                                          h e

                                     tam

                                                 earer


A  REFORMED  SEMI-MONTHLY  MAGAZINE




IN  TI-IIS  ISSUE:

      Meditation - The Sword of the Prince of Peace
                                                                :

       Editorial - The Nature of the Atonement: Limited.or  General?


       S e l f - E x a m i n a t i o n

       Vatican Council - Third Session

       Rally Reflections



                                           Volume  XLI./   Number   6/  December   15, 1965


   122                                                                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER

                                                 C O N T E N T S
      Meditation  -
           The Sword of the Prince of Peace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                                 122                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                 Rev. M. Schipper
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           Limited or General? (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                125
                  Prof. H. C. Hoeksema                                                                                                          Editor-- Prof. H. C. Hoeksema a
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           Nebuchadnezzar a Child of God? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                               127     Prof. H. C. Hoeksema, 1842 Plymouth Terrace, S.E., Grand
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               MEDITATION-


                                  The Sword of the  Prim% of Peace

                                                                                                                by Rev. M. Schippev

                                                 "And His name shall be called . . . The  Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6b
                                                 "Thi&  not  that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send
                                                peace, but a  sword.  "
                                                                                                                                                      Matthew  lo:34

          His.weshall  be called the Prince of  Peace1                                                                           While on the other hand this same child, when He
          Such is the name Isaiah ascribes to the Child to                                                                   reaches the age of manhood, exclaims: I am come not
   be born, and to the Son to be given!                                                                                      to send peace, but a sword-l
          But when this Son grows up and assumes the gov-                                                                                    *********c*****
   ernment which rests upon His shoulder, He declares to                                                                         S t r a n g e   paradox1
 the constituency of His governed: Think not that I am                                                                           The Prince of Peace  - with a  sword1
  _ come to send peace on earth, . . . but a sword1                                                                              The Prince Whose duty and work it shall be to bring
          On the one hand, the Son to be born is dedicated to                                                                peace 1
   the proposition- of effecting an everlasting peace! At                                                                        But who does so only in the way of battle, of making
   whose birth even the heavens will break forth into                                                                        division1
   singing1            Peace on earth to men of His good pleasure1                                                               Prince of Peace, He is called I What does this mean?
_ _   _  _-  -.--


                                               THESTANDARDBEARER                                                                  123


To Whom does this appellation refer?                            Scriptures that there is no peace for thewicked. From
   The term "Peace" in the Scriptures has both                  Adam the first unto all eternity, the Scripture is
negative and positive content. Negatively expressed,            true: "the wicked are like the troubled sea that cannot
peace is the very opposite of war, confusion, distress          rest; there is no peace saith my God to the wicked."
and misery.      Peace is a condition in which-there is-no      You and I belong to this category as we come forth
disturbance or division; where war and its attending            from our parents into this world. Only through the
miseries are wholly absent.        Positively, peace is a       grace of the God of peace and the saving work of the
condition in which there is friendship, mutual agree-           Prince of Peace will the relation of us to God and God
ment, unity; and where security, safety, and tranquility        to us, a relation of wrath and warfare, change. Then,
abound 1                                                        too, and only then, will the relation of man to his
   Further, it must be established that the term                neighbor change I
"Peace" as here used is not a peace which in any                      Christ Jesus, born in Bethlehem's manger, is the
sense can or will be effected by any counsels of men            Prince of  Peace1
or leagues of nations.        Surely all humanistic and               It is the duty of a prince to set in order the things
modern conceptions of peace and peace-making have               of the kingdom for the king. So, also, it is the high
nothing in common with the peace of the Prince of               expectation of a prince when the kingdom has been
Peace.      Men and nations may foolishly imagine and           perfectly arranged that he shall enter with the king
plan universal peace, but as long as it is-a -peace             into the glories of that kingdom. Moreover, it follows
which is established by the mere physical, coercive             naturally that the prince, being the son of the king, is
power of flesh and blood, and mundane instruments of            legally heir to the throne of his father. So, too, it must
war, there will never be a realization of their dream.          be understood that the Prince of Peaceis  the Son of the
There can and will never be any peace among men,                King of Peace, Who is God Himself! Through this Son,
unless the Prince of Peace alone brings it  1 There is          God arranges and sets in order the things of His
no peace apart from the Peace of  God1                          Kingdom of Peace. When this Son has so fulfilled His
   Peace in its most absolute sense is to be found              office and work, He may of right expect to enter into
alone in God, and it comes only from Him 1'                     the glories of that glorious Kingdom of Peace1
   God is, in the Scriptures, called more than once:                  This Son of the King of Peace is sent into the world
the God of  Peace1 the Lord of Peace! and other closely         in the likeness of sinful men. He assumes our flesh
related  appellationsl  This signifies not only that He         and blood, and becomes like unto us in all things, sin
alone establishes peace, but that He is that peace              excepted. And in our likeness bears in His own body
Himself.     Peace in God is that virtue of God whereby         and soul the burden of the wrath of God against sin.
He, as the triune Covenant God, lives His own covenant          So perfectly did He bear it, that He became a. perfect
life in the sphere of eternal love in-such a way that all       sacrifice of obedience before the holy and righteous
three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are bound          God.       He suffers and dies the bitter and shameful
together in mutual agreement of love, and live together         death of the cross, thus making atonement for all
a most perfect, tranquil life of friendship. There is           those-whom the Father had given Him. He satisfies
never any disharmony or division in God, for God is             the righteous judgment of God Who will have peace
                                                                                                           . . --
One.      And this One but also Triune God is the source        only on the basis of perfect righteousness. Moreover,
of all peace to His people in and through the One Whom          by His perfect obedience and sacrifice of atonement,
Isaiah calls: The Prince of  Peace1                             He breaks down the wall of partition between His
   Peace, therefore, is not to be understood as a mere          people and God.      So that God no longer can look down
physical condition, but it is a spiritual.  entity1 And         on them in wrath, but counts them as His friends, even
spiritual things have to do with God and our relation           as He saw and loved them in His counsel in Christ
to  Him1                                                        before the foundation of the world, when He chose them
   Man by nature, as he is born into this world, and is         to become His precious possession. And having done
composed of body and soul, is at enmity with God! He            all to abolish that which made us subject to God's
hates God and is His enemy. Likewise it is true, that           wrath, the King of Peace crowns His Prince with glory
God is his enemy! Through the transgression of one              and honor at His own right hand, whence' also this
man, all have become sinners. We are, as the apostle            Prince receives power through the Holy Spirit given
Paul declares, all the children of wrath by nature. We          Him to effect that peace also in the hearts of His
are under the wrath of God and will abide under it for-         people.      So that His Word to His disciples shortly
ever, unless God Himself by His grace extricates us             before His decease at Jerusalem is fulfilled: "Peace I
from this state and condition.         It is plain from the     leave with you, My peace I give unto you; not as the


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124                                             THESTANDARDBEARER


world giveth, give I unto you." And the word of the            a heated warfare. The sword that makes division was
apostle is true: "Therefore being justified by faith,          in Christ Himself as He appeared among men! The
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus                  very holiness of His Person, the very power of His
Christ."                                                       Word, and the very Spirit which was in Him struck
       But this Prince in His coming brings a sword!           opposition and made division! Beginning at Bethlehem,
       How strange this sounds in the light of all that        and culminating in the cross, His Word and Spirit
which we have said of Him in the preceding! Does               made separation  betwee   n sheep and goats, between
that not all fade into thin air when we are placed before      righteous and wicked, between the children of light
this declaration of Him: I came not to send peace, but         and the children of darkness, between His disciples
a sword? Does He not Himself deny the very purpose             and the synagogue of Satan!
of His coming? Much more serious these questions                  Not with all men, did Christ come to make peace!
appear when we also ask the question: What does He                Nor was it His purpose to amalgamate all human
mean by that sword? What is its idea?                          society!
   Immediately we feel that this is figurative language.          That modern doctrine of a universal brotherhood of
The sword of which He speaks is not a literal, physical        man, Jesus never had in mind! Nor such a peace as
instrument.       For at no time did Jesus appear on earth     is planned and sought after in the United Nations, and
with a sword. And we have His own statement to show            advocated by the Council of Churches, did the Prince
that He never condoned its use when He declared to             of Peace come to realize! These searchers for peace,
the apostle Peter in the garden of Gethsemane: "Put            who deny the blood of atonement which is limited, and
up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take      call the God of Righteousness Who can only be appeased
the sword shall perish with the sword." This is plain          by a sacrifice of blood, a "big bully," shall never
also from Luke  12:51  where the Lord says: "Suppose           taste of His peace!
ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you,             Indeed, the separation which the Prince of Peace
Nay; but rather division."         There can be no doubt       makes is so keen, so wide, sodefinite, that no inventive
therefore that Jesus is thinking of that only which a          genius of man will ever be able to bridge the gap, or
sword represents and does. A sword is an instrument            span the gulf that is fixed!
that is used to make division by cutting. Jesus is                This sword of the Prince of Peace is an  ever-
speaking then of division, dissension, and war. If that        present reality in the world into which He came! From
is the meaning, and it must be, then it appears that He        His high and exalted place, the Prince continues to
came to send division, dissension, and war upon earth.         wield His sword through His Word and Spirit, through
And, if that is not plain enough, He even adds, "I came        His church, through His apostles, His ministers, His
not to send peace, but a sword." How contradictory             people, in whose hearts His Peace dwells !
this sounds to all that is said of Him as the Prince of                      **************
Peace1       On the one hand, He came to establish peace,         Glorious and abiding comfort I
a peace so wonderful that it passeth all understanding,           Comforting it is to know, not only that before God
reaching even unto heaven and the throne of a Holy and         we stand no longer as enemies, but friends; no longer
Righteous God, Who, seeing it, bends down in love and          as objects of wrath, but of His favor! But comforting it
grace to those who were once enemies, but now covenant         is also to know, how and why it is that in the world we
friends.      While on the other hand, He came to begin a      must have tribulation, division, and strife!
warfare that is so universal that it enters into every            The question is often asked: Why should there be so
home, hamlet, city and nation, and effects every man,          much strife7 so much division? Why is it that even
woman, and child who ever came into contact with Him           churches cannot have peace?
or His!                                                           The answer usually given is: There is still so much
                  **************                               sin in man and in the church! This answer is only a
   Awful reality I                                             part of the truth! The other part is: that where the
   0, to be sure, He does not contradict the truth that        Word and Spirit of Christ is, there must be separation!
He is the most glorious Prince of Peace!                          The disciples to whom Jesus said: I came not to
   Rather, He emphasizes the fact that His Peace is            send peace, but a sword, evidently imagined that to
limited, as His atonement is limited! For as we have           confess the Name of Christ in the world would be an
already seen, the angels at His birth sing: Glory to God       easy task. Jesus puts them straight, when He intimates
in the highest andpeace on earth to men of good pleas-         that there would be much opposition. Remember, He
ure  I It is peace to  menof His good pleasure, in whom        said, "For I am some to set a man at variance against
He delights, who are well-pleasing to Him! There are           his father, and the daughter against her mother, and
many who are not of His good pleasure, who are not             the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a
pleasing to Him, who will never taste of His Peace!            man's foes shall be they of his own household."
Indeed, the wicked are like the troubled sea that cannot          Let all those, then, who have in their hearts the
rest1       And as it is true in a natural sense that a sea    peace of the Prince of Peace, rejoice when they see
does not become troubled of itself, but is effected by         that powerful sword of His making separation between
the wind blowing upon it; so, also, it must be understood      sheep and goats, righteous and wicked, as it shall
that the sea of the wicked is brought to unrest by the         finally be wielded in the day of His coming!
breath of the Prince of Peace! His Person, His Word,              Then shall they rejoice eternally in His kingdom of
His Spirit, aggravates the wicked and draws out of him         everlasting peace I


                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                                        i25




        EDITORIAL-

                  The Nature of the Atonement
                                 Limited or General?
                                                  by  Pyof. H. C. Hoeksema

