      The
STANDARD
      B E A R E R
/-----A REFORMED SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE                                             I





        "God's Word has to be the most marvellous
    thing in heaven and on earth. That is why it
    must at one and the same time do two opposite
    things, namely give perfect light and glory to
    those who believe it, and bring utter blindness
    and shame upon those who believe it not. To the
    former it  .must be the `most certain and best
    known of all things; to the latter it must be the
    most unknown and obscure of all things. The
    former must extol and praise it above all things;
    the latter must  .blaspheme and slander it above
    all things. So does it operate to -perfection and
    achieve in the hearts of men no insignificant
   works, but strange and terrible works."
                            Martin Luther, Luther's Works,
                                                        Vol. 45, k. 156


                                          Volume  LII, Number 4, November  15,1975  J


578                                                       THE STANDARD BEARER




                          CONTENTS:                                                                       THE STANDARD  BEARER
Meditation  -                                                                Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July, and August.
                                                                              Published by the Reformed Free Publishing Association, Inc.
  The Song of Creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .578               Second Class Postaee Paid at Grand Raoids.  Mich.
                                                                          Editor-in-Chief: Prof. Homer C. Hoeksema
Editorials -                                                              Department Editors:  Prof. Robert D. Decker, Rev. David J.  Engelsma.
                                                                          Rev. Cornelius Hanko, Prof. Herman Hanko, Rev. Robert C. Harbach,
                                                                          Rev. John A.  He&, Rev. Jay Kortering, Rev. Dale H.  Kuiper,. Rev.
   Editor's Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .581    George C. Lubbers, Rev. Meindert Joostens, Rev.  ,Marinus   Schrpper,
                                                                          Rev. Gise J. Van  Baren, Rev. Herman  Veldman,  Mr. Kenneth G. Vink.
  A Word of Explanation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .581            Editorial Office:  Prof. H. C. Hoeksema
                                                                                               4975  Ivanrest  Ave. S.W.
  An Open Letter to Rev. G. I. Williamson . . . . .582                                         Grandville.  Michigan   49418
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MEDITA  TIO N



                                        The Song of Creati,on

                                                                Rev. C. Hanko
                                      All things are done in parables.
                                                                                                     Mark4:ll.


   Have you ever stood in rapt wonder as the setting                        morning sky, and arousing the birds from their slum-
sun majestically bid its farewell to the day, flooding                      ber? Have you listened to the busy chirping of the
the skies with radiant splendor and giving to the ap-                       birds, the cheery song of the wren, the ,mstling  of the
proaching night the confidence of ultimate victory?                         leaves, the whisper of the wind, the rhythmic beat of
Have you ever watched the innumerable stars in their                        the waves against the shore? Have you paused to ad-
courses through the dome of the heavens, one sur-                           mire a flower, a blade of grass, a leaf, or watched a
passing the other in brightness? Have you greeted the                       busy ant hasten about its business? Surely your soul
dawn as the first rays of light broke over the distant                      has responded along with the Psalmist: "The heavens
hills, silhouetting the trees in bold relief against the                    are telling the glory of God, the firmament is  dis-


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 579



 playing the work of His hands; day unto day wells            upright, leans toward Satan, sin and evil, until he falls
 forth speech, night unto night shows wisdom."                completely and lies prone on the ground, in the
   Jesus heard this song of creation far better than          sphere of death. No one but Christ through His aton-
 you or I ever can hope to do on this side of the             ing death of the cross and His powerful resurrection
 Jordan of death. Jesus saw a farmer walking along the        can raise the dead sinner into an upright position be-
 hillside, spreading seed with the wave of his hand, and      fore God. The line that slopes downward leads ever
 He saw a parable. Jesus walked past a dirty field of         farther into sin, ever deeper into death; it becomes
 grain; the farmer had sown good seed in the field, but       like a swift toboggan ride into the abyss. It is the
 weeds had sprung up along with the grain, in Jesus'          upward grade, the struggling, narrow way that leads
 eyes was another parable. The Lord saw Peter and             to life. Cross-bearers over Calvary's heights reach the
 Andrew drawing up their net full of fishes off the           golden reahns of eternity.
 shore of the Sea of Galilee, and He smiled at the              We are all acquainted with the symbolism of num-
 parable. The Good Shepherd saw an ordinary shep-             bers. One is a unit that stands alone. There is strength
 herd with his flock, He saw a vine and admired the           in that single unit, even as God is the "Wholly Oth-
 vineyard, He noticed a leper by the way, watched the         er, " the independent, self-sufficient, sovereign One.
 eagle soar through the sky, heard the cry of the wolf        Three  points to the three persons in the Trinity.
 - yes - there were thousands of voices speaking to           Three often makes a single combination: think of the
 Him, an endless display of marvels unfolding before          three basic colors, the three notes of music, the fact
 His eyes, waiting for His nose to smell, for His hand        that water appears in the threefold form of water, ice
 to touch, for His sensitive soul to respond. Every one       and steam. Four turns our attention to the four cor-
of these relayed to Him a message of the spiritual and        ners of the earth. Even as the horizontal line, it repre-
 the heavenly. For He understood so very well that            sents the earthly maybe even the earthly as it still lies
 God was doing all things in parables.                        under the curse. The flood lasted forty days, Israel
                                                              roamed the desert for forty years, Elijah spent forty
   Little things belong to this speech of creation. A         days travelling that desert, Jesus was forty days in the
 dot  - like this . ? A horizontal line, like this            wilderness. Six is the number of man without God. It
             ? Or maybe a vertical line? A slanting           is the week without the Sabbath, it spells out the vain
 line? Let's take a look. We make use of a dot, a             attempts of man throughout all of history in his striv-
 period at the end of a sentence. We use the word             ing to be as God. Six, when multiplied by 10 makes
 "period" to denote a span of time. It stresses for us        60, when multiplied by 100 makes .600, a total of 666
 that we reach an end. It calls for a pause. We pause in      - mere empty vanity. Seven is the covenant number,
 that ever moving span of time, until time shall be no        God in intimate communion with His creation, the
 more. Then God sets His final period upon all that           sum of three plus four. For God so loved the world
 belongs to time and introduces for us eternity. A            (the four) that He gave His only begotten Son to
 straight line goes right to the point, like an arrow that    redeem that world unto Himself for the day when He
 flies to its target. The horizontal line reminds us of       makes all things new. Look at the starry heavens and
 the broad expanse of prairie that reaches out to the         see the numerous combinations of three and four in
 horizon. It is the earthly in distinction from the heav-     the stars, as if God would have us know that He keeps
 enly. An animal stands in that horizontal position, all
 four feet on the ground, reaching his nose down to the       covenant even through the dark hours of the night.
                                                              Ten expresses a fulness, an ever increasing fumess that
 ground to satisfy his hunger. Did Asaph have this in         grows into 100, 1,000,  l,OOO,OOO, and thus on and
 mind in Psalm 73 when he complained about his envy           on into the infinity of God Himself.
 of the prosperity of the wicked: "So foolish was I,
 and ignorant: I was as a beast before Thee"? Did he            Colors speak their own language. White and black
 mean to say, "I saw no farther than my nose was              stand antithetically opposed to one another. The God
 long"? The vertical line is much more appealing. It          of the antithesis makes day and night, light and dark-
 stands erect to point heavenward, like the towering          ness, heaven and hell. Black is, interestingly enough,
 spire of a church. Man was created in the image of           the absence of all color. White is the combination of
 God to stand erect and to lift up his eyes unto the          all. the colors. One ray of light breaks into an array of
 hills, from whence cometh his help. The vertical line        colors like a rainbow. Therefore the rainbow is so
 speaks of uprightness, conformity to the law of God,         fittingly the sign of God's promise that He will surely
 a courage that is born from the consciousness of di-         save His people, keeping covenant, forever, even
 vine approval. The slanting line is a departure from         through judgment. The rainbow spreads itself on the
 the vertical. It is out of plumb, leans away, hangs          black background of the departing storm. Colors can
 awry. It is most disturbing to see a building out of         be warm or cold, relaxing or disturbing, appealing or
 plumb, or a picture that hangs awry on the wall. The         ugly, happy or sad. White is the happy, bright color
 sinner who transgresses God's law slants off from the        that speaks of holiness, purity, life, victory. Black is


580                                             THE STANDARD BEARER



the mournful color of sin, curse, judgment, death. Sin         Canyon, gouged out of the continent's heart by no
hides under the. cover of darkness; the enemy lurks in         human hand. There is evidence everywhere of the
the shadows of the night. Purple belongs to royalty.           great Flood that destroyed the first world of wicked
Verdant green reminds us of the springtime, while              men and changed the whole contour of the earth. The
golden yellow tells of harvest time. Red is the wild,          desert with its endless span of sand and waste wit-
angry color that "makes us see red." One is impressed          nesses of the great desolation that God brings upon
by the fact that colors can clash horribly, and yet            the earth. The farmer wrestles with weeds, insects,
colors can also harmonize beautifully in a grand dis-          drought and floods. Sickness and diseases penetrate
play of splendor. Heaven must be very colorful.                into our homes. Tornadoes roar through the country,
                                                               leaving a trail of destruction. In an ever increasing
  All creation joins in singing its Maker's praise. The        measure God sends us the signs of the times that
sun in the heavens tells of God's dazzling holiness, as        point to the: swiftly approaching end. "The voice of
One Whom no man has seen nor can ever see. At the              the Lord is upon the waters; the God of glory thun-
same time the Sun of righteousness arises in power             dereth: . . . the voice of the Lord is powerful; the
and marches through the heavens as the Bridegroom              voice of the Lord is full of majesty." (Ps. 29: 3, 4)
Who brings His Bride with Him into everlasting taber-
nacles of blessedness. The moon rides through the                 The wonder of it all is that Zion is delivered
sky, even at times breaks through banks of clouds, to          through judgment. Scripture speaks of the Lamb of
tell us that night is but a shadow awaiting the dawn           God which takes away the sins of the world. He is
of a new day. The starry hosts move serenely above             mighty Conqueror, the Lion of Judah's tribe, the Sun
all the turmoil of this present time. How soothing to          of Righteousness, the Bright and Morning Star.
look beyond all this present confusion and to see that
the church, Abraham's seed, remains unruffled, un-                There are times when the desert blooms like a rose.
troubled, come what may.                                       There is the springtime when trees and shrubs and
                                                               flowers awaken from their long sleep to declare to us
  Creation necessarily speaks of divine wisdom and             the resurrection from the dead. Even the autumn has
knowledge. "The Lord by wisdom hath founded the                a spendor all its own. The seed must fall, to be buried
earth; by understanding hath he established the heav-          in the earth and die, in order to bring forth new life.
ens. By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and            The trees vie with one another in shouting the praises
the clouds drop down the dew." (Prov. 3: 19, 20)               of our God. As I listen I hear the groaning of the
Standing in the midst of this powerful revelation, the         creatures as they travail together in hope, expecting
apostle Paul cries out, "0 the depth of the riches             soon to be delivered from the bondage of corruption
both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how un-               into the glorious liberty of the sons of God. (Rom 8:
searchable are his judgments, and his ways past find-          20-23)
ing out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord,
or who hath been his counsellor?" (Rom. 11: 33,34)                The fool says in his heart: evolution, long periods
As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are God's         of development. God speaks in such a plain language
thoughts beyond our thoughts. He is great in counsel           that it is deliberate unbelief which closes a deaf ear to
                                                               His voice. That is as God intended, so that man may
and mighty in work.                                            never find a single excuse for his unbelief.
  Predestination, including election and reprobation,             What an amazing wonder of grace to have eyes to
is clearly pictured before us in creation. A single oak        see, and ears to hear! After all, this is my Father's
produces thousands of acorns, yet very few acorns              world, and in His world He speaks His Word.
become mighty oaks. The cornstalk produces its
leaves, its tassel or flower, its husk and its ear, all for       Lord, open Thou my eyes that I may see ever more
the sake of the kernels of corn that are harvested.            clearly the wonders of Thy Word!
Wheat and tares grow side by side. Scaffolding serves
for the erection of the building and then is torn down
and destroyed.

