         as is evident from the fact that he wants to put the
it tragic if the committee's position would not be           committee in the same bed with me.
adopted.      There are also those who would consider               Now, frankly, I rather resent that; and I think the
it tragic if the committee's position would be adopted.      committee resents that also, though for a different
And both groups seem to have the same reason, namely,        reason.       My reason is that the committee does not
that they think that the committee holds to the position     hold the same doctrine of the atonement that I do,
of particular (limited) atonement.                           although I can understand that Mr. Peters thinks they
   Now I certainly would have no criticism if the            do.     But because we do not hold the same doctrine of
Christian Reformed Church would reaffirm the con-            the atonement, we do not belong in the same bed.
fessional and Scriptural doctrine of limited (particular)           The question to be faced, therefore, is:  `does the
atonement as such. Notice that I say:  reuffivm.   The       committee actually hold to the Reformed and  Scvip-
doctrine of limited atonement cannot be  adopted  by a       tuval doctrine  of  limited atonement?
church that holds the Reformed confessions, for the                 And, as far as the importance of the question is
simple reason that in those confessions the doctrine         concerned, the question is this:  by adopting the position
of particular (limited) atonement was adopted long ago.      of  the committee would the Christian Reformed Church
In fact, even at Dordrecht it was only reaffirmed            be  ye-affirming the  Reformed and  Scriptural  doctvine
confessionally, and, of course, made more explicit. But      of  limited atonement?
if the Christian Reformed Church would reaffirm the                 It is my conviction that the answer to this question
confessional doctrine of particular atonement, I could       is: No. It is my conviction that basically the committee,
only rejoice in that fact as such. How could a Reformed      as well as Prof. Dekker, departs from the doctrine of
man do anything but rejoice about that? I hasten to          limited atonement. And it is my conviction that if the
add, however, that should the Christian Reformed             Christian Reformed Church adopts the report of its
Church do that, they would do it very inconsistently;        doctrinal committee, it will make official a doctrine
nor would they have solved the problems that have            which is not found in the confessions or in Scripture.
plagued them ever since 1924.                                This I propose to show.
   But the question is: would the adoption of the com-
mittee's work be equivalent to such a reaffirmation?           The Atonement In The Committee's Mandate
   I gather that the committee thinks so, for they                  The committee has been severely criticized for
speak of "Scripture and the Confessions" in their con-       not carrying out its mandate from Synod, especially
elusions .     I gather, too, that the Reporter of the       from the quarter of  The Reformed Journal.  It will be
doctrinal committee, Adam Persenaire, seems to think         recalled that in 1964 the Synod of the CRC listed seven
so,  - even though in The Banner (April 7) he continues      items in the study committee's mandate to which the
to be blind to the connection between limited atone-         committee was to give specific attention. These seven
ment and 1924. I gather also that Editor Vander Ploeg        items the committee reduced to what some have


                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER                                                            367


charged is an altogether different and self-charted                 CRC back to single-track Reformed theology. But it is
mandate. I shall let the committee itself state this:               perfectly obvious that the committee wanted to avoid
          . . ..Instead. we have taken the liberty to single out    these sticky questions. Hence, they separated two main
   two subjects which seem to us most fundamental in the            questions out of the mandate (the two. quoted above),
   consideration of our task. If we shall be able to give           and they treat these questions, which are interwoven
   Synod a clear exposition of these two subjects, then we          throughout the original mandate, separately. This is
   believe we shall also have dealt with all the questions          surely not what Synod wanted in 1964.
   which the Synod of 1964 put to us.                                  Moreover, it is also true that the answers the
          The first subject concerns the love of God and the        committee is going to give to its reformulated questions
   question whether, in the light of Scripture and the
   Confession, it is valid to make a qualitative distinction        are a foregone conclusion.             How, in the light of the
   between the general love of God for all His creatures            First Point of 1924, could a Christian Reformed com-
   and His special love for the elect. The second subject           mittee give anything but an affirmative answer to the
   concerns the doctrine of the atonement and raises the            first question? And how, - amazing though it is that the
   question      whether, in the light of Scripture and the         second question could even be raised, -how could any
   Confession, we may properly speak of a universal                 man who claims to be Reformed dare to say that in the
   atonement, or whether the traditionally Reformed                 light of Scripture and the Confessions the traditionally
   terminology about an atonement which is limited and              Reformed terminology about an atonement which is
   particular should be maintained. After this study we
   also wish to consider the following two questions,               limited and particular should not be maintained7
   namely, whether it is proper to say to every man                    Yet I maintain that when we study the committee's
   "Christ died for you," and whether "the doctrine of              work with respect to their second question, we will
   limited atonement as commonly understood and ob-                 discover that though they do lip-service to the doctrine
   served in the Christian Reformed Church impairs the              of particular atonement, they contradict themselves.
   principle of the universal love of God and tends to
   inhibit missions." And finally, we expect to present to                      The Atonement In The Committee's
   the Synod certain propositions flowing forth from our
   study, with the recommendation that Synod adopt these.                             Recommended Propositions
   Now I do not intend to enter into the whole quarrel                 That the committee gives lip-service to the doctrine
about the mandate. From a Protestant  Reformedview-                 of particular (limited) atonement, but basically contra-
point, of course, neither the committee's version nor               dicts that doctrine, becomes evident very plainly in
the Synod's version would be acceptable, chiefly for the            their second proposition, which reads as follows:
reason that both mandates  assume  the heresy of a
general love of God, whether that love is qualitatively                        II. That, in the light of Scripture and the Confession,
distinct from God's love of the elect or not. Besides,                 the doctrine of a definite or particular (limited) atone-
I believe that from a church political point of view the               ment must be maintained.
entire case is illegal. It must surely be kept in mind                         GROUNDS
that although for convenience' sake we speak of the                            A. Although in accordance with Christ's universal
"Dekker Case," there is not any case pending against                   dominion which He exercises as a reward for His
                                                                        sacrifice on the cross there are universal and un-
Prof. Dekker. Nor did Synod of 1964 intend, according                  deserved benefits accruing to all men from His death,
to its mandate, to make a case against Prof. Dekker.                   yet Christ's atonement, in its specific character as
There  should, indeed, have been a case brought by way                  atonement,  - expressed by the words: obedience, expia-
of protest and on the basis of the Formula of Sub-                      tion, satisfaction, propitiation, reconciliation, and re-
scription.      But there never has been a case. And even               demption - was not made for all men, but only for the
if the committee's position would be adopted by Synod,                 believers or the elect.
in my opinion it is doubtful whether a case would or                           B. The particularistic terms used in the Scripture,
could then be made against Dekker; and I certainly                     such as "sheep," "His people," "Church," etc., are
                                                                       intended to speak exclusivistically.
believe it would be highly unethical to do so. What the                        C. The word "world" in John  3:16 and related
1964 Synod intended was a peaceful study, nothing                      passages is to be interpreted not distributively, but as
more..       And this peaceful study the Synod instituted              referring to an undifferentiated totality.           Also the
without having a concrete case before it,  - supposedly,               words "all" and "all men" used in such passages as
according to the first ground, to allay unrest in the                  II Cor. 5:14, 15; I Tim. 2:4-6; 4:lO; Tit. 2:ll; Heb. 2:9;
churches.                                                              II Pet. 3:9; should be interpreted in the light of the
   However, I do believe that the committee is guilty                  delimitations evident in the context.
of oversimplifying its mandate. In the first place, it                 Notice, first of all, that this is the committee's
should be noted that the doctrine of the atonement is               chief and positive proposition concerning the atonement.
involved in every item of Synod's mandate. In fact, the             The first proposition does not speak of the atonement
atonement is so involved in every item of the mandate               at all,      And the remaining propositions are negative,
that if the committee had followed their original man-              except for the last one. But this second proposition is
date, they would have been faced by some very sticky                supposed to be  the  pillar   of all the recommendations.
problems; I would even hazard the guess that if they                And indeed, although the proposition does not go into
had openly faced these problems without too many                    detail and definition whatsoever, it is, initself, a wholly
prepossessions,        they might have come up with a               sound proposition.            Any Reformed man should be
genuinely helpful report, one which could have led the              willing to subscribe to it.             This, of course, is the


368                                            THE STANDARD BEARER


fooler in the committee's recommendations: it has led             But the worst aspect of proposition II is that it is
many to think that the committee holds firmly to the           plainly contradictory. The committee actually has a
doctrine of limited atonement.                                 new and strange brand of universal atonement. True,
   Notice, in the second place, however, that when it          it is a common grace brand of universal atonement.
comes to grounds for this proposition, this is a woe-          That is, it has reference not to an atonement with
fully weak and vague statement for a Synod to adopt.           actual saving power and saving results, but only to an
"In the light of Scripture and the Confession," the            atonement with the power to provide all men with some
committee says.  .Now what would one expect to find in         temporal   benefits. But universal it certainly is ! True,
the grounds ?     I would expect to find, first of all,        the committee cloaks this doctrine in extremely vague
abundant proof from the confessions. But not a single          and round about language; but if you grope your way
item from the confessions is found. I would expect to          through that language, the conclusion is as clear as
find clear proof from Scripture in the grounds. But            the sun in the heavens on a cloudless day. Reduce the
the only explicit references to Scripture are refer-           "although....yet" statement of ground A to its simple
ences to passages containing terms that are frequently         and direct form, and the result is not a concession, but
used by Arminians in a universalistic sense. I claim           a contradiction. And the contradiction is this: although
that even in this light it is wholly justifiable to say        Christ's atonement is in a sense universal, yet it is not
that this proposition merely gives lip-service to the          universal, but only for the elect.       Yes, yes: these
doctrine of particular atonement. No content is given          universal benefits are "in accordance with Christ's
to the doctrine; no definition is made; noexplicit proof,      universal dominion," whatever that may mean. But
or even references to proof, from the confessions and          then again, that universal dominion is a reward "for
from Scripture! A statement like this is not worthy of         His sacrifice on the cross," that is, His atonement.
adoption by an ecclesiastical assembly.                        Besides, these "universal and undeserved benefits
   Incidentally, let me point out that throughout the five     accrue to all men from His death," that is, His atoning
recommendations of the committee there is a sore               death!
famine when it comes to proof of the repeated expres-             Hocus-pocus! The atonement is particular, but also
sion "in the light of Scripture and the Confession."           universal !
Only in proposition II. is there any reference to Scrip-          True to form, by the way, Dr. James Daane reveals
ture; and only in proposition III is there any reference       himself again as being right, but dead wrong. For he
to the confessions. For the rest, the committee simply         has  20/20 vision on the committee's contradiction (see
makes an ungrounded claim: "...in the light of scripture       The Reformed  Jownal,  March, 1967).
and the Confession..."                                            Finally, let it be noted in this same connection that
   But notice the vagueness of language also. Consider         when in ground C the committee speaks of the Scriptural
the language of ground B. "The particularistic terms           term "world" as being "an undifferentiated totality,"
used in the Scripture . . ..are intended to speak exclusiv-    this is not only an extremely vague term, but actually
istically." Talk about vagueness ! I could imagine that        a thoroughly universalistic expression. It certainly
an Arminian would go along with such a statement.              is not an expression which, as an interpretation of
Intended to speak?  Do  they indeed speak?  Exclusivis-        the term "world," will assist anyone in understanding
tically?    But then the question remains: who are             and maintaining that the atonement is for the elect,
excluded, and who are included? Moreover, how is the           and for the elect only. The opposite is true: in effect
exclusion accomplished?           Besides, these so-called     the committee excludes from the term "world" any
"particularistic terms" are not even connected in              idea of election and reprobation.
ground B with the atonement. In ground A the same                 What, then, is the conclusion thus far?
vagueness is found. What is meant by an expression                In the first place, this is a new doctrine for the
such as "Christ's atonement, in its specific character         Christian Reformed Church. In no official decision
as atonement?" Does the atonement also have a non-             heretofore has the Christian Reformed Church ever
specific character as something other than atonement?          connected common grace with Christ's atoning death.
And even the last expression in ground  Ais vague: "for        If this is adopted, therefore, it is indeed a change, but
the believers or the elect." Mark you well, I do not say       a change for the worse.
that this expression is Arminian; but Idosay that in its          In the second place, let no one in the CRC comfort
vagueness it does not exclude an Arminian connotation.         himself with the thought that the Report of the  Doc-