THE CONFESSION OF FAITH AND THE ATONEMENT                       means, if it means anything whatsoever, that if Christ
AS SATISFACTION                                                 bore the punishment of sin, those for whom He died
   Also according to our (Belgic) Confession of Faith,          have no punishment to bear. It means that if our in-
the very nature of Christ's atonement consists in               iquities were laid upon Him, we are free, so that they
satisfaction, that is, the satisfaction of divine justice       can nevermore be laid upon us.           All those for whom
with respect to sin and the sinner. As might be expect-         Christ died were very really justified in His death and
ed, since the Confession of Faith follows a different           resurrection.       Why? Because His death was the satis-
order than that of our Heidelberg Catechism, there is           faction for sin!
not an elaborate treatment of this idea in the Confessio            Such  is the very  natuve   of the atonement, according
Belgica.      Nevertheless, there are two key articles          to this article.
which mention the idea of satisfaction literally.                   The same note is sounded in Article XXI,  - "Of the
   The first of these is Article XX, -- "That God hath          satisfaction of Christ, our only High Priest, for us."
manifested his justice and mercy in Christ." There              Read this article, and you will discover the same basic
we read:                                                        elements as in Article XX.
         We believe that God, who is perfectly merciful and            We believe that Jesus Christ is ordained with an
   just, sent his Son to assume that nature, in which the           oath to be an everlasting High Priest, after the order
   disobedience was committed, to make satisfaction in the          of Melchisedec; and that -he hath presented himself in
   same, and to bear the punishment of sin by his most              our behalf before the Father, to appease his wrath by
   bitter passion and death. God therefore manifested               his full satisfaction, by offering himself on the tree of
   his justice against his Son, when he laid our iniquities         the cross, and pouring out his precious blood to purge
   upon him; and poured forth his mercy and goodness                away our sins; as the prophets had foretold. For it is
   on us, who were guilty and worthy of damnation, out              written: He was wounded for our transgressions, he
   of mere and perfect love, giving his Son unto death for          was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our
   us, and raising him for our justification, that through          peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are
   him we might obtain immortality and life eternal.                healed.    He was brought as a lamb to the slaughter,
   We may take note of the following elements in the                and numbered with the transgressors, and condemned
above article:  1) That all the emphasis in this article            by Pontius Pilate as a malefactor, though he had first
is upon this key concept of satisfactionof God's justice,           declared him innocent. Therefore: he restored that
                                                                    which he took not away, and suffered, the just for the
and that too, in connection with the manifestation of               unjust, as well in his body as in his soul, feeling the
divine mercy. The way of the manifestation of God's                 terrible punishment which our sins had merited: inso-
mercy was the way of His justice; and the way of His                much that his sweat became like unto drops of blood
justice was the way of satisfaction. 2) That in this                falling on the ground. He called out, My God, my God,
article satisfaction is presented as the work of God                why hast thou forsaken me? and hath suffered all this
Himself.      God sent His Son to make satisfaction in our          for the remission of our sins. Wherefore we justly
nature; and God "manifested his justice against his                 say with the apostle Paul: that we know nothing, but
Son, when he laid our iniquities upon him." God,                    Jesus Christ, and him crucified; we count all things
therefore, satisfied His own justice with respect to our            but loss and dung for the excellency of the knowledge of
                                                                    Christ Jesus our Lord, in whose wounds we find all
sins.     3) That this article gives content to the concept         manner of consolation. Neither is it necessary to seek
satisfaction.  in fact, virtually defines satisfaction, when        or invent any other means of being reconciled to God,
it states that God sent His Son-to make satisfaction in             than this only sacrifice, once offered, by which believers
our nature, "and to bear the punishment of sin by his               are made perfect forever. This is also the reason why
most bitter passion -and death." Further, this satis-               he was called by the angel of God, Jesus, that is to say,
faction involved God's laying of our iniquities upon                Savior, because he should save his people from their
Christ. 4) That all this is presented as an accomplished            sins.
fact: it was all accomplished nineteen hundred years                The language of this article is so very clear that
ago.     Then Christ bore the punishment of sin. Then           further comment would be superfluous. Nevertheless,
God  .laid our iniquities upon Him. Then He "poured              I cannot refrain from expressing wonderment that any
forth his mercy and goodness on us, who were guilty              Reformed man  ,could  even dream of making the aton-
and worthy of damnation." Hence, this satisfaction               ing death of Christ general, that is, for all men. And


i 2 6                                          THE STANDARD BEARER


my wonderment is due  to this very idea of satisfaction,       the position that one for whom satisfaction is made,
If it is true that Christ's death means that satisfaction      one for whom Christ died, is surely saved.
for sin is an accomplished fact, and it is true; and if            This accounts for the solid emphasis upon the idea
it is true that Christ died for all and every man, and         of satisfaction in our Canons. The whole Reformed,
let us suppose this for the moment; then does it not           Scriptural concept of the atoning death of Christ stands
follow before God and men that there is no punishment          or falls with that satisfaction-idea.
for sin left for any man? If this does not follow, then            Let me add, in parentheses, that'the Arminians saw
you must needs remove this element of satisfaction             this very clearly also.           When they saw this, they
from the death of Christ. But then the death of Christ         tried to pour a different content into such concepts as
means absolutely nothing as far as atonement is con-           the death of Christ and the atonement. Of course,
cerned.                                                        they had to retain Scriptural terminology.                They
    Indeed, satisfaction is the key to the whole nature of     necessarily continued to speak of Christ's death and of
the atoning death of our Lord Jesus Christ!                    the atonement.         If they did not do this, they would
SATISFACTION THE KEY ACCORDING TO THE                          immediately be recognized as heretics. But they had
CANONS                                                         to rid the death of Christ and the atonement of this
                                                               all-important satisfaction-idea. Some of these  Armin-
    When we turn to the Second Head of Doctrine of             ian attempts are described and rejected in the Re-
the Canons of Dordrecht, it is clear from the outset           jection of Errors of the Second Head of Doctrine. The
that this concept of  satisfaction  was considered as          famous Hugo De Groot invented the so-called govern-
crucial by our fathers. The Canons proceed from this           mental theory of the death of Christ. He emptied the
key idea of satisfaction throughout.         They do not       death of Christ of this key element of satisfaction of
literally make mention of other terms and ideas con-           justice and made of Christ's death a divine demonstra-
nected with the nature of the atonement, as we might           tion of what God could justly do to all men on
perhaps expect them to do. Such terms as  vica"Jious,          account of their sins, a demonstration designed to
substitution,  and limited do not occur.     Even a term       make men acknowledge  Godfs  righteousness and to
like  atonement  is absent. But  satisfaction,  --that is      bring them to repentance. According to this theory,
the key1 This may, at first glance, be rather unexpected       if only men will acknowledge the righteousness of God
and may seem quite out of place.        But first impres-      and repent, they will be saved.            Actual removal of
sions are in this case incorrect. Why did the fathers          guilt and satisfaction of divine justice are not  neces-
place all the emphasis upon this idea of satisfaction?         s ary.      But no matter by what devious theories, the
Why did they not rather emphasize literally such               Arminians saw clearly that in order to maintain their
notions as the  vica'Yious,  or the  limited  nature of the    view of a death of Christ for all men which did not
atonement?     Was it because they did not believe in          actually result in the salvation of all, they were com-
vicarious atonement?      Was it because they did not          pelled to get rid of  satisfaction.  Today, perhaps, most
believe that the atonement is in its very nature               Arminian preachers and evangelists are not very
limited?                                                       doctrinally and exegetically inclined.            They speak
    The very contrary is true.                                 rather generally of the death of Christ and of the
    It was just exactly because they believed that the         atonement, and they probably never expound the nature
atonement was in its very nature limited, and it was           of that death of Christ and of the atonement. Possibly
just exactly because they believed that this limited           they never make explicit any "theory" of the death of
atonement was truly vicarious that they went to the            Christ.        Nevertheless, they can never explain the
very heart of the whole concept of Christ's atoning            atonement as meaning that Christ actually made satis-
death:  satisfaction.    Remember, our fathers were            faction for the guilt of all men and every man and at the
fighting the very heresy that Christ died for all men          same time admit that all men are not saved. Hence,
and every man. It was the Arminians who claimed that           either explicitly or implicitly they deny the element
it was possible and necessary in the preaching of the          of satisfaction in the nature of the atonement.
gospel to say to every man, "Christ died for you."                 After this little digression into the history of the
This heresy our fathers opposed in Canons II. But              doctrine, let us return to- the Canons.
they saw clearly that the only basis on which their                In the very first article of Canons II this principle
opposition could be successful was on the basis of the         of atonement through satisfaction is laid down. It is
satisfaction-concept.    They saw clearly that if only         presented as the only possible way of escape from
men understood that the atonement and death of Christ          temporal and eternal punishment in body and soul. It
were actually and objectively the satisfaction of God's        is grounded in the attribute of God's justice. And, as
justice, they could and would never maintain that the          in the Heidelberg Catechism, it is anchored in the
atonement was general, i.e., for all men. They saw             truth of God's simplicity, the truth that God's mercy
clearly that if the Arminians wanted to maintain this          and God's justice can never be in conflict, but are
satisfactory nature of the atonement, and, at the same         always in perfect harmony. Let the article speak for
time, wanted to maintain the general nature of the             itself:
atonement, they would be inevitably driven to rank                        Article 1. God is not only supremely merciful, but
universalism, i.e., the doctrine that all men are                  also supremely just. And his justice-requires (as he
actually saved. For once you grant that the atonement             hath revealed himself in his Word), that our sins com-
is satisfaction in its very nature, you must needs take           mitted against his infinite majesty should be punished,


                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER                                                         i 2 7


   not only with temporal, but with eternal punishment,            The very  nature of the atonement is  satisfaction.
   both in body and soul; which we cannot escape, unless        Remember, it is this nature of the atonement which Dr.
   satisfaction be made to the justice of God.                  Daane is very concerned about. To say, therefore, that
   Sin, therefore, is guilt. It is debt. It is liability to     Christ died for all men is to say that He satisfied for
divine punishment. And the punishment demanded by               all men. To say that He satisfied for all men is to say
God's justice is temporal and eternal punishment in             that there is no more debt for all men. And to say that
body and soul. Unless the satisfaction of divine justice        there is no more debt for all men is to say that there
is made, that is, unless this debt is paid, there is no         is no more punishment for all men.                    They are all
possible escape from that punishment. By the same               saved1  General  atonement....universal  salvation; these
token, if once satisfaction is made, that is, if once the       tw.o are inseparably connected. By the same tokenthere
debt to divine justice is paid, then such satisfaction          can be but one basis, ground, for limited salvation,
and payment of the debt can never again be demanded.            namely, limited atonement. UNLESS, God'forbid, you
If  satisfaction is  made, then that debt is no  move!          want to deny that the atonement is in its very nature
   Let  US  stop right here for a moment, and apply this        satisfaction 1
truth.                                                                              (to be continued)




             QUESTION  BOX-


                         Nebuchadnezzar a Child of God?

                                                  by  Pyof. H. C. Hoeksema


QUESTION                                                        thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the
   From the Men's Society of our  Edgerton  Protestant          kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.
Reformed Church and its secretary, Gerald Kuiper,               And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of
come the following question:                                    the tree roots; thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee,
   "In our discussion of the book of Daniel in our              after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do
Men's Society we came to the problems of whether                rule." This prophecy was fulfilled upon the king, "and
Nebuchadnezzar truly believed in his heart that God             he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen,
was above all, whether he really `praised and extolled'         and his body was wet  ,with the dew of heaven, till his
God from his heart, and whether he was a child of God.          hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails
The problem arose from the fact that verses 34-37 of            like birds' claws." Then follows the passage which
Chapter 4 sound `pretty good' to some of us, especially         gave rise to the question under consideration: "And at
since there is nothing else said about Nebuchadnezzar,          the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine
except Daniel 5:18-23.                                          eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto
   "We request then, that you answer our question in            me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and
The  Standard   Beavev..... The main question, of course,       honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is
is whether Nebuchadnezzar was a child of God."                  an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from
                                                                generation to generation: And all the inhabitants of the
REPLY                                                           earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according
   For the reader's convenience, let me give the back-          to his will in the army of heaven, and among the in-
ground of this question as well as the contents of the          habitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or
verses mentioned.                                               say unto him, What doest thou? At the same time my
   In Daniel 4 is recorded Nebuchadnezzar's dream of            reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my
the great tree that was hewn down so that only the              kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto
stump of its roots were left in the earth. This dream           me; and my  counsellors  and my lords sought unto me;
is interpreted by Daniel with application to the king.          and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent
                                                                                                 ~--..-.-.  .-  -.
The heart of that interpretation is in vss. 24-26: "This        majesty was added unto me. Now I Nebuchadnezzar
is the -interpretation,. 0 king, and this is the decree of      praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all
the most High, which is come upon my lord the king:             whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and
That they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling           those that walk in pride he is able to abase."
shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make         The passage from Daniel 5 is in the context of the
thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with         handwriting on the wall that came to Belshazzar at his
the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over              drunken. feast.    Daniel here recounts the history of

                  -_-


128                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


Nebuchadnezzar's abasement in order to accuse  Bel-               2. Nebuchadnezzar made similar admissions on
shazzar of gross pride.        No new information about       other occasions, after which it became plain that he
Nebuchadnezzar is added in this passage . In fact,            was not a child of God. Cf. Daniel  2:47 and especially
after Chapter 4 no more history of Nebuchadnezzar is          Daniel 3:28.
given us in Daniel.       Significant about the passage in        3. Such language comes from the mouth of wicked
Chapter 5, I think, is the fact that once more it is          kings more frequently. Think of Pharaoh's admissions
stated that this judgment came on Nebuchadnezzar              in Exodus  9:27, and Exodus  10:16, 17. Think, too, of
"till he knew that the most high God ruled in the king-       the language of Cyrus's decree in Ezra 1. All such
dom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever         language does not imply faith and regeneration, but
he will."                                                     simply means that the wicked, to their own condem-
       I must confess that this question never occurred to    nation, must acknowledge that God is GOD.
me before, but that I simply took the position that               4. Not only is `there no personal confession of sin
Nebuchadnezzar was certainly not a child of God. In           and of trust in the Lord in the king's acknowledgement,
studying the question, I have not changed my opinion on       but one can still detect a good deal of "I" in the king's
that score, but have been strengthened in it. Evidently       account.      Moreover, there is absolutely no evidence
the question was occasioned by the amazing and clear          that this "confession" was followed. by a life of con-
and emphatic language of this "confession" of Neb-            version.      For example, would not a converted king
uchadnezzar.       This same language has caused some         have ended the captivity of God's people? And would
good commentators to disagree also, so that some take         he not have instituted radical reform in his own king-
the position that Nebuchadnezzar was truly regenerated        dom ?
and converted. The men of Edgerton, therefore, may                5. What took place in Nebuchadnezzar is quite con-
console themselves that they are not the first, and           sistent with the purpose twice stated by Daniel: "till
probably will not be the last, to wrestle with this           thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of
question.                                                     men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will." In undeni-
       I would prefer to explain this very clear acknow-      able fashion the Lord had caused Nebuchadnezzar to
ledgement of Nebuchadnezzar from the fact that the            know this; and in unmistakable language Nebuchad-
Lord compelled the proud and wicked and (do not for-          nezzar, though he hates God and opposes God's ever-
get) antichristian king to acknowledge, in spite of him-      lasting kingdom, must acknowledge this. Only then is
self, God's absolute sovereignty and dominion and the         his kingdom restored.
absolute sway of God's kingdom over the kingdom of                6. The result is: a) That the wicked, antichristian
Nebuchadnezzar, and, in fact, over all the kingdoms           king stands condemned out of his own mouth. b) That
and inhabitants of the earth.        In this connection, I    God's persecuted people in the midst of an antichristian
present the following considerations:                         kingdom may take comfort from the fact that even the
       1. Nebuchadnezzar personally was "the head of          wicked world-power must. acknowledge that the Most
gold" in the dream-image of Daniel 2 which represents         High, Who is their God, ruleth.           c) That God is
the antichristian world-power, which shall be broken in       glorified not only in the salvation of His people but
pieces by "the stone cut out of the mountain without          also in the judgment and condemnation of the  anti-
hands." To me it is unthinkable that this antichristian       Christian power. Ultimately, every knee shall bow, and
"head of gold" was nevertheless a regenerated child           every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
of God.                                                       to the glory of God the Father.




