      `VOLUIME   X                    L           l         JUNE 1, 1964  -  GRANPRAP~DS,   MICHIGAN           . .                   NUMBER  1 7
     (.
                                                                                       the Lord. Some believe, and others  do,ubted.  He must
                                                                                 condescend to eat and to drink in order to convince them
                                                                                       that He is no apparition to be dreaded, ,and  you and I know             .
                                                                                  that Jesus had  `no more need of bread and drink. For
                                                                                       Christ to eat and to drink at the lake of Tiberias, I would
              BLESSIIKJGB   ,dF  THE  HOLY  iSPIRIT
I                                                                                 almost call a miracle  m reverse. But He did it in order to
1  :  ,.        ."  : 
                 And  zt*....
                                  
                               ca?e `. to pass,  tihibe He blessed them, He       put the minds of the fearful and wondering disciples at rest.
      `-      was parted,  fmn  them, and carried  `up into  heaven."                     But everything is strange.
                    ".                     . .              Luke 24: 51,52                And we should not marvel over much at this. for Tesus
                                                                                                                                          ,        s
                          "
                          .,.
                "Therefore  `be&g  by the. Tight hand of God exalted,             is the risen Lord. Henceforth, He belongs to a different
              and  haui&  kceived   of  the  Fa.ther the  plvmise   of            world. He is the  Firstfruit  of the New Heavens and the
              th.e  Ho& Ghost, He  h&h shed  forth  this, which  be New Earth that is coming. Paul tells us that our, life is
             .' now see and hear."                              ' Acts  2:33      hid with Christ in God. In a sense that life is even hid in
                                                                                       .heaven. For the present heaven of heavens is not even
            They have arrived at  Bethany.                                        pure in God's sight, and will presently have to make place.
            We know  .that, Jesus loved it. There He would often                  for the pure and eternal things that are being ushered in
     go in order to converse and to have fellowship with His                      at the last day.
     most. beloved disciples: Mary, Lazarus and Martha.                                  -And thus it is here at Bethany.
            Listen to the risen.Lord!                                             _       The disciples slaw Him. They saw His outstretched arms
            He commands His disciples not to depart. from Jeru-                  ..and hands.
     salem. He gives them. the promise of the Holy Ghost.                                 And then a cloud!
            Heanswers a foolish question.                                                 No, I do not believe that it was, a common cloud `of
            And gives the missionary command.                   z                 vapor and mist such as we see above us so often in this
            And then comes the end of -His last discourse on earth.               world of ours.
            The sound of His harmonious and beauteous speech                              I think it was a glorious chariot which God sent in order
     lingers! in the grove of olives, and slowly dies away.                       to receive His Son in heavenly places.
           --Look strongly on Him: He will soon be taken away                             Our resurrected and `glorified. Redeemer is the wholly
     from the church!                       `.                                    Other now. He was earthy, but He is now heavenly.                        -
            He lifts His hands and arms in blessing. He spreads                          While He blessed them, the cloud came and received
     these blessed arms over the little group that stands in                     Him out of their sight.
     silence, waiting, waiting.
            And then it happens!                       ,                                                              0  0  #  CL
            Jesus went to heaven.                                                                                              \
            The text in the Acts of the Apostles' tells us that "while                    I do not think that it took Jesus very long to go to
     they beheld, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him                      heaven.
     out of their sight!"                                                                And when we say these things, we do not know what
            Do you note the mysteriousness of it, the strangeness                we are .talking  about. The heavenly beings have their own
     of every episode that deals with Jesus since His resurrec-                  laws, and they are  different-  from ours. We speak of  so
     tion? He comes and He goes, and no doors hinder Him.                        many  miles  per hour. In this vein we cannot speak when
     He stands and He `walks with His most intimate followers,                   we, speak about Jesus' ascension. You may leave your meas:
     and they doubt, they durst not ask Him whether or not                       urements and yardsticks at home when you are invited to
     He is the Lord; because `they -knew.  that. He' was indeed                  attend the Ascension at Bethany..                              . .  .,