                    . .  ..As believers we are God's workmanship, in no sense our own. It is He that
                 created us, made us new creatures in Christ Jesus by His almighty power of
                 wondrous grace.       And He performed this wonder of grace, in order, to be sure,
                 that we should do good works; but even these works were ordained for every one
                 of us before the foundation of the world by God Himself, and it is our privilege to
                 walk in them.
                                                       -H. Hoeksema, "The Wonder of Grace," p. 90


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 369


trinal Committee is strong on particular atonement. At        the committee has conceded the basic principle of
the very best it is afflicted by the weakness of a  both-     universal atonement, it can only be a matter of time
and, a yes-no, position. It is contradictory. But in its      before the doctrine of limited atonement will be denied
contradiction the report concedes the basic point to          altogether.
Dekker: the atoning death of Christ is for all men. The          But all this is sad, very sad, for any man who is
only remaining point of disagreement is:  in what sense       Reformed at heart!
is it for all men?                                                And those in the Christian Reformed Church who
    In the third place, although the anti-committee, pro-     love the Reformed faith must make up their minds that
Dekker forces are not at all satisfied with the commit-       they must do more, much more, than wring their hands
tee's position, due to the fact that the committee also       in despair if they expect to keep their heritage for
maintains that the atonement is limited,, yet it seems        themselves and their children.        They must rise up
to me that fundamentally they have already gained the         and fight for their heritage. They must engage in the
field.    They need not be nearly as perturbed about the      proper work of Reformed believers, namely, Reforma-
committee's report as the anti-Dekker forces. For if          tion!                                   (to be continued)

   A CLOUD  OF  WITNESSES-

                                      David In Hiding

                                                  by Rev. B.  Woudenbevg

                      And David abode in  the.wildemss in  strongholds, and  Yemained in a mountain
                  in the wilderness  of  Zifih. And Saul sought him every day, but God delivered him
                  not into his hand.  -    -                                           I Samuel 23:14

    If one ever stops to think about them closely, there      it provided shelter for marauding animals and robbers.
can be something very disconcerting about the  "male-         Even more, it provided a ready means of entrance into
dictory" Psalms, that is, about those Psalms which            the land for invading enemies.       Under cover of the
cry out for judgment upon one's enemies. This is              hills, they could penetrate deeply into the land, only to
particularly true because many of these Psalms were           sally forth when they wished to plunder and then re-
written by David, whom we usually think of either as a        turning quickly again into the shelter of the hills before
mild-mannered young man quietly caring for his sheep          a defending army could be summoned. It was into this
or as the great and prosperous king before whom all           land that David with'his four hundred men went and
of the world bowed in submission. In either case it           settled down.
seems strange and almost improper that he should                  The land was by every measure well suited to
wish for evil to come to anyone. Forgotten is often the       David's purpose.      It was the kind of land into which
fact that many of these Psalms came neither from              Saul and his army could not easily follow: in fact, it
David's youth nor from his later prosperity, but were         was even difficult for them to discover with any  cer-
written either during or about those anguished years in       `tainty exactly where David and his men were living
the hills of Judea,  when he learned as few men.ever  do      at any particular time. There were innumerable caves
how wicked, faithless, and dishonest men can truly be.        of all sizes scattered throughout the hills in which
The wonder is not that, having tasted the dreadful            David and his men could easily find shelter for any
bitterness of human treachery, he should cry to God           length of time they desired, while leaving themselves
for a judgment that is just; the wonder is that he            free to pick up and leave at an extremely short notice.
through it all refused to take this judgment into his         At the same time, it gave to David and his men a ser-
own hands but was satisfied to leave it with "him that        vice which they could fill, for the nation and the people
hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recom-         to whom they were still loyal and whom they still loved.
pense, saith the Lord.        And again, The Lord shall       By living in the hills themselves, they were able to
judge his people."                                            clean out and punish all those who used those hills as
    The territory into which David fled from the hatred       a means of escape after robbing and stealing; and, what
of Saul was in the southern portion of the land of Judah.     was even more important, they were able to prevent
It was a wild and untamed land, with some fertile             in a large measure the forces of the enemies from
valleys in which one could easily live and prosper; but       using the cover of these hills as a route to invade the
next to and around these valleys was wild, desolate hill      land.
country where only the wild animals could find a living.         Through it all though, there was one problem for
It was this wild hill country that made this land so          which David could find no easy answer and which
difficult.    Not only was it completely unproductive, but    troubled him continually: that was the ever present


370                                         THESTXNDARDBEARER


need to supply his men with sufficient food for them to      larger and much better army of the Philistines. They
live.    Being rugged men and used to hardship, they         told David this in so many words, saying, "Behold, we
were able to do a great deal to supply their own needs.      be afraid here in Judah; how much more then if we
There were always the wild animals of the hills which        come to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?"
could be hunted and undoubtedly were in great numbers;          To their reasoning David had no answer except that
but these were not always sufficient, the terrain could      it had been commanded by God; and to satisfy them, he
make the catching  ,of them very difficult, and by no        called Abiathar once again and repeated the former
means all of them were clean for eating under the            inquiry. Once again the answer came, "Arise, go down
ceremonial law. It was also possible for them to do          to Keilah; for I will deliver the Philistines into thine
some farming in isolated mountains valleys; but here         hand."
again they could neve.r be sure that they would still be        There was now no question left, for the men knew
around to reap their harvest. More inclined was David        that they were not to argue with the command of God.
to look to the people of the territory to assist in          Quickly they went down to Keilah, and soon it was just
supplying their needs.     There was in his mind good        as God had promised, the Philistines were driven back
reason for him to expect this of the people. With the        with a great slaughter and a great victory was accred-
coming of his men into the territory, the people who         ited to David and his men.
lived there for the first time obtained an effective            At first it looked as though this was the answer to
defense against the many dangers which constantly            David's problem. With enthusiasm the inhabitants of
threatened their lives. With David's men constantly          Keilah welcomed David and his men and invited them
hunting in the hills the wild scavenger animals which        into the city to live with them. Here in the city, it
constantly preyed upon their flocks were checked and         seemed, they surely would be able to live a much more
held under control, the ruthless thieves that so often       normal life than out in the wild hill country where they
hid in the hills were driven out, and the invading           had been.
enemies  -were prevented from falling upon. them and            It was not long, however, before the news had gotten
doing them harm.       It seemed but a small price to        through to Saul that David was living in Keilah, and to
ask of the people who benefited directly from this to        him it was most welcome news. All the time that David
do their part in supporting the men who brought it           was hiding in the hill country, he had found himself
about. But it did not work out that way, and once again      completely frustrated. It seemed that nothing really
David was to gain a hard lesson in how ungrateful and        mattered in his life any more except that he should get
treacherous people can actually be.                          rid of David; but what was he to do against a man who
   One of the first and most bitter instances of this        lived like a fox in the caves of the mountains. All of
kind took place soon after David came down with his          his experience left him completely unprepared for a
men to live in the hill country. He was just beginning       situation like that.    In fact, he had not even a very
to establish himself as a defender of the people when        sure idea any more in what general area David was to
the Philistines made a foray into the land. It was not       be found. But as soon as he heard that David had taken
surprising. The time was the time of harvest when the        up abode in a closed city with gates and walls, then he
grain was still on the threshing floor. It was a favorite    knew what he could do. Joyfully he exclaimed, "God
season for invading armies to make a quick sweep             hath delivered him into mind hand; for he is shut in, by
through the land and run off with the fruits of a whole      entering into a town that hath gates and bars." Yes,
years labor in a matter of days. It was exactly the          Saul had rationalized with his sin so long and become
sort of situation which David had set for himself to         so hardened in it that he had actually convinced him-
prevent.      But before he did anything of such great       self that what he wanted was really also the will of God.
importance, there was one important check which had             It was not long before the call had gone out for the
to be made. When Abiathar the priest had escaped the         soldiers of Saul's army to gather themselves together
hands of Saul and come to live withhim, he had brought       and prepare themselves to go down and lay seige upon
along the holy ephod with the Urim and Thummim by            the city.    As it was though, news passed swiftly not
which it was possible to consult with God on every           only from Keilah to the rest of the nation, it came
important move. Thus he called Abiathar and asked of         swiftly back again too.       He understood immediately
God, "Shall I go and smite these Philistines?" But the       what Saul intended to do; but normally it was nothing
answer came almost as a surprise. His forces were            special to fear. In a walled and defensed city such as.
so very small and unprepared in comparison with the          Keilah, he and his four hundred men held a much
armies of the Philistines that it seemed almost com-         stronger position over against the army of Saul than
pletely unreasonable that they should go to fight with       upon the open field of battle. Nevertheless, David was
them.       The answer of God, however, was, "Go and         careful not to neglect his most important source of
smite the Philistines, and save Keilah," and accord-         strength.    Once again he called Abiathar the priest to
ingly David went to his men and told them to prepare         him with the ephod to inquire of the Lord what he  i
for the battle.                                              should do. To God he addressed this prayer, "0 Lord  ;
    But the men were not so easily satisfied. Many of        God of Israel, thy servant hath certainly heard that  i
them were not trained fighting men, and whole thing          Saul seeketh to come to Keilah, to destroy the city for /
looked rather completely impossible. Here they had           my sake. Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into  I
come to this hill country to escape the army of Saul,        his hand? will Saul come down, as thy servant hath
and were they now supposed to go and fight against the       heard? 0 Lord God of Israel, I beseech thee, tell thy


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                    371


servant."     To the latter question the answer came          the hills.    This David did; but need we be surprised
quickly back, "He will come down." This was to be             that reflecting back upon experiences such as this, he
expected.    But when he repeated the former question         in latter years should pen such words as those of
and the answer came back, it must have driven deeply          Psalm  X:12-14,  20-23.
into David's soul, for the answer was, "They will                "For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then
deliver thee up."                                             I could have borne it: neither was it he that hated me
   One can just about imagine the pain with which             that did magnify himself against me; then I would have
these words came to David. Here was a city for which          hid myself from him:
he and his men had risked their own lives against the            But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and
strongest and most terrible enemy they had, the army          mine acquaintance.
of the Philistines.    And the city had recognized this,         We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto
expressing its gratitude and welcoming them into the          the house of God in company....
city.    But now he learned that treachery lurked within         He hath put forth his hands against such as be at
their hearts. Not that it was so much intentional. It         peace with him: he hath broken his covenant.
was just that when the army of Saul appeared and they            The words of his mouth were smoother than butter,
would be asked to suffer some in return for David's           but war was in his heart: his words were softer than
sake, then they would weaken, they would lose courage         oil, yet were they drawn swords.
and betray him to his enemy.       But there was nothing         Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain
that David could do about it now. To accuse the people        thee; he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.
would only bring a denial. The only thing left was to            But thou, 0 God, shall bring them down into the pit
call his men to him; and, leaving the comfort of the          of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live
city, return in sorrow to the uncertainties of life in        out half their days; but I will trust in thee."