  We stand in the midst of the judgment of this pres-
ent world. It is evident to anyone who cares to see it
that this earth has already passed through one judg-                                  CORRECTION ! ! !
ment. The lofty Rocky Mountains especially tell of                In the October 1st issue a notice of a change of address was printed.
the power of God that heaved up mountains out of               The zip code was incorrectly printed. The correct address is:
the sea cast huge boulders around in wild disorder,                                MR. RICHARD H.  TEITSMA
scattered the crushed rock as no human power could                                 3681 MOHAVE DRIVE, SW.
ever imitate it. Notice the Great Lakes, or the Grand                                                               -
                                                                                    GRANDVILLE, Ml 49418.


                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                               581



EDITORIALS

                                            Editor's Notes

                                                  ProJ: H. C. Hoeksema


Gremlins! There must have been a bad gremlin in the           Church of America. We thanked him privately, and
office of our typesetting service when Volume 52              we now do so publicly. We value our contacts with a
began. I carefully reminded our printer that this was         few brethren of the PCA, and we hope they will
"Volume LII, Number 1." But you will notice  - if             continue to keep in touch with us and to keep us
you have not noticed already  - that our  page-               informed.
numbers are in the  5OOs! That's where that gremlin                                  *****
did his work: our printer failed to begin the new
volume at page 1. To prevent utter confusion in the           Surplus Copy.  Due to the fact that we had some
annual Index and in the bound volumes we simply               surplus copy and some articles which required
decided to continue throughout this volume with               prompt placement, some of the regular departments
consecutive numbering. Next year  - hopefully  -              are omitted from this issue.
we'll begin at page 1.                                                               *****.
                          *****                               Books for Gifts. If you are thinking about worthwhile
Regrets. We failed to make special mention a month            Christmas gifts, think about our R.F.P.A. books. By
ago of the Special Report by Pastor E. C. Case                this time there is a considerable variety. And they are
concerning the General Assembly of the Presbyterian           all good! Write our Business Manager.




                                   A Word of Explanation

  We were unable, due to space limitations, to                anticipate a lengthy discussion of the Runia con-
continue our Tour Report in this issue. Our editorial,        troversy; in fact, we had not even prepared for such a
however, is related to our Australasian Tour.                 discussion or taken along any information or docu-
  By way of explanation, the following:                       mentation. But this became the chief subject of our
                                                              visit with these three ministers, and particularly with
  1) You will recall that earlier we mentioned the            the Rev. Williamson. The latter had been a minister of
fact that we had contact with people of the                   the Reformed Church of New Zealandi he had been
Reformed Church of New Zealand.                               an opponent of Dr. Runia's teachings; but he had left
                                                              and had served as minister in the United States during
  2) This is the denomination which was embroiled             the period when the Runia controversy came to a
in the Runia controversy a few years ago, a matter            head and was synodically decided. He is now back in
about which we wrote extensively in 1970-72. As a             New Zealand and serving as pastor of one of the
result of that controversy, some separated from the           Wellington churches involved in that controversy.
Reformed Church, among whom were Mr. W. van Rij,
of Christchurch, and Messrs. J. Koppe and B. van                4) We had no intention of writing about this
Herk, of the Wellington area. These were men who,             private conversation when we reported on the
along with others, fought for doctrinal discipline in         Wellington portion of our tour. (We have already
the Reformed Churches of N.Z.                                 omitted such private visits from the earlier portion of
                                                              our report, in fact.) But Rev. Williamson chose to
  3) When Rev. C. Hanko and I were in Wellington              publish a false report of this visit in a New Zealand
last June, we were invited to meet with three                 paper. This necessitated a reply on our part. And we
ministers of the Reformed Church, Rev. G.I. William-          received an urgent request from New Zealand to
son, Rev. G. Kroon, and Rev. B. Gillard. We did not           make such a reply.


582                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


                     An Open Letter to Rev. G. I. Williamson

Dear Rev. Williamson:                                       were fighting the battle, you were sojourning in
       Your recent article in Faith In Focus entitled "A    America. Now you have returned  - after the battle.
Visit With Profs. Hoeksema and Hanko" has come to           Are you now desperately attempting, perhaps, to
my attention. Needless to say, I was rather surprised       justify your participation in a. denomination which
to read a public report concerning a private visit          was derelict in its duty and which has never remedied
which you and the Rev. Gillard and the Rev. Kroon           its wrong-doing?
held with the Rev. Cornelius Hanko (not Prof.                  In the. second place, you do not present correctly
Hanko) and myself at the residence of the Rev.              either the course of our discussion last June or the
Kroon last June 27. On my part, I had resolved not to       course of events at the synod of 1971.
report in the Standard Beaver concerning private visits       As far as the former is concerned, let me point out
of this kind, especially not when they were visits          the following:
which involved disagreements. Now, however, you
have chosen to write publicly about these matters;             1) You failed to point out that it was you, not
and thus you have compelled me to reply and to set          Rev. Hanko and I, who initiated the entire discussion
the record straight. And then I must add that not           about your churches and the Runia matter. Neither
only am I surprised at your article, but also deeply        Rev. Hanko  ,nor I had the slightest inkling  that.
disappointed and offended. I could understand that          afternoon that this was the purpose of the meeting. If
you might present a factual report concerning our           we had known this, we certainly would have been
discussion and our disagreement. I am deeply                better prepared than we were, would have reviewed
offended at the fact that your article is far from being    the history in advance, and would have taken ample
a factual report. It is full of misrepresentations, half    documentary proof along with us. Instead, I had to
truths, and downright lies. I can hardly recognize our      rely suddenly on my memory of a rather complicated
visit in your report. I consider such misrepresentation     chain of events of a few years ago; and fortunately,
and such a vitriolic attack to be unworthy of a             on a couple of occasions the Rev. Kroon kindly
Christian, and especially of a minister of the gospel. I    confirmed what I stated from his memory and from
ask you to apologize and to correct all of your             the Acts of Synod of 1971 over against your claims.
misrepresentations. It would be proper for you to           And, by the way, let me remind you that neither Rev.
publish. my article in Faith In Focus, although I do        Hanko nor I throughout our tour of New Zealand
not expect that you will do this. Nevertheless, I           ever initiated any discussion of the Runia matter. In
assure you that my rebuttal will reach New Zealand          my lectures I never so much as mentioned it. In our
and will be distributed to many whom you seek to            cottage meetings, as well as in meetings with indi-
deceive.                                                    viduals, I never talked about any of these matters
  In the first place, you write that it has "never been     unless others brought them up. Everyone who heard
offensive to us to read criticism of our New Zealand        us in New Zealand will have to confirm the truth of
churches in `The Standard Bearer'. To the contrary,         that statement. Yet you leave the impression in the
we have also profited from the candid statements in         last paragraph of your article that we went about
this paper of the Protestant Reformed Church." I            sowing discord in New Zealand. You write: "They are
cannot understand such a statement. For all that was        encouraging people to forsake these Churches, in
stated in your hearing at the home of Rev. Kroon last       direct conflict with our Reformed Confessions. And
June 27 was also stated in the Standard Bearer. I refer     we are compelled to call this a destructive work. It is
you particularly to the reports concerning your             not helping the cause of the Reformed Faith in New
Synod of 197 1 and concerning the subsequent events         Zealand, but separating brethren who ought to strive
which appear in Volume 48 with complete documen-            together for that cause." This is not true. We were
tation. How is it, I ask, that the very things which        positive in all our work. We always sought unity:
were not offensive to you to read became so                 unity in the truth. We never went anywhere or spoke
thoroughly offensive to you in the Rev. Kroon's             anywhere except by invitation. And I am  firmly
home? I did not change my position one iota since I         convinced that those who heard us will give us the
wrote that critique. Have you changed? You left the         testimony that we conducted ourselves circumspectly
Reformed church of New Zealand before the Runia             in all our meetings.
matter reached its climax  - reportedly with the              But let me remind you, Rev. Williamson, that our
statement that the situation in the Reformed                discussion began with an inquiry on your part as to
churches of New Zealand was hopeless. While others          the purpose of our coming to New Zealand, and that


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  583


I replied that it was our purpose to contact as many        fact of the matter is that your synod would not
people and churches who were likeminded as to the           even recognize that there were any errors being
Reformed faith as it was possible for us to contact,        taught. by Dr. Runia and being supported by men in
Thereupon, it was you, not we, who brought up the           your churches. Even in the doctrinal statement which
matter of the Runia case. It  was.you, not we, who          you praised so highly, and which was after all nothing
brought up the matter of the so-called attempts at          but a political maneuver (as I shall presently point
reconciliation with the brethren van Herk and Koppe         out) the synod refuses to recognize the existence of
on the part of the Sessions of Silverstream and             any errors. They inserted in their so-called reaffirma-
Wainuiomata. Do you not recall, too, that I stated          tion the emphatic phrase, "IN SPITE OF CERTAIN
that I did not care to discuss the personal cases of the    ALLEGATIONS."
brethren van Herk and Koppe in their absence? And
do you not recall, further, that I pointed out: a) that        3) You made much of the matter of "due process"
these brethren, as well as brother van Rij, had walked      in connection with Dr. Runia. Now, first of all, it did
the ecclesiastical way to the end and had not ob-           not take any  pressure  (as you write) whatsoever to
tained satisfaction? b) that they therefore had no          make me admit that no man could be declared a
choice but to separate, seeing this was a fundamental       heretic in our churches without "due process." And
doctrinal issue? c) that neither of the two sessions has    why, pray, do you twice speak of "under pressure"
as yet made any attempt to resolve that doctrinal           when you "looked forward to meeting" us? Let me
issue and to bring about reconciliation? d) that later      assure you that I need no pressure to admit the truth.
in the conversation you even suggested that a state-        However, you-failed to state: 1) that we stated again
ment could be made on the Runia matter at the level         and again that there was no case at synod concerning
of the Session? e) that I pointed out that this reso-       Dr. Runia personally, nor any attempt to condemn
lution  o.f the matter had to take place at the synodi-     Dr. Runia as a heretic. This was impossible. Runia
cal level, seeing that the case had been at synod, and      was not under synod's jurisdiction. 2) But it was
                                                            indeed a case of the churches' responsibility with
that the Rev. Kroon agreed with me on this point?           respect to the errors, the 
f) that all three of you conceded that such a  synod-                                      heretical teachings, of Dr.
ical statement                                              Runia. 3) We did also make the claim  - and the
                   could not be obtained  in your           appeal of Koppe and van Herk is evidence  - that
churches?                                                   there was indeed documentary proof of error, and
  2) You misrepresent matters when you write: "The          that these brethren cited specific references in
only problem (that is for Rev. Hanko and myself,            Runia's writings and specific items from Scripture
                                                            and the confessions, but that your synod failed to
HCH) is that Synod fell short of what they see as a         treat these matters item by item. To all this you paid
consistent line. This is due to the fact that one           no attention in the course of our conversation.
question posed by the 197 1 appeal was not answered.
That question was this: `Will the New Zealand                 4) It is indeed true that you stated that "at the
Churches continue to support Geelong College with           time of this 1971 Synod everyone knew that Dr.
Dr. Runia as one of its teachers?' " This is not our        Runia was about to depart from Geelong. The ques-
position, and you know it. The brethren Koppe and           tion posed by the appeal therefore was anachro-
van Herk in 197 1 knew that they could not seek the         nistic." But what you failed to state is very signifi-
discipline of Dr. Runia. They knew that Runia was           cant. I recall vividly that the Rev. Hanko asked you
not under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the New        whether your churches did not have a moral obliga-
Zealand churches. The question was that of Dr.              tion to warn the churches in the Netherlands, their
Runia's  eypors. It was a question of your churches'        sister churches, against the errors of Dr. Runia. And I
supporting and endorsing the Reformed Theological           am sure that you recall this; too. This also, by the
College at Geelong in the light of those errors. It was     way, is in harmony with what I wrote in December of
a question of doctrinal discipline. And the appeal in       1971 (p. 124): "The New Zealand churches have
1971 was for synod to act in defense of doctrinal           fraternal relations with both the churches in Australia
purity and to act in condemnation of doctrinal              and in the Netherlands. It surely is not very brotherly
deviation, especially since these matters of doctrinal      to take the attitude, as it were, `Well, we're rid of
purity and doctrinal deviation involved a crucial           Runia and therefore rid of the problem; let the other
aspect of the churches' work, namely, the theological       churches wrestle with it if they want to.' "
education of their future ministers. And let me now           5) You also misrepresent matters when you state
add, by way of emphasis, that when you study the            the following: "A matter of particular condemnation
Acts of your Synod of 1971, it becomes very plain           from these men was the fact that a letter of thanks
that there was a studied attempt at that synod to           was sent to Dr. Runia on behalf of our Churches at
avoid saying anything about the specific errors in the      the time he left Geelong." And you misrepresent by
specific case concerning Dr.. Runia's teachings. The        failing to state the point which we made. You know