336                                          T H E   .STANDARD   B E A R E R

       YOU  may look, and you may marvel.                                mon house, in a common street of the city of God, I cannot
       And that is your blessedness.                                     understand how they all with one accord  find this place
       Even now, after so much study, dogmatics, exegesis                where the disciples are. But if we understand the place
and meditation, we go to  Bethany,  listen for a while, and              to have been an upper room of the Temple, then it is plain.
then we simply wonder and marvel at the things that came                 The, people of Jerusalem, hearing the mysterious sound as
to pass.                                                                 of a mighty and rushing wind, at once realize that it is
       The disciples did not fare any better.                            something supernatural, and for them the supernatural was
       They heard the lingering sweetness of His last words.             not unknown, They had the Holy Scriptures which  abun:
       They saw His bemgn  and loving Face.                              dantly testified of many strange things which had happened
       Perhaps they heard the softly spoken blessing. Maybe,             in the glorious gast. And therefore they all with one accord
I do not know for certain, but maybe He said to them:                    go to the right place in order to find out about the origin
The Lord bless you and keep you! The Lord make  His                      of this strange phenomenon.
Face to shine upon you-and be gracious to you! The Lord                         And, finally, read verse 46 of Acts 2. It was their custom
lift up His Countenance upon you, and give. you peace!                   to congregate in the Temple. But now let us attend unto
       At least, if not these words, then surely their content.          the proof that Jesus went to heaven, blessing His people.
For that is the blessing of God for His people Israel.                   The effects are very  coqvincing.
       And then He went to heaven,                                              The tenth day after His glorious ascension they were
       But attend to this: while He blessed them, He w& taken            with one accord in one place, and suddenly there came a.
up  in& heaven!                                                          sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it
       There is a revelation of unspeakable consolation.                 filled the house where they were sitting.
       The last time I saw my Lord on earth, His arms were                      There was no wind, so that a man could feel it, or so
extended over me in Divine blessing. While I write to you,               that you could see things sway in motion because of it.
and while you read these simple words, His arms are                      No, but it was the sozcnd of a rushing mighty wind. More-
above you and me: He is still blessing us!                          .    over, it came from the heavens; that also was noted; and it
       The musical and melodious song of our triumphant resur-           filled the house, the upper room;wherc  they sat.
rection Gospel has acquired additional charms. The cbotis                     At the same time, there appeared a great column as of
is swelling in notes that have their origin in God's  heart:             fire,  .darting  downward in as many tongues as there were
The resurrected. Lord is'blessing us with all spiritual bless-
                                                 .                       disciples, and this -mass of cloven tongues sat upon them.
-ings in heavenly places.                             I  J  `. .                It was no actual fire, but appeared as fire.
       Is it wonder that we begin to sing hallelujah here on                    And, finally, they heard them speak in strange tongues
earth already?                                                           as the Spirit gave them utterance. They did not know.those
                             B  a  0  11                                 languages before this event, but at its occurring, they spoke
                                                                         the languages and dialects of every nation that God sent
                                                                         to them for an audience.
       No, I do not know. how long it took for the cloudy and                   These three things are the revelation of de blessings of
glorious chariot to bring Jesus to the throne of God. Per-
haps He arrived there at once. As a child I always thought               Jesus Christ. He shed forth "this which ye now see and
                                                                         hear."
that the journey to heaven took ten days since there is that                    Three things, and they are signs of the, Gospel of God
space of time between Ascension Day and Pentecost.                       That Gospel was being fulfilled as never before. It is  the
       Now I know better ( ? ) .                                         flood of waters upon a dry ground of the prophet Isaiah.
       But Jesus did go to heaven. We have abundant proof.               It is the fulfillment of Joel's prophecy: And it shall come.
       Jesus had told His disciples before His ascent that they
should abide in Jerusalem until they should receive the                  to pass afterward, that I will pour out My Spirit upon all
promise of the Holy Ghost.                                               flesh. . . .
                                                                                It is the coming of the God of our salvation who
       And they were obedient to His words, for at the day of            through Christ and His Spirit is making His home in  .our
Pentecost, or rather, after the Jewish day of Pentecost was
fully come, that is, after it was entirely past, we find the             hearts. The blessing, arms of Jesus are still over us, over
                                                                         the whole church!.
little group of disciples in an upper room. I like to think                     B l e s s e d   P e n t e c o s t !
that this upper room was in the temple. I do not know
for certain, and it seems as though no one knows for cer-                                                    *  il;  0  rr;
tain, where this upper room was located. But  I would
found my opinion on two grounds. First, because that tem-                       This, which ye now see and hear!
ple was the embodiment of the very idea' of Pentecost:                   ,      Let us look into: these things a little more closely.
God dwelling with His people in wondrous unity. And,                          _ They are signs of  Gods- eternal covenant of grace.
second, because the great multitude at once go to the place                     There.  is. the sign of the rushing mighty wind from
where they were sitting, and if this place had been a com-               heaven, If you will  remember_Paul's  instruction of  Remans