           THE CHURCH AT  WORSHIP-


                                SELF EXAMINATION
                                                  (Concluded)

                                                by Rev. G.  Vanden  Berg

       The part of the communion form that we want to         we are all dead in sin and deserving of the curse of
consider in this article is the concluding paragraph of       God. Further, those who are defiled with many sins
the preparatory part of this form. From a practical           are enjoined upon the command of Christ and the
point of view this paragraph is very significant. In the      apostle Paul to keep themselves from the table of the
preceeding  section which dealt with the matter of self-      Lord.    To them it is declared that they have no part in
examination we discovered, among other things, that           the kingdom of Christ. They are warned to abstain


                                      --      THE STANDARD BEARER                                                   129

from partaking of the heavenly meat and drinksignified        third place, this erroneous idea fosters a vain and
in the sacrament, lest their judgment andcondemnation         superficial conception of righteousness and holiness
be made the heavier. These are hard but nevertheless          and leads to the altogether wrong practice where the
absolute facts. The wicked and ungodly who are not            self-righteous rather than the truly righteous gather
brought to repentance have no place in the communion.         about the table.     Righteousness is determined
of Christ. As long as they continue in their-sins, they       according to a standard of man instead of by the criter-
are and must be excluded from the table of the Lord.          ion which God has established. And it need not be said
   From these facts an altogether erroneous conclu-           that such righteousness is no righteousness at all but,
sion can very easily be drawn.       A child of God who       as the Scriptures declare, it is as "filthy rags". Jesus
very seriously examines himself comes to the sound            declares that publicans and harlots enter the kingdom
conclusion that he is sinful, very sinful, and deserving      before the self-righteous Pharisees. The former have
only of God's wrath. He is alsodeeply conscious of the        more place at the table of the Lord than the latter.
sanctity of the Holy Supper, and when he puts these two       Christ did not come to call the "righteous" but sinners
together he comes to the conclusion that the Supper is        to repentance, and this call of Christ is also applicable
not for him, a miserable, wretched and curse-deserv-          to His Table.      It is not prepared for those who in
ing sinner.    In some circles where ignorance of the         themselves profess to be without sin, but it is for those
truth prevails, this-notion is rather common and those        who in themselves confess to be sinners.
who hold to it even consider it to be rather virtuous.            Finally, although this view therefore is to be re-
It supposedly reflects a deeper sense of humility. God        jected, we must warn against a possible wrong con-
must certainly be very pleased with those who so forth-       clusion which some might infer from this rejection. It
rightly confess their total unworthiness and who are so       might be reasoned that the table of the Lord is then
serious in the acknowledgment of His absolute holiness.       opened to all sinners and therefore it does not matter
But this same idea is not uncommonly found in the             how much we sin, and as long as we acknowledge we
minds of young people in the church, when they are con-       are sinners we can come to the table. We thereby
fronted with the matter of making confession of faith.        attempt to justify our continuance in things which we
On the one hand they experience a desire to do so, but        know are not pleasing to God. We neglect our duties
then they begin to look at themselves, and they dis-          in the church or we violate our sacred vows or we
cover how sinful they are and how little they know of         continue to follow certain pleasures of the flesh in the
the doctrines of the Holy Scriptures, and they come to        world, and when it comes time to celebrate communion
the conclusion that they better wait. They must learn         we make light of these things by telling ourselves and
more first and they must improve themselves before            God that we are not yet perfect. We must know that
they are ready to confess Christ.                             such an attitude is of the evil one and to follow it is to
   For several reasons this idea must be condemned.           invoke God's holy displeasure. We must remember
In the first place, a careful analysis of it will unveil      that the table of the Lord is not prepared for sinners
the fact that it is not rooted in a consciousness of          who want to justify and continue in their sin but for
humility at all, but has its origin in the sinful pride of    those sinners alone who are penitent, who hate sin and
our old nature. It is based on the false supposition that     seek with all they are to flee from it.
we must or can so improve ourselves as to make our-               With this in mind we can understand that the pro-
selves presentable to God, and it denies the truth that       hibitions and warnings of our Communion Form are
this can be and is done only by the free and sovereign        given  not  to discourage and deject the contrite hearts
grace of God. It is the works-notion applied to salva-        of the faithful, but to encourage the faithful saints to
tion which excludes grace, for "if by grace, then is it       reject all other ways and to come to the table of the
no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace.           Lord in the way of faith only.
But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: other-           In this light we would have our readers carefully
wise work is no more work." (Romans  11:6) It stems           consider the following paragraph of the Communion
from the sinful boast that we are able to do the work         Form, which Dr. B. Wielenga in  Ons Avondmaals
of Christ, and it denies the complete adequacy of His         Fovmuliev  says is a beautiful piece of liturgy that is
work for us and in us.       In the second place, if this     replete with  the gospel.
notion is consistently followed to its logical end, it            "But this is not designed (dearly beloved brethren
leads to the certain conclusion that no one can partake.      and sisters in the Lord), to-deject the contrite hearts
of the Lord's Supper. If we must wait until we have           of the faithful, as if none might come to the supper of
reached a state of sinlessness, we will not find it on        the Lord, but those who are without sin; for we do not
.this side of the grave, but will have to wait until we       come to this supper, to testify thereby that we are
can celebrate Communion in heavenly perfection. This          perfect and righteous in ourselves; but on thecontrary,
is directly contrary to the command of Christ Who             considering that we seek our life out of ourselves in
ordered His church in the present world  wheresin  still      Jesus Christ, we acknowledge that we lie in the midst
adheres to all its members to: "Do this till I  comel"        of death; therefore,  notwithst.anding  we feel many in-
Christ did not tell His church to celebrate the Holy          firmities and miseries in ourselves, as namely, that
Supper only after she has reached perfection. Neither         we have not perfect faith, and that we do not give our-
did He single out a few select members of the church          selves to serve-God with that zeal as we-are bound, but
and give to them the sacraments, but He told His              have daily to strive with the weakness of our faith, and
ohurch  to: "Do this in remembrance of Mel" In the            the evil lusts of our flesh; yet, since we are (by the


  130                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


  grace of the Holy Spirit) sorry for these weaknesses,        is the fact that faith is not yet perfect in them, and
  and earnestly desirous to fight against our unbelief,        consequently they find themselves failing to give them-
  and to live according to all the commandments of God:        selves to serve God with the fervor and zeal they
  therefore we rest assured that no sin or infirmity,          ought.      Toward this they do not assume an attitude of
 which still remaineth against our will, inus, can hinder      indifference, excusing it because we cannot be perfect
  us from being received of Godinmercy, and from being         anyway, but it is the cause of a constant, deep-felt
  made worthy partakers of this heavenly meat and drink."      sorrow.      The things they would (in their regenerated
     The blessed gospel contained in this part of our          hearts) they do not and the things they hate (as being in
  liturgy consists of the unspeakable promise that God in      Christ) they do. The sinful desires of the flesh, dis-
  mercy receives sinners and makes them worthy par-            obedience and unbelief, are ever present, and these
  takers of heavenly meat and drink. He gives to them          cause an experience of wretchedness and grief. They
  eternal life through Jesus Christ, and He works in them      earnestly desire to fight against and overcome these
  this life by the grace of the Holy Ghost. The above          foes, and they long sincerely to live according to all
  quotation lucidly presents the particular and uncondi-       the commandments of God. The will of God which is
  tional character of this promise of God, and this may        reflected in His law and in the precepts of the gospel
  indeed be emphasized, but our purpose is not to do  SO       is their chief delight.      In them the battle of faith is
  now. Our attention must be focused  uponthe   Yecipients     fought with the flesh warring against the spirit and the
  of this promise of God, since this part of the Communion     spirit against the flesh.
  Form still deals with the matter of self-examination.
  If we, through self-examination, find ourselves answer-          Are these then the characteristics of your daily
  ing  to  the description of the recipients of the promise    experience? Is this typical of the kind of life you know?
 which is given here, we need not be dejected but we           If so you may come to the table of the Lord in the
 may then come to His Table with confidence.                   assurance that' God will receive you and feed you with
     We note concerning these children of faith that they      the heavenly meat and drink, because these very things
  are "contrite in heart". A broken heart and contrite         give evidence that God has begun a good work in you
  spirit delights the Lord. They do not claim to be per-       which He will perform until the day of Jesus Christ,
feet or righteous in themselves, but they do profess to        (Phil.  1:6)     He has given to you the privilege of not
 be perfectly righteous in Christ Jesus. In Him they are       only believing in His Son but also of suffering for right-
  sinless, and yet they readily acknowledge that sin           eousness' sake.       He will strengthen you through the
 very much adheres to them. Their life they seek out           means of His Table, so that you can and will continue
 of Christ and with the apostle Paul confess: "It is no        the struggle against sin, until you will receive the
 longer I that liveth but Christ that liveth in me." These     complete and final victory.        In that battle you will
 saints are not dead, but they do lie in the midst of          never relent, and no matter how mighty the forces of
 `death.    In that sphere of death where they consciously     evil may appear or how difficult the way may become,
  sojourn they are aware of the "infirmities of the            you will press on in His strength toward the mark of
 flesh" and are not oblivious of the "miseries within          the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
 themselves".       The knowledge of sin and misery is         And you will never be ashamed, for the hope that is in
 very much their experience. Weary and heavy laden             you cannot be made ashamed. Into His everlasting
 they are as they struggle through the present vale of         communion He will receive you and you will confess:
 tears and labor for the rest that remains for the people      "`All the sufferings of the present time are not worthy
 of God.     Particularly disturbing to the faithful saints    to be compared...." -- not worthy to be compared.