  584                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


  very well that we did not merely speak in general of a      touched on in the Appeal of Mssrs. Koppe and van
  "letter of thanks," but that we referred specifically to    Herk. The Reformed churches of New Zealand are
  the fact that in this letter your churches officially       still wide open for all who teach and defend the same
  called Dr. Runia a "champion of the Reformed                errors which Runia taught. Moreover, this is not
  faith." You know very well, too, that it was pointed        theory, but fact. For you still have in your denomina-
  out that when this letter was sent by your synodical        tion those who would defend Runia and who agree
  Stated Clerk in the name of your churches, there was        with his doctrinal position.
  only  one session  in your denomination which took
  exception to this letter. About this also I wrote in           6) You also misrepresent matters when you write
  December of 1971 in one ,of those articles which you        the following: "At one point in our afternoon of
  did not find offensive:  ". . . The New Zealand             discussion Prof. Hoeksema said that we are apostate.
  churches gave the lie to their own decision. After          But then, under the pressure of our defense he
  declaring that they would take no action about the          softened this to say that we are `semi-apostate.' "
  errors of Dr. Runia, they nevertheless did take action      And again: "It was naturally our desire (the three
  - in another way. They sent Runia a very commenda-          Reformed ministers) to know precisely why we are
  tory farewell letter in which, among other things,          supposedly `semi-apostate.' The sole answer was the
  they called him a `champion for the Reformed                fact that we have not taken a strong enough stand.
  faith.' " And I went on in that article to state: "A        We have not been sufficiently consistent." What you
  man may deny reprobation. He may openly contra-             write here is far from the truth of the matter. It is
  dict the confessions. He may contradict the doctrine        certainly true' that I stated that your churches are
  of Holy Scripture. When confronted by a concrete            apostate. The rest of your statement is not true. The
  case, the Synod says, `We will say nothing about it;        truth is that you were attempting to force me to
  the man is leaving for the Netherlands.' But when the       explain that word "apostate" as meaning that you are
  concrete case is safely shunted aside, then turn            the false church in the absolute sense of the word.
  around and praise such a man publicly as a champion         This I would not say, and this I did not say. And
  of the Reformed faith! This is anything but honest;         when my use of the term "apostate" came up again
  and it is anything but Reformed!"                           toward the end of our conversation, I explained it,
                                                              not by changing it to "semi-apostate," but by
     At the time of our conversation in Rev. Kroon's          changing it to "apostatizing." And, moreover, it is
  home, as I said, neither did I have the opportunity to      not true that "our sole answer was the fact that we
  prepare for the discussion, nor did I have any docu-        have not taken a strong enough stand. We have not
  ments at hand. Now that I am home and have access           been sufficiently consistent." We made it abundantly
  to the necessary documents and information, let me          plain in the course of our conversation that the
 also remind you that Dr. Runia understood the letter         problem lay in the failure of your churches to
  sent by your synodical stated clerk, D. G. Vanderpyl,       exercise doctrinal discipline, that is, to condemn
very well. I reported this in the  Standard Bearer  at        doctrinal deviation when plainly confronted by it in
  the time as follows: "And Dr. Runia got the point.          the life of the church. Instead, your churches gave to
  For here is his response, as quoted from the bulletin       one who was obviously heretical the glowing tribute
  of the Reformed Church of Christchurch, New                 that he was a "champion of the Reformed faith."
  Zealand: `I cannot tell you how much Mrs. Runia and           7) In your article, Rev. Williamson, you also make
  I have appreciated this letter. In the past some New        much of the fact that Dr.  S. Woudstra has been
  Zealand brethren have issued serious accusations            relieved of his duties at Geelong "even though many
  asserting that my theology was a great danger for the       of the same allegations that have been heard against
  Reformed Churches in Australasia. As you may                his teaching are those that arose concerning Dr.
  remember, last year I sent a letter to all the sessions     Runia's teaching." Again, however, you failed to
  repudiating these accusations. I am very happy indeed       point out certain significant facts. In the first place,
  that before we leave Australia you have expressed           there is the fact that Dr. Woudstra could have been
  your confidence in me and your appreciation for.my          and should `have been properly barred from Geelong
  work.' "                                                    before he ever arrived in Australia. It was clear
    From all this it is very plain that this letter of        already in 1972 that his position was heretical, as the
  glowing tribute to Dr. Runia at that time was, in           Standard Bearer made plain. To his credit, the Rev.
  effect, a complete exoneration of him; it is very plain,    Kroon wrote to this effect at that time in the
  too, that he thus understood the letter; and it is very     magazine of your churches known as The Reformed
  plain that this letter gave the lie to the positive         Journal.  But neither Geelong nor the Reformed
  assertions of your Synod of 1971 and shows that the         churches of Australia nor the Reformed churches of
  Synod did not at all intend in any way to condemn           New Zealand took any action. In the second place,
  the errors which Runia taught on the various matters        the initiative for the removal of Dr. Woudstra did not


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                585


come from the Reformed churches, but chiefly from          correct. The fact of the matter is that there was some
a student from the Free Presbyterian Church of             political maneuvering at that Synod. At the very
Eastern Australia, Mr. John Cromarty. But, in the          beginning of that Synod there was an item brought
third place, - and this is more serious - Dr. Woudstra     up which was not even on the Agenda. Article 15 is
is now a minister in good standing in the Reformed         simply entitled "General Discussion" and reads: "It
Church of Australia, a sister denomination of your         was moved and accepted to start on deliberations
churches. And if I understand the sister relationship      with a general fraternal discussion on our own Con-
correctly, this means that he could also be allowed  in    fessional position quite apart from outside interest. It
the pulpits of the Reformed churches of New                was ruled that this discussion take place upon motion
Zealand.                                                   from Dunedin before dealing with matters relating to
                                                           the Confessions." Art. 38 was a motion by Rev. P.
   8) In your article you omit completely something        Berghouse, the pastor of Dunedin, 
very significant which I called to your attention. You                                            who is still today
                                                           a defender  of  Dr. Runia,  as we learned when we
had made a point of the fact that your Synod of            visited him at  Dunedin. That article reads: "Rev.
1971 had urged that there be reconciliation between        Berghouse moved motion (seconded) that Synod
the sessions and the appellants. Do you not recall that    consider making statement on Confessional position
I told you in that connection that the last word of        of our churches." Now it must be kept in mind,
the Session of Christchurch to Mr. and Mrs. W. van         remember, that Rev. Berghouse certainly had no
Rij was that they had to apologize to Dr. Runia? Let       intention of making any statements which would
me now refresh your memory from the record. In a           condemn Dr. Runia. The contrary was true: he was
letter to Mr. van Rij before the Synod of 1971 the         seeking to  avoid  a forthright statement by Synod
Session of Christchurch charged that Mr. van Rij had       condemning Dr. Runia. Then we turn to Art. 43,
falsely accused Dr. Runia, and further required of         which is entitled "Confessional Standing." This is the
him to retract and apologize for "all such writings as     article which you characterize as one of the several
infer that: 1) Dr. Runia denies the sovereignty of God     strong steps in the right direction which your
with respect to reprobation. 2) Dr. Runia denies the
historicity of Genesis 1, 2, 3. 3) Dr. Runia is an         churches have taken. It appears to be rather strong
unbeliever" (something which Mr. van Rij neither           upon first reading; but read  in the context of the
stated nor implied, HCH). After the Synod of 197 1         situation at that time,  it was a deceptive political
that same Session of Christchurch showed no inclina-       maneuver. The article reads:
tion whatsoever to reconcile in the sense of retracting      "The Reformed Churches of New Zealand hereby
and apologizing for their heavy charges of gross sin.      unanimously re-affirm, IN SPITE OF CERTAIN
In the case of Mr. van Rij, on the contrary, the           ALLEGATIONS, that they maintain the Doctrine of
Session continued to maintain its charges and to insist    The Infallible Scripture as summarized in the Con-
that the apologizing had to be done by Mr. van Rij.        fessional Standards. This includes:
Now this is serious. It may have sounded pious that        a. That we maintain the historicity of the details AS
the Synod urged "all concerned to seek reconcilia-         THEY ARE RECORDED IN GENESIS  1:3, e.g.
tion." The fact of the matter is, however, that the        creation, Adam and Eve as the first created man and
Synod was confronted by concrete cases of gross            woman, the Fall through disobedience, and the sub-
injustice over against the three appellants, Koppe, van    sequent promise of Divine Redemption in Christ.
Herk, and van Rij. The fact is, too, that the Synod        b. Furthermore we maintain that the WHOLE
did not adjudicate those appeals, but trampled truth       TEACHING of the Canons of Dort (including Divine
and justice. The fact is that justice was perverted by     Election and Reprobation) IS in complete agreement
the churches in the case of the very men who called        with the Infallible Word of God.
the churches to doctrinal purity and to doctrinal
discipline. The fact is that discipline was used to        Consequently we require ANYONE who speaks or
persecute those who sought to maintain the truth of        writes, teaches, preaches, or counsels  on behalf  of
the confessions. And the fact is that by its failure to    these Churches  to do so in accordance with this
treat these appeals the Synod became co-responsible        statement."
for the injustices committed by the various Sessions
against these men. Remember, the abuse of discipline         Now, in the first place, it must be noted that the
is a mark of the false church!                             plain suggestion of the words "in spite of certain
                                                           allegations," which this article emphasizes so
   But there is another matter. Your presentation of       strongly, is that these allegations were not true. But
the course of events at the Synod of 1971 is not           they were true: for there were many who were taking
correct. In your article you present the various           the side of Dr. Runia at that time. In the second
actions of Synod as coming as a result of the appeals      place, it should be noted that the article speaks of
of Mssrs. Koppe and van Herk. This, however, is not        "anyone who . . . teaches . . . on' behalf of these


586                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



Churches" being required to do so in accordance with          In the light of all this, Rev. Williamson, it was
the above statement. Yet Dr. Runia was at that very         impossible for us to say to you what you have
time teaching contrary to the above statement. More-        suggested. We could only say that the Reformed
over there were ministers and sessions who were             Churches of New Zealand had apostatized and are
defending Dr. Runia and attacking those who                 continuing on that track. We could only tell you, as
opposed him. This statement, therefore, was pla.inIy        we did, that proper rectification with respect to the
hypocritical.                                               Runia matter is still necessary.
  What happened later at this same synod  - much              But I say again: we did not go up and down New
later? In Article 103 the appeal of Mssrs. Koppe and        Zealand talking about these matters. We did speak the
van Herk is treated. In that appeal the synod was           truth. We did warn against departure from the
confronted by the specific instance, with abundant          Reformed faith. We did urge God's people to main-
references to proof, of Dr. Runia's teaching contrary       tam and to seek the Reformed faith. And we did
to the statement of Article 43. And what did synod          encourage the brethren of the Orthodox Presbyterian
do? Did they apply this allegedly strong article to the     Churches of New Zealand whenever and wherever we
concrete case of Dr. Runia's teachings? By no means.        came into contact with them, and shall continue to
They simply referred the appellants. to the statement       do so.
of Article 43 without so much as hinting at a
condemnation of the specific errors of Dr. Runia. In          You have done the cause of the Reformed faith
other words, the maneuver had succeeded. And the            and the cause of truth and justice damage by your
supporters of Dr. Runia by this maneuver had pre-           article. And you have done your churches a disservice
                                                            by your silence about the wrongs which I have
vented synod's making any statement which specifi-          mentioned. I respectfully call upon you to make
cally condemned the teachings of Dr. Runia.                 rectification and to change your ecclesiastical course.
  This is the realistic and the correct presentation of     Then your conscience will be clear, and then you will
the events at the Synod of 1971. In this light it can       do the cause of Christ in New Zealand a service.
also be understood that shortly after this Synod Dr.
Runia was paid the glowing tribute that he was "a                             Yours for the Reformed faith,
champion of the Reformed faith."                                              H. C. Hoeksema