                                                                                       ,


                                               T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                                                                                               387

     5 when he says that the love of God is  ,spread  abroad, in
     `our hearts through the Holy Spirit -that is given to us, then                             T H E                      STAN:DARD  RkARER
     we can see  somethjng  of- this sign's significance. God throws         Semhnonthly,   except  monthly during  ]qe, July  and August
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     or His Spirit.
         And then the sign of the fire. Negatively, fire is the                                                            C O N T E N T S
     sign of the purging,  power  of the Holy Spirit.
         Are you a  child of God? Well, you can prove it to             MEDITATION-
     yourself and others by your sanctification. .The fire of God's                 Blessings of the Holy Spirit .__..........__.............:  _.........._...........  385
                                                                                          Rev. G. Vos
     1ove:will purge away, burn away all the dross in your life.
     Here and now only  in principle, but at your death this            EDITORIALS-                                       -'
                                                                                   Assen 1926 - Groningen 1964 . . . . . . . . . .._.. . . . . . . . . . ..___.................... 388
     selfsame  Spirit  will burn away  all your sin and evil. Posi-          - De Jong - Dekker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .._......... 359
     tively, the  fke of-the Holy Ghost  is'the  love of. God that                            Rev. H. Hoeksema
, is spread abroad in your heart. You are set on fire of                OUR DOCTIUNE-
~ heaven, and heaven's God. You will love Him above all                             The  .Doctrine of the Church . . . . . . . . .._. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..~ . . . . . . . . . .._.... 390
     and your miserable neighbor as yourself.             ,                                   Rev. H. Hoeksema
        And, then the tongues! It is the healing of Babel's con-        SPECIAL                    &PORT-
     fusion. `And God confused their language there!" Do you                       The Second Vatican Council (V) .._.......................................  391                                                                   .
     not remember that  line in your catechism  book?                                         Rev. G. Van Baren
        But  Babel is healed.  Every  one understands. And              THE  LORD   GAVE THE  WORD . . ,  -
     thousands glory in the God of their salvation. They hear                      Mission Matters for Synod . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393
                                                                                              Rev. C. Hanko
     the speech of the  &Ioly Spirit. What else could it be but
     the recital of God's wonders  aud praises.                         IN HIS  FEAR-
                                                                                   The  End of Faith  ( 3) ._ . . . . . . ..__......  . . . . .._ . . . .._..........._......  395                                                       -
        The last thing which the disciples saw of Jesus was                                   Rev. J. A. Heys
     the wonderful spectacle of those blessing hands.
       They are still over us. They gave the Holy Spirit and            CON&NDINGFORTHEJ?AITH-                                                                      '
                                                                                    The Church and tbe Sacraments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..397
     all His attending blessings.                                                             Rev. H. Veldman
        We look to the heavens to His .return.  We wait, as those       TFIE  VOICE OF OUR FATHERS-
     that wait for the morning, the morning of the resurrection.                   The Belgic Confession __.. . . . . . . . .._... . .._.....  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399
     And our waiting is not in vain. We have the pledge of that                               Rev. H. C. Hoeksema
     wonderful Holy Spirit in our hearts and minds and souls.           THE CHURCH AT WORSHIP-
A m e n .                                                      G.V.                Sign and Seal (cont.) . .._ . . . . . . . . . . . :. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .._..... . . . . . . 401
           :                                                                              Rev. G.  Vanden   Borg
                                    --                                  ALLARouND.us-
                                                                                    Can Nature Be Tricked' by Science?  ,.................._................  403
                                                                                   Prayer in Public Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . .._......  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403
                                                                             I Ecumenicism .__ .._ . . . . . . . . .._..............  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .._.......... 404
                                                                                              Rev. H. Hanko
                       Stuff  Anlnouncement                             CONTRIRUTIONS  -
                                                                                   Letter from Prof. J. J. Lamberts.  . . . . .._................................  , . . . . 465
        The  Stan&d  Bearer  Staff  will meet Monday evening                       Reply by Rev. H. Hanko . . . . . ..__.......__......................................  406
                                                                                Report of Eastern Ladies' League ._......................................  406
     June 8, in First Church in Grand Rapids. Will  aQ the                                    M r s .   H .   Veltbouse
     staff  members please, take note? The meeting begins at 8          NEWS FROM OCR  CHURCHES . . . . ..~......................................................  ,408
     o'clock.                                                                            Mr. J. M. Faber                                                                                                              1
I                             ;I           J. A. Heys, Secretary                             .                   I..