              IN HIS  FEAR-


                           A  Case  of  Heart  Fadure

                                                    by Rev.  J. A. Heys


     Scripture speaks of heart failure.                        Even the age at which such attacks occur seems to be
     Asaph, the psalmist, cries out in Psalm  73:26,   "My     pushed consistently downward. The medical world is
 flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of        seeking to explain why and to prevent them from taking
 my heart, and my portion for ever." And that there is         place. Of course, each time one dies  - regardless of
  an increase in the number of heart failures today in         the immediate cause--it is a case of heart failure.
 the sense of heart attacks, no one would care to deny.        The very first sign of death, for which men both


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                    131


skilled and unskilled look to determine that death has         3:9, according to which the new man in Christ does
taken place, is the failure of the heart to beat with          not and cannot sin, the believer is concerned and re-
life's blood.                                                  joices in God's work and trusts Him completely to
   So it is. Heart failure signifies death. When that          bring His Church through all trials and tribulations
heart fails all of man's organs fail. He cannot breathe        into everlasting blessedness in the kingdom to come.
any more after his heart fails to do its work. His di-         But because of the flesh that still cleaves to all of us,
gestive processes stop. His brain and nervous system           it may be observed today that respect, love and even
fail to function.     His knees buckle under him as his        interest in the condition of the heart of the Church is
muscles fail to support him. And the body returns to           so lacking.    Yea, according to the flesh men are not
the dust from whence it came; The heart is a very              even concerned when attempts are made to stab that
important organ in man's body. All the other organs            heart unto failure1     Men are ready to cut it out, to
depend upon it and none can get along without it. We           destroy it,  to deny it even belongs in the  Church!
have no spare for it. It can take but a very momentary            We are, of course, speaking of that which our
rest between each beat. A vacation of that heart, a            Church Fathers always called the heart of the church:
moment of idleness so that it is not there on the beat,        Sovereign  and  eteml  election.  Indeed, already some
and we begin to suffer at once. Heart failure is failure       are perhaps disappointed.       Election! Who wants to
of the whole man.       And it would stand to reason that      hear about that in this day and age? To many that
man would then be very careful of that heart. Were it          doctrine has been outmoded and been discarded a long
on the outside where he could watch it and examine it          time ago. This is the age of God's love. This is the
regularly, he would look for signs of wear and of              age of the gospel, and election curbs the joy of that
possible injury.     Even then, at the first sign of a pain    gospel. Election makes the mission field impossible.
in the chest that takes away his breath, man rushes to         Election gives an entirely wrong impression of the
the doctor, and the doctor quickly arranges for an             great and glorious God of love of which the Scripture
electrocardiogram and puts the patient at complete             speaks.    Thus men talk today. They want nothing of
rest, if a measure of failure is then determined. To           that heart of the church and would give her an heart
try to prevent complete failure, the heart is relieved         that is sure to fail. After all, you just cannot do that.
of as much work as possible. And therefore oxygen              No one can transplant a heart. Mechanical hearts have
may even be supplied to take the strain off that heart.        been devised and used to take over temporarily while
   And what of heart failure in the church?                    the heart itself was repaired, but even then, the mechan-
   You say that churches do not suffer heart failure?          ical heart is a mute testimony of the fact that without
Well, if you are thinking of The Church, the body of           a heart man cannot live. And the Church cannot live
Christ, it is true.      This Church never has a heart         without the heart which is election.
failure and has everlasting life. "Whosoever liveth               That may be and will be disputed. The reason for
and believeth in Me shall never die" are the words of          this is that men do not know anymore what that Church
Jesus to Martha at the occasion of the physical heart          actually is. Men do not turn to the Word of God and in
failure of her brother, Lazarus. Triumphantly that             His fear listen to what God has to say about that heart
Church sings:                                                  but instead approach with preconceived ideas and
  For this is His word: His saints shall not fail,             philosophize about her. They speak and write of  their
  But over the earth Their pow'r shall prevail;                church, of man's church and want nothing of God's
  All kingdoms and nations Shall yield to their sway.          Church. Quite general is the idea that the church is
  To God give the glory And praise Him for aye.                the society or a society for saving souls. That language
   In His fear, believing that Word of God, man has no         is not borrowed from Holy Writ, even though all the
fear that the cause of Christ shall ever fail. With the        true members in that church are saved souls. The
eye of faith upon Him Who is enthroned in the highest          purpose of the Church is not man and his salvarion
heavens, having complete control over all creatures in         but God and His glory. The Church does not have on
heaven, on the earth and even in hell, knowing and be-         her somewhere a sign, "Made in the U.S.A." nor "For
lieving that He is the Great Spiritual Physician and the       the Salvation of Souls". She does have on her the sign
Merciful High Priest of His people, the God-fearing            of "Chosen from before the Foundation of the World".
pilgrim here below has no fear that Satan, `the Anti-          She does have, as Paul writes to Timothy, have this
christ and the whole host of ungodly together can              on her cornerstone, "The Lord knoweth them that are
possibly bring heart failure to The Church.                    His" and, "Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priest-
   One would expect in that' church-world extreme              hood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should
care, however, for the heart of The Church. One would          shew forth the praises of Him Who hath called you out
expect the membership of that Church to be alarmed             of darkness into His marvellous light."
at any signs that there might be something wrong with             There also you have the purpose of that Church,
the heart.       At least one would expect that believers      and it is:  Soli Deo Gloria- To God Alone Be.  Glory1
everywhere would attach to the heart of that Church            And note again the text above from I Peter  2:9, the
extremely great importance and would appreciate and            purpose is `that we- show forth the praises of Him Who
treasure that heart with its work to the very utmost  -        hath called us out of darkness into His marvellous
even as they do with their own physical hearts.                light. How shall we and can we praise Him, if the all-
   But that is not true. 0, indeed, according to that          important and crucial part of that call depended on our
new principle of life, of which John speaks in I John          choice-and not His? Why should we not have something


      132                                            THE STANDARD BEARER


      whereof to boast and wherein He is obligated to us ?           us in Christ to Himself and to the praiseof  the glory of
      0, He called, but what if we had not answered, or rather       His grace. The Church exists and was elected from
      had said to Him, "No, thank you."? If we in time de-           eternity that ALL the praise and  all the glory may be
      termined the constituency of His Church, would it be           God's.       Yea, the statement means that the glory of the
      His Church or ours? And would there be any church              grace of God must shine forth. Therefore there must
      at all? If we take that heart away, can WE replace it          be a Church. And that Church comes into being and
      with one of our own making?           Consider that if  His    exists in such a way that there is NONE of our work
      eternal and unchangeable  choice has not determined            that enters into its cause or existence. Not even our
      the membership of His Church, then 0~"~s does in time.         will, and certainly not the decisive choice of which all
      And then He will have to be satisfied with  what,we  do        Arminianism speaks, must be the reason why the
      and accept the kind of church that we would be willing         Church has come into being or that any single member
---to make. In His fear we would never dare to talk that             is in that Church.         It must not in any sense and to
--    way. Many others do not either. When their "offers"            any degree be to the praise of man. It must not and will
      of salvation to all, the love of  God-for all men with a       not shine with any of the glory of man's works but only
      sincere desire to save every last one of them, and             of God's grace.        Therefore, although the benefits of
      their condition promises which depend upon man's act           the Church are salvation, the adoption, everlasting
      of faith are shown to mean exactly that, they reject the       life, righteousness and holiness, the Church is not a
      consequences of their teachings and yet boldly go on           society for realizing this blessedness. It is not even
      and teach the heart out of the Church. They continue           a society for transmitting this blessedness to coming
      to look at the Church as though she were a society for         generations.       God does that through the Church, but
      saving souls rather than a glorious manifestation  ofthe       there must not be a church in order to give God this
      God of our salvation in all His sovereign grace and in-        opportunity.      The Church exists because He decreed
      scrutable wisdom. God saves His elect  andmakes  them          from before the foundation of the world to manifest the
      living members of His Church. The Church, as a living          glory of His own grace.
      organism, brings forth the children of the Church. But                That Church, then, has a calling to preach the
      the one and sole purpose of the Church is the glory of         gospel.      Through that preaching God will save souls
      her Maker. In that powerful -- and therefore generally         and those who are thus used may say with James,
      glossed-over and avoided  - passage of election in             "Let him know, that he that converteth the sinner from
      Ephesians  1:3-6  we read very specifically, "According        the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and
      as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of           shall hide a multitude of sins", James  5:20. But then
      the world, that we should be holy and without blame            he will preach the gospel and not a perversion of that
      before Him.       In love have predestinated us unto the       gospel.       He will preach the good news that God has
      adoption of children by Jesus Christ unto Himself,             chosen us from before the foundation of the world and
      according to the good pleasure of His will, To the             that our future glory does not rest on such flimsy and
      praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath              even hopeless grounds as our possible decision to take
      -made us accepted in the Beloved."                             it.      The Church is not a society for saving souls but
                                                                     the Organism of Saved Souls Chosen Thereto from all
             We are predestinated or elected unto the adoption.      Eternity.
      We have been chosen that we should be holy and with-                  She is not a society  - and we will have to continue
      out blame before Him.        The goal of our election is       with that next time  - and her calling is to be to the
      salvation in all its richness.      All the physical and       praise of the glory of God's grace. She must, there-
      spiritual blessedness of verse 3 is comprehended in            fore also preach damnation and approach the un-
      the adoption and the sanctification and justification of       regenerated with the awful truth of His just wrath
      being made holy and without blame before God. But              and intense hats-d.of_.si&  _ In-fact the love of God and
      that is not the same as to state that the Church is a or       His grace can only be `shown on that background.
      even the Society for Saving Souls. The purpose of the          There is also a praise of the glory of God's wrath.
      Church -and the deepest goal of election is expressed          In His fear we will not ignore it but preach it with the
      in-the text in the statements that we are made to be           undeniable doctrine of eternal and sovereign reproba-
      holy and without blame  before Him;  He predestinated          tion.



                           ANNOUNCEMENT                                                    ANNOUNCEMENT
      Classis  West will reconvene, in continued session, on         Classis  East of the Protestant Reformed Churches will
      Wednesday, January 12,  1966,  at 9:00 A.M., in the            meet, the Lord willing, Wednesday, January 5, 1966,
      Protestant Reformed Church of South Holland, Illinois.         9:00  A.M., at the Southeast Protestant Reformed
      Delegates are to write the clerk of the South Holland          Church.        Consistories will consider this an official
      consistory for lodging.                                        announcement in  the. appointment of their delegates.
                          Rev. David J. Engelsma, Stated Clerk                                        M. Schipper,  Stated Clerk
                                                                                                                   ~.~-


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                   133





     A CLOUD OF  WITNESSES-


                        S&JI Selected To Be King

                                                 by Rev. B.  Woudenbevg


                   And  when Samuel saw Saul, the LORD said unto him, Behold the man whom                `.
                   I  spake to thee of! this same shall  Yeign  ovey  my  people.
                                                                                       I Samuel  9:17

   God has a way of giving to his people exactly what           was of good family and background raised in the tradi-
they desire, and quite frequently it does not turn out as       tions of Israel and himself always careful to live ac-
wonderfully as they had expected.         This was what         cording to them; he was a modest man without inclina-
happened to Israel in the days of Samuel.                       tion to force himself upon others; he was an Israelite
   Israel wanted a king and asked of Samuel that God            among Israelites, ideal in every respect. There was
provide one. This in itself was not so very wrong, for          only one thing he lacked, and that was what the children
already through Moses such a king had been promised.            of Israel wanted too, he was not sensitive and alive to
The thing is that they did not want a king to lead them         the Word of God; and in the end, it was that which made
in the service of God, they did not want a king who would       the difference.
be to them a spiritual leader; what they wanted was a               The story of Saul begins with a rather homely inci-
king like the other nations about them, a king that would       dent which nonetheless serves to bring-out some of his
establish them before the world. And so that was ex-            more desirable characteristics.  Saul's father, a fairly
actly what they got.                                            wealthy man it seems, of some reputation and influence,
   Neither was it that God did not warn them. He told           had lost some asses. When thereupon he called Saul
Samuel to set before the people exactly what kind of a          to him and commanded him to take a servant and under-
king it was that they were asking for and exactly what          take the none too desirable task of trying to find the
kind of aking they would get if their request was granted.      asses, Saul complies without a complaint. Even more
It was not a pleasant picture, the picture of a tyrant          in this search, he proved himself to be thorough, going
who would misuse them all down the line. But to the             systematically from place to place pursuing his task;
people it made no difference.        So often people say        he proved himself to be a man of perseverance as he
when evil comes upon them, "If only we had known that           refused to become discouraged even after a rather
this would  happen."---- But here, as so frequently in          lengthy search; he proved himself to be a congenial
Scripture, we are shown that once people have their             companion to the servant rather than an overbearing
hearts set upon sin, they will not turn back no matter          master, and he proved himself to be considerate in
how clearly they are warned of the results that it will         his final concern for the worries of his father. There
gender.    Israel's only answer to Samuel was, "Nay;            was nothing crude or rude about Saul; he was in every
but we will have a king over us."                               respect a man of appealing personality.
   So it was that God selected a king to rule over                  It was not until Saul and his servant were approach-
Israel, exactly the kind of king that Israel wanted.            ing a city in which Samuel was living at the time that a
   Neither was it as though the Lord spitefully gave            rather disturbing feature began to show itself, and then
to them an evil and perverse man to be their  king,..a          it  -seems  to have been so small that we are hardly apt
man of tyrannical nature or one of such inferior abili-         to  notic%`it.
ties that he could not possibly  haveeruled._thenation              It came about when, after an extensive and unsuc-
aright.    No, God's choice as king for Israel was an           cessful search, Saul said to the servant, "Come, and
excellent young man of admirable quality,  he-had               let us return; lest my father leave caring for the
every characteristic that the people themselves would  1        asses, and take thought for us."
have required.     He was a handsome man with fine                  This reasoning the servant surely understood. It
features, a tall stature and a powerful body; he was a          was just that he, as Saul himself, was not one that
courageous man with a strong loyalty to his people and          liked to return from a task that was not successfully
country, ever ready to go forth into battle; he was a           completed.        Thus it was that in one last desperate
man of kind disposition who-could become very con-              effort he answered Saul, "Behold now, there is in this
cerned about the needs and hardships ,of the people; he         city a man of God, and he is an honourable man; all
was an intelligent man with wisdom and discretion; he           that he saith  cometh surely to pass: now let us go