FEATURE


             Our Heritage and the Standard Bearer

                                                  Rev. M, Joostens



[Address delivered at the Annual R.F.P.A. Meeting,          Bearer  and our Protestant Reformed Churches were
Sept. 18, 19751                                             born out of identical circumstances. They were both
   By way of introduction to our topic this evening, I      fostered by the same ecclesiastical situation. The
want to say that the committee in charge of assigning       same love and commitment to the truth inspired
me this title for this speech perceived that the anni-     .both.  Furthermore, they had the same friends and
versaries of  The Standard Bearer  and our churches         enemies. And, at least in our early history, they were
almost coincide. I think this is quite evident from the     both somewhat dependent upon each other and flour-
choice of topics which the committee submitted to           ished together. These things being true, I chose "Our
me. They were these: "God's Covenant Faithfulness           Heritage and  The Standard Bearer" for my subject
and                                                         this evening; for the truth which fostered our
        The Standard Bearer",  "Our Heritage and  The
Standard Bearer", and "Faith of Our Fathers and The         churches we hold dear as a precious legacy. And
Standard Bearer". And it is indeed true that the close      though this truth has more enemies today than it ever
proximity of these two anniversary dates reveals            did, we still cherish it. Because of this, our churches
something to us. It tells us that both  The Standard        and  The Standard Bearer  still flourish today. You


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  587



understand: not because they have any official ties,          the.second place, as God has preserved that truth, so
or because the truth depends upon them; but because           God has also developed it - I mean, not only in the
they stand mutually dependent upon the truth. That            very distant history of the church, but God has been
truth we must have expounded and explained to us              pleased to do that in our brief fifty years of history.
continually. This must be our demand.                         When the church, the purest at that time, was about
                                                              to `lose a cardinal part of that truth, God called into
  This evening we want to survey  The Standard                being  The Standard Bearer,  and a bit later our
Bearer  historically in connection with our heritage;         churches. That was 1924.
but not so that we may boast in ourselves or pat
ourselves on the back as Reformed Free Publishing                In particular then, what is this heritage of ours? In
Association. Rather, as association and churches we           the first place, it is the cardinal truth that the grace of
will acknowledge our weaknesses. Such an acknowl-             God is particular. This truth was gradually being lost
edgement was the key note on which The Standard               in our mother church prior to 1924. This became
Bearer was launched. It was the first editor-in-chief of      clear already in the early teens of the nineteen hun-
our periodical who said that his only boast was in his        dreds when several conservative ministers of the
infirmities in order that all the praise and glory might      Christian Reformed Church met together in concern
be God's. We must give thanks unto God for the leg-           regarding this unfortunate trend. Among these were
acy He has given us and trust that even in our weak-          Danhof and Hoeksema.
nesses we may treat it properly.                                 The whole idea of the particularity of God's grace
  The Scripture speaks much to us about the idea of           came to the fore in the controversy which raged
a heritage. This is true especially in the Old Testa-         around the figure of Dr. R. Janssen. Dr. Janssen, then
ment. The Old Testament speaks repeatedly of the              professor of Old Testament Exegesis, threw doubt up-
typical inheritance of the land of Canaan. It was the         on the absolute authority of the Scriptures. He
promised land in which each had his allotted portion..        brought to bear upon his instruction the views which
In the dispensation of types and pictures, the inheri-        were expressed in the magazine Religion and Culture.
tance of a portion of Canaan pointed to the fact that         These views were the influence of the  `jbngeren   "
God's children have a place prepared for them in              movement in the Netherlands. These views were, in a
heaven. It is in this latter sense that the inheritance is    few words, a "marriage between Athens and Jerusa-
spoken of in the New Testament. Recall the words of           lem". Fundamentally they found their roots in the
the apostle Peter when he spoke of the " . .  .inher&         teachings of Dr. A. Kuyper. As far as Janssen's teach-
tance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth            ing was concerned, this resulted in. a higher critical
not away, reserved in heaven. . ."                            approach to the Bible. Dr. Janssen was condemned at
                                                              the Synod of 1922 held at Orange City, Iowa. There
  This evening we want to speak concerning the idea           were two factors in this controversy, opposed to one
of an inheritance in a little different way - not fun-        another, which would shape future history. They
damentally or essentially different, you understand -         were, first, that Rev. H. Hoeksema was largely respon-
but we want to speak of it as it includes the foregoing       sible for the work which lead to the majority decision
from the viewpoint of its possibility. Paul speaks            which condemned Janssen. And secondly, that al-
of this in Romans, chapter 8. Here he mentions that           though the Synod deposed Dr. Janssen upon the basis
we are "heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ."           of the Formula of Subscription, nevertheless his error
And again in Ephesians 1: "In whom (i.e. Christ) we           was not eradicated. These two fermenting factors
have obtained an inheritance." From this viewpoint            made 1924 inevitable. In 1924 the Christian Re-
we might say that our inheritance is to know the only         formed Church officially lost the truth of particular
true God and Jesus Christ Whom He has sent. Such a            grace. In consequence to various protests and over-
knowledge is eternal life; the inheritance, the legacy        tures against Rev.' H. Danhof and Rev. H. Hoeksema,
of that knowledge, according to which we have eter-           the three points of common grace were hastily
nal life, has been passed on to us by our fathers in a        adopted. Thus they took a doctrinal stand which de-
peculiar and particular way.                                  clared: 1) that God shows a general attitude of favor
  What do we. mean by this? First of all, that God            to all men (which was defined as grace), 2) that God
has preserved His Church in the truth. He preserved           by the general operation of His Spirit restrains sin,
this truth in the Old Dispensation by direct revelation       without or apart from regeneration, and 3) that the
and through the prophets, and in the New Dispensa-            unregenerated man can perform "civil righteousness"
tion by the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We stand in          (Synod meant good in God's sight). That was a de-
the line of the Church of Christ as she was given the         parture from the truth.
truth; and as churches have historically departed from          It was over against this error that our fathers main-
the purity of that truth, God has preserved in our            tained that God's grace and goodness is particular:
midst the purest manifestation of this truth. But in          that is to say, that the grace of God is never upon the


588                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



reprobate wicked. And that which seems to be God's           note of the tremendous zeal that these brothers ex-
"goodness" and "blessing" upon him will serve to his         hibited in that they collected $425.00 among them-
condemnation. Asaph understood this very clearly in          selves. This was before The Standard Bearer's sub-
Ps. 73. The grace of God is only and exclusively upon        scription rate was $1.50 a year! Genuine concern for
His elect children. For, where His grace is, there is His    the defense of the truth mushroomed. And when the
blessing and salvation. And that which God begins by         fifteen brethren met again on April 17 in Kalamazoo,
the operation of His Spirit, He will certainly finish!       they were joined by 60 more. A collection netted
As far as the reprobate wicked are concerned, there is       $792.00! This was the official beginning of the Re-
no restraint of sin by God's Spirit or any righteous-        formed Free Publishing Association. Pamphlets and
ness as a result of the work of the Spirit. The Holy         brochures were financed to defend the truth. And in
Spirit works only in the hearts of the elect. This is        October 1924 The Standard Beaver made its debut.
true by definition because God's Spirit works out His          What was the result? God was pleased to use the
election. And good works, the Heidelberg Catechism           association and its efforts to preserve and maintain
tells us, proceed only from a true faith.                    His truth. The Reformed Free Publishing Association
  Moreover, to our heritage belongs the fact that the        gave the tool of the printed page to the servants of
truth of particular grace developed in the framework         God who as ministers of His Word defended its pre-
of the idea of the covenant. The whole idea of the           cious pearls in all their beauty. The association pro-
covenant, as we possess it as Protestant Reformed            vided a means for rebuttal against those who gainsaid
people, is unique. Nowhere in Reformed history do            the truth. It was in the way of controversy that the
you find the idea of the covenant set forth so beauti-       truth developed and prospered.
fully. The covenant was always explained and consid-           At the same time, The Reformed Free Publishing
ered a means to an end. But our father, chiefly Rev.         Association provided a means whereby the people of
Hoeksema, developed more perfectly the idea of the           God were instructed in the Scriptures. This instruc-
covenant.                                                    tion was not only for our fathers and their children,
   In consequence, we understand the covenant to be          but also for those outside of our churches who love
an end in itself, as the covenant of God's friendship        the truth. And the positive result of all this is that the
with His people in Christ. It is a covenant of partic-       truth which our fathers defended is our legacy! You
ular grace! It is a covenant which God establishes           can find it set forth in our books, some fifty volumes
unilaterally. And it is according to that covenant that      of  The Standard Bearer, and other printed material.
God, by His grace, takes us into His own covenant life       Oh, these books are not "best sellers," nor is our
and glory forevermore. That means that the cove-             semi-monthly magazine known for its vast circula-
nants which are historically distinct form a chain of        tion. But they are the best books one can buy, and we
increasing revelation. That is to say that God reveals       have the most soundly Reformed semi-monthly one
His covenant with us more clearly throughout his-            can subscribe to. And this is true, because you find in
tory, beginning in Adam, continuing through Noah             these works an explanation and development of the
and Abraham, and realized fully in Christ.                   truth, the truth which is so dear and precious to
                                                             God's people.
   Often we do not realize the uniqueness of this
truth as it was developed in our brief history. It was         I want to make a few remarks of application. From
not only a preservation of the truth, but also an ad-        the aspect of time, 1924 is a long way removed from
vancement above the church historically. That, too,          us. Today we do not stand in the heat of ecclesias-
belongs to our precious heritage.                            tical controversy. Within the domain of our churches
                                                             there is peace in the truth. There are no heretical
  That brings me to The Standard Bearer. As far as           clouds upon the far horizon. But let us never forget
the historical connection between our Standard Bear-         that in a very real way the Reformed world abhors
er and our churches is concerned, it is quite evident        the truth we hold dear. And for this very reason it is
that they were both fostered by the same heresy. As          still of utmost importance to maintain and defend
early as April 1924 fifteen brethren, `as yet in the         this truth publicly by means of the printed page.
Christian Reformed Church, met together out of con-
cern for the defense of the truth. It was at that time          Also this: in regard to 1924 the devil smiles be-
that a publication society was organized, in order that      cause common grace is a de,ad .issue. It is sad that its
the truth might be defended against error. For, prior        logical consequences have almost destroyed that
to this, the pages of The Banner and De Wachteu had          church. But the devil still works very hard in our
been closed to the Reverends Danhof and Hoeksema.            midst. Don't underestimate him! Therefore, we as an
The purpose of the society was to support the                association must continually rededicate ourselves to
brothers Danhof and Hoeksema in publishing bro-              the further propogation and defense of the truth.
chures and, when `possible, a paper. We might take           Why is this so important? In order that our children


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                589


may look upon us as fathers who preserved for them           up their pens. God has blessed us with capable men.
a rich and beautiful legacy.                                 We must give them time and money to develop the
  Furthermore, we are responsible to develop the             truth- and to build upon the foundation laid for us.
truth. We have, at this juncture in time, largely passed     This is for our spiritual benefit!
the time of protesting. Don't misunderstand: we must            And we may not keep that truth to ourselves. As
always and continually call the wayward back. But            association we must avail ourselves of every oppor-
we as churches and- association must adopt a positive        tunity to spread the works in which God's Word is
viewpoint and purpose. We must wholeheartedly ded-           developed and explained. What more worthwhile
icate ourselves to the developing and spreading of our       thing can we be engaged in? What more precious gift
rich heritage of the truth. We may not stay the same.        can we pass on to our children and other of God's
As the individual child of God grows in knowledge            people, than our heritage?
and in grace, so it must be with our churches. Rev.            With these thoughts I want to leave you this eve-
Hoeksema and others are in glory. Others must take           ning. I thank you.