  388~                                        T H E   -ST.ANDA-RD   .BEARER

                                                                                     speech and writing.2 In other  <words,  does it mean that,
  ,ir-- E D) i T 0 -R I A L S                                                 i although the decision still stands, it is not valid for any-
                                                                                     one? It seems to me that this must be the meaning. But,
                                                                                     in that case the decision may just as well be retracted.
                                                                                     All this, the reader will understand, does not mean that I
               -Assen 1926 - Groningen 1964                                          agree with the decisions of 1944 from a church political
                                                                                     viewpoint, for I do not.
          In  dh&ch   upzd   N&on, a Canadian Christian Reformed                                                 0'0  0  0
  publication which, by the way, appears lately in a much
  improved form over what it used to be, appears an article                             The iirst point mentioned above is, to me, of more inter-
  by Van Dooren,  minister of the Canadian Reformed Church,                          est and importance, for it concerns the question whether
  Burlington, Ontario (the Canadian Reformed Church is                               "Assen 1926" should also be set aside or retracted. At that
   Liberated) in which he mentions especially four items:                            Synod the Gereformeerde Kerken condemned the view of
          1. First, "Assen 1926. (I translate from the Dutch,                        Geelkerken-  (who, in the meantime, died if my information
   H.H.) It is not simply a question of technically being                            is correct) concerning the first three chapters of Genesis.
   grieved. The Rev. Delleman is not the only one; but speaks                        He presented the view that those chapters must not be
  for very many. Assen 1926 must be put aside, for that is                           understood in the literal sense' of the word. The days in
  the `laughing stock for the Reformed (Hervormden), and                             Genesis I cannot be understood, as days of twenty-four
  how many inside of the Synodical-Reformed churches still                           hours, the trees in paradise, the tree of life and the tree of
  believe it?                                                                        the knowledge of good and evil, were not literal bees, and
          "2. Secondly, the casting out of those that were ag-                       the serpent did not speak when he tempted Eve, etc. By
   grieved in 1944. Now, after twenty years, it is questioned                        this time, not only the first three chapters of Genesis are
  whether those disciplinary actions were correct . .  .; but                        involved but even the  first eleven chapters are brought in
  the motive  is, not a holy unrest  `or an evil conscience, but                     question.
   as your report has it, a willingness to meet the aggrieved                           At the last Synod of the Reformed Churches in the
h a l f - w a y ,   i . e . the aggrieved within the non-liberated                   Netherlands was also discussed as far as the first three
  churches, who continue to hammer on this anvil without                             chapters of Genesis were concerned. In the  Ri@dundse
   ever taking any action."                                                          Kerkbode  of April 17, 1964, I found an editorial in which