                                             THE  STANDARD  BEARER


thither; peradventure he can shew us our way that we         nothing about him.       It was not as though he had any
should go."       This was indeed a strange suggestion.      objections against going to Samuel. If they could get
The servant seemed to think that, because, Samuel was        something useful out of him, it would be worth while;
a prophet, they could go to him and ask him about some-      and if not, it would be an interesting diversion after so
thing as mundane as whether they should continue to          many days of futile hunting through the wild. The only
look for the asses, and where to look, and Samuel            thing he felt was that as a matter of decency, if they
would tell them. It was the voice of ignorance. Samuel       were going to ask the services of the prophet, they had
surely did not spend his time and use his prophetic          better be ready to give some small gift in return. And
powers merely to tell people how to go about finding         the few small coins the servant happened to have with
lost possessions and the like. The servant had very          him were enough. Good-humoredly Saul went along to
likely heard from someone that the prophet could pre-        meet this strange prophet.
dict the future with accuracy and saw no reason why              What Saul did not realize was that Samuel was al-
they shouldn't be able to turn that power of his to          ready awaiting his coming. The people had asked for
their own advantage.                                         a king that they might be like the other nations; and a
   But it is not the naivete of the servant that bothers;    king like the other nations God would give them, a
it is the answer of Saul. He does not reprove the man;       king without feeling for God. Not that God would give
he apparently did not even find the idea shocking, al-       them a man who was poor, bungling and inept. No, God
though it may not be that he took it very seriously          would give them the choice, the finest of Israel's purely
either. Possibly just to humor the servant, he answered      secular men. Saul was that man. God in His providence
him, "But, behold, if we go, what shall we bring the         was guiding Saul's feet; and He had warned Samuel the
man? for the bread is spent in our vessels, and there        day before that Saul was coming. Samuel had prepared
is not a present to bring to the man of God: what have       a feast with which to welcome him, and thirty witnesses
we?"     Saul very evidently knew nothing at all about       were there to observe that Saul had been with Samuel
Samuel either as to what he actually did or for what         even if they did not recognize the importance `of it yet.
considerations he did them. It is this complete ig-              There was a reason why God wanted Saul to meet
norance on the part of Saul which we find so difficult       with Samuel well before he was actually selected and
to understand.                                               pointed out to the people generally. That reason was
                                                             deep within the nature of Saul himself. Because Saul
   We may be sure that the ignorance of Saul was not         was a purely secular man at heart, he would always be
due to the limitations of Samuel's circle of activity and    inclined to ascribe whatever happened to him to mere
influence. There were those judges wholaboredin only         natural considerations.       If God had waited until the
a certain part of Israel and whose reputation did not        public drawing of lots to let Saul know that he was to
spread much beyond. But Samuel was not one of these.         be king, Saul would have been the first to ascribe it to
Samuel was the last and the greatest of the judges.          mere chance or good fortune. In fact, as time went on
From his youth he was also a prophet and the recipient       he would be unable to resist the temptation to consider
of special revelations. This was very generally known,       it to be due  to. some personal excellence on his own
Besides, particularly after the death of Eli, he was the     part. Thus before it came to pass, God would make it
consultant of the leaders of the whole nation. The whole     perfectly clear to Saul that there was only one real
spiritual life of the nation pivoted in a very real way      reason why he received the royal office-it was ap-
upon him.                                                    pointed to him by God.         God would give him every
   Here was exactly the trouble, however; Saul was not       reason to know that he should be thankful  ro God for
really a part of Israel's spiritual life. He was part of     everything he received and obedient as unto a bene-
the nation to be sure, a choice specimen of its young        factor.
men, but from a secular, not from a spiritual point of           When, therefore, Saul entered the gates of that city,
view. Here was one of the sad results of the history         God was there waiting for him. Casuallyhe asked some
of the judges. Through it there developed a class of         young girls who were drawing water where they could
people in Israel who had no real spiritual feelings:         find the prophet; and, when they lifted their eyes and
spiritually they were dead. They were Israelites to be       looked around, Samuel was already there walking to-
sure.    From a political point of  .view they were very     ward Saul. All the girls had to do was to identify him.
good Israelites with consideration for and loyalty to        To the heart of Samuel meanwhile, God said, "Behold
their nation. They were often nice people and made           the man whom I spake to thee of I this same shall reign
good neighbors. In fact, they would often take part in       over my people."        Even Samuel did not realize yet
the religious ceremonies as a valid part of the tradi-       that God was preparing one of the most remarkable
tion of their nation. The only thing was that God really     confrontations of His own greatness over against un-
meant nothing to them.       They felt no. need of Him.      belief.    Saul represented the very best of the secular
They gave Him no worship. They really didn't even            `world, the. finest that ir could put forth. God did nothing
bother to know about Him. It was to this group'that          to discourage  him;      In fact, God gave to Saul every
Saul belonged.        -                                      possible reason to do only that which was right. But
   Thus it was  ,that when Saul's servant suggested to       one. thing Saul lacked -that was the grace of God in
Saul that they consult with Samuel on their problem,         his heart. Without it, in spite of his earthly qualifica-
he caught Saul completely unprepared. Although he no         tions, he could only be the tyrannical man of wicked-
doubt knew of Samuel's existence, he knew next to            ness which Samuel had predicted.


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                   135





        FROM HOLY  WRIT-


                     Stephen's Apology
                                    B e f o r e   t h e   S a n h e d r i n

                                                 by Rev. G.  Lubbers


THE ARGUMENT FROM THE DIVINE PURPOSE IN                      any house since the day that I brought up the children
THE TENT OF THE TESTIMONY                                    of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked
   The issue before the court of the Sanhedrin, or, at       in a tent and in a tabernacle. In all the places wherein
least, before this meeting here in Jerusalem was that        I have walked with all the children of Israel, spake I
Moses is alleged to have spoken against this place. It       a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I com-
is stated that Stephen taught that this  Jesusof Nazareth    manded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build
had come to break down the temple here in Jerusalem,         ye not me an house of cedar?"
and that now the ceremonial ordinances of the temple            The house of cedar was really not important.
and the temple-worship would no longer need to be               It could not really enhance the dwelling of God with
enforced.                                                    Israel.
   Stephen does not deny the charge. Instead he pro-            Besides it is a fact of history that the temple of
ceeds to show them from the Old Testament Scriptures         Solomon was built about the year 1009 B.C. and was
that such was indeed the intent of the law; that Christ      destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 588 B.C.         Only half
is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who      of the time from Sinai to the destruction of the temple
believes, the Jew first and also the Greek. This is          was there a building. In 588 B.C. the temple was ut-
according to the promise to Abraham "in thee and in          terly destroyed, even the Ark of the Covenant. The
thy seed shall all nations be blessed". (Galatians  3:8;     foundation of the temple of Zerubbabel was laid in 538
Genesis  18:18) And the Scriptures cannot be  broken1        B.C. In 19 B.C.  Herod  rebuilds the temple which was
Stephen will wield the sword of the Spirit, the Word of      standing in Jerusalem at the time of Christ and Stephen,
God.                                                         and which temple was destroyed in the year 70 A.D.
   For a correct viewpoint of seeing the meaning and         Now if a building were so important, why did the Lord
purpose of the Old Testament temple at Jerusalemit is        not initially instruct Moses to build such a temple upon
of the utmost importance to remember that the temple         entering the land?    And why did he tell David that it
was built upon a  man's  request, while the tent of the      was not important? And why did he allow the temple
testimony was made upon God's  instructions   and  com-      to be destroyed by the Babylonians? And why was a
mand. Moses was not instructed to make a "building"          smaller and lest magnificent temple built by the re-
but he must make  a "tent".  It was David who desired        turning remnant after the captivity? And why, as a
to make to the Lord a temple. After David is established     matter of history, did God have the temple utterly
in Jerusalem as king it came into his mind to build the      destroyed at the time of the final destruction of Jerusa-
Lord an house.      It hurt David that he himself was        lem, never to be rebuilt?
living in a house made of cedar, while the Lord's Ark           In the light of all this can the temple, and this place
and presence was in a tent at Jerusalem. Even so,            be important  7
not David but Solomon built the temple unto the Lord.           That is the issue before the court!
Now if a temple, a building were so very important              It was indeed important.       It was important as a
certainly the Lord would not have "tabernacled" in the       "type".    It was a'picture of the heavenly. Moses was
midst of Israel for more than four hundred and fifty         told to make it thus by the God of glory who had ap-
years. Such was the history of the temple that it came       peared to Abraham some four hundred years before
really a half millenium after the Lord had given in-         this. Moses had ascended the Mount of God, Sinai, a
structions to Moses to build the tabernacle. Let it not      mountain in Arabia. (Exodus  24:15-18) Here too he
be forgotten that when David would build the Lord a          enters into the glory of the law-giving. We read "And
house, the Lord sent His servant Nathan to David with        Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up
the words "Thus saith the Lord, shalt thou build me an       intothe mount: and Moses was in the mount of God forty
house for me to dwell in? Whereas I have not dwelt in        days and forty nights." And here it was that the Lord


i 3 6                                               THE STANDARD BEARER


give directions to Moses concerning-the--bui-ld-ing-of the        sion and `warfare between those who wanted the temple
tabernacle by his angel. And after having given specific          services according to the ordinances of Moses, and
instructions to Moses concerning. the minute details of           those who defiled the holy place with their idolatries.
the tabernacle, its furnishings, and its architecture, he         Here is signalled the sin of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat
says to Moses "And look that thou make them after                 who causes Israel to sin. Some eighty times Jeroboam
the pattern, which was  shewed thee in the mount."                is mentioned in Scripture, and always in connection
Exodus 25 : 40                                                    with the sin of the golden calves at Dan and Bethel.
         The pattern of the heavenly was the important            A% the deportation- both to Assyria of the ten tribes
matter.                                                           and to Babylon of the tribe of Judah is on the basis of
    This is clearly taught in Hebrews  8:5, where we              this sin of Jeroboam, which was the root sin, the sin
read "Who  serve unto the  example  and  shadow  of               of departure from the service of God, the breaking of
heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when              the Covenant as portrayed in the tent of the testimony:
he was about to make the tabernacle."                 Here the    IamthyGod!
writer of Hebrews proves this point by quoting Exodus                 Idolatry made of the temple, the tabernacle of the
25:40 "See, saith he, that thou make all things accord-           testimony, a mere shrine! Such a shrine could just as
ing to the pattern shewed thee in the mount."                     well stand at Dan and Bethel.       It was not a picture of
         Since this heavenly is the real tabernacle, and the      the heavenly. Thus also in the timeof  Jesus the temple
earthly is but a mere type and not the reality itself,            had really become a den of thieves and robbers, it was
therefore "this place and temple" are to be removed               a mere shrine to which pilgrimages could be made,
by the Lord when the time of Reformation came in                  while it had ceased to beckon their thoughts heaven-
Christ.        Says Jesus: break down this temple and I will      ward to the better and abiding tabernacle and promises.
rebuild it in three days.                                             It is one downward running tradition from bad to
         Even Isaiah had spoken of this fact, seeing it from      worse which leads from the making of the golden calf
afar.         When Jerusalem shall be on the top of the           at the foot of Sinai. It is ever the heart which does not
mountains, and all nations shall flow  toit; when Japheth         desire to be delivered from sin by Jehovah God, which
shall dwell in the tents of Shem -- then shall it become          hankers to return to Egypt. The form of the idols may
evident that the "temple" is not the end in itself, but           change with the times and seasons; the essence of this
rather served as a type. Wherefore John says in the               idolatry is ever stubbornness and rebellion.         Thus
Apocalypse "And I saw no temple therein: for the                  spake Samuel to Saul when he says "For rebellion is
Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it."             as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as in-
    David may build a temple of cedar to the Lord as              iquity and idolatry".
executed by Solomon. This temple is no nearer to a                    It was a resisting of the Holy Ghost!
fit abode for the Lord God Almighty than is the tent of               It was a resisting of the Holy Ghost as He spoke
the testimony.        For the heaven of heavens cannot con-       through the shadows and types of better things to come.
tain God. (I Kings  8:27; II Chronicles  2:6;  6:18). If the      And to destroy the evidence of the Holy Ghost who
heaven of heavens cannot contain God, how much less               spoke in the temple, the temple must be changed into
the beautiful temple which Solomon built. That is at              a mere shrine of heathendom. That the Holy Spirit
once also the reason why the Lord never told any of               testified in the temple we see in Hebrews  9:8 "the
the tribes of Israel from Moses to David to build him             Holy Ghost this signifying that the way into the holiest
an house of cedar. Such a house simply is not fitting,            was not yet made manifest, while as the first taber-
as such, for the Lord as a dwelling-place. Wherefore              nacle was yet standing". This testimony of the Holy
Isaiah says "Heaven is my throne, and earth is -my-foot-          Ghost must be stilled; yea, the Word of God must not
stool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or            be heard, the word of the gospel as portrayed in the
what is the place for my rest?" Yes, Solomon built a              temple  1
temple, but that surely must be broken down when the                  That is the identical thing which these Hellenists
reality comes, and this house is left an utter desola-            and the Sanhedrin are doing here when calling Stephen
tion I                                                            to account. They prove themselves to be children of
         What an apology on the part of Stephen!                  their fathers. Howbeit, not children of the believing
         It is the stringent proof from the Wordof God itself.    fathers but of those who were carried away in captivity
         The Lord of glory speaks through Stephen,                and into Babylon. They are those who desire to have
THE ARGUMENT THAT IDOL- WORSHIPERS SEEK                           the temple without the glory- of grace. They will have
                                                                  a mere shrine.. Essentially they bow down in the temple
TEMPLES MADE WITH HANDS Acts  7:39-43                             of. those who worship the stars of heaven. They bow
    That there ever was an Israel in name, but not in             down in the `tabernacle of  Moloch, and the star of the
spirit, which did not desire the glory of God in the              god Remphan, figures which they made to worship
law-giving, as it points to the greater glory to come,            them 1
is also shown by Stephen here before the Jewish                       Such is the line of departure from  God's,covenant.
Counsel.        Wherefore whosoever does not desire  t,o see          From the golden calf at Sinai to the god Remphan,
the "type" of the temple, but clings to the temple itself,        such is the line of degradation.
as a building made by the hands of men, must needs end                Such were ever the stiffnecked and  uncircumcized
in stark and hopeless idolatry of heathendom. Such                of heart.
was  .indeed the history of the temple, the constant ten-             Such are these Sanhedrists according to  Stephen1