 TRYING THE  SPIRITS-


           Dispensationalism and the Gentile Remnant


                                                by Rev. R. C. Havbach


    What we have been maintaining, according to Scrip-        J. A. Alexander are of much value on this passage.
ture, is that God has but one people in all dispensations,    But Matthew Henry has much to teach the  dispensa-
and that therefore, 0. and N.T. saints are identified         tionalist.    He was by far the adept at "rightly dividing
by the same name. This is borne out in the following.         the Word of truth!"        He based his thinking on the
"One shall say, `I am the Lord's'; and another shall          covenant.     .His comments introductory to this chapter
call himself by the name of Jacob, and another shall          are, "That the people of God are a happy people,
subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname            especially upon account of the covenant between them
himself by the name of Israel." (Isa.  44:5) The Israel       and God. The people of Israel were...a figure of the
in view here is the spiritual Israel, that remnant            gospel Israel." Then he treats "the covenant rela-
according to the election of grace, "whom I have              tions wherein they stand to God." The basic covenant
chosen" out of the nation; for the Lord never comforts        relation Henry takes to be,  "0 Jacob my  servant!   thou
any but the elect with "Fear not!" (v" 2) To this elect       and I will be  friends!" "The relations wherein they
Israel the Lord promises the outpouring of the Holy           stand to Him are very encouraging. (1) They are His
Spirit. (v.3) As a result of that effusion the holy seed      servants."      Here then is the covenant relation of
"shall spring up as willows by the water courses,"            friend-servant! The speaker in this passage, Henry
(v. 4) which was fulfilled at Pentecost. Then the words       points out, is the God of Israel, a great God, who is
quoted from verse 5 point to after Pentecost when the         God alone, a "God of  incontestible sovereignty," who
Gentiles would become spiritual Israelites indeed.            "stands in relation to, and has a particular concern
    Dispensationalists will regard the comment of great       for, His church. He is the King of Israel and his Re-
teachers `of the church as lacking in light if they do not    deemer.  `I' Thus He is Israel's Sovereign-Friend!
produce at every point what they regard as some               Henry continues with the covenant relations. "(2) They
"dispensational interpretation."       But there is one       are His chosen." So they are His elect. "For those
Bible commentary which they could profitably take as          only, like Nathanael, are Israelites indeed, in whom is
their instructor and rectifier. Neither F. Delitsch nor       no guile, and those only shall have the everlasting


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER

benefit of these promises." Next he counts "the cove-           joicing of the hope firm unto the end." That makes the
nant blessings which He has secured to" the elect, in           we, whether Jews or Gentiles, believers ! See Eph. 2:
verses 3, 4.      "The pardon of sin is the inlet of all the    14-16; John  11:52; Eph.  1:lO.
other blessings of the covenant" which flow out of                 The prophets continually spoke of the Gentiles being
mercy and forgiveness through  l-he flood-gate, "Fear           brought into the company of the children of Israel.
Not !" "For  SO  the covenant of grace runs: `I will be         This is taught in  Hosea   l:lO, "Yet the number of the
a God to thee and to thy seed."' Henry is quite                 children of Israel shall be as the  sandof  the sea, which
correct when he sees that "Hereby there shall be a              cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come
great increase of the  church."  He then remarks on             to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them,
"the consent they (the elect) cheerfully give to their          `Ye are not My people,' there it shall be said unto
part of the covenant...For there was one law, one               them, `Ye are the sons of the living God.' " A strange
covenant, `for the stranger and for those that were             teaching it is when it is claimed that "the children of
born in the land.' " Especially the dispensationalist           Israel" in this passage refers exclusively to God's
ought to have this pointed out to him: "Doubtless it            future dealings with natural and national Israel. But
looks further yet, to the conversion of the  Gentiles,          so the writer was taught in dispensationalist days.
and the multitudes of them who, upon the effusion of            However, Paul in Rom.  9:25, 26 explains that the
the Spirit, after Christ's ascension, should be joined          phrase includes elect  Gentiles,  in the words, "Even
to the Lord and added to the church...(l) They shall            us, whom He hath called, not of the Jews only, but
resign themselves to God: not one in the name of the            also  of the  Gentiles." We continue to quote Henry,
rest, but every one for himself shall say, `I am the            as he is particularly edifying on this matter of  Dis-
Lord's; He has an incontestable right to rule me, `and I        pensationalism's compartmentalizing "Jew, Gentile and
submit to Him, to all His commands, all His disposals.          the Church of God." "It is certain that this promise
I am and will be, His only, His wholly, His for ever,           hadits accomplishment in the setting up of the kingdom
will be for His interests, will be for His praise; living       of  Christ,  by the preaching of the gospel, and the
and dying I will be His!' (2) They shall incorporate            bringing in both of Jews and  Gentiles  to it, for to this
themselves with the people of God, `call themselves             these words are applied by Paul and Peter when he
by the name of Jacob,' forgetting their own people and          writes to the Jews (I Pet.  2:lO). Israel here is  the
their fathers' house, and desirous to wear the character        gospel  church,  the spiritual Israel (Gal.  6:16), all be-
and livery of God's family.. They shall love all God's          lievers who follow the steps and inherit the blessings
people, shall associate with them, give them the right          of faithful Abraham, who is the father of all that
hand of fellowship..." The point is, Gentiles `belong to        believe, whether Jews or Gentiles." (Rom.  4:11, 12)
Israel in the new dispensation.                                 (ital. added) Christians are now, according to Peter,
   The same truth is found in Jer.  31:31, "Behold, the         the chosen people, royal priesthood, holy nation and
days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new               peculiar people (people for a possession), as he teaches
covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house           in I Pet. 2:9, 10.
of Judah."       Those days did come in the Christian              The prophets believed that the Gentiles belonged to
dispensation, as the writer to the Hebrews applies it           the tabernacle of David.     "In that day will I raise up
to the same in Heb.  8:8-12;   9:15. The  new  covenant         the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the
(mentioned in Luke  22:20 and II Cor.  3:6) makes the           breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I
Mosaic covenant the  old  covenant. But the  new  is not        will build it as in the days of old, that they may possess
so because of a change in the law, but in the way the           the remnant of Edom and of all the heathen (Gentiles)
law is given, namely, not outwardly on tables of stone,         which are called by My name, saith the Lord that doeth
but inwardly by inscripturation upon the fleshly tables         this." (Amos  9:11, 12) The breaches in the ruins of
of the heart.     Again, on this matter, Matthew Henry          the tabernacle of David were closed up to embrace the
has a worthy contribution. "This covenant refers to             elect remnant of the Gentiles in the Christian dispen-
gospel times, the latter days that `shall come;`...             sation.    The first council of the church in Jerusalem
Observe, who the persons are with whom this covenant            saw the prophecy of Amos fulfilled in their New Testa-
is made  - `with the house of Israel and Judah,' with           ment church.  It  was the tabernacle of David restored!
the gospel church, `the Israel of God' on which `peace          Christ rebuilt David's tabernacle - His own church! He
shall be' (Gal. 6: 16), with the spiritual seed of believing    built again these ruins "by breaking down the middle
Abraham and praying Jacob. Judah and Israelhad been             wall of partition between Jew and Gentile, and letting
two separate kingdoms, but were united after their              in the latter into the gospel church with the former...
return...so Jews and Gentiles were in the gospel church         `The remnant of Edom' design the Gentiles," (John
and covenant.. . `I will be their God and they shall be My      Gill) Then God had a tabernacle (a house of spiritual,
people.' God's being to us a God is the summary of              regenerated people) in the old dispensation.  Itwas  then
all happiness.      Our being to Him a people may be            called the tabernacle of David (displacing the taber-
taken...as a further branch of the promise that God will        nacle of Moses) because Gentiles were to be brought
by His grace make us His people, a willing people, in           into it (and  weve, in David's day!). It was therefore
the day of His power." With reference to "the house             not something which merely had "been in progress
of Israel and the house of Judah," the writer of the            since Pentecost," (Scofield) an absurd idea, for the
Epistle to the Hebrews affirms, "whose house are                tabernacle of David has evidently been in progress
we"  (3:6) who "hold fast the confidence and the  re-           since David. Nor did the Jerusalem church in their


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                                       373


joyous contemplation of this now fulfilled Amos-passage      the house of Israel." (Mt.  15:24) His meaning was
even dream that its realization meant  "re-establish-        not that He was sent only to the natural clan of Jacob,
ment of David's earthly kingdom of power over national       for some of them He excluded as "not of My sheep."
Israel." They saw in that tabernacle the  church,  the       (John  10:26)     Paul also saw this exclusion when he
"one body, " "the household of faith," the "holytemple       taught, "they are not all Israel that are of Israel."
in the Lord," the "habitation of God through the Spirit."    (Rom.  9:6) No, this  house  Jesus referred to is "built
(Eph. 2:16, 19, 21, 22)                                      up a  spiritual  house," which  `<ye," newborn babes
   There are then two Israels: a carnal and false            (regenerated) are (I Pet.  2:2-5)!  Scripture is full of
Israel, and a spiritual and true (regenerate) Israel.        references to the  spiritual  and elect  Israel:  John  1:31;
Jesus tested many who applied to Him according to            A c t s   5:31;  13:23;  28:20.     In every age believers of
this distinction.     He said to the Syro-Phenoecian         every race desired nothing more than to belong to that
woman, "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of             Israel!