          The third item deals with the question of joining the                      the writer discusses this question and also -presents the
  World Council of Churches, which is, of  .course, also an                          rather long decision which was adopted by Synod.
   important question but which, for the moment, we pass.                            He writes that already the Synod of 1961 had been
          And the last item concerns membership in the worldly                       discussing the matter. The deputies appointed in the case
   unions, which is also important, but which does not directly                      had, in their report, advised Synod to retract the binding
   concern us: for our churches have already taken a stand                           force of the decisions of Assen 1926. This, however, was
   against such membership. Besides, the existing Christian                          not adopted, and further discussion of the matter  VXLS
   Labor Unions we cannot approve because they, like the                             postponed. Thus the matter was further discussed at the
   worldly unions, also support "strikes."                                           last Synod. The result was once more that agreement could
          As to 2, I can be brief. In the first place, as I have                     not be reached.
   written before, I cannot understand how the Synod of the                             The final result was that a motion by Prof. Nauta was
   Reformed Churches in the Netherlands can "set aside" the                          adopted. This was a'very  lengthy motion to the effect that
   doctrinal decision taken in 1944 with regard to de cove-                          the Synod expressed:
   nant. First of all, that decision was certainly correct, Re-                          1. That the doctrinal decisions of Assen 1926 cannot
   formed and Biblical, even though the Liberated, who prefer                        any longer fully be maintained.
   the  Heynsian  conception of the covenant, which is  Armin-.                         2. That it is not desirable at this time to take measures
   ian, must have nothing of it. And if, as Van Dooreh  writes,                      which should lead to making the decision and the doc-
   there are very many in,the Reformed Churches of the Neth-                         trinal expressions of the Synod of Assen 1926 completely
   erlands that are aggrieved because of the Synodical  decision                     binding.
   of 1944, they better be converted and change their mind                              3. That, in view of the present conceptions about the
   or join the Liberated.                                                            first three chapters of the book of Genesis, there is need of
    In the second place, I cannot understand what the                                greater clarity in regard to the question whether and how
   Synod means by "setting aside" any, legally' adopted deci-                        far that doctrinal decision  (of, Assen 1926, H.H. ) must be
   sion. Certainly, it cannot and does not mean that the                             put aside and must be replaced by other decisions.
   decision was retracted. It still stands, therefore, But what                          4. Therefore, the Synod decides to appoint a committee
   then? Does it mean that the`officebearers, ministers, elders,                     whose task it shall be to consider the question whether `and
   deacons, and professors,. as well as members, may simply                          in how far that doctrinal expression (of, Assen 1926, H.H.)
   ignore this decision. of 1944, that they may- contradict it in
     :..-                                        .;:...  -.-;+ -g-. ., s- zr ;..-    must be set aside or must be replaced by other doctrinal