MY SHEEP HEAR MY VOICE


                                God's People, The Sheep
                                                  Prof. H. Hanko



  In our last article, after some introductory               particular kind of offering. This is evident from
remarks, we began dealing with the relation between          Abel's sacrifice which, in Heb. 11:4, is described as a
Christ and His people as that relation is defined in        more excellent sacrifice than Cain's. It was this
Scripture in terms of a shepherd and his sheep. We           because of the fact that Abel, by offering a lamb,
discussed the fact that this is the implied relationship     showed his awareness of his sin and his hope in the
in what is called, "Pastoral Theology" - the general         promise of God that sin would be removed by the
subject with which this rubric has to do. We discussed       sacrifice of a perfect lamb. Isaiah also describes the
the fact already that Scripture often calls Christ the       sacrifice of Christ in these terms: "He is brought as a
Shepherd of His sheep, and we made brief mention of          lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her
the fact that Christ is the Shepherd because He is the       shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth."
revelation of Jehovah God, Who alone is our                  Isaiah 53:7b. When writing .this beautiful prophecy,
Shepherd. We also pointed out that Scripture often           in which Isaiah saw so clearly the atonement of Christ
calls those who are appointed in the church to teach         that it seems almost as if he were standing at the foot
the people of God, shepherds, and that Scripture has         of Calvary, Isaiah compares Christ's suffering with the
some very strong words of condemnation for those             shearing and slaughter of sheep. And he finds that the
who are unfaithful shepherds.                                silence of sheep under such circumstances was a
                                                             picture of the silence of Christ. This figure is not
  We want to turn now to the fact that God's people          meant to convey to us the idea that during Christ's
are considered s1zeep; This is already either stated or      trial He never spoke. The gospel narratives show us
implied in some of the passages to which we referred         clearly that when the defense of the truth of God and
and which we quoted; but we want to call attention
to a few more such passages in order that we may             His own calling required of Him to speak, Christ
draw some conclusions from them.                             spoke many words. But the figure is intended to show
                                                             us that Christ went to the cross in perfect obedience
  Before we enter into this idea specifically, it is         to His Father. He did not complain; He did not make
perhaps worthwhile to notice that Jesus Himself is           an effort to defend Himself; He did not rail against
sometimes referred to as a sheep or a lamb. Already          His accusers; but He submitted without argument to
                                                                                                   -  .._.
in the Old Testament economy, there were sacrifices          the various judgments which were pronounced upon
of sheep, (see Lev. 1: 10, Num. 18: 17, and many             Him. And He did this because it was required of Him
similar passages). A sheep or a lamb was indeed a            that He walk the way of the cross in order to


  590                                            THE STANDARD BEARER


  accomplish the atonement for which God had sent               blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared
  Him  i.nto the world. There is, therefore, a mixed            for you from the foundation of the world." The very
  figure when Scripture refers to Christ both as the            fact that the kingdom was prepared for  them  from
  Shepherd and as a sheep. But the latter figure refers         the foundation of the world indicates that they were
  particularly to Christ from the viewpoint of His              God's chosen people from all eternity. That they are
  perfectly obedient suffering to accomplish redemp-            sheep, therefore, indicates that they are God's elect
  tion for His people. It is as if the Scriptures are saying    people.
  that Christ, by means of becoming a sheep, could and
  did become the perfect and exalted Shepherd of the              But there is yet another idea involved in this con-
  flock. It was through the way of His obedient walk            cept .of sheep. The Scriptures also bring this idea to
  which led Him to the cross that He was exalted to the         the foreground in various passages. This idea is indi-
  position of chief and only Shepherd of His people. It         cated in, e.g., the parable of the lost sheep in Luke
is with all the prophecies of the Old Testament in              15:3-7.  God's people are portrayed in that parable by
  mind that John the Baptist pointed out Christ to the          the figure of the sheep which wanders away from the
  multitudes with the words: "Behold the lamb of God,           flock. This is not an uncommon figure in the Scrip-
  which taketh away the sin of the world." John 1: 29b.         tures. The Psalmist confesses in  Psalm 119: 176: "I
                                                                have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant;
    But God's people are also called sheep,in Scripture.        for I do not forget thy commandments." And al-
  It is not surprising that this figure is used repeatedly      though once again unfaithful shepherds are to blame,
  in the Psalms. Psalm 23 has this figure underlying its        Jeremiah speaks God's Word when he says in chapter
  entire metaphor. In Psalm 44:22 the Psalmist writes:          50:6: "My people hath been lost sheep: their
  "Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we         shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have
  are counted as sheep for the slaughter." It is this           turned them away on the mountains: they have gone
  precise verse which Paul later quotes in Romans 8 :36.        from mountain to hill, they have fogotten their
  In Psalm  78:52, in speaking of the wonders God               restingplace." Isaiah puts a similar confession in the
  performed for Israel, the Psalmist writes: "But made          mouths of God's people when he writes: "All we like
  his own people to go forth like sheep, and guided             sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to
  them in the wilderness like a flock." And Asaph con-          his own way." Chapter  53:6. G.F. Handel perhaps
  fesses in Psalm 79: 13 "So we thy people and sheep of         missed the point here a bit when he wrote his glorious
  thy pasture will give thee thanks forever: we will            oratorio, "The Messiah." The music which accom-
  show forth thy praise to all generations."                    panies this chorale number- is obviously intended to
    But there are several passages which especially give        convey the idea of sheep blithely and unconcernedly
  to us the reasons why God's people are called sheep.          frolicking through the meadows and straying farther
  The first group of these passages always defines a            and farther away from the safety of the flock. And,
  particular relationship between God and His people            while this is indeed a sadly true picture of how God's
  through Christ. That is, the people of God are called         people actually do go astray in many instances, never-
  sheep in Scripture because they are peculiarly God's          theless, the words of Isaish 53:6 are a sorrowful con-
  own people. The idea of being God's sheep implies             fession of sin which pours forth from the lips and
  possession, and carries with it therefore the idea of         heart of the child of God. The same idea is expressed
  election. We read, e.g., in Psalm 9.5:7, "For he is our       by the Apostle Peter in I Peter 2:25: "For ye were as
  God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the            sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the
  sheep of his hand." Or, again, in Psalm 100 : 3 "Know         Shepherd and Bishop of your souls." If we take these
  ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us,       passages into account along with such passages as
  and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the              Psalm 23 and the general figure of a sheep which
  sheep of his pasture." All these texts emphasize that,        Scripture as a whole portrays for us, then we see why
  because we are sheep, we are the possession of God.           it is entirely appropriate for God's people to be pic-
  We belong to him in a special and unique way. And             tured as sheep.
  all of this carries us back to the decree of sovereign
  election.                                                      If any of you who reads this has ever worked with
                                                                sheep, then you will know that sheep are perhaps the
    This idea is probably stressed most strongly in the         most stupid of all domesticated animals. And in their
  "parable" of the sheep and the goats found in                 stupidity, they are also the most helpless. They are
  Matthew 25:31-46. In this passage we read of the Son          unable to take care of themselves in any respect.
  of Man coming in His glory with His holy angels.              They cannot find their own pasture and water unless
 When He sits upon the throne of His glory and when             it is right under their noses. They will literally eat
  all nations are gathered before Him, He separates the         themselves to death if they manage to break into an
  sheep from the goats and sets the sheep upon His              alfalfa field. They cannot have their young by them-
  right hand. To these sheep He says, "Come, ye                 selves, and the shepherd must be with them  con-


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  591



 stantly. They will not seek shelter in a blizzard            Shepherd and Bishop of their souls did not watch
 though the shelter be within 20 feet of them. They           carefully over them in love and with tender regard.
 panic easily at unexpected noises and will rush off            It is exactly against the background of this figure
 sometimes to destruction if they are not watched.            that the whole idea of Christ as the Good Shepherd
 They will foolishly stray away from the flock if they        stands out so sharply in Scripture.
 are not kept close by the shepherd and his dogs  -
 even though they are totally unable to cope with the           The two ideas are, of course, connected. God's
 dangers of mountains, cliffs, ravines, and wild              people are sheep by virtue of the decree of eternal
 animals. And so they must be perpetually watched             election. And as such, they are the objects of God's
 and cared for. So much is this true that in sheep            eternal and unchangeable love. That love is revealed
 country, people talk of "sheep men." That is, not            centrally in Christ Who laid down His life for the
 every man is successful in raising sheep. This work          sheep. Therefore, Christ is their Shepherd. He goes to
 takes a particular kind of man. It takes a man who           seek them when they are lost. It matters not how
 has endless patience, who will not chafe under the           hard the way may be that He must travel to retrieve
 inconvenience that sheep cause him, who is willing to        them  - even if it means going to the death of the
forego his own personal comforts for the welfare of           cross; Christ goes to find them. He, as it were, forgets
 the sheep, and who will provide for the sheep all their      Himself and the comforts of His home, the warm
 needs because they cannot provide for themselves.            meal that awaits Him at the fireside; He forgets the
 Not every man can do this. In short, it takes a man          weariness of the day and the safety of His dwelling;
 who loves sheep, not because they are such lovable           His only concern is to search for His sheep which is
 creatures  - for they are quite the contrary; but            lost. And having found that sheep, He does not drive
 simply because he loves them. This is the main               that foolish sheep which had caused Him such dis-
 attribute required.                                          comfort with a stick back to the fold, but He
                                                              tenderly lifts that weary and  footsore and terrified
   It is for this reason, too, that the figure of sheep is    sheep upon His mighty shoulders to carry it back to
 so appropriate for God's people. All that sheep are in       safety. And He comes rejoicing. So greatly does He
 the natural sense, God's people are in the spiritual         love that sheep that He is willing to lay down His life
 sense. God's people are utterly helpless of themselves.      that His sheep may live. No price is too great to pay
 They cannot find the green pastures and the quiet            and no suffering too great to endure.
 waters which are so essential to their spiritual well-
 being. They need a shepherd to find these pastures             But as the Shepherd of His sheep, Christ cares for
 for them and to lead them beside the still waters.           all the needs of His sheep throughout their entire life
 They cannot protect themselves from the enemies              in the world. Never does He take His eye from them;
 that surround them, yet in their foolishness they are        never for a moment does He leave them; always He
 repeatedly straying away from the safety of the              watches over them and cares for them, protecting
 flock and exposing themselves to all kinds of dangers        them from all danger and insuring the safety of their
 in which they will surely perish if their shepherd does      souls, until such a time as He can take them to glory
 not go to search for them and to restore them again to       with Him.
 the fold. They never know what is best for themselves,         And all this for sheep who are so stupid they
 and will, in their stupidity, usually do what is harmful     deserve nothing. This is the wonder of the figure,
 to them. They would indeed kill themselves if the            Christ and His sheep.