      IN HIS  FEAR-


                           Virgins For Christ's Sake

                                                 by Rev.  J. A. Heys


   In the Church of Jesus Christ here below fornica-             Now it is understandable, though not excusable, that
tion, when it is found, is usually found among the youth     our covenant children fall into this sin of fornication.
rather than among the adults.                                In their early teens their sexual powers begin not only
   Adultery, as we have seen, is practiced by the            to develop but to make themselves known. Let it be
`married and is the introduction of the third party,         clearly understood that this is God's work in them.
which is a foreign element, between  those.who  before       There is absolutely nothing evil in sex as we already
God are one flesh. But fornication is the same sin as        pointed out in quoting Hebrews  13:4. God does not put
it is practiced by two who before God are not one            some filthy thing in us.              God does not invest our
flesh but take the liberties of being one flesh. Forni-      covenant seed with some wicked power. He begins to
cation is using the powers and members of the body,          prepare them for the ability and desire to bring forth
which God has given that we may serve Him, to satisfy        the future church here below. And we repeat that they
our flesh instead.                                           have this power given to them for that reason and with
   God has made us to be male and female and given           that in mind. Actually it is a wonderful thing to observe
each his own peculiar powers and members. There is           and to witness with a pure mind. Not only do they
absolutely nothing wrong either with the members or          gradually, and sometimes quite suddenly, put away
the power invested in them. In Hebrews  13:4 we read,        childish things and show a different interest in the
"Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled:       other sex, but their bodies develop and grow and there
but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge."             is outward evidence that these powers are developing.
There is a time and a way and a place where those who        God does not hide that from the parents, nor from the
before God have agreed to be one flesh can serve God         children themselves.        And it is a matter for thanks-
with what He has entrusted to them for service in His        giving to see the children of the church here below
kingdom.    And God made us man and wife, male and           develop and grow to be able to become the mothers
female, for the sake of bringingforththe covenant seed.      and fathers in Israel.             We must not be evil minded
In the Church a man must take a wife with that basic         witnesses, but neither must we be unscripturally
purpose of marriage in mind. In the world nothing can        Victorian.
be done right. The unbeliever cannot marry for the               It certainly would be advantageous if parents would
proper purpose. He cannot even refrain from murder           feel freer to teach their children the matters of this
for the right reason. He may abhor lying and condemn         development rather than to let them learn it from the
stealing, but he cannot do this because'he desires the       world and from youths of their own age, whose interest
glory of God. He can only be humanistic and see that         in these matters is only carnal. But as a rule this is
it is good  for  man  to' refrain from these sins; which     not the case and they are willing either to let their
he will only call social evils. But in the Church, where     children pick up the knowledge of their sexual powers
the believer' and his seed is found, all things will in      wherever they can or to expect the teacher in school
principle be done because of love to God and with the        to do so. Now we will grant that the school is the ex-
desire to glorify Him.                                       tension of the home, and the parents hire the teachers,


374                                         THESTANDARDBEARER


through a society, to give their children the instruction    and members of the youth, under the regenerating
that they cannot give themselves. But in the school you      grace of God, are like a wheel that is standing up and
have the added difficulty that the sexes are met             turns from the earth on which it stands to the heavens
together, and what a parent might be able to do at the       where is the Christ Who bought them with the precious
same time with his son and daughter would not be             price of His blood. For Him they remain virgins. And
received the same way by children of both sexes from         a wheel standing up that turns from the earth to the sky
several families with different backgrounds. Never-          in its activity GETS SOMEWHERE ! It goes forward in
theless the children should be taught and not be  self-      His fear. It makes progress in glorifying the Christ
taught or wrongly taught.      Their development and         to Whom we are betrothed. It  takesHim into consider-
growing powers should be made known unto them in             ation.     It uses its powers and members for His sake.
connection with the fact that their bodies were and          And therefore the covenant youth will keep his vessels
are, in this growing development, temples of the Holy        in covenant subjection.
Spirit. The beauty and wonder of their new strength              There is also that matter of dress as well as of
and power rather than the filthiness of the world's          undress. It is not always and only a matter of sugges-
misuse should be shown them. And by all means their          tive exposure (or shall we say disclosure?) but also
calling to reserve and preserve and shield these             of design. And by design we do not simply mean dress
powers for service before the living God should be           style. We mean exactly that dress styles are designed
shown them.     Filthy speech in the home, suggestive        to excite, suggest, entice and even encourage. The
actions and deeds should be kept out of the home. And        many perfumes with their daring and suggestive names
we may add that these have absolutely no place either        are not the only elements in a woman's life that have
at the wedding reception and feast! So many otherwise        names for a specific sinful purpose.      And these are
beautiful weddings are spoiled that way, and a master        not advertized for the wife to make herself attractive
of ceremonies or toastmaster who keeps things pure           and alluring to her lawful husband. Neither the scanty
and clean at the wedding reception deserves to receive       dress nor the deliberate lines are designed for the
not only a word of commendation but also one of thanks.      young woman to be appealing to the new man of a young
   There is also the matter of magazines and that            man. Where is the dress designed by the world that is
extremely dangerous television whereby we do bring           aimed to harmonize with the truth that the body that
the adultery and fornication of the world to the atten-      wears it is the temple of the Holy Spirit? All too often
tion of our children. Of course they are going to meet       - and sad to say also in the sphere of the church-the
it elsewhere. And we cannot and may not lock them up         dress declares that this is the temple of an adulterous
in a monastery cell. But it makes a world of difference      spirit and of one that is more interested in pleasing
whether they meet these things first in the home and         the lust of man than to receive the fellowship of the
with tacit approval  - at least without any spoken dis-      Holy Spirit. The plunging neckline must now be supple-
approval  - of the parents in the home. What with the        mented by the sleeveless dress with, of all things, a
widespread paper-back novels that either glory in            square arm hole!       And that square arm hole is not
adultery openly or are written to arouse in the readers      meant to make it easier to slip that dress on and to
a sinful consciousness of it, parents cannot be too          take it off again. We can only ask, "What is next?"
careful and diligent in approving and of disapproving            The miniskirt will probably disappear after it has
that which their children read. And remember that a          served its purpose and no longer produces its desired
lasciviously written novel is as dangerous if not more       effect.    And man will have to come up with something
inflaming and dangerous than any mere picture. What          new. As we suggested above, this does not necessarily
is more, every single one of the novels of the world         mean that there will be more disclosure and more
presents the whole matter of courtship, love and mar-        actual nakedness.      The world is not at all afraid or
riage from a wicked and godless point of view. Show          ashamed to admit this.         The Oracle of Toronto,
me even one that proceeds from the principle of I            Marshall McLuhan, is not a bit hesitant to state, "There
Corinthians  6:18-20 to which we referred before! What       has been a dimming down of the visual. We are now in
unbeliever ever has as his starting point and as the         the all-involving  tacile mode."     And the dress is
"moral" of his story that "he that committeth forni-         designed to attract attention, to advertise direct
cation sinneth against his own body?" Which unbeliever       thought and attention. The fishnet stockings, the sleek
is able to write a book that has for its aim instructing     black silk dress and sex-dislaying wear make that
his fellowmen that we with our sexual powers and             temple of the Holy Spirit far more attractive for evil
members  are  not our own but  are  bought with a price      purposes than the savages  ever  experienced in their
with the calling to glorify God in our bodies? The love      naked customs.
of husband and wife in the unbeleiving and unregener-           And in this installment -we plan, D.V., anotherwith
ated is nothing but a vicious circle that gets nowhere       youth in mind next time-we wish to call attention to
and produces nothing truly good. It is like the ox that      that extremely important matter that is stated in the
treadeth out the corn, walking ever in a circle and          Heidelberg Catechism in regard to the seventh com-
getting nowhere. Tomorrow it is the same thing. Eat,         mandment, and that is so easily ignored by parents in
sleep, work! Walk in a circle! Their married life is         regard to their children, but also by parents them-
as a wheel that is lying on the ground and turns from        selves. ,We read that God commands us to preserve
right to left or left to right but gets nowhere. The         our bodies as pure and therefore "forbids all unchaste
married life of the child of God, and the sexual powers      actions, gestures, words, thoughts, desires, and  what-


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                                   375


ever can entice men thereto." We refer to that last          means that as men we cease clamoring for these sug-
phrase, "And whatever can entice men thereto."               gestive and enticing elements.       Again we are not
   It is the young man that gets the young woman in          interested in deciding whether the blame should be upon
trouble, we often hear. And perhaps in many cases            the women who dress to please the lusts of man or the
this is true.    Rape is a way of life in some men. But      man who indicates that the woman must. so conduct
let the (young) woman be sure that she has not lead the      herself in order to be acceptable to man. It is of the
(young) man on by her dress, behaviour, gestures,            nature of the woman to desire to be accepted of man.
speech or failure to give a firm discouragement of his       And this can be without sin. But whether we set the
advances.    We have no interest in excusing or  exhon-      sinful standards or whether we capitulate and accept
erating either the young man or the young woman. And         them in the hope and fear that it will not involve us in
it is none of the business of the church council when        that which we know is wrong, we have by the entice-
they come to confess to try to determine whose fault it      ment and the desire to be enticed already committed
was. Unless it is actual rape, it is the fault of both.      the sin in our hearts.
But the point we make now is that there is so very              In His fear we know ourselves as the bride of Christ
much truth in that statement of the Catechism that we        and will keep ourselves as virgins for His sake. Instead
sin when we entice men to fornication as surely as           of being glad for The Pill, we are thankful to God for
when we commit the act ourselves.                            The Book. And we strive according to its teachings to
   As we rush toward the end of all things and the last      be attractive and pleasing and faithful before His face.
manifestations of the harlot who rides on the beast, it      Try that out, young people, and put a sudden stop to
is high time that some reform and return to modesty          friendship with those not interested therein, and you
in dress and practice is found in the church. And that       will be safe and continue as a virgin for Christ's sake.



  THE CHURCH AT  WORSHIP-


                                       The  Elder's  Task

                                                  Overseers

                             .-. ~-            by Rev. G.  Vanden Berg


   "Therefore, in the first place, the office of elders      neither as being Lords over God's heritage, but being
is, together with the ministers of the Word, to take the     examples to the flock." The elder is a pastor-ruler,
oversight of the Church, which is committed to them,         a keeper of God's sheep, and not a despot. He whose
and diligently to look, whether everyone properly de-        motivation is not the care of the sheep and who in all
ports himself in his confession and conversation; to         his labor is not moved by love for their souls, is unfit
admonish those who behave themselves disorderly, and         for and unable to perform the functions of an elder in
to prevent, as much as possible, the sacraments from         Christ's Church. The very purpose of the establish-
being profaned; also to act (according to the Christian      ment of ,a council of elders in the church is "that
discipline) against the impenitent, and to receive the       thereby all tyranny and lording may be kept out of the
penitent again into the bosom of the Church, as doth         Church of God, which may sooner creep in, when the
not only appear from the above mentioned saying of           government is placed in the hands of one alone, or of a
Christ,. but also from many other places of Holy Writ,       very few." (Form of Ordination)
as I Cor. chap. 5 and II Cor. chap. 2, that these things        This relationship of elders to the church as over-
are not alone intrusted to one or two persons, but to        seers implies the subjection of the members of the
many who are ordained thereto." (Form of Ordination)         church to those who are given this positioh of authority.
   The first facet of the important office of the elder      They must love them and respect them in that position
in the church of Christ is that of overseer. The elder       for Christ's sake, and furthermore to their authority
is  .one who is called of God to rule. When this is          they must be subject as unto Christ. On the other hand,
pointed out, the warning of the apostle Peter must also      the elders must at all times realize that their calling
immediately be observed. To the elders of the church         and the exercise of the authority of their office is
Peter wrote, "Feed the flock of God which is among           exactly limited to that which Christ has conferred upon
you, taking the oversight thereof, not by const aint, but    them.    To transgress this limitation is to introduce
willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind,        tyranny in the church.