                                    T      H        E         STAN.D.ARD   B.kARER                                                       359,

ex@ressions,  especially  .in view of the present conceptions              prophet is reproving the Jews for their ingratitude. As a
of the first three-chapters of the book `of Genesis, and espe-             proof of his peculiar favor, God refers to his preferences  for
cially.in connection'with what our Confessions have to say                 them fr,om  the first, `was not Esau Jacob's brother, saith  de
about this matter.                                                         Lord; yet I loved Jacob, and I hated Esau, `etc.' This
 5. The committee will have to be ready with their re-                     passage  `as well as the one quoted in vs. 12, and just re-
port at least six months before the next synod, and the                    ferred to, related to the descendants of. Jacob and Esau,
report must be delivered to all the churches at that time.                 and to the individuals themselves; the favor shown to the
  6. The Synod, besides, expects that  .a11 members of the                 posterity of the one, and withheld from the other. As this
churches  and especially the officebearers shall exercise the              is -the idea meant to be expressed, it is evident that in this
proper care in  .expressing~  an  .opinion about the first three           case the word hate means to love less, to  regard  and treat
chapters  of Genesis.                                                      with less  fauor."
   This decision was unanimously adopted.                                      2. However, the word hate, when it is referred to God
   I expect that this will not be the end. I could almost                  as the subject, never means `love less" in Scripture. Meyer
say that the committee will bring in a majority and minority               rejects this interpretation and explains as follows:
report.                                                                        "Emiseexa  (I hated, H.H.), moreover, is notto have pri-
   But we will wait.                                          H.H.         vative sense ascribed to it: not to love or to love less . . . . ,
                                                                           but  it, expresses the' opposite of the positive love, namely,
                                                                           positive hatred. See Malachi 1:4. And as that love of Jacob
                  De Tong - Dekker                                         must be conceived of as completely independent of fore-
                                                                           seen virtues, so also this hatred of Esau as completely
HATE SIN OR THE SINNER?                                        . .         independent of foreseen sins . . , . . Both were founded solely
   After I spoke. on the Dekker controversy in Calvin Sem-                 on the free elective determination of God; with whom in
inary it might, perhaps, be deemed superfluous to continue                 the necessary connection of that plan which he had freely
my editorials on the above-mentioned subject.                              adopted for the process of theocratic development, the
   Yet, seeing. that I was discussing certain passages of                  hatred and rejection of Esau were presupposed through
Scripture to which Dekker refers -and  that I did not explain              their opposite, namely the free love  and' election of Jacob
them in my lecture, I must needs continue for a little space.              . . . . etc."
   The first group of texts to which Dekker refers and                       3. In the same context Dekker refers to other passages
which I have already explained dealt with the difference                   of Scripture. In Genesis 29:30-33 we read: "`And he went in
between `hating sin and hating the sinner." God, according                 also unto Rachel, and he also loved Rachel more than Leah,
to -Dekker,  hates sin, but He loves the sinner.                           and served with him yet seven other years. And When de
   In the next paragraph Dekker states that' `hate in                      Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but
Scripture sometimes mecans  love less' rather than the `very               Rachel was barren. And Leah conceived and bare a son,
opposite of love." Under this proposition he refers to the                 and she called his name Reuben:  .for she said, Surely the
following passages of Scripture: Genesis 29:30-33; Matthew                 Lord  bath  looked upon my  afRiction; now therefore my
6:24, and Luke  14:26; and, "perhaps" Romans  9:13.                        husband will lsve me. And she conceived again, and bare a
   Let us, first of. all, discuss and interpret the last                   son; and said, Because the Lord hath heard that I was
mentioned passage.  ~                                                      hated, he hath therefore given me this son also: and she
   Before I do this, however, I must make the following                    called his name Simeon."
remark. Is it possible that the, love of God is a matter of                    On this I would remark, briefly:
degree? I do not believe it. God always loves the elect, the                   a. That the text says absolutely nothing of the love and
righteous; and He hates the wicked every .day.  Besides, the               hatred of God, or of the fact that God's hatred may mean
love of God, as Prof. Dekker himself has so correctly ex-                  "iove less."
pressed, is one and it is unchangeable. If  God. loves the                     b. That the text speaks of the carnal and sinful love and
wicked- a little less than the righteous, is it possible                   hatred of men. And shall we compare the sinful love and
that, while during- his lifetime He. loves the  reprobate-                 hatred of men with the love and hatred of God? God  for-,
wicked a little less than the righteous, that `less love" ceases           bid! To be sure, Jacob is said to love Rachel more than
`when he dies and God casts the wicked into eternal dam-                   Leah and Leah calls this hatred. But this was., undoubtedly
nation? Or does that `less love" continue even in hell?                    sinful on the part of Jacob. Carnal love this was. But when
   But let us look at the text: "Jacob have I loved, and                   God loves, His love is holy; and when He hates, His hate
Esau have I hated." I remark:                                              is equally holy. He loves for His own name's sake; and He
   1. First of all, I may-say that Dekker is in good com-                  hates for His own name's sake.
pany, for Hodge has.the same explanation. Writes .he in his                    4. Hence, the text to which Dekker refers has nothing
commentary on the Romans and, particularly; on vs. 13:                     to do with His love and hatred of Jacob and Esau.
   "These tiords are quoted from Malachi 1:2,3,  where the                                                                             H.H.