 SIGNS OF THE TIMES

                          Transcendental Meditation
                                 -- A Prayer Substitute
                                                  Rev. G. Van Buren


    Perhaps none of our readers needs warning  con-           been adopted, increasingly, by many in our land. Yet
 ceming many of the practices of cults which have             the deceptiveness and appeal of some of this might


592                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER



warrant a warning. These last days are characterized                  Rather striking, too, is the support of this sort of
by the attraction toward that which is devilish.                   thing by many organizations. Even the federal govern-
  One of the popular practices today is called Tran-               ment, whose courts insist on the separation of church
scendental Meditation. So popular has it become, that              and state is involved.  Time  reports, "The Federal
Time magazine featured this in one of its latest issues            Government has so far funded 17 TM research proj-
(Oct. 13, 1975). The magazine speaks of its popular-               ects, ranging from the effects of meditation on the
ity and describes the practice as follows:                         body to its ability to help rehabilitate convicts and
                                                                   fight alcoholism."
          Before each game, New York Jets Quarterback Joe
       Namath   finds a quiet spot and seems to nod off. In           Reading of the promoter from India, the Maha-
       the middle of a gale on Long Island Sound, while her        rishi, it becomes evident that there are definite reli-
       friends are wrestling with lines and sails, Wendy Sher-     gious overtones to this whole practice. Writes Time:
       man, a Manhattan  adwoman, slips to the bow of a                   His aides are always awed and reverential around
       36-ft yawl, makes herself as comfortable as she can,            him. The headquarters of the movement, they say, is
       and closes her eyes. On warm afternoons in Rome,                not in one physical spot but rather "wherever Maha-
       Ga., Municipal Court Judge Gary Hamilton and his                rishi is" - true believers do not use the article before
       wife Virginia can be found on their screened porch,             bis name. He is the only one in the movement who is
       apparently dozing. It is not a compulsion to sleep              not expected to and does not meditate on a regular
       that these and perhaps 600,000 other Americans have             basis. "He doesn't have  fo," says Robert  Cranson,
       in common. It is TM, or Transcendental Meditation, a            who served two years as one of his secretaries. "He
       ritual that they practice almost religiously twice a day        long ago achieved a perpetual fourth state of con-
       ahd every day . . . .                                           sciousness. The clarity of his mind is awesome."
          . . .First off, a would-be meditator must attend                The Maharishi believes that if only 1% of the pop-
       two introductory lectures of an hour to an hour and a           ulation of any community or country is meditating,
       half. Then, if he is still interested, he pays his fee:         the other 99% will feel good effects and crime will be
       $125 for an individual, with lower rates for college            reduced. If  5% meditates, he adds, great things will
       and high school students and children four  (the mini-          really begin to happen. "A good time for the world is
       mum age) to ten.                                                coming," he says. "I see the dawn of the Age of
                                                                       Enlightenment. I am only giving expression to the
          The initiate takes off his shoes and gathers  his            phenomenon that is taking place."
       "offering": a fresh, white handkerchief, several pieces
       of sweet fruit and a bunch of flowers. TM claims to           The above describes the formal practice of TM.
       be totally secular, and the offerings are supposedly        However, I have observed other articles in popular
       meant only as symbols: the flowers represent the            magazines of our day which seek to advocate a varia-
       flowers of life, the fruit. the seed of life, and the       tion of this TM. And, because of the claims of the
       handkerchief the cleansing of the spirit. After  hatid-     whole of this practice, it becomes popular and appeal-
       ing over his gifts, the newcomer is taken to a private      ing to Christians as well. Who would not want to
       room, where his teacher lights candles and incense          lower his blood pressure by this means rather than
       and places the fruit, flowers and handkerchief on an
       altar under a color portrait of Guru Dev. The teacher       through medication or hospitalization? Who would
       then chants in Sanskrit and introduces the meditator        not be tempted to use this means to reduce his ten-
       to his  ma&a,  the one word that is meant, to keep          sions and give peace of mind? Is it not an easy way to
       him meditating for the rest of his life.                    tranquility?
                                                                     Some churches have regarded all the above to be
          The meditator is never supposed to reveal his man-       such a serious threat that they have taken an official
       tra  - not to  wjfe, husband, lover or children. Each       stand against it. The Association of Regular Baptist
       teacher is personally given a set of  mantras by the        Churches decided this past summer:
       Maharishi  - exactly 17 according to one knowledge-               Whereas there is a growing interest in that system
       able source. He must parcel them out to his initiates,         known as "Transcendental Meditation," and
       based on a secret formula that presumably includes
       temperament and profession. Duly initiated, the                   Whereas United States Senate Resolution 64 intro-
       fledgling meditator is ready for his meditating classes,        duced February S,1975,  is a "Resolution To Increase
       which last about an hour and a half each and which             Public Awareness of Transcendental Meditation,"
       must. be taken on three consecutive days or -nights.            claiming that this will strengthen our democracy and
       Together with others,  up'to SO or more, he sits in a          help achieve "the spiritual goals of mankind," and
       lecture room, meditates for ten minutes or so, opens              Whereas Transcendental Meditation is incorpo-
       his eyes with the others, then meditates again. With the       rated in the United States as an educational institu-
       help of charts and diagrams, TM theories are ex-               tion thus disguising its deeper purposes,
       plained by instructors who, following the movement's              Be it resolved that, we, the messengers of the
       dress code,  are invariably well-groomed and conserv-          churches in fellowship with the General Association
       atively clothed.                                               of Regular Baptist Churches, meeting in  annual  con-


                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER                                                593


    ference at Winona Lake, Indiana, June 23-27, 1975,            things doeth well.
    alert our own constituency and Christians everywhere
    that Transcendental Meditation is one of a variety of           And meditation for the child of God includes con-
    yoga techniques introduced into our society from the          stant prayer.  -Eph.  6:18 states, "Praying always with
    East, and  that as such has religious significance de-        all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching
    spite vigorous denials to the contrary by its advo-           thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for
    cates, and                                                    all saints." And in I Thess. 5: 17 we read, "Pray with-
       Be it further resolved  that we oppose its approval        out ceasing". And in James 5: 13 the Word states, "Is
    by state legislatures and by our national government          any among you afflicted? Let him pray. . . ."
    as a breach of the principle of separation of church            The point is, that when children of God turn to
    and state.                                                    such things as TM, regarding it as a possible "cure"
  And what must we, as faithful children of God,                  for some of their tensions, trials, etc., these show how
say? Rather obviously, we must heed the warning of                far they have departed from the mandate of Scrip-
Scripture, (I Tim. 4: 1 and 7) " . . .in the latter times        ture. These have not meditated properly according to
some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to se-             the Word of God  - or they would have no time to
ducing spirits, and doctrines of devils . . . refuse pro-         dabble in transcendental meditations. And these, in
fane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather          the way of proper meditations, would have indeed
unto godliness." Or there is the warning of I Cor.               the peace which surpasseth understanding. They
10:20-21,  (`. . .they sacrifice to devils, and not to           would have no need for any TM.
God: and I would not that ye have fellowship with
devils. Ye  cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the               The child of God must continue in meditation of
cup of devils: ye can not be partakers of the Lord's             the Word and work of God, and in prayer. That is
table, and of the table of devils."                              essential - and that is sufficient.
  And indeed it would be strange for a child of God                 Will such meditation give one the things claimed by
to become involved either in "play" or seriously with            TM advocates? Yes - and no. No, this will not give
thisTM or variations thereof. Often one finds that the           those merely earthly, physical goals of a TM. But yes,
Christian has but little time for Scripture reading and          this sort of meditation does give peace  - and often
prayer - but he can find 40 minutes a day for TM?                does relieve the tensions and pressures which are
  The trouble with such who turn to TM or some                   sometimes so great on the earth. But such peace is
variation of it is that they have neglected proper med-          infinitely above anything  which T.M. or any other
itation in the first place. Scripture emphatically               earthly variant could ever provide.
speaks of meditation too  - but of a spiritual sort.                One more thing. If TM practitioners can spend 40
Psalm 1: l-2 states, "Blessed is the man that walketh            minutes a day, 20 minutes in the morning and 20
not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the           minutes at night in this sort of devilish meditation,
way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful;         could not the child of God do the same for proper
but his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his            spiritual meditation? I am convinced that many of
law doth he meditate day and night." Or Ps. 143:5:               our problems in church and family arise out of the
"I remember the days of old: I  meditate on all thy              fact that few have any time at all for proper medita-
works; I muse on the work of thy hands." There are               tion. What sort of spiritual lives would we enjoy, ac-
many similar passages. But note well: the meditation             cording to the promise of God's Word itself, if we
is not a repetition of a certain "mantra", but rather            properly meditate upon His Word and come to Him
upon God's Word and His works. He who does such                  in prayer?

IN  IfIS FEAR

                                  Christian Stewardship
                                                       Rev. D.H. Kuiper


  These lines are not written because there is a lack            thousand to thirty-five hundred dollars a year in
of Christian giving in our churches. To my knowledge             school tuition does not have to be exhorted to give.
there is not. The head of a family who gives twelve to           But there are reasons why we should be confronted
twenty dollars a week to the church and pays from a              by this topic nevertheless. First, the high financial


594                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


sacrifice for the needs of the covenant is borne            The earth and its  fumess, the world and they that
primarily by the married heads of households; the           dwell therein, the beast of the forest and the cattle on
young, single person, although he contributes, usually      a thousand hills, the silver and the gold, our children
does not do so to such an extent. In fact, usually the      and ourselves, they are all the LORD'S. (Ps. 24: 1, Ps.
level of his giving is quite low; occasionally it is        50: 10, Hag. 2:8, I Cor. 6:20)
nothing. There is evidence that the richest, untapped          Having finished the great household of the uni-
resource in our churches is the single, young, working      verse, God condescended to make man a steward of
man or woman. Worldly affluence and materialism             the earth with work to do. (Gen. 1:28) In Adam the
afflict us. Some would need eight arms and legs to          human race receives all things of the earth, its wealth,
operate all the vehicles they possess: cars, campers,       its relationships, its time and opportunities, its truth
trail bikes, boats, snowmobiles. For all of us, but         and ideas, in the steward relationship. Man is blessed
primarily for these, the following is helpfully offered.    in order that he might bless God!
Secondly, there is the danger that we become weary
in well doing, that long years of giving begins to exact    STEWARDSHIP IN CHRIST
a toll. Cheerfulness is replaced by grudging duty,
grateful thanks by automatic offering. Thirdly, this           This single honor, once enjoyed, soon lost, typified
article will serve as an opportunity to consider the        throughout the Old Testament, is restored perfectly
practice of tithing that is a common practice in many       and irrevocably in Christ. In Christ we see that it is
churches, and, one learns on the mission field, in the      blessed to give rather than to receive. Consumed with
                                                            zeal for His Father's house, the faithful Servant gave
lives of many individual saints. To the subject of          Himself unto death although He was tempted not to
tithing we hope to turn our attention next time.            give at all. And God looked upon His Servant, was
                                                            well-pleased, and gave Him a Mediator's glory. In this
SOVEREIGN OWNERSHIP                                         perfect giving of Himself, Christ did four things: 1.)
  Implied by the term stewardship is the relationship       He removed the curse from us for our selfishness and
of proprietor and servant. The original compound            our greed. 2.) He delivered us from the sin of seeking
word means to serve in a house, to manage a house-          self instead of God. 3.) He gave us an amazing
hold or an estate, to be a trustee in charge of the         example to guide us in our stewardship. 4.) And He
property of another. This relationship is well illus-       restored us to a right relation of stewardship through
trated in the Parable of the Talents as found in            the enabling power of His Spirit. Underneath were
Matthew 25. Stewardship involves responsibility, for        the everlasting arms of the mighty Savior God, Who
it is a position of trust. Care must be given to the        in His Son reconsecrated us unto Himself, so that our
property of another. It involves, secondly, account-        consecration, our royal priesthood, begins not with
ability. As the steward manages his master's estate to      material things but with ourselves, and then the
the best of his ability, he does so in the expectation      things we have and do.
that his master may return at any time and demand             For the saint of the new dispensation, giving falls
an accounting. It is the prerogative of the master to       under the law of liberty, under the rule of the new
judge whether the steward has been faithful or not,         heart which knows no constraint but only willingness.
and to treat him accordingly. Thus stewardship is not       Accordingly, the New Testament gives us these guide-
merely a formal relationship, but it is an ethical          lines for stewardship and giving, which, you will
obligation, a matter of the heart. The good steward         notice, require of the child of God an involvement of
devotes his time and energies in the place he is called     his will and discernment:
to labor with love to his lord and master. The evil            1.) Priorities  - Giving for the cause of the king-
steward seeks his own welfare and in so doing is a          dom, whether that be church, poor, missions,
cheat and a thief; the good steward constantly asks         seminary, Christian school, is giving that comes first.
himself, "Do I have my lord's welfare at heart?" This       Giving for these causes ought to come from the cream
ethical aspect is emphasized by Paul in I Cor.  4:2,        of the paycheck, not as an afterthought or only if
"Moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be         there is enough left over. That this is a valid applica-
found faithful."                                            tion of Jesus' words, "Seek ye first the kingdom of
  Although there is stewardship among men due to            God and His righteousness," is seen from the words
the relative "ownership" of goods by man and the            he immediately adds, "and all these things shall be
unequal distribution of those goods among men (and          added unto you." All these things refers, according to
hence the eighth commandment), ultimately all               the content of Matt. 5, to such things as food and
things belong to God. This absolute ownership of all        clothing. Although first in this text has the idea of
things in the universe by the Creator, Sustainer, and       primary principle and not numerical order, to keep
Governor lies at the heart of Christian giving. All         these words does require that we have an order of
things are of Him and through Him and unto Him!             priorities as far as our spending is concerned.