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                     137





               SPECIAL  REPORT-


                                  RALLY REFLECTIONS

                                                    by Rev. M.  Schippev


   Concerning the Reformation Rally, held October 27,           planned to put on. But, as we said, each member of
1965, in the Civic Auditorium of Grand Rapids, Michigan,        this broad committee responded admirably to the chal-
the Mission Committee of the Protestant Reformed                lenge. And may I add, none ever worked more indus-
Churches in America has asked us to write a brief               triously and efficiently than they didl
article and place it in  The Standard  Beaver,         It is       Letters were prepared and printed and distributed
especially written for the information of those who were        to all the congregations involved, acquainting all our
not privileged to attend this outstanding event.                membership of what we planned to do, and pleading
   It was, indeed, an outstanding event because never           for their cooperation.     A little later invitations were
before in the history of our churches has an attempt            printed which were handed out to the various congre-
been made on such a large scale to reach those outside          gations to be distributed again. to friends, relatives,
of our churches with our peculiar truths as we were             and neighbors of our constituency, inviting them to our
privileged to do on this occasion.                              program. Bill boards, newspaper advertising, and radio
   But let me begin at the beginning to narrate some            spot announcements were used to acquaint the public.
of the facts which brought about and helped to realize              But no one really knew until the evening of the
this rally. One of the members of our churches, whose           program what the results would be of all our prepara-
heart is filled with the *love of the truth, wrote to me,       tions.
suggesting that such a rally be held; and he even sug-              Then the time arrived when all was in readiness.
gested that it be held in the auditorium we used. Be-           Tables were set and placed in the lobby of the huge
cause the idea was novel, and so different from anything        auditorium, laden with samples of all our literature,
we had ever done as churches, it did not register so            which those visiting our program were invited to take
deeply at first. However, the thought began to germin-          with them free of charge.        A massed choir of about
ate, and more and more we conceived of the possibility          120 voices began to assemble behind the curtain on the
of going through with the idea.       We conferred with         huge stage.     Over 40 of our young people, plus a  few.
another of our Mission Committee members, who also              deacons, helped to distribute printed programs and
got carried away with the idea the more he thought              usher the people into their seats.          And after our
about it. We then brought the matter to the attention           organist, Mrs. Fran Lubbers, played the prelude, "A
of the Mission Committee, which, when the plan was              Mighty Fortress," the curtain on the platform opened
laid before it, did not hesitate a moment to act upon it.       and under the bright lights over the stage appeared our
A committee of three was appointed to act as a steer-           choir, uniformly dressed for the occasion.
ing committee; and we were given full power to proceed              By this time, we confess, there was a bushel of
to lay the ground-work and plans which would be laid            feathers in our stomach, which registered the nervous
before a broad committee, which would be organized              tension that had been slowly building up with the eager
from representatives of  eat h of the consistories in           anticipation we had, to know how large an audience
Western Michigan, plus a few individuals who were               would make its appearance in response to our invita-
adept in the art of advertising, formation of a massed          tion.     Our hearts were filled with joy and thanksgiving
choir, etc.     Also in this broad committee were rep-          when we marched toward the podium to preside over
resentatives of the R.F.P.A., Young People's Fed-               the program, when we cast a glance over a sea of
eration, the Radio Committee of the Reformed Witness            humanity that sat before us.
Hour.                                                               "Sons and daughters of the Reformation1 Brothers
   We shall never forget the wonderful responseshown            and Sisters in Christ!" So we began the program by
in that first meeting of the broad committee. There             addressing our audience of approximately 2100 people.
our steering committee was prepared to give them the                "It is a privilege to welcome you this evening to
broad outlines of all that had to be done. And I might          share with us in the commemoration of the Protestant
add, there was much to be  done1  No one, unless he is          Reformation of the early 16th century.
involved in a project of this kind, can realize  all the            "Next Sunday, October  31st, it will be exactly 448
details involved in the preparation of a program we             years ago that Martin Luther nailed his protest on the


138                                             THE STANDARD BEARER

                                     --  -
chapel door of Wittenberg, which served as the spark           defender .of the truth which was once delivered unto the
which lit the fire of the Reformation that is still burn-      saints.
ing.                                                              "We now present to you Professor Homer C.
        "We believe that it is incumbent upon us, who, by      Hoeksema, who will speak to you on the subject an-
the grace of God, have received such a rich heritage           nounced on your program: Our Reformed Heritage."
from our Reformed Fathers, not only to review that                We will not give you now the contents of his
treasure with thanksgiving before the face of God, but         message.        The Mission Committee has decided to
also by that same grace to renew our purpose to pre-           have this speech printed in brochure form and it will
serve, to develop, and to propagate the principles that        be distributed to all our churches, and to anyone
Reformation evinced !                                          desiring it.      Let me just say, that this speech was
        "It shall be, therefore, the burden of this program    terrific1 It was in our opinion a master-piece1 The
to accomplish exactly that! In one word, it is our hope        speaker showed his audience, first of all, wherein
and prayer that not only our own Protestant Reformed           that Reformed Heritage consists. Secondly, he pointed
people, but also you who are our guests this evening,          out wherein there is today a general departure from
will be so impressed by that which you will see and            the principles of the Reformation.        And finally, he
hear, that you will go home presently with the firm            urged that there be a return to these Scriptural
resolve in your hearts that the fire of the Reformation        principles in doctrine and practice.         We urge our
shall go right on burning, until the day when the Sun          readers to obtain the proposed brochure containing
of Righteousness shall appear in His eternal  gloryl"          this message! We listened to the audience while we
       Such was literally our introduction, after which we     listened to the speaker. Not a sound could be heard.
then read the Scriptures of Ephesians 2, and led the           It was so quiet that you could hear the proverbial pin
audience in prayer, beseeching the throne of grace for         drop.      We also observed more than one, who were
God's indispensable blessing upon our program.                 strangers to us, taking voluminous notes. I am sure
       Then followed three selections by the massed choir,     that even our own Protestant Reformed people never
under the very able direction of Mr. Roland Petersen,          heard a better, more compact, more beautiful pres-
with Mrs. Lubbers accompanying at the organ. It was            entation than they heard on this program.
a masterful rendition1 I cannot really convey to you my           Then the choir presented to us three more beauti-
personal feeling as I listened to these musical offerings.     fully rendered selections: "But the Lord is Mindful of
Let me just say, I have never heard anything better.           His Own," by Mendelssohn; "The Lord is My Shepherd,"
The choir sang: "0 Holy Jesus," by Johann Cruger;              by Noble Cain; and "With The Voice of Singing," by
"Surely He Hath Borne Our Griefs," by Carl Heinrich            Martin Shaw.        What was so amazing about the singing
Graun; and "Father, Long Before Creation," Chinese             of the choir was the fact that at most they had practiced
Anonymous. The last number was most beautiful1 The             no more than seven to ten hours together, and there
words could easily have been written by a Protestant           was no slip-up.          Mr. Petersen and Mrs. Lubbers
Reformed author, for they expressed truths which are           deserve much credit for getting the choir ready for
pronounced among us. I watched the audience while the          this occasion.        But we also know that unless the
choir sang. What attention! What surprise was written          members themselves had not so faithfully responded,
on their faces! That singing was  superb1                      this part of our program could not have contributed
       We then introduced the speaker of the evening:          what it so nobly did.
Professor H. C. Hoeksema.            The introduction went        We then gave to the audience our closing remarks.
something like this:                                           We expressed a word of appreciation to all who helped
        "Our speaker this evening needs no introduction        to make this evening possible. We also expressed our
as far as our Protestant Reformed people are concerned.        appreciation to our guests who honored us with their
He is well-known throughout our denomination.                  attentive presence. We reminded all present that they
        "However, for those of you who are our special         should take with them our literature, which consisted
guests, he may need somewhat of an introduction, at            of  Standard   Beavem, Beacon Lights,  and all the differ-
least more than is noted on your program.                      ent pamphlets produced by our churches, which I am
        "Our speaker tonight is the son of the late Rev.       told they did in a goodly amount.          And finally we
Herman Hoeksema, who departed from us to go to glory           introduced the Rev. H. Veldman as president of our
last month. Before his father's last illness and death,        Mission Board, who would lead us to God in a prayer
our speaker was associated. with his father on the             of thanksgiving.
teaching staff of our Protestant Reformed Seminary,               After the closing prayer, the audience was asked
where he is now serving.                                       to arise and sing the well-known Doxology, "Praise
        "Professor Hoeksema has also replaced his father       God from Whom All Blessings Flow." And under the
as Editor-In-Chief of  The  Standard   Beavev,   a publica-    strains of the Postlude, Bach's Concerto No. II, the
tion which began some forty years ago, prior to the            audience was dismissed.
inception'of the Protestant Reformed Churches;                    What shall we say in closing these reflections? Let
        "Our speaker received his academic training in the     me say, first of all, the whole thing was one grand,
Christian Schools, and at Calvin College of our fair           thrilling experience  ! Our people were mqst responsive
city, and his theological training was obtained in the         throughout.     They gave most liberally, so that the
Seminary where he now teaches.'                                expenses, which were great, were not only covered,
        "He is well informed, an able speaker, and a sound     but there was a rather large surplus which can be


                                                      THE STANDARD BEARER                                                               139


used for other meetings of this nature. If there was                           Since this Reformation Rally, the Mission Com-
only one result, it was a shot in the arm to our own                   mittee has met and considered the matter of conducting
people.       They could draw only one conclusion: We are              more of these meetings, not only in the Grand Rapids
not dead, or dying, but -pretty much alive! We could                        area, but also across the country. In the not too dis-
successfully produce a positive program in which God                   tant future our people will be informed of our further
and His Word of Truth were highly exalted.                             activities.
    What our program produced as far as the visitors
were concerned, God only knows, and only time will                             It is our personal conviction that today, more than
tell.      We are sure they were deeply impressed, and                 ever before, we have a calling to go into every Re-
perhaps many of them who are concerned about the                       formed community to witness to the truth, and to
modern departures from the truth went home with                        suggest to those, who'are concerned about thelethargy,
hearts that were heavy, but also with the knowledge                    indifference, and even deliberate attempt to lead the
that God has preserved His truth in the churches to                    church astray, that we are willing and ready to show
which we belong.                                                       them the way out.



           EXAMINING  ECUMENICALISM-

                             Vatican Council - Third Session
                                                                    I3 I
                                           "The Constitution on the Church"

                                                        by Rev. G. Van  Baven

    We are in the process of examining one of the de-                          whole and intact.      In virtue of his office, that is as
crees approved at the third session of the Second                              Vicar of Christ and pastor of the whole Church, the
Vatican Council of the Roman Catholic Church: "The                             Roman pontiff has full, supreme and universal power
Constitution on the Church." In this article I wish to                         over the Church. And he is always free to exercise
call your attention to the third chapter of this decree,                       this power.       The order of bishops, which succeeds
                                                                               to the college of apostles and gives this apostolic
entitled: "On the Hierarchical Structure of the Church                         body continued existence, is also the subject of supreme
and in Particular on the Episcopate." The chapter has                          and full power over the universal Church, provided we
been of rather great interest because it concerns itself                       understand this body together with its head the Roman
with the old hierarchical order in the Romish Church.                          pontiff and never without this head. This power can
Protestants have wondered whether perhaps the pope                             be exercised only with the consent of the Roman
would relinquish some of the power which, he claims,                           pontiff. . . .
is vested in him. This chapter, it is said, will revise                            And this infallibility with which the Divine Redeemer
the old power structure of the Romish Church.                                  willed His Church to be endowed in defining doctrine of
                                                                               faith and morals, extends as far as the deposit of Reve-
THE POSITION OF  TEE  POPE                                                     lation extends, which must be religiously guarded and
    It should be pointed out that the chapter does not                         faithfully expounded. And this is the infallibility which
basically change the old Romish position towards its                           the Roman pontiff, the head of the college of bishops,
                                                                               enjoys in virtue of his office, when, as the supreme
pope.        May I quote a few paragraphs to make this
plain 7                                                                        shepherd and teacher of all the faithful, who confirms
                                                                               his brethren in their faith (cf. Luke 22:32),  by a defini-
           In order that the episcopate itself might be one and                tive act he proclaims a doctrine of faith or morals.
    undivided, He placed Blessed Peter over the other                          And therefore his definitions, of themselves, and not
    apostles, and instituted in him a permanent and visible                    from the consent of the Church, are  justljr  styled  ir-
    source and foundation of unity of faith and communion.                     reformable, since they are pronounced  with the as-
    And all this teaching about the institution, the per-                      sistance of the Holy Spirit, promised to him in blessed
    petuity, the meaning and reason for the sacred primacy                     Peter, and therefore they need no approval of others,.  -
    of the. Roman Pontiff and of his infallible magisterium,                   nor do they allow an appeal to any other judgment. . . .l
    this sacred .council again proposes to be firmly be-
    lieved by all the faithful.                                             THE POPE'S RELATIONSHIP TO THE BISHOPS
           But the college. or  body of bishops has no authority
    unless it is  understood  together with the Romanpontiff,                  In this chapter, there does appear to be greater
    the successor of Peter as its head. The pope's power                    emphasis upon the authority of the bishops within the
    of primacy over all, both pastors and faithful, remains                 Romish Church. It is this which has been lauded by