                                                                      t


 396                1'                      T H E   .STANDARD   B E A R E R                        _

                                                                    writes to the church in Corinth, I Corinthians  1:13-16: "Is
                                                                    Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye bap-
                                                                    tized in the name of Paul?. I thank God that I baptized
                                                                    none of you, but  Crispus and Gaius; Lest any should say
                                                                    that- I had baptized in mine own name. And I baptized
         THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH                                 also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not
                                                                    whether I baptized any other," It does not make any dif-
                          CHAPTER        VIII     '                 ference, as. far as I am concerned, whether or not  you
                                                                    maintain that there were little children in those houses:
             T H E   S A C R A M E N T   O F   BAPTISM              the fact remains, nevertheless, that houses, families, were
                          (continued)                               baptized. It is -the organic idea of the covenant, running
                                                                    in the line of continued generations, that is taught here.
     Finally, we must note the fact that God continues His          This, therefore, is true in the old dispensation, but also
 covenant, both in the old and in the new dispensation, in          in the new.
 the line of continued generations. The Reformed symbols               This does not mean, of course, that all.the children that
 emphasize  the.fact  that infants as well as adults are in-        are born under the dispensation of the covenant are real
 cluded in the covenant and church of God. But the question         spiritual children of God. No one-in the Reformed churches
 arises nevertheless: how are infants included from `their          teaches this. Nevertheless, there is and has always been
 very birth in the co,venant  of God? And the-answer is that        difference of opinion in regard to the question who are
 God establishes His covenant in tbe line of continued              really in the covenant, and how we must view the children
 generations. This is the ultimate ground for the baptism           that are baptized.
 of infants. It is the will of God, plainly revealed in Holy           Some teach that the baptism of infants is based upon.
 Scripture, that  .the seed of Abraham, which is the same           their presupposed, or presumptive, regeneration. We must
 throughout the ages, shall receive the sign of the righteous-      suppose that infants are regenerated: and therefore they
ness which is by faith, and that too, in their generations.         ought to be baptized. Even Ursinus, in his `Commentary
     That indeed God establishes His covenant in the line           on the Heidelberg Catechism," seems to suggest this doc-
 of continued generations is the  plain.`truth.  revealed in all    trine. Writes he: "Faith is in infants potentially and by
of' Scripture, and is verified in all the history of the church     inclination, although not actually as in adults. For, as in-
 of God in the world from the very beginning. Always God            fants born of ungodly parents who are without the church,
 establishes His covenant organically, in the line of con-          have no actual wickedness, but only an inclination thereto,
 tinued generations. This is already' evident from the prot-        so those who are born of godly parents have no actual
 evangel in Genesis 3.~15: "I will put enmity between thee          holiness, but only an inclination to it; not according to
 and the woman, and between  thy seed and her seed; it              nature, but according to the grace of the covenant. And
 shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." This       still further:. infants have the Holy Ghost, and are regen-
 is clear from the establishment of the covenant with Noah:         erate' by Him. John the Baptist was filled with the Holy
 `And I, behold, I establish .my covenant with you, and with        Ghost, even from.his mother's womb, and Jeremiah is. said
 your seed after you." Genesis 9:Q. The same truth is  `ex-,        to have been sanctified before he came  out'of the womb.
 pressed in Genesis 17:7: "`And I will establish my covenant        ( Luke 1: 15; Jeremiah  1:5). If infants now have the Holy
 between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their gen-          Ghost, He certainly works in them regeneration,. good in-
 erations for an everlasting- covenant, to be a  %od unto           clinations,  new' desires, and such other things as are
 thee, and to thy seed after thee.`: Besides, this is evident       necessary for their salvation, or He at least supplies them
 from the entire historical line of the development of the          with everything that is requisite for their baptism, accord-
 covenant. For the  line.of  God's covenant runs in the line        ing to the declaration of Peter, `Can any man forbid water
 df successive generations from Seth to Noah, from Shem             to them who have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?
 to Abraham, from Abraham to Israel, from Israel to Christ.         It is for this reason that Christ enumerates little children
 And even in the new dispensation it is very plain that             among those that believe, saying,  `Whoso  shall offend one
 God has His people in the line of continued generations.           of these little ones which believe in me.' Matthew  X3:6.
- Hence, the apostle Peter can preach on the day of Pente-          Inasmuch now as infants are fit subjects for baptism, they  I
 cost: "The promise .is unto you and to your children, and          do not profane it as the Anabaptists  ,wickedly  afhrm.:
 to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God         Evidently Ursinus here bases infant baptism on the pre-
 shall call." Acts  2:39. Only in this light can it be under-       sumption of regeneration in the children of the covenant.
 stood that we read repeatedly in the Scriptures that houses        With this idea of presumptive regeneration as a basis for
 were baptized. Thus we read in Acts  16:33:  "And  he took         infant baptism we do  not. and cannot agree. We do not
 them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes;         deny that infants can be regenerated, or that it is possible
 and was baptized, he and all his, straightway." Thus Paul          for. them to have the faculty, or power, of faith.     H.H.