376                                          THE STANDARD BEARER

   "The church is not only not bound to be guided by            Hence, the sole ruling power in the Church of Christ
any other rule or standard, but is not at liberty to         is His Word. The elders are called to diligently watch
have regard to any other; as this would be virtually to      over the flock to see to it that every one deports him-
withdraw herself from subjection to Christ's authority,      self in confession and conversation according to that
and voluntarily to submit to a foreign yoke. No mere         Word. Those that behave themselves disorderly must
laws or statutes of men  - no mere regard for worldly        be admonished, and, again this admonition must be
or secular advantages  - should ever regulate the con-       according to the Word of Christ. Finally, as much as
duct of the church of Christ, or of any section or           possible the purity of' the holy sacraments must be
branch of it.      She should be guided solely by the        maintained, and this, too, is accomplished only in the
revealed will of Christ, and she should ascertain what       measure that all things in the church are governed by
that will is by diligent and prayerful study of His          and subjected to the Word of Christ. The sacraments
word." (C. Cunninghand, Historical Theology),                of the church are indeed profaned when members, who
   "To be a dutiful undershepherd, is, in another view,      walk in disobedience to the Word of Christ, are per-
to be a faithful sheep, following the Chief Shepherd         mitted under the sanction of the church to partake of
whithersoever He goes. Pastors are not lords over            them, but equally profaned are these same sacraments
God's heritage, but mere servants of Christ, the great       when the criterion for participation becomes compliance
Head of the Church, bound to regard His will as their        with some "rashly devised" human innovation. Such
law, and His life as their  model..& is well that our        "mixtures and damnable inventions," according to our
Lord made this plain by the words addressed to the           Confession, "we must reject as profanations of the
representative man among the apostles; for Christians        sacraments." (Belgic Confession, Art. 35)
of active, energetic, and earnest natures are very apt          Fundamentally, therefore, the principle of the Fifth
to have very exaggerated ideas of their responsibilities,    Commandment lies at the root of the elder's function
and to take on themselves the care of the whole world,       as overseer in the church of Christ. Christ, the Head
and impose on themselves the duty of remedying every         of the Church, is the sole authority. Derived from
evil that is done under the sun.  " (A.B. Bruce, The         Him, the elders receive authority which may be used
Training Of The Twelve)                                      only in harmony with His instruction.          The elders
   "We admit, therefore, that ecclesiastical pastors         themselves then, though they are seated in positions of
are to be heard just like Christ Himself, but they must      authority, are also subject to authority, and without this
be pastors, who execute the office entrusted to them.        submission they have no authority to exercise. Under
And this office, we maintain, is not presumptuously to       them the members of the church are subject to their
introduce whatever their own pleasure has rashly             authority as it is very really then the authority of
devised, but religiously and in good faith to deliver        Christ.    Only when these relationships are properly
the oracles which they have received at the mouth of         maintained is there and can there be an  ,effective
the Lord. For within these boundaries Christ confined        spiritual rule in the church which is conducive to the
the reverence which he required to be paid to the            well-being of its members.         In that light, let both
Apostles; nor does Peter (I Peter  4:ll) either claim        elders and members remember the exhortation of the
for himself or allow to others anything more than that,      Word of God, "Obey them that have the rule over you,
as often  .as they speak among the faithful, they speak      and submit yourselves; for they watch for your souls,
as from the mouth of the Lord." (John Calvin, Reply          as they that must give account' that they may do it with
to Cardinal Sadolet)                                         joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for
   The point brought out here is important and must          LOLL" (Heb.  13~17)
be strongly emphasized.       Christ rules His Church
through the offices which He has instituted. That rule                              COUNSEL L ORS
of Christ however is negated when those who occupy              "Secondly, since the apostle enjoineth, that all
the office transgress its proper limitation. Christ does     things shall be done decently and in order, amongst
not enforce upon the church the will of man in "what-        Christians, and that no other persons ought to serve
ever their own pleasure may rashly devise." Christ           in the Church of Christ, but those who are lawfully
does impose and enforce His own will upon His body'          called, according to the Christian ordinance, therefore
the Church, and He does this through men who, in             it is also the duty of the elders to  p.ay regard to it, and
subjection to Himself, execute the functions of the          in all occurrences, which relate to the welfare and
office of elder in accord with His will as revealed          good order of the Church, to be assistant with their
in His Word.     "Let all things be done decently and in     good counsel and advice, to the ministers of the Word,
good order" is no trite saying, but is a fundamental         yea, also to serve all Christians with advice and
principle of truth, the departure from which is catas-       consolation." (Form of Ordination)
trophic for the church.                                         Three things may be observed at the very outset
   This same principle applies when members of the           in this connection.      The first should be understood'
church refuse to submit themselves to the proper             namely, that the advice and conselation that is expected
authority of the elders.       This authority, properly      from the elders must always be. baseduponthe  Word of
administered, is rightly the authority of Christ Himself,    God. The elder is not asked here to simply give his
and to defy it is to invoke judgment upon one's self.        own opinion with regard to various problems, troubles
Indeed, "it is a terrible thing to fall into the hands       and trials that arise in the experience of the members
of the living God." (Heb.  10:31)                            of the church, but it is required of him to give instruc-


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                     377


tion and directive from the Word of God. He must be           cared for by tyrannizing it or using a rod upon it,
able to back up what he says with the Scriptures,             but through the administration of patient advice and
and to show that his counsel is that of God Himself.          loving consolation is the soul nurtured. This must be
That is the only advice that can be consoling. In the         exercised, and only when it is apparent that the sound
second place, this advice and consolation must be             advice of the Word is rejected and the soul upon which
willingly given. He may never refuse to be assistant          this labor is performed is obstinately rebellious does
in this respect.    Certain things may conceivably be         it become an imperative necessity to use the force of
asked of an elder which lie entirely outside of the           excommunication.
scope and function of his office, and with respect to
these he has every right to refuse. Not so, however,             Calvin, in The Institutes of the Christian Religion,
with respect to being "assistant with their good coun-        wrote: "The first foundation of discipline is to provide
sel and advice." This is an inherent function of the          for private admonition; that is, if any one does not do
office that may not be denied. To deny it is a violation      his duty spontaneously, or behaves insolently, or lives
of their ordination. And finally, we must note that our       not quite honestly, or commits something worthy of
ordination form does not speak of giving this advice and      blame, he must allow himself to be admonished; and
consolation only to those who are members of the              every one must study to admonish his brother when the
particular church in which the elder serves, but it           case requires. Here especially is there occasion for
states, "to the ministers of the Word, yea, also to           the vigilance of pastors and presbyters, whose duty
serve all Christians." Certainly this does not place          is not only to preach to the people, but to exhort and
the office of the elder in an inferior or subordinate         admonish from house to house, whenever their hearers
position. Together with the ministers of the Word they        have not profited sufficiently by general teaching; as
must exercise the government of the church. Together          Paul shows, when he relates that he taught `publicly,
with the ministers they must instruct from the Word.          and from house to house', and testifies that he is `pure
And "to the ministers" as well as to all Christians,          from the blood of all men,' because he had not shunned
they must give advice and consolation. This phase             to declare `all the counsel of God' (Acts  20:20, 26, 27).
of the elder's work is extremely important, because           Then does doctrine obtain force and authority, not only
it directly concerns the labor of "caring for the soul."      when the minister publicly expounds to all what they
It should not be divorced from the elder's labor as           owe to Christ, but has the right and means of exacting
overseer but it must be integrated with it, and then we       this from those whom he may observe to be sluggish
must remember that the soul of the Christian is not           or disobedient to his doctrine."


CONTENDING FOR THE  FAITH-


                               The Doctrine of Sin

                                 The First Period, 80-250 A.D.

                                                    by Rev. G. Veldman

   Writing of the doctrine of sin during the early period        endowed us with, He both persuades us and leads us to
of the Christian Church in the New Dispensation, and             faith. And we think it for the advantage of all men that
specifically on this doctrine of sin in general, we con-         they are not restrained from learning these things, but
cluded our preceding article with  .a quotation from             are even urged thereto. For the restraint which human
Clement of Alexandria. We now continue with this in              laws could not effect, the Word, inasmuch as He is
this present article.                                            divine, would have effected, had not the wicked demons,
   Justin Martyr ascribes the origin of evil to the              taking as their ally the lust of wickedness which is in
                                                                 every man, and draws variously to all manner of vice,
sensuous nature, as in his first Apology, chapter IO,            scattered many false and profane accusations, none of
"How God is to be served,":                                      which attach to us.
       For as in the beginning He created us when we             In this quotation; Justin Martyr speaks of the lust of
   were not, so do we consider that, in like man&r, those
   who choose what is pleasing to Him are, on account of      wickedness which the demons take as their ally, and
   their choice, deemed worthy of incorruption and of         which lust of wickedness is in every man. With this
   fellowship with Him. For the coming into being at first    lust  of wickedness the demons draw men to all manner
   was not -in our own power; and in order that we may        of vice.
   follow those things which please Him, choosing them               Origin speaks of sin his De Principiis, Book II, 9,
   by means of the rational faculties  He has Himself             2, and he writes as follows:


378                                                 THESTANDARDBEARER


          For the Creator gave, as an indulgence to the               His principal works, as there follow from the chief
       understandings created by Him, the power of free and           works of the carpenter such things as spiral shavings
       voluntary action, by which the good that was in them           and sawdust, or as architects might appear to be the
   might become their own, being preserved by the exer-               cause of the rubbish which lies around their buildings
   tion of their own will; but slothfulness, and a dislike of         in the form of the filth which drops from the stones and
   labour  in preserving what is good, and an aversion to             the plaster.
       and a neglect of better things, furnished the beginning
       of a departure from goodness. But todepart  from good        INTERPRETATION of the NARRATIVE of the FALL
       is nothing else than to be made bad. For it is certain
       that to want goodness (be in want of - H.V.) is to be          The documents contained in the five books of Moses,
   wicked. Whence it happens that, in proportion as one            Genesis through Deuteronomy, were to the early church
   falls away from goodness, in the same proportion does           the historical foundation, not only of the doctrine of the
   he become involved in wickedness. In which condition,           creation of the world, and of man, but also of the
       according to its actions, each understanding, neglecting    doctrine of the origin of  sin, which appears as a fact
       goodness either to a greater or more limited extent,        in the history of Adam.           However, some writers
   was dragged into the opposite of good, which undoubtedly        rejected the literal interpretation of this narrative.
       is evil.                                                    Thus Origin (after the example of  Philo) regarded it as
   It is evident in this quotation that Origin writes that         a type, historically clothed, of what takes place in free
moral evil is something negative, that wickedness is
the absence of good.                                               moral agents everywhere, and at all times.                It is
                                                                   difficult to ascertain how far Irenaeus adhered to the
   In his writings against Celsus, Book VI, 55, Origin             letter of the narrative. Tertullian unhesitatingly pro-
clears God of all responsibility with respect to sin:              nounced in favor of its strict historical interpretation.
          Passages, indeed, might be found where corporeal
   and external (benefits) are improperly called "good,"           Both the  Gnostics and the author of the Clementine
   - those things, viz., which contribute to the natural           Homilies rejected this view on dogmatic grounds.
   life, while those which do the reverse are termed                  Origin appears to regard the Scriptural narrative
   "evil." It is in this sense that Job says to his wife:          of the fall as purely allegorical. This is evident from
   "If we have received good at the hand of the Lord,              what he writes in his De Principiis, IV, 16:
   shall we not also receive evill" Since, then, there is                It was not only, however, with the (Scriptures
   found in the sacred Scriptures, in a certain passage,              composed) before the advent (of Christ) that the Spirit
   this statement put into the mouth of God, "I make                  thus dealt; but as being the same Spirit, and (proceeding)
   peace, and create evil:" and again another, where it               from the one God, He did the same thing both with the
   is said of Him that "evil came down from the Lord to               evangelists and the apostles,  - as even these do not
   the gate of Jerusalem, the noise of chariots and                   contain throughout a pure history of events, which are
   horsemen," -passages which have disturbed many                     interwoven indeed according to the letter, but  whichdid
   readers of Scripture, who are unable to see what                   not actually occur. Nor even to the law and the com-
   Scripture means by "good" and "evil," - it is probable             mandments wholly convey what is agreeable to reason.
   that Celsus, being perplexed thereby, gave utterance               For who that has understanding will suppose that the
   to the question, "How is it that God created evil?" or,            first, and second, and third day, and the evening and
   perhaps, having heard some one discussing the matters              the morning, existed without a sun, and moon, and
   relating to it in an ignorant manner, he made this                 stars?    and that the first day was, as it were, also
   statement which we have noticed. We, on the other                  without a sky? And who is so foolish as to suppose
   hand, maintain that "evil," or "wickedness," and the               that God, after the manner of a husbandman, planted
   actions which proceed from it, were not created by                 a paradise in Eden, towards the east, and placed in it
   God. For if God created that which is reallv evil, how             a tree of life, visible and palpable, so that one tasting
   was it possible that the proclamationregarding  (the               of the fruit by the bodily teeth obtainedlife? and again,
   last) judgment should be confidently announced, which              that one was a partaker of good and evil by masticating
   informs us that the wicked are to be punished for their            what was taken from the tree? And if God is said to
   evil deeds in proportion to the amount of their wicked-            walk in the paradise in the evening, and Adam to hide
   ness, while those who have lived a virtuous life, or               himself under a tree, I do not suppose that any one
   performed virtuous actions, will be in the enjoyment of            doubts that these things `figuratively indicate certain
   blessedness, and will receive rewards from God? I                  mysteries, the history having taken place in appear-
   am well aware that those who would daringly assert                 ance, and not literally. Cain also, when going forth
   that these evils were created by God will quote certain            from the presence of God, certainly appears to thought-
   expressions of Scripture (in their support), because we            ful men as likely to lead the reader to inquire what is
   are not able to show one consistent series of passages;            the presence of God, and what is the meaning of going
   for although Scripture (generally) blames the wicked               out from Him. And what need is there to say more,
   and approves of the righteous, it nevertheless contains            since those who are not altogether blind can collect
   some statements which, although comparatively few in               cbuntless instances of a similar kind recorded as
   number, seem to disturb the minds of ignorant readers              having occurred, but which did not literally take place?
   of holy Scripture.        I have not, however, deemed it           Nay, the Gospels themselves are filled with the same
   appropriate to my present treatise to quote on the                 kind of narratives; e.g., the devil leading Jesus up into
   present occasion those discordant statements, which                a high mountain, in order to show him from thence
   are many in number, and their explanations, which                  the kingdoms of the whole world, and  theglory  of them.
   would- require a long array of proofs. Evils, then, if             For who is there among those who do not read such
   those be meant which are properly so called, were not              accounts carelessly, that would not condemn those who
   created by God; but some, although few in cornparis%
                                            -                         think that with the eye of the body -which requires a
   with the order of the whole world, have resulted from
                              -    -                                  lofty height in order that the parts lying (immediately)


                                             THE.STANDARD BEARER                                                   379


   under the adjacent may be seen-the kingdoms of the         of what part of the Scriptures may we say that it is
   Persians, the Scythians, and Indians, and Parthians,       real? Why were not the wilderness, the temple pinnacle
   were beheld, and the manner in which their princes         and the mountain in the Scriptural account of Jesus'
   are glorified among men? And the attentive reader
   may notice in the Gospels innumerable other passages       temptation by the devil in the wilderness real? If the
   like these, so `that he will be convinced that in the      account of this temptation be not real as recorded in
   histories that are literally recorded, circumstances       the Word of God, who will prevent me from concluding
   that did not occur are inserted.                           that no temptation ever took place?        And the same
   It appears from the above quotation  that Origin           applies to the fall of Adam and Eve in Paradise. We
follows the allegorical interpretation of the narrative       certainly do not go along with this allegorical  inter-
of the fall of man. He also applies this allegorical          terpretation of Holy Writ, although we must bear in
interpretation to the temptation of Jesus in the wilder-      mind that the early Church Fathers did delight in the
ness.    But, of course, we may well ask: if the allegor-     mystical interpretation of the Word of God.
ical interpretation of the Scriptures must be applied to         According to some, Irenaeus must be understood as
the Word of God, what, then, are we to believe? If            having explained the fall of man spiritually, although
things are not as recorded in the Scriptures, how, then,      Hagenback writes that this Church Father speaks
are they?  If there were no serpentwhospoke to Eve, no        elsewhere plainly enough of the fall of Adam as an
tree of life and no tree of knowledge of good and evil,       historical fact. However, we were not able to locate
what right do we have to assume that there was a              these quotations of Irenaeus, and are therefore unable
real Eve that was tempted by the devil, and a real            to quote them. Irenaeus, however, is known as very
Adam who ate of the forbidden fruit. If we may say of         fundamental in his views. The Lord willing, we will
this or that part of the Word of God that it is not real,     continue with this in our following article.


ALL AROUND  US-

              Confessional Change Among Presbyterians

                                       Trouble Among Roman Catholics

                                                    by Prof. H. Hanko


CONFESSIONAL CHANGE AMONG PRESBYTERIANS                       pleases within the United Presbyterian Church without
   The new "Confession of 1967" has been adopted by           worrying about disagreement with any creeds.  Ail one
more than two-thirds of the presbyteries of the United        need do is be guided and instructed by these creeds;
Presbyterian Church USA.          This was necessary in       i.e. give the same value to them as to any book in one's
order for the Confession to come before the General           library.
Assembly for a final vote of approval. This final vote           There is a necessity for this sort of action in a
will take place at the General Assembly Meeting May           church such as the United Presbyterian Church  - and
16-24, and needs only a simple majority to pass.              many other churches as well. That necessity arises,
   The "Confession of 1967" was not exactly intended          in the first place, out of the fact that there are within
to replace the present confessions of the United              these denominations many ministers who have rejected
Presbyterian Church  - the Westminster Creeds.                the truth of Scripture to a greater `or lesser degree.
Rather, it will become a part of a doctrinal package          One would think that the solution to this problem would
which will be called a "Book of Confessions", and will        be to censure these ministers and expel-them from the
include the Westminster Confession of Faith, the              church. But this has become impossible inasmuch as
Shorter Catechism, but not the Larger Catechism               the church has lost the strength to exercise any form
composed by the Westminster divines.                          of Christian discipline. So their presence has to be
   However, none of the confessions will be binding           recognized and dealt with. The solution is therefore,
upon the officebearers in the church. For, in connec-         to leave them in the church and give official approval
tion with the adoption of this "book of confessions" a        to their right to deny Scripture.
new ordination vow will also be adopted, in which  office-       In the second place, this necessity arises out of the
bearers merely pledge themselves to study the con-            commitments to ecumenism which the United Presby-
fessions and perform their duties under the guidance          terian Church (like many other denominations) has
and instruction of these documents. In other words, it        made.       It is impossible for a denomination to unite
will presently be possible to believe anything one            with other denominations of different beliefs as long as


380                                            THE STANDARD BEARER

the creeds stand there as statements of faith. They           about by the Spirit of Christ - the Spirit of Truth which
are effective barriers on the road to ecclesiastical          dwells in the church in the entire New Dispensation.
unity.    Again the solution to the problem would be             This is the purpose of the creeds. They are an
(obviously) to forget about these mergers which have          expression of the mind of Christ as revealed in the
nothing to do with the unity of the body of Christ. But,      Scriptures.    And, as such, they form the basis of true
along with (and because of) the doctrinal apostasy in         union in Christ.' The way to unity can never be the way
these denominations, goes the desire to form a world-         of discarding the creeds and ceasing to be a  creedal
wide church fashioned after the pattern of the World          church. This is, in effect, the very opposite. It is a
Council of Churches or the COCU (Conversations on             destruction of the unity of the church. It may be some
Church Union) talks.      And so again, the solution is       sort of  unity- a unity of sin and untruth. But it is a
simply to discard the creeds and make of them histor-         counterfeit unity that bears no resemblance to the
ical documents which have no more value than a dusty,         unity of the church.
archaic curiosity which we may consult if we are                 If there are men in the church who no longer sub-
inclined to enjoy historical research.         If you are     scribe to the creeds, nor confess their truth, the solu-
interested in Egyptology, you will enjoy examining old        tion to the problem is not to dispose of the creeds; it
mummies. If you are interested in church history, you         is to cast out these men who have been "tossed about
can always pull these old creeds off the shelf and read       by every wind of doctrine" and preserve the unity of
in them from time to time.                                    the church by expelling those who seek to destroy it by
   But all this underscores precisely why the creeds          destroying the mind of Christ.
were originally written; and what remains their abiding          It is a sad day when not only in Presbyterian
importance today.                                             churches, but also in Reformed churches there is so.
   Basic to our understanding of the creeds is the firm       much talk about ridding the church of the creeds. The
belief that they are statements of the Church of Jesus        cries are growing louder, at least to change them and
Christ in which that Church expresses what she believes       rewrite what our fathers wrote. But in doing so the
to be the truth of the Word of God. Implicit in this          church in this age cuts herself off from the church in
statement are three corollaries. The first is that the        ages gone by. It destroys the unity which exists be-
Scriptures are the infallible record of the revelation of     tween the church today and the saints who have gone
God through Jesus Christ. The second is that, because         before us into glory.        And in destroying this unity,
Scripture is the infallible record of the revelation of       unity in our present world becomes a spiritual impos-
God in Christ, it is Truth (with a capital T), timeless       sibility. The men who advocate this detest the work of
and enduring. That is, the Churchof  400 years ago was        the Spirit of Truth, throw scorn upon the confession of
not. simply confessing something which was truth in           saints who have sealed their faith oftentimes in blood,
their time and for their `time; but that with the changes     and then piously prate about seeking unity. This is, on
of the ages this truth is no longer truth today. God's        the face of it, twaddle.
truth is the truth of an eternal and unchangeable God.           Our confessions, bases of true unity, must be re-
It is truth today as it was always and as it will be for-     tained exactly to keep out. of the church those who (in
ever.     In the third place, the Church was able to          the name of unity) destroy that unity by destroying the
confess that she believed these things to be the truth        church.
of Scripture because she possessed the guidance of the           But if our confessions are going to continue to mean
Spirit of Truth which Christ promised His Church before       anything to us, it is very important that these confes-
His passion. "And I will pray the Father, and he shall        sions continue to be living confessions of the saints.
give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you        They must not remain on the back pages of the Psalter.
forever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world             They must live within the hearts of the faithful and
cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither             become a confession by which their whole life is
knoweth him: but ye know him; for, he dwelleth with           directed in the world.
you, and shall be in you." John  14:16, 17. "Howbeit                                      * * *
when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you         There is a revision of the Apostle's Creed which is
into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but        presently in use in the Community Church of a suburb
whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he         of Chicago which we quote from the Lutheran News.
will show you things to come." John  16:13.                      I believe in one God, the Father, all loving; Maker
   If all this is true (and it surely is), then the creeds    of all that is; and in Jesus Christ, loveliest of His many
serve a most important purpose in the life of the             sons, our friend; who was born of the Mother, Mary;
church - a purpose which continues till today.                moved by the Spirit of God; suffered under the systems
   Essentially, they are the basis for the unity of the       of men; was crucified and died for the sake of truth and
church of Christ. The unity of the church of Christ, is       right. Yet He lives again in the lives made beautiful
a unity which she has only in  Christ, Christ is the          by His -truth, ascending into the hearts of men, and
Head; the church constitutes the various members.             working at the right hand of God, the Father, who works
But, as the apostle makes very clear, (Ephesians 4:           all that is good. I believe in the Holy Spirit of truth,
l-16) this unity of the church in her relationship to         beauty, and goodness; the ministering Christian Church;
Christ is a unity of the mind of Christ. That is, it is       the communion and cooperation of good men with God
a unity of the  truth  of God which Christ reveals as the     and with each other; the destruction of sin by right-
fulness of God's revelation. And this unity is brought        eousness; the worth and beauty of human personality;