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                               595



   2.) Liberality  - The liberty of the new dispensa-       urgent, then, that both the fact that we give and the
tion saint may not be turned into license, as if we         way we give are held before them at home.
stewards think we give according to what we can get
away with. The rule is that we give as freely as we            5.) Regularity  - "Upon the first day of the week
have received. In close connection with this liberality,    let every one of you lay by him in store . . . . ." Paul
of course, is the obvious guideline of contributing as      instructs the Corinthian saints. The Heidelberg
we are able (Deut. 16 : 17) or as the Lord has pros-        Catechism, Lord's Day XXXVIII, makes this weekly
pered us (I Cor. 16: 2). With some God is ple,ased with     giving a matter of worship, a matter of proper
a few pennies, with others a large portion of their         Sabbath observance. Each Sunday we appear before
incomes, and this according to one's station in life.       the Lord with thanks in our hearts and gifts in our
                                                            hands, confessing that all that we have is His, desiring
  3 .) Cheerfulness - In II Cor.  9:7, cheerfulness         that His kingdom may be extended and may come,
stands in contrast to a grudging attitude and a forced      showing our love for the poor. Those churches that
feeling. That the Lord loves a cheerful giver implies:      have a weekly benevolence offering are certainly fol-
a.) That the giver wants to give. He understands the        lowing the catechism closely. More, the practice of
relationship in which He stands to His Father in            giving on the Lord's Day is so proper because that
heaven, and he is altogether pleased by this relation-      day itself is a reminder of our Christian liberty.
ship. b.) That the giver has faith, faith in the promise    Through His death and resurrection, Christ has put an
of God that all other things shall be added unto him,       end to all the shadows and types, and has clothed us
and to give rather than receive is blessed. This con-       with perfect freedom. Since giving is a splendid
viction makes cheerful! c.) That the giver is thankful.     expression of this freedom, it is proper that with
He is aware of his own poverty and wretchedness. He         regularity we contribute on the first day of the week.
is deeply conscious of the fact that all that he has has    And finally, this regularity is also beneficial with
been given him of grace. That the Giver of every good       respect to the point that was made above, the in-
and perfect gift should so enrich such a sinner com-        structing of our seed. Those who have few periods of
pels him to give out of a grateful heart. Perhaps it can    income throughout the year, such as when crops or
even be said that this cheerfulness, so pleasing to         herds are sold, ought to plan in such a way that they
God, is the outstanding characteristic of true giving!      have gifts to offer each week, and gifts to distribute
                                                            to their children for giving each week. Long periods
   4.) Without show - Speaking of the Pharisees who         of time during which Dad and Mom put in only a
loved to give on the street and in the synagogue with       little silver can only have a harmful effect.
the purpose of being seen, Jesus warns with the
words, "They `have their reward." The only reward             6.) One other point needs to be made here that is a
for showy giving is what happens when the show is           bit hard to name. What we have in mind is that our
made. We are to give humbly, privately, secretly. It is     giving ought not to be conditioned by regarding cer-
a matter between the individual's heart and God in          tain outside influences. Two come readily to mind.
heaven who rewards the secret giver openly, and no          The danger can often be present with us that we give
one else. This completely private aspect of a steward's     with an eye to what someone else or what the rest
giving has one exception, or perhaps it could be called     give. This is not so much a danger with our weekly
one specification. The giving for various covenant          offerings as it is with special drives. We notice or
causes by the head of a household ought to be shared        think we notice what others are giving, we notice how
in some way with the remaining members of the               our income or style of living compares to those
household, so that especially the children know what        others, and then we serve notice that we will give just
is going on. Certain things in life are not so much         so much. Clearly this is a grudging violation of the
taught as caught. This is so true of values! If the         truth that each one stands responsible and account-
youth of the church are to be faithful stewards, if         able to God by himself. Secondly, it is not impossible
they are to share in the blessedness that God promises      that some are encouraged to give because the con-
to the liberal giver, if they are to demonstrate cheer-     tribution is tax deductible. We may certainly deduct
fulness with all its rich implications, then they will      for tax purposes whatever the law of the land allows,
have to see these things in their fathers! God will use     but personally I feel bad that notes to this effect are
sermons to lead them in the right direction. God will       included in literature distributed in our midst. That
grace the verbal lessons we give our children with          ought to be far from our minds when we consider
understanding and compliance. But above all else,           prayerfully what God wants His stewards to do! Let
God will crown our  example  so that we have fol-           us give with simplicity!
lowers. Lessons are being taught in the home without
a word being spoken. Our attitudes oftentimes                 May these lines move us closer to the position of
become the precise attitude of our young. How               King David when he exclaimed after the offering was


596                                          Tl-iE STANDARD BEARER


received for the temple, "But who am I, and what is          God, that Thou triest the heart, and hast pleasure in
my people, that we should be able to offer so willing-      uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of mine
ly after this sort? For all things come of Thee, and of      heart have I willingly offered all these things." (I
Thine  own have we given Thee . . . . . I know also, my      Chron. 29: 14, 17).


,THE DAY OF SHAD0 WS


                 A Triangle Within A Family Circle
                                                  Rev. John A. Heys


   A triangle has three sides. But it derives its name       while she,  Sarai, was already one flesh with him. It
from the fact that it has three angles. And at least         was not a mere case of allowing a servant to live in
two of these angles are sharp, sharper than those of a       the same house, to eat at the' same table with the
square, rectangle, pentagon, hexagon or octagon, all         master; but it was erasing that distinction of master
of which have more sides and more angles than the            and servant to make Hagar one flesh with Abram.
triangle.                                                    And having done so, Sarai should have no complaint
                                                             when the angle of the triangle which she brought into
  When, therefore, one introduces a living triangle         the family circle began to stab her and bring her
into a family circle, somebody is going to get hurt by
the sharp points of that triangle. And this comes to         anguish and grief.
such clear manifestation in the life of Abram.                 And Sarai did not hesitate, as one of the angles of
                                                            that triangle, to jab into the flesh of Abram and with
  In fleshly impatience he, at the suggestion of and        her tongue to injure him. She had already treated
with the help of his wife, Sarai, took Hagar, the hand-     Hagar cruelly and would do so more intensely to the
maid of Sarai, into their family circle in the hope of      point that Hagar has to flee from it. When we read
bringing forth the promised covenant son. All three         that Sarah "dealt hardly with her", this is more than a
got hurt, and so did the son who was born,of Abram          `just punishment of a mistress upon a disobedient
and Hagar.                                                  servant. We get to see another side of her who other-
   In Genesis  16:5 we read, "And  Sarai said unto          wise revealed a very meek and gentle spirit. The
Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my               depravity of her nature shone through, and that she
maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had          also needed the sanctifying grace of the Holy Spirit is
conceived, I was despised in her eyes: The Lord judge       displayed before our eyes.
between me and thee." She speaks of being hurt by              Note also that  Sarai makes a very vicious and
Hagar not only in that she plainly showed that she          unjust attack upon Abram and lets him feel very
despised  Sarai, but also in that there is a wrong for      keenly a point of the triangle that is within his family
which she calls God to be judge between her and             circle. My wrong, she says, be upon thee. That is, the
Abram. Sarai was injured, and she certainly asked for       wrong treatment I am suffering from Hagar, the
it. She, not Abram, authored this whole procedure.          harm, the injury I now bear is your fault! The guilt of
She suggested it to Abram and gave Hagar unto him.          it be upon your head, Abram! So unjustly did she
Abram did not concoct the whole scheme and ask              speak to her husband who had done all this at her
Sarai's permission. She elevated Hagar above her posi-      suggestion and to please her. By "my wrong" Sarai
tion of servant by giving her to Abram. Indeed, Sarai       does not mean to confess that she did wrong. Not at
meant it to be a form of service. With no concern for       all! Everyone has done wrong, she thinks, but Sarai
Hagar's well-being, she was simply going to use Hagar's     herself. She fails to see her own sin while she has such
body for her own advantage as she saw it. Yet it was        clear vision of Abram's "wrong" and Hagar's
an act which elevated her above that position of            "haughtiness". Nor is  Sarai the only one who has
servant and brought her right into the family circle        behaved that way. It is in all of us. And this is exactly
instead of leaving her outside serving that family          what led Jesus to warn us to cast out the beam that is
circle. She saw it too late, but her deed elevated          in our own eye before we try to cast out the mote
Hagar to the position of being one flesh with Abram,        that is in the brother's eye.


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  597


   Hagar became a thorn in  Sarai's flesh and as one           And Abram? Let it be noted that he reveals an
angle of the triangle she made life miserable for           abiding loyalty to  Sarai after this one deed of  dis-
Sarai. She became proud as soon as she saw that she         honouring her and sinning against her by adding
had conceived, and showed great disrespect for her          Hagar's flesh to that divinely ordained union that
mistress. She did not have God in all her thoughts and      made him and Sarai one flesh. He added strange flesh
did not behave as one who in humility before Him            to what was already one flesh of man and wife. And
acknowledges that we have nothing that we did not           although  Sarai asked for it, Abram, by adopting
receive from Him. She acted. as though she conceived        Sarai's plan and as one of the angles in that triangle,
by her own strength and viewed herself as being of          injured Sarai.
superior strength above Sarai. This of course was not
so at all. It is not so today either. It is God Who
decides who shall and who shall not conceive. He it is         It certainly was no "love affair" between Abram
Who gives us children and Who keeps us from having          and Hagar. He had no interest in continuing the re-
children.                                                   lationship or of having her as his second wife or con-
                                                            cubine. But being attacked by  Sarai he rises to her
                                                            defence, although he must have seen  Sarai's sin.
   There are two or.three matters that we may note in       Nevertheless he writes off Hagar, completely and tells
connection with Hagar and her pride. God did not            Sarai to do with her what she pleases. He will not
approve of it, as can be expected. No, the end does         interfere and side with Hagar. He remains loyal to
not justify' the means. It was not an act of faith that     his aged wife and does not fall for the younger
moved Sarai to suggest this plan to Abram. It was not       woman who plainly will now present him with a
faith on Abram's part to follow through on this plan.       child.
Nor was it faith on the part of Hagar to submit, or, if
you will, agree to this arrangement. The desire. to
have the promised covenant seed was due to a true              We may even wonder as to how deeply spiritual
and living faith in God. Abram and Sarai are to be com-     Abram was and how covenant minded he was when
mended for that. And this, too, was a gift of God           he went in unto Hagar. For now, even though she is
unto them. There is nothing in the account that even        carrying that child which they seemed to want so
faintly suggests that Hagar's consent, or perhaps it is     badly, he is ready to let Sarai do to Hagar what she
better to say her willingness to play the part Sarai had    wills. What if she wanted to sell her so that she would
designed for her (she did not have to consent, for she      be sent far away? What would become of the child
was a servant) was due to a desire to see this covenant     they were so eagerly awaiting?
seed born to Abram. But, limiting ourselves for the
moment to Abram and  Sarai, it becomes plain that
our best works are polluted with sin. The desire may          It is true that one learns to love one's child far
be, and in this case was good and out of true faith,        more deeply after that child is born and has been
but the execution became  -corrupt, and was ex-             there to work itself more deeply into one's heart. But
ceedingly evil in God's sight. He Who designed the          a sincere covenant parent will love that unborn child
geometric triangle also instituted the family circle in     and wait with eager expectation for its birth. He will
such a way that any triangle introduced into it would       dedicate that unborn child already to God and plan
bring grief and misery.                                     to arrange for its spiritual as well as material growth
                                                            and needs. Needless to say, a covenant parent, a be-
                                                            liever, will not even desire abortion. He will not prac-
  To be noted also is the fact that God still considers     tice it, but he will also loathe the very thought of it in
Hagar to be Sarai's handmaid. For through the angel         regard to his own flesh and blood that God has given
He tells her to go back to her mistress. And that           him as it is in its still imperfect state. The world that
clearly indicates that God does not condemn slavery         is rapidly losing its natural affection will for carnal
as such. He hates all cruelty and mistreatment of the       reasons get rid of what God has given. But faith and
slaves, but He sends Hagar back to serve again as           covenant interest will not allow the child of God to
Sarai's handmaid. And this also reveals what God            do such a thing. And Abram, had he been walking in
thinks of the modern denial of this relationship in the     the same strength of faith that later on caused him to
strikes which the  labour unions (which men have            offer up Isaac, would have had a deep interest in that
founded and support) practice and in which the              child that was within Hagar. Later on, as we suggested
workers tell the employers that they have the say in        above, when the child was there before him, he
that factory as to whether there will be work done or       learned to love him so much that he pleaded with
not and even as to who may work there and who may           God before the birth of Isaac that Ishmael might live
not.                                                        before Him. But could it be that Abram, after he had