140                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER


many as a real change in Rome. The chapter points                         ness, so that the whole human race may be brought
out that the bishops are successors of the twelve                         into the unity of the family of God.1
apostles:
                                                                       REACTION TO CHAPTER THREE
          . . .For this reason the apostles, appointed as rulers
       in this society, took care to appoint successors. . . .            It is interesting to follow the comments of both
          . . .Therefore, the sacred council teaches that the          Roman Catholics and Protestants concerning this spe-
       bishops by divine institution have succeeded to the             cial chapter.       In press accounts one detected first
       place of the apostles, as shepherds of the Church, and          great enthusiasm and high favor toward the expres-
       he who hears them, hears Christ, and he who rejects             sions of this chapter. But then came the close of the
       them, rejects Christ and Him who sent Christ.1                  third session of the Council. The pope appeared to
       The chapter seems to teach the local authority, and             throw overboard all ideas of "collegiality", and ar-
almost autonomy, of the bishop in his own diocese:                     bitrarily imposed his will over the majority of the
                                                                       bishops assembled at Rome. Liberal Roman Catholics
          The pastoral office or the habitual and daily care of        and Protestants both deplored the action of the pope
       their sheep is entrusted to them completely;  ,nor are          as that which negated the very intent of this chapter
       they to be regarded as vicars of the Roman pontiffs,            three. Notice, first, the enthusiasm:
       for they exercise an authority that is proper to  them,
       and are quite correctly called "prelates," heads of                   We  also have cause to rejoice at much that was
       the people whom they govern. Their power, therefore,               said during the discussion on the Church. It is plain
       is not destroyed by the supreme and universal power,               that the Counter Reformation's extreme emphasis on
       but on the contrary it is affirmed, strengthened and               the hierarchical structure of the Church is on the way
       vindicated by it, since the Holy Spirit unfailingly pre-           out. No one questions the special place of the Bishops,
       serves the form of government established by Christ                but our emphasis now is on the Church as a Christian
       the Lord in His Church.1                                           community, on the people of God among whom there
       The  same chapter teaches a certain "infallibility"                are different callings but all of whom have a Christian
                                                                          vocation. This shift in attitude is of inestimable  im-
of the bishops:                                                           portance.2
          The infallibility promised to the Church resides                   Chapter three of the schema De Ecclesia  . . . teaches
       also in the body of Bishops, when that body exercises              the doctrine that the episcopal college, including the
       the supreme magisterium with the successor of Peter.               pope as its head, holds the supreme ministerial power
       To these definitions the assent of the Church can never            to teach and to govern in the Church. This means that
       be wanting, on account of the activity of that same Holy           the bishops are co-responsible for the teaching and
       Spirit, by which the whole flock of Christ is preserved            policy-making of the whole Church; and even though
       and  progresses in unity of faith.1                                the pope, thanks to his primacy, remains canonically in-
                                                                          dependent from them, he enters into a dialogue relation
       The chapter also introduces the deacons as part of                 with them. The chapter does not specify the precise
the Roman hierarchy.                                                      forms in which this collegiality will find expression,
                                                                          but there can be little doubt that the manner and the
          At a lower level of the hierarchy are deacons, upon             tone assumed by the supreme ecclesiastical authority
       whom hands are imposed. . . .          It is the duty of the       will undergo a considerable transformation.3
       deacon, according as it shall have been assigned to
       him by competent authority, to administer baptism                  But then, after the last few days of the third ses-
       solemnly, to be custodian and dispensor of the Euchar-          sion, came the afterthoughts:
       ist, to assist at and bless marriages in the name of the
       Church, to bring Viaticum to the dying, to read the                   Much more serious was the pope's interventions
       Sacred Scripture to the faithful, to instruct and exhort           with regard to the doctrine on Ecumenism, and his
       the people, to preside over the worship and prayer of              application of the title "Mother of the Church" -so
       funeral and burial services. . . .                                 carefully rejected by the Council -to Mary. It  is  hard
          Since these duties, so very necessary to the life of            to understand the pope's motives in sending 19  "sug-
       the Church, can be fulfilled only with difficulty in many          gested  emendations" for the doctrine on Ecumenism
       regions  in accordance with the discipline of the Latin            at a time when such recommendations could not be
       Church as it exists today, the diaconate can in the                debated.      At best, his action seems in bad taste, of-
       future be restored as a proper and permanent rank of               fensive to other Christians and scandalous to  Catho-
       the hierarchy. . . .    With the consent of the Roman              lics.4
       Pontiff, this diaconate, can, in the future, be conferred              The treatment of the schema on ecumenism illus-
  upon men of more mature age, even upon those living                     trates a third concern. . . . For although the Council
       in the married state; . . .i                                       promulgated the doctrine of collegiality, . . .the actions
                                                                          of the closing hours suggest that there is `a vast dis-
       Finally, I would point out that this chapter does not              tance between promulgating a doctrine and actually
at all hide the intent of the Romish Church towards the                   practicing it. . .  .5
world about us (including ourselves):
                                                                          The debate continues. Is the old hierarchical order
          Because the'human race today is joining more and
       more into a civic, economic and social unity, it is that        breaking down? I believe not.  .I believe that there will
       much the more necessary that priests, by combined               be less evidence of the "naked power" of the pope in
       effort and aid, under the leadership of the bishops and         the future, but he has not relinquished an iota of the
       the Supreme Pontiff, wipe out every kind of  separate-          power he claims to possess. The very expressions of


                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER                                                     141


fear by those ready enough to believe the best concern-            2. James  O'Gara,  The Commonweal  (a Roman  Catho-
ing Rome, ought to be warning enough for us.                          lit liberal magazine)' Feb. 7, 1964; p. 569
                                                                   3. Gregory Baum,  The Commonweal,  p.  130
                            *****ie***                             4. Michael Novak (a Roman Catholic),  Christian  Cen-
1. These quotations were taken from the  Council  Day-                tuvy,  Dec. 9, 1964, p. 1518
   book, Session 3, published by the National Catholic             5. Robert  McAfee Brown (Protestant),  The  Common-
   Welfare Conference, pages 316-322.                                 weal, Dec. 25, 1964; pp. 442-444



            CONTENDIMG  FOR THE  FAITH-


                                The Doctrine of Creation
                                                      - Hodge

                                                        Ey Rev.  H. Veldman


   Writing on the  Scriptural   Do&vine   of the creation             consistent with the perfection and absolute supremacy
of the universe, Hodge, in Vol. I of his Systematic                   of God.    The other idea, however, namely, that God
Theology, pages 553 f.f., writes,                                     fashioned the world out of his own substance, has found
                                                                      advocates, more or less numerous, in every age of the
          The Scriptural doctrine on this subject is expressed        Church.
   in the first words of the Bible: "In the beginning God                Not only those of the schoolmen and of the modern
   created the heaven and the earth." The heavens and                 theologians who are inclined to the Monistic theory
   the earth include all things out of God. Of which things           (the creation came forth out of one principle of being
   the Scriptures teach that they owe their existence to              or ultimate substance  - H.V.), made all things to be
   the will and power of God. The Scriptural doctrine                 modifications of the substance of God, but many
   therefore is, (1.) That the universe is not eternal. It            Theistic and even Evangelical writers of our day hold
   began to be.        (2.) It was not formed out of any pre-         the same doctrine.     Sir William Hamilton also held
   existence or substance. It was free to God to create               that it is impossible to conceive the complement of
   or not to create, to create the universe as it is, or any          existence being either increased or diminished. When
   other order and system of things, according to the good            anything new appears we are forced to regard it as
   pleasure of His will.                                              something which had previously existed in another form.
          The doctrine of an eternal creation has been held            "We are unable, on the one hand, to conceive nothing
   in various forms.        Origen, although he referred the          becoming something; or, on the other, something be-
   existence of the universe to the will of God, still held           coming nothing.    When God is said to create out of
   that it was eternal. We speak of the divine decrees as             nothing, we construe this to thought by supposing that
   free and yet as from everlasting. So Origen held that              He evolves existence out of Himself; we view the
   this was not the first world God made; that there never            creator as the cause of the  Universe".....To  this he
   was a first, and never will be a last.                             elsewhere adds, "In like manner, we conceive annihila-
          Of course those of the schoolmen who made the               tion, only by conceiving the Creator to withdraw  his
   thoughts of God creative, or identified purpose with act,          creation from actuality into power....,The mind is thus
   or who agreed with  Scotus Erigena, must regard the                compelled to recognize an absolute identity of existence
   universe as coeternal with God.           This was done by         in the effect and in the complement of its causes -be-
   Scotus in a pantheistic sense, but others who regarded             tween the  causatum and the  causa,   " and therefore,
   the universe as distinct from God and dependent upon               "an absolute identity of existence" between God and
   Him, still held that the world is eternal. The influence           the world. This doctrine the fathers, and the Church
   of the modern Monistic philosophy, even upon theolo-               generally, strenuously resisted as inconsistent with the
   gians who believe in an extramundane personal God,                 nature of God. It supposes that the substance of God
   has been such as to lead many of them to assume that               admits of partition or division; that the attributes of
   the relation between God and the world is such that it             God can be separated from his substance; and that the
   must have always existed. The common doctrine of                   divine substance can become degraded and polluted.
   the  Church has ever been, in accordance with the                     The third point included in the Scriptural doctrine
   simple teaching of the Bible, that the world began to              of creation is, that it was an act of God's free will.
   be.                                                                He was free to create or not tocreate. This is opposed
          The second point included in the Scriptural doctrine        to the doctrine of necessary creation, which has been
   of creation is, that the universe was not formed out of            set  forth in different forms. Some regard the phenom-
   any preexistent matter, nor out of the substance of God.           enal universe as a mere evolution of absolute being
   The assumption that any thing existed out of God and               by a necessary progress, as a plant is developed from
   independent of his will, has ever been rejected as in-             a seed. Others, regarding God as a Spirit, make life