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                     381


and the everlastingness of the life that is in God. Amen.     fection in which we still live  onour  climb to perfection.
   It should not be too long before most churches will        Baptism of infants is consequently discarded. Heaven
be able to subscribe without a gulp to these altera-          and hell are openly mocked. The doctrine of  transub-
tions in the creed.                                           stantiation is criticized.
TROUBLE AMONG ROMAN CATHOLICS                                    But this same spirit of change is present in the field
FROM THE NETHERLANDS                                          of ethics. In the past three years almost 300 members
                                                              of the clergy have left the church, many of them to
   The Second Vatican Council opened doors to change          marry. And there is strong agitationto end compulsory
in the Roman Catholic Church which not even the               celibacy. Contraception is openly practiced and con-
Vatican can close. There are doctrinal disputes and           doned by the hierarchy. And the "new morality" or
discussions going on in Rome's communion of churches          "situation ethics" is welcomed as being more in
which sound as if the Romish heirarchy is trying              keeping with the life we must live in our modern era.
desperately to catch up with Protestant modernism.            Sexual promiscuity is not considered to be sin.
While this is more or less true in many countries                All this brings Roman Catholicism much closer to
with Romish Churches, it is especially true in the            Protestantism. The result is that there is more contact
Netherlands, once considered almost as conservative           between Roman Catholics and Protestants in the Neth-
as the church in Italy.                                       erlands than anywhere else. Many combined services
                                                              are held  - even to the point of joint celebration of the
   Among ideas openly discussed and maintained in             Lord's Supper. It is forgotten that our fathers called
the Netherlands is a denial of the virgin birth of Christ.    the mass "an accursed idolatry."          Marriages are
Many now think that the perpetual virginity of Mary is        performed with both protestant ministers and Romish
a myth and that Christ is the son of Joseph as well as        priests presiding.     And promises are no longer re-
Mary, and therefore, not divine. The resurrection of          quired to bring up children born in mixed marriages
Christ too is no longer accepted by many of the clergy.       as Catholics .
One theologian writes, "One generally likes to con-              When such things are going on, union cannot be far
sider his Resurrection as being the impact of his             away - even if the  Pope is distressed by these things
personality on his disciples and his presence in the          and issues warnings against them.        The church will
hearts of all Christians." Original sin is claimed to         carry him ( or any successor) along the road to union.
be a symbolic means of expressing a state of imper-           And the time may not be too far away.



  FROM HOLY  WRIT-


                            The  &ook of Hebrews

                                                  by Rev. G. Lubbers


                                                    He brews 3:1- 6


THE BACKWARD GLANCE IN THE TEXT (vs. 1)                       him; did they not all speak of the sufferings to come upon
   In the first two Chapters of this letter the writer        him and the glory to follow? Must not the Christ suffer
had laid down the solid basis for the entire argument         all these things and thus enter into his glory. Must not
and for all the exhortations which follow in this letter.     the Son of man be lifted up on the Cross and thus  be
He had pointed out the greatness of the Son of God, his       lifted up on high at God's right hand? (I Peter  l:l-12:
exaltedness over all creatures in heaven and on earth         Luke  24:26, 27, 46; John  3:14) If Christ the anointed of
through the suffering of death. He is appointed of God        God is so great, if the historical Jesus  .is  so,central
as the one who will destroy him who had the grip of           and all-important, then surely we ought to give good
death upon all the sons, the brethren who must be led         heed and consider him a bit more  indepth  as portrayed
to glory.    He is made like unto us in all things, sin       and revealed to us in the Scriptures.
excepted.    We see him stand before us in the Gospel            Besides, the Hebrew believers are not sharers
as the merciful and faithful high priest.                     (metochoi)  of some earthly benefits, an earthly land
   There is abundant reason why we should take a good         and privileges, but they are in a common possession
look of faith and consider this high priest  -as he is        of some  heavenly  calling, a heavenly hope which is
presented to us in the Old Testament Scriptures. Did          extended into the world to come.         And this world to
not Moses, the Prophets and all the Psalms speak of           come is not some mere "world tomorrow," an earthly


382                                          THESTANDARDBEARER

Utopia of peace on earth, but means that by means of         Jesus and Moses had a direct testimony from God, and
the efficacious calling by the Holy Spirit we are now        that repeatedly. For were not these Hebrews in danger
already come to the heavenly mount Zion, the city of         of forgetting that if they would choose Moses instead of
the living God! (Hebrews 11:12-16; 12:18-24) The status      the historical Jesus, they would also deny Moses'
of the church, whether in the Old Testament in hope or       meaning and exaltedness in the economy of salvation?
in the New Testament in the risen, exalted and glorified     It is here no question of either/or, Moses or Jesus; it
Lord Jesus, is ever that we share in things heavenly.        is emphatically a question of adhering to both, but each
(Ephesians 2:6-10)                                           in his God-ordained place and rank. We must have
   Since such is our status as believers in Christ Jesus     both Moses and Jesus.         Does not Christ say to the
our Lord we do well, and we are in good spiritual            Jews of his day "for if ye had believed Moses, ye
decorum and taste when we give an accurate and be-           would have believed me." emphatic  "emoi"  =  me, in
lieving consideration to Jesus, the Apostle and High         Greek text for he wrote concerning me." (emphatic
Priest of our profession!                                    "emou"  =  .me, in the Greek text) No, Moses did not
JESUS,APOSTLEANDHIGHPRIESTOFOUR                              simply write a few references to Christ, but the entire
PROFESSION (vs. 1, 2)                                        Moses, the Pentateuch Scriptures, have one subject:
                                                             Jesus, who will save his people from their sins. (John
   The writer is here speaking of the historical             5:45-47)
"Jesus." He refers most emphatically to the one of              For the law was given by Moses but grace and truth
whom Peter says on the day of Pentecost  rra man             are (became a reality) through Jesus Christ! (John 1:17)
approved among you of God by signs and wonders."             And this Jesus is the Only Begotten God, who is in the
(Acts  2:22) Yes, God performed these wonders through        bosom of the Father, and he it is that has declared
him.    Such was the testimony of a Nicodemus when he        (exegeted) God to us in the fulness of grace and truth!
said "Rabbi, we know that thou art ateacher  come from       (John 1:18)
God; for no man can do these miracles (signs) that              This Jesus is "the Apostle and High Priest of our
thou doest except God be with him." (John 3:2; compare       profession." The writer places himself on the  same
Hebrews 2:3; John 14:lO)                                     solid and hallowed ground with the readers. Both he
   There is some question as to the correct reading of       and. the readers have an avowed participation in this
the Greek text here.          In some readings the name      Jesus; both have this in a common profession. For the
"Christ" is omitted.         It really makes no essential    term "profession" here does not merely refer to the
difference whether it be retained or not. The main           content and substance of our confession. It is more than
emphasis seems to fall on the name "Jesus." That             a mere formulation of faith in the back of some church
he is the Christ is, of course, implied already in his       Psalter, upon which the dust of dead orthodoxy can
being High Priest and that he is the Sent One, the           gather, yea, often does! The KJV "profession" refers
Apostle of our profession. At any rate it ought not to       to the actual profession, the actual confession of Jesus
escape our attention that the name "Jesus" is very           as Lord. No one can say: Lord, JESUS, except through
often employed here by the writer to the Hebrews.            the Holy Ghost.    As partakers of the heavenly calling,
Already in Chapter 2:9 we read "but we see Jesus, who        that is exactly what we confess: Jesus, my Lord! (I
was made a little lower than the angels crowned with         Corinthians  12:3) And this is the point of departure of
glory and honor for the suffering of death." Is he not       the writer. If this be not true then are they reprobate.
a brother amidst the brethren? (Hebrews  2:11-14) Is         (II Corinthians 13:5)
it not Jesus, the Son of God, who has passed through            The writer conceives of the "Apostle" and "High
the heavens? (Hebrews 4:14) And did not the forerunner       Priest" as being one and the same Jesus, as is evident
of our faith enter into the holy place as Jesus, who         from the use of the one article "the." There is a
saves his people from their sins? (Hebrews  6:20) Was        difference between these two. That the writer speaks
not Jesus made the surety of a better covenant?              of Jesus here as "the Apostle" is to indicate that
(Hebrews  7~22) And do we not have boldness to enter         Jesus is' the one sent from the Father into the world.
into the heavenly holy place by the blood of Jesus?          (John  3:17, 34;  5:38;  6:29 etc) He did not take this
(Hebrews  10:19) And is Jesus not the Author and             honor to himself.        He is the Servant of Jehovah. It
finisher of our faith? (Hebrews  12:2) And is Jesus not      must be borne in mind that Jesus was sent emphatically
the Mediator of the New Testament  :in his blood?            of the Father to be the High Priest, to be the Builder
(Hebrews  12:24) And, finally, did Jesus not sanctify        of the church and to found her upon Himself as the
the people through his own blood, while he suffered          Chief Corner-stone! Here he came into this world,
without the gate? (Hebrews 13:12)                            he came into- the very theatre where Moses had stood,
   Surely there was abundant reason to underscore the        so that they have become cornparables. Their relative
name of Jesus, the historical Christ, who was made           greatness can be compared.
like unto us in all things, sin excepted. The question          It is from this vantage-point that the writer pro-  I
is exactly, who is this Jesus? How does he stand and         ceeds to make this comparison for those who are
rate in glory compared with the greatest in the Old          partakers of the heavenly calling, which reveals itself
Testament amongst the servants of God? Hence, the            in their profession concerning this Jesus. We must
writer proceeds to examine the greatness of this Jesus       take a good look at Jesus, we must consider this Jesus
by comparing him with what God says of Moses' great-         very carefully. No, we must not stare at Moses till we
ness in the Old Testament Scriptures. Surely both            are blind for Christ's presence and greatness. On the