598                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


gone in unto Hagar, began more and more to realize           sought the peace of his former state with Sarai.
that this was not an act of faith and that this was not
only against God's law but also wholly contrary to             Sarai had called God to judge Abram for what he
the covenant that God had established with him?              had done, and it is not impossible that by this Abram
After all, God established it with Abram, and He did         was' pricked in his heart and realized somewhat more
not in any way leave even a suggestion that Abram
had to keep that covenant from being unrealized.             clearly that the promise of God to Shem did not run
                                                             in the line of Ham; and Hagar was an Egyptian and
  To his credit it may be stated that although he, as        thus a descendant of Ham. Certainly if one is going to
one of the angles in that triangle, injured Hagar whom       "help" God  - Who needs no help  - realize His
he was obliged now to protect as never before, he            covenant promise to Shem, one ought not go outside
desired to keep the peace and unity of the family            of Shem's descendants to seek to realize the birth of
circle into which God had brought him and Sarai. He          the covenant seed. At any rate Abram is quiet and
is amazingly meek and without a spirit of retaliation        meek, and exactly because a triangle had been created
when  Sarai jabs him with the words of her sharp             in his family circle, he will have to take sides and hurt
tongue. He does not answer in kind and refrains from         either Sarai or Hagar. He chose to hurt Hagar. But the
reminding her that it was all her idea and that she          wonder of God's grace is that the Triune God makes
gave Hagar to him. And when  Sarai intensified her           peace for us in His Son, the Seed to Whom the
hard treatment of Hagar, Abram not only kept his             covenant promise came and Who blotted out both
hands off the matter  .but kept his mouth shut and           Abram's and Sarai's and our sins.





ALL AROUND US

                                 Correspondence And Reply


  The editor of our  Standard  Bearer  forwarded to            Spirit of Christ., Since his information was
the undersigned the following letter from a Rev. Peter         admittedly incomplete, he should have in the
Vander Weide of First Jenison Christian Reformed               interest of fair reporting, made an effort to find
church, and I quote:                                           out that not all the delegates at that Synod voted
                                                               for the motion referred to, and that there were
                                                               delegates there who did not share the sentiments
  Dear Prof. Hoeksema:                                         expressed by Rev. Postman and said so. For one
                                                               man in one denomination to state categorically
       Permit me to register a vigorous protest to a           that  all in another denomination ignore and cir-
  statement made by Rev. H. Veldman in the Oct. 15             cumvent these issues is presumptuous. How can he
  Standard Bearer (p. 536). In commenting on the               know what all these men teach and preach in their
  matter of reprobation ignored in the CRC he                  respective churches?
  makes this statement: "But, the truth of Reproba-
  tion is a relic, is not a living matter in that church,
  is circumvented and avoided by all. This means, of              I had  expe,cted better things from repre-
  course, that the doctrine of election is also circum-        sentatives of your denomination. It lacks Christian
  vented and avoided by all."                                  charity, to say nothing of intellectual honesty and
                                                               integrity. I do not deem it a Christian prerogative
                                                               to demand an apology, but I am convinced you
       It certainly is not circumvented and avoided by         owe such an apology to many in the CRC.
  me, and I am sure many others in the CRC. To say
  that  all in the CRC do this because some do is                                      Sincerely,
  unchristian and unworthy of one who claims the                                       W.S. Peter Vander Weide


                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER                                                       599


  Here is the article or that part of the article against      the Lord would  bestow faith and salvation upon all
which the  Rev. Vander Weide registers such  a                 men. However, `ithe Canons of Dordrecht declare in
vigorous protest:                                              Art. 15 of the first head, and I quote:
      However, the  News Bulletin  of  the Association  of             What peculiarly tends to illustrate ma recommend
   Christian Reformed Laymen,  July, 1975, page 7, also            to us the eternal and unmerited grace of election, is
   quotes the Rev. J. Postman,  Classis  Toronto, who             the express testimony of sacred Scripture, that not
   spoke at that synod, and we quote:                              all, but some only are elected, while others are passed
                                                                  by in the eternal decree; whom God, out of his
           I want to support this Motion (this refers              sovereign, most just, irreprehensible and unchange-
        to a new motion to "accede" to the Boer                    able good  .pleasure,   bath decreed to leave in the
        request - H.V.). We are a confessing church               common misery into which they have  wilfully
        not a church of confessions. And I submit,                plunged themselves, and not to bestow upon them
       Mr. Chairman, that presently we are not                    saving faith and the grace of conversion. . .
        confessing reprobation. It's not a living
        matter amongst us. It  does  not flow,                   There you have it, Rev. Vander Weide. These
        issue from our pulpits in a dynamic  Word-             Canons declare that God has decreed NOT TO
        directed way. We all circumvent it, we  all            BESTOW UPON THEM SAVING FAITH AND THE
        avoid it, yet we somehow hold on to our                GRACE OF CONVERSION. This is the very opposite
        confessions as a relic. . .                            of Point One. No man can believe and confess both.
      So, here you have it. I do not know whether              The one denies the other. And this denial of the truth
   anyone at the synod objected to this remark of Rev.         of reprobation and that God loves only His own elect
   Postman. Anyone with any love for the truth of the          has appeared in writings in the past of leaders in the
   Word of God certainly could not permit this remark          CRC.                                  c..
   to go unchallenged. But, the truth of reprobation is a
   relic, is not a living matter in that church, is circum-      Finally, Rev. Vander Weide, you write that the
   vented and avoided by all. This means, of course, that      truth of reprobation is not circumvented and avoided
   the doctrine of Election is also circumvented and
   avoided by all. I refer, we understand, to the doctrine     by you. Do you believe in and preach and teach the
   of Election as set forth by the Canons, the truth of        truth of divine reprobation as set forth by the
   divine and sovereign election. . .                          Canons? Remember, our fathers here are repudiating
  I reply to the Rev. P.                                       the Arminian presentation of a conditional predesti-
                                Vander Weide as follows:       nation. But now I have a question to ask of you. You
  When Rev. Vander Weide writes that my informa-               know that there are those in the CRC who deny this
tion was incomplete he, I suppose, means that the              truth of sovereign predestination, and this includes
quotation as it appears in that Bulletin of the ACRL           the truth of election as well as that of reprobation.
was incomplete. However, how does that in any way              What are you doing about this? Are you protesting
affect what had been said by Rev. Postman upon the             against those in your church (CRC) who deny this
floor of the CRC synod last June?                              truth? Do you leave them alone? What are you doing
  Secondly, an apology is owed to many in the CRC?             about this terrible condition in the CRC? May I
I did not know that there were delegates at that               suggest to you that you also register vigorous protest
synod who objected to the sentiments as expressed              against those within the CRC who teach this heresy
by the Rev. Postman. I simply quoted from a public             and other heresies?
bulletin of the Christian Reformed laymen. Neither
am I aware of any sentiments expressed against this
sentiment of Rev. Postman after this CRC synod. I
wish that I had known that there were such senti-
ments expressed against what Rev. Postman said upon
the floor of the synod. I am glad that such opposition
was  ,expressed.  If this be true, then the ACRL did                         Know the standard
some false reporting. They owe an apology.                                         and  ,follow it.
  Thirdly, it is simply a fact, Rev. Vander Weide
that your church has officially denied the truth  0;                                   Read the
reprobation and, therefore, also the truth of election.
Point One of the Three Points of 1924 declares that                      STANDARD BEARER!
God is favorably inclined to all who hear the preach-
ing of the gospel,  that this preaching of the gospel  is
an offer, that God would therefore have all men be
saved. According to the official teaching of the CRC


THE STANDARD BEARER
          P.0; Box 6064
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506





600


                                News From Q.ur Churches
                     November 1, 1975                       East express a desire to be in one of our Western
   The October calendar has been filled with all kinds      Churches `where life moves at a slower pace and there
of special meetings - especially in the greater Grand      are not so many meetings to attend.'
Rapids area. In addition to the normal consistory              As you can see from the number of special events
meetings, catechism*classes,  societies, Sunday school,     listed above, finding a free night is no small problem
school board meetings and the like, some of the             - lectures are usually scheduled on Adams School
October `extras' include three PTA meetings, Men's          Mothers Club nights. Covenant Christian High School
League with Rev. Veldman speaking on "The Power             has offered to serve as a central `clearing house' for
of Unceasing Prayer," Mr. & .Mrs. League with Rev.          scheduling meetings. Covenant staff will keep a
Veldman again on "Patriotism  - What should we              `master calendar' of meetings. We wish them success
teach our children?  - What should be our attitude          in providing this useful service.
toward our Country?", Ladies League with Rev. Van
Overloop  on God's Sending of His Messengers," Acts            As you may recall, our Hudsonville congregation
8:4. In addition to the league meetings, there were at      decided to build a new church. A building fund drive
least one bazaar, two fall coffees and several sales        has already resulted in gifts of almost $50,000! Plans
scheduled.                                                  are being drawn for a new building containing a
                                                            hexagon auditorium with a seating capacity of
   First Church celebrated Rev. Van  Baren's tenth          approximately 625. Sale papers for the present
anniversary as pastor with a short program on               church building were signed on October 29. The
October 9. Included were several special musical            building had to be vacated by November  - the
numbers, congregational singing, remarks of apprecia-       deacons were very busy searching for space to store
tion given in the name of the congregation by Mr; J.        the church organ, piano, tables, and .other furniture.
M. Faber, and the presentation of a $600 gift. When         The congregation expected to hold services. beginning
quizzed, Mrs. Van Baren revealed that the gift would        on November 2 in the Hudsonville High School
be used to replace their `tired' couch, a veteran of 19     Auditorium on 32nd St.
years.                                                         Mr. John Schaap of First Church celebrated his
   Rev. Kortering addressed the Western Ladies              100th birthday on October 4. A birthday card pro-
League on "Affluence and Its Affect on Home and             vided by the consistory was signed by many of the
Church." Prof. Hanko addressed a combined chapel            congregation. We understand that Mr. Schaap also
service of Doon and Edgerton schools on October 9.          received cards from President Ford and other no-
South Holland scheduled a lecture by Rev. Engelsma          tables.                                          L
on "The Authority of Scripture," and Prof. Hanko
was to speak on "The Bible Chained Anew," the                  Rev. C. Hanko declined the call from our Kala-
annual Reformation Day Lecture in First Church.             mazoo church.
   The undersigned was privileged to worship with             A quiet thought from our Southeast Church
our Redlands, Calif. congregation this past summer.         bulletin:
During a visit with some of our people there, the wish        "People who are so sure they know where the
was expressed that they would not be so far removed           younger generation is going should try to remem-
from all the denomination and school activities taking        ber where it came from."
place in the East. I have also heard some here in the