    `142-`.--  .                                                      THE STANDARD BEARER


           and thought essential and coeternal with Him, and this                           male and female; in chapter  2:7, it is said, that "the
           l i f e   a n d   p o w e r   a r e   o f   n e c e s s i t y - s   "es:         Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground." It
           sence," says Cousin, "consists precisely in  his  crea-                          thus appears that forming out of preexisting material
-. -.
-  -_  _ tive power." Again, he says, "He cannot but produce;                               comes within the Scriptural idea of creating. We all
           so. that the creation ceases to be unintelligible; and                           recognize God as the author of our being, as our Crea-
           God is no  more-w.ithst  a world than a world without                            tor, as well as our Preserver. He is our Creator, not
           God." As, however,  th@ght--is spontaneous, Cousin,                              merely because He is the maker of heaven and earth,
           when called to account for such-utterances, maintained                           and because all- they contain  owe their origin to his will
           that he did not deny that creation was free. (the under-                         and power, but also because, as  theP%lmist  teaches
           signed wishes to  observe-t@  with this we may cer-                              us,  He.fashions our bodies in secret, Ps.  139:16. And
           tainly agree. The Lord certainly was not compelled l.                            the Bible constantly speaks of God ascausing the grass
           to create the universe. He was moved solely by Him-                              to grow;., and as being the real author or maker of all
           self, by His own free and sovereign will, eternally, to                          that the earth, air, or water produces.           There is,
           glorify Himself also in the creature. This determin-                        y therefore, according to the Scriptures, not only an
           ation to create the heavens and  the>>th, which, of                              immediate, instantaneous creation  ex  nihilo  by the
   .-  -co_urse,  are never to be viewed as pantheistically                                 simple` word of God, but a mediate, progressive crea-
           flowing forth from or out of His own being, was a                                tion; the power of God working in union with second
           determination of the Lord's own free and sovereign                               causes. Augustine clearly recognizes this-idea. -(here
           choice.)                                                                         the undersigned wishes to observe that, although we
                   Some who do not admit that God is under any                              may speak of mediate creation in this sense, he fails
           natural or metaphysical necessity to give existence to                           to see the propriety of speaking .of second causes. How:
           the universe; still assert a moral necessity for the                             can the dust of the ground be viewed as a second cause
           creation of sensitive and rational creatures. God, it is                         in the creation of Adam?)
           said, is love;-but it is the nature of love to long to                                  Thus far there is little roomfordiversityof opinion.
           communicate itself, and to hold fellowship with others                           But when the question is asked, How long was the
           than itself.       Therefore God's nature impels  Him--to-                       universe in passing from its chaotic to its ordered
         `~cal-ljnto  existence creatures in whom and over whom                             state? such diversity is at once manifested. According
           He can-rejoice. Others say, that God is benevolence,                             to the more obvious interpretation of the first chapter
           and therefore is under a moral necessity of creating                             of Genesis, this work was accomplished in six days.
           beings whom He can render happy.                            ------._             This therefore has been the common belief of Christians.
                   According to the Scriptures God is self-sufficient.                      It is a belief founded on a given interpretation of the
           He needs nothing out of Himself for his own well-being                           Mosaic record, which interpretation, however, must
           or happiness. He is in every respect independent of                              be controlled not only by the laws of language, but by
           his creatures; and the creation of the universe was                              facts.     This is at present an open question. The facts
           the act of the free will of that God of whom the Apostle                         necessary for its decision have not yet been duly               -
           says in Romans 11:36, "Of Him, and through Him, and                              authenticated. The believer may calmly await the result.
           to Him are all things."                                                                 The theistical advocates of the Nebular Hypothesis
           Following  -upon  this Hodge discusses the subject,                              assume that the universe was an indefinitely long
                                                                                            period in coming toits present state.Z:Thesamethe_ory
   in connection with the creation of the universe, of                                      of gradual, or mediate creation, has been applied to
   Mediate and Immediate  Creation.                                                         account for all the phenomena of the vegetable and
                   But while it has ever been the doctrine of the                           animal kingdoms.            This has been done in different
           Church that God created the universe out of nothing by                           forms.      According to all these theories there must be
           the word of his power, whichcreation was instantaneous                           something to begin with. There must be matter and its
           and immediate, i.e., without the intervention. f any                             forces. There must even be life, andliving organisms.
           second causes; yet it has generally been admitted that  ..-                 _    To account for these we are forced to accept of the
           this is to be understood only of the original call of                            Scriptural doctrine of an immediate creation  ex  nihilo
           matter into existence. Theologians have, therefore,                              by the power of God."
           distinguished between a first and second, or immediate                           And with this last statement we wholly  agree--We
           and mediate creation. The one was instantaneous, the                         shall certainly accept the Scriptural doctrine of an
           other gradual; the one  ~precludes  the idea of any pre-                     immediate creation by the power of God. Hodge writes
           existing substance, and of cooperation, the other admits                     that the question of how long the creation of  all things
           and implies both.           There is evident `ground for this                was in progress is at present-an open question. The
           distinction in the mosaic account of the creation.  %od,
           we are told; "created the heaven and the earth. And                          facts necessary for its decision have not yet been duly
           the earth was without form and void; and darkness                            authenticated.       And the believer may calmly await the
           was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God                         result.       However, we believe that this is  pot an open
           moved upon the face of the waters."' Here it is clearly                      question.       And the believer may calmly await the re-
           intimated- that the universe, when first'created, was in                     sult  7 And accept the final conclusion that this universe
           a state of chaos, and that by the life,giving,  organizing                   was brought into existence through a process of
           power of the Spirit of God, it was gradually molded                          thousands and millions of years?                and accept `this
         -- -into the wonderful cosmos which we now behold. The                         calmly'? We believe that the Scriptures have spoken
           whole of the first chapter of Genesis, after the first                       on this matter, and that the language of the Word of
           verse, is an account of the progress of creation; the
          .production of light;' the formation of the-atmosphere;                       God is unmistakably Clear. The Lord willing, we will
   ----the:.  separation of land and water; the vegetable  pro-                         surely call the attention of our readers to this fact,
  `--%K.$o$s  of the earth; the animals of the sea and air;                             as we continue our discussion of the creation of the
           then-the living creatures of the earth; and, last of all,                                     the earth, as held before us in the infallible
           man. - In Gen.  1:27,  it is said that God created man
         ---_~_                                                                                                  -.-


                                                                         ---


                                                                                                                     --  --.___ -._.

                                               THESTANDARDBEARER                                                       -.        $43



                          B O O K   R E V I E W S - A Bible Inerrancy Primer

                                                                                         by  &of. H.  C. Hoeksema
"A Bible Inerrancy Primer," John H. Gerstner, Baker
Book House, Grand Rapids,  Mich.; 63 pages, paper             to treat all that Prof. Gerstner writes.                Briefly put,
bound; $.85.                                                  1  -do not believe that the inerrancy of Scripture is a
                                                              subject  .for logical proof apart from the testimony of
    The. author of this little brochure is Professor of       Scripture itself. Moreover, I believe there. are  several
Church History and Government at Pittsburgh Theo-             links in Mr. Gerstner's chain of proof that he cannot
logical Seminary.        He is evidently a conservative       sustain without an appeal to the very Bible whose
Presbyterian, loyal to the Westminster Confession of          inerrancy he is trying to prove. This, according to the
Faith.  -- --                                                 author is the fallacy, for example,  -in arguing from-the
    It is evident from the very title%f-the  book that the    Bible's own testimony to its inerrancy. But it appears
author is committed to the truth of the Bible's  inerr-       to be the fallacy in his own position also.
ancy, or infallibility. This fundamental position of the         Scripture's inspiration and  Inca-llibility  are  amatter
author becomes abundantly clear in these pages also,          of faith; and no amount of proofs will satisfy  &c-on--
and this is to be appreciated.                                vince an unbeliever.
    The purpose of the booklet is apparently to furnish          Nevertheless, I like this little booklet. My chief
a stringently logical proof for the inspiration and the       reason is that the author is committed to the doctrine
inerrancy of Scripture.       In Part One, Mr. Gerstner       of Bible inerrancy.               That is fast becoming a rare
treats "Some Unsound Bases for Sound Doctrine" (on            position in our day.              Secondly, the booklet is simply
Bible Inerrancy, of course). He rejects as unsound            and clearly written.               If one remembers that it is
bases: the Bible's Own Testimony, the Holy Spirit's           intended to be no more than a "primer," then it also
Testimony, the Believer's Testimony, and the Church's         cannot be criticized on the score of-brevity. In the
Testimony.        All these, while they may be true and       third place, the appendix on "The-Confession of 1967"
valuable in themselves, can, according to the author,         (of the United Presbyterian Church in the USA) is
not serve as bases for a sound doctrine of Bible              valuable to those  wl%>rain@rested  in that currently
inerrancy.       In Part Two he attempts  torurnish  what     much discussed subject. I must confess, however, that
he calls "A Sound Basis for Sound Doctrine." The              I stand aghast at the author's>laira-that  this new Con-
main thrust of his argument is the Testimony of               fession "also permits adherents of  h57Vestminstev
Divinely Commissioned Messengers as the Basis for             Confession of Faith  to remain  in-e-church  in good
Bible Inerrancy. In this section Mr. Gerstner argues          conscience." This possibility is based on the'ambiguity
first from Commissioned Messengers to Inspired Bible,         of the new Confession.
and then from Inspired Bible to Inerrant  Bible.                 To those interested in this subject-of Bible  Inerr-
    It would require another 63-page booklet, perhaps,        ancy, I recommend this Primer.



                       IN MEMORLAM
                                    --- -_                                      RESOL  UTION.(lF SYMPATHY
                                                                                                         - -
    Our Mr. and Mrs. Society hereby desires to express        The Men's and Ladies Societies of the Holland Protest-
its Christian sympathy with our fellow member, Mrs.           ant Reformed Church express their sincere sympathy
Sid Miedema whose sister                                      to Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Lanning in the recent passing
                                                              of his father
                       GLADYS TILMA
passed away recently.                                                                    MR. JOHN LANNING
    May our Father in heaven dry her tears.                   May the God of all grace comfort them in this their
                    The Hudsonville Mr. and Mrs. Society;     bereavement.
                                                                        .
                       Mr. Kenneth Schuitema, Vice-Pres.                      .~. ___              Mr. E. Cammenga, Sec'y.              -.s
                         Mrs. Richard Dykstra, Secretary                                           Mrs. B. Windemuller, Sec'y.  ._

                       IN MEMORIti                                             RESOL UTION OF SYMPATHY                         ._  _  _
    We herewith wish to express our condolences to our        The Hope Men's Society wish-to express our Christian
fellow member, Mrs. Sid Miedema in the loss of her            sympathy to Mrs. John Lanning and the children in the
sister                                                        loss of their husband and father
                       GLADYS TILMA                                                       MR. JOHN LANNING
    May our Covenant God comfort the bereaved family.         "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from
                          The Hudsonville Choral Society;     henceforth: Yea, saith the spirit, that they may rest
                               Harold  VanOverloop,  Pres.    from their  labours; and their works do follow them".
                                  Henry J. Boer, Secretary    Rev.  14:13.


144                                              THE STANDARD BEARER



                         NEWS FROM OUR  CHURCHES-

                                                                ("All the saints salute thee . . ." Phil. 4:21)

                                          December 1, 1965      Churches of Jamaica are nestled. While in Lynden
       Rev. J.  Kortering, of Hull, Iowa, has received the      Rev. Heys conducted the Installation Service of Rev. B.
call from Edgerton, Minn.                                       Woudenberg as Lynden's new Pastor.
       Rev. D. Engelsma, of Loveland, Colo., is consider-                                             * * *
ing a call that came to him from Hudsonville,  Mich.                 A copy of a pamphlet by Rev. Heys has indeed
                             *  +  *                            reached a far-off post.                  In Addanki, India there is a
       The speaker on the Reformed Witness Hour for the         high school whose Headmaster is a man named George
last two weeks in December is Rev. G. Vos, of  Hudson-          Jacob. This Headmaster wrote Rev. Heys that he had
ville.        His topics: Dec. 19 -- "The Wise Men of the       received a copy of his "Paid In Full" through a friend
East," Matt. 2:9-11; Dec.  26- "A Year of Eternal               in India, who in turn received it from some one in the
Beauty," Rev.  21:3-S.                                          U.S.A. He made carbon copies of it in longhand, and
                             *  * *                             intends to translate it into the local language for the
       The Beacon Lights Staff sponsored a Thanksgiving         natives who cannot read English. Mr. Jacob has asked
Day Singspiration Nov. 21 in First Church. With Mrs.            for the complete set which will be sent him, plus a
C. Lubbers at the organ and Miss Mary  Kregel at the            bonus of a year's subscription of the  Standuvd   Beaver.
piano, Mr. C. Jonker led the gathering  insome spirited         What a great reason for gratitude that it pleases the
singing.        With quotations from Scripture Mr. Jonker       King of His Church to use us in His plan to witness to
directed the singers to the basic reasons for singing           "the ends of the earth" before His retumon the clouds
songs of thanksgiving; and with references to the in-           of heaven1
struction in the Heidleberg Catechism, we were led in                                                 *  *  9
the contemplation of the art of true and proper thanks-              The Western churches' pamphlet ministry still
giving.         Special music was a solo by Mr. Arnold          continues to find its way into the mailboxes of the
Dykstra -- a prayer especially suited to young people --        people on the mailing list. The last one, by Rev. B.
"Take My Life And Let It Be".              Rev. Van Baren,      Woudenberg, was a timely one in that it dealt with The
pastor of First Church, led in closing prayer. This             Love of God- whether it is Universal or Particular.
was truly an enjoyable and inspirational hour of                May also this ministry continue to be a witness to the
Christian fellowship I                                          Truth of the Sovereignty of God, not only in the realm
                             *  * *                             of Providence, but also, and especially in the realm of
       The Ladies Aid Society of First Church recently          Salvation, wherein "the sheep who are of my fold"
enjoyed the pictures of Jamaica shown and narrated by           "hear my voice. . . . . . . and I give unto them Eternal
Mr. Harry Zwak of Hudsonville. An offering was taken            Life".
for the work in that Caribbean Island in the Atlantic.                                                * * *
                             * * *                                   The new church going up in South Holland is being
       Besides the Reformation Day Rallies held in Grand        watched quite eagerly. The progress has reached the
Rapids and Hull, as reported before,  Redlands had a            point that inside finishing will soon be started. The
Reformation Day Song Service after the morning                  completion thereof will be none too soon for them.
service Oct. 31. The Sunday School took a major part            Last Sunday sixty people had to be seated in the base-
in the program and were assisted by individuals of the          ment to listen to the sermon on the loudspeaker in-
congregation.  And,  Rev. D. Engelsma gave a Reforma-           stalled there.
tion Day speech in Loveland's Christian School.                                                       * * *
                             * * *                                   The league of Mr. and Mrs. Societies met Nov. 5 in
       Rev.. J. A. Heys, of South Holland, Ill., combined       Southwest `Church and scheduled Prof. H. Hanko as
two "travelogue lectures" with a three week classical           speaker.         The professor spoke on the topic, "The In-
appointment to Lynden, Wash.  On Nov. 4 Rev. Heys               termediate State," finding in the Scriptures the truth
showed 230 colored slides, pictorial proof of the work          regarding this mysterious and little known subject.
he and Mr. Zwak did in Jamaica last spring, to the              Prof. Hanko was also the speaker at the recent meet-
congregation of Loveland, Colo. On Nov. 21 this pro-            ing of the Eastern Ladies League which met in South-
gram was repeated in Lynden, with narration ac-                 west Church.              He spoke on "Racial Rioting and the
companying the viewing of the pictures. One can im-             Signs of the Times". The speaker criticized the ac-
agine that those color-pictures of that hot tropical            tivities of the leaders in the American churches in the
island were especially appreciated on a cold November           affairs of the national and secular problems of the day;
evening  0      Surely the denuded fields of Colorado and of    and especially. denounced their sin of participating in
Washington bore no resemblance to the lush vegetation           civil disobedience.
of the mountain sides in which the Protestant Reformed               0  D  D see you in church                                J.M.F.