                                                                                          9

                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                      383


contrary, we must look at this Jesus as he stands             Moses might enter upon the Mount of God to speak with
in the house and temple of God, in the church in the          God face to face. The Lord counts Paul worthy and
midst of the brethren.         Both Jesus and Moses are       faithful to preach to the Gentiles, and the Lord counts
placed here, but each in their own order. Here we             Moses faithful in all his house by virtue of having ap-
have a comparison made between the greatest among             pointed him as the Law-giver. It was Moses who saw
the Old Testament saints and servants of God and the          the pattern of the things heavenly and who descended
very Son of God called Jesus! No, this is not a com-          the mount, all on fire, with the fiery and holy oracles.
parison between Aaron and Christ, between two orders          He might see the similitude of-God,  be it then from the
of the priesthood, but between the Mediator, Jesus, and       cleft of the rock. (Exodus  24:15-18;  33:20-23;  34:29-35)
the Law-giver, Moses!                                         And the glory of Moses' face was even too much for
                                                              Aaron to behold. It was indeed glorious but really had
THE SPECIFIC CONSIDERATION: JESUS AND MOSES                   no glory because of the glory which excelleth in Jesus.
                                                              (II Corinthians 3:8-18)
(vs.  3-6)                                                       To such a glorious Moses, who is counted faithful
   In the first place it ought to be observed that they       by God, in all his house, is the Christ compared. Now
are compared as to their faithfulness in their respective     let us notice this Moses in all his glory as a servant.
offices.      Moses was faithful in all "his house." We       He was no mere servant in the common sense of the
have here a reference in the text to Numbers  12:7            term.     He is no mere  doulos,  a slave, but he is a
where we read "My servant Moses is not so, who is             Thevapoon,  ahelper,  an attendant.1 The emphasis does
faithful in all mine house." That the writer to the           not fall upon his permanent social status, but rather
Hebrews speaks of "his house" does not essentially            upon his voluntary and free service.              His work is
alter the sense of the passage. The same house is             emphasized and not his lowly station. And great was
meant.        It is the church in the wilderness, gathered    this work.       However, even in this greatness it was
about the tent of meeting. The viewpoint is different.        limited to one who can be of service in a house that is
In Numbers 12:7 the Lord Himself is speaking of Moses         already built, or which would be permanently and
to Miriam and Aaron, while here the writer.is  speaking       gloriously built by another ac  ording to the pattern
of the Lord and changes the first person into the third       shown on the mount. (Hebrews 8:s; Exodus 25:40; 26:30)
person. In either case it refers to God!                          (1) "Here only in the N.T.: Hoos Therupoo?z. Thus in
   It ought to be noticed that we have here a passage             Septuagint in Deut. 12;7, Josh. 1:2; 8:31, 33. The same
in which Moses is designated by the LORD Himself                 person may be described by both doUos  and thrapoon
as being superior to Aaron. Now the priesthood would              under different aspects".      Compare Westcott "The
not come from Moses, but from Aaron. However, only                Epistle To The Hebrews" page 77.



                         N O T I C E                                        RESOL UTION OF SYMPATHY
Pre-Seminary and Seminary Students in need of fi-             The Adult Bible Class of the Randolph Protestant Re-
nancial assistance in attending our Protestant Reformed       formed Church wishes to express its sympathy to two of
Seminary should come to the meeting of the Student Aid        its members, Mr. and Mrs. Ted Huizenga, in the loss
Committee to be held May 17 at 8 o'clock in our               of her mother
Southwest Protestant Reformed Church.                                            MRS. JENNIE ALSUM
                                        P. Cnossen, Sec'y.    Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.
                                                                                         Mr. Dewey  Alsum,  Pres.'
                                                                                         Mrs. Frank Fisher, Sec'y.
                        IN ME&lORIAM
On Monday evening, April  10, our Heavenly Father
called to Himself our beloved Mother and Grandmother,
                    MRS. JENNIS ALSUM                                       RESOL UTION OF SYMPATHY
                                                                                                           `
at the age of 75 years.                                       The Ladies Society of the Hudsonville Protestant Re-
    "For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He          formed Church herewith expresses its sincere sympathy
shall stand at the latter day upon theearth. And though       to two of its members, Mrs. Henry A.  Schut, and Mrs.
after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh        Harry  Zwak, the former in the loss of her brother,
shall I see God". Job  19:25 and 26.                                            ANTHONYDEKRAKER
                           Mr. and Mrs, John Alsum            and the latter in the loss of her sister,
                           Mr. and Mrs. Ted Huizenga                               MRS. ANGY YULE
                           Mr. and Mrs. Henry Slager          May the Lord comfort them by  .His grace which is
                           Mr. and Mrs. Ben De Young          always sufficient unto all things, and grant them the
                          .Mr. and Mrs. Ted Westra            assurance that, when their earthly house of this taber-
                                12 grandchildren              nacle is dissolved, they will have a building of God, not
                                 3 great grandchildren        .made  with hands, but eternalin the heavens. II Cor. 5:l
Randolph, Wis .                                                                       Mrs. Gerald Vander Kooy, Sec'y.


                                                           ,--~~_  - -
                                 -.
 384                                               THE STANDARD BEARER


                                         NEWS FROM OUR  CHURCPIES-

                                                  May 1, 1967      tics".     Rev.    Woudenberg's     "Studies in Biblical
    Rev. D. Engelsma is again in receipt of a call from            Doctrine" is still enjoying a wide response from many
 our Hull congregation, the second within a year, while            States.    Readers write: "I am enjoying the "Studies"
he was still considering a call from South Holland,                very much. It is a unique way of presenting the Word."
 which he has subsequently declined.                               .&id, "I certainly receive a blessing from the `Studies",
                            * * *                                  and I want to thank you personally, even as I pray God's
    Tornadoes have recently raked paths of destruction             blessing upon them for others..."
 through the cities of Oak Lawn and Grand Rapids                                             * * *
 wherein some of our churches reside. Through this                    Oak Lawn's Church Extension Committee regularly
 powerful manifestation of God's wrath upon this cursed            mails out neatly printed sheets under the title, "Scrip-
world and fallen mankind we again witnessed. a pre-                tural Meditations". Number six was a dissertation on,
 cursory sign of the complete destruction of this world            "The Covenant of God". And so each of our churches,
 and all it contains. But for people of God this same              in its own way, strives to follow the injunction of our
 sign was a means to point us to our deliverance which             Lord to be as "a lighted candle set on a candlestick"
 will be ours at the final holocaust when we shall be              and "a city set on  a  hill", remembering that it was He,
 lifted up to meet our Lord  - to be separated from the            our blessed Lord, Who told us that we are the light of
 old earth, melting with fervent heat, to be transplanted          the world!
 upon the new earth wherein righteousness shall dwell                                        * * *
 and the Eternal Tabernacle of God shall be with the                  The Eastern Ladies League Fall Meeting was held
 men of His good pleasure.             Surely, the  power  of a    in Hudsonville Church, April 28, with Rev. H. Veldman
 tornado is also a picture of the Infinite Power which we          as speaker. The topic of his speech was, "The New
 confess to be that by which "He upholds and governs               Morality" and was considered under three sub-titles,
 all things for the service of mankind to the end that             "The Meaning, The Fundamental Error, and The Certain
 men may serve God".                                               Collapse". The speaker noted that modern men, as all
                            * *  *                                 their earlier counterparts, take it upon themselves to
    Holland's new minister, Rev. J. A. Heys, was                   sit in judgment upon what is right and what is wrong,
 installed in a regular divine worship service Friday              while only God has that prerogative, which shall be fully
 evening, April 28.      Rev. H. Veldman conducted the             manifested in the Day of Judgment. The comforting
 service, including the reading of the Form for Instal-            theme found in the speech was the fact that the people
 lation. The sermon was an exposition of Ephesians 6:19            of God still have the privilege to instruct their children
 under the theme, "A Prayer for Utterance", examining              in the Scriptural truth over against the lie of the modern
 the prayer from the three-fold aspect of its Object,              educator. Special music was furnished by an octette
 its Necessity and its Fruit. Agoodlynumber of visitors            from Southwest Church who sang, "Great is thy faith-
 joined the congregation to fill the auditorium to near            fulness".     A very liberal offering was received, which
 capacity to welcome Rev. Heys to Holland. At the con-             was tagged for our own High School fund.
 clusion of the service Rev. Heys pronounced the bene-
 diction of the Triune God upon his new flock.                                               * * *
                            * * *                                     Hull's Young People's Society has extended an invi-
    The fourth of the current Lecture Series was held'             tation to the Convention Board to hold the 1967 Convention
 in First Church April 20 with Rev. G. Van  Baren  on              in their church. The first harbinger of this event was
 the speaker's stand. The audience was the usual at-               seen in Loveland's bulletin in which appeared an an-
 tentive one as they followed the speaker's treatise on,           nouncement that their members could expect a visit from
 "Irresistible Grace". This evening differed from the              their young people soliciting donations for their annual
 first three in that there was no snow storm to dissuade           assembly.
 the public from venturing  oti,We  canindeed be grate-                                      *  * *
 ful that so many people are interested in the truths set             Another thought in connection with  .the recent tor-
 forth in Calvin's famous Five Points. Music was fur-              nado: Even as in the end of time, so now - as demonstra-
 nished by a male quartet from Hope Church, and Mrs.               ted by the published statement of a Grand Rapids clergy-
 C. Lubbers was at her accustomed place at the pipe                man that the Finger of God was not in this, but that it
o r g a n . Rev. Ban Baren  has been named to render the           was merely a natural occurence - The Book of Revela-
 final lecture of this series May 11.  Were you there?             tion prophesies: "And they repented not."
                         * * *                                                               * * *
        Lynden's Adult Bible Class examined the truth -of             Oak Lawn's consistory originated preliminary steps
 Justification in their April 5th meeting. Significantly,          to celebrate their 40th anniversary in June, appointing
 the recommended reading for preparation for this study            two of its members to the planning thereof.
 was pages 499-509 of  Rev-;-H. Hoeksema's "Dogma-                    . . .see you in church.                         J.M.F.