                                             .


                                                  T H E   S T A N D A R D   B'EARER                                                   39%

                                                                         way from final  adoption; and many `liberal" Roman Cath-
II  `. SPECIAi  REPORT                                                   ,olics despair of it ever receiving  &al approval. In its five
                                                                         chaptZs;Z  there,:are at least three- items which are rather
                                                                         controversial in the Romish Church: the place of  "non-
                                                                         Catholic Christians" in the scheme of God's Church; the
              The Seconld Vatican Council                                relationship. of bishops to the pope; and the role of Mary
         ^                        v.                      /       i      in the redemptive plan of God.
                   *  SNFINISHED  B                                         The first chapter, discussing the "Mystery of the Church,"
                                         U S I N E S S                   describes the "Church as the People of God, and establishes             .
                                                                 -  _
    We have considered the two schemata adopted by' the                  a basic equality of all believers. The place of non-Catholics
Vatican Council: The Constitution. on the Liturgy  and The               is discussed."20 An a%mative decision on this subject could
Decree  ,on the Communications Media. There remain fif-                  greatly affect the position of the Romish Church on mixed
teen additional schemata which have either been discussed                marriages as well as its contact and fellowship with other
or await treatment, but which have not yet been officially               church groups. A favorable decision would surely forward
adopted. These schemata contain material, the adoption                   the drive' of ecumenicism.
or rejection of which will have a marked effect on the                      The, second chapter. is of especial interest to Roman
Romish Church not only, but also upon the ecumenical                     Catholics not only, but also to Protestants who desire the
movement of our day. The. Rev. H. Hanko has been calling                 dogma of "papal. infallibility" to be further defined and
our attention to some of the past developments, and doubt-               limited in  `order thus to remove one old hindrance to
less he will continue to do so as the council progresses. It             closer contact with the Roman Catholic Church. "In this
would be very worthwhile to watch future developments.                   chapter,  -arose discussion of the `collegiality of Bishops' -
   I- cannot discuss the remaining schemata in detail. I,                that is, the participation of the Bishops in governing the
have in my, possession only brief summaries of them. The                 whole Church as a body in conjunction with the Supreme
present texts are subject to much revision before final adop-            Bishop - the Pope."20 The chapter does. not change nor
tion, and, as far as I know, are not' available to the general           deny "papal infallibility," but its  &al adoption would re-
public. However, I would. like to. point out the unfinished              move much of the power of the Curia (the offices and
business of the council, and the problems which arise in                 persons the pope uses in expressing his supreme and uni-
connection with it. I wish to do this particularly with the              versal authority) and invest this power rather in the local
four schemata which have been introduced upon the floor                  Bishop. The powerful Curia, of course, opposes such a
of the. council either in its first or second sessions.                  course, and in its strategic position, has so far been able
                                                                         to block final approval of the `collegiality of Bishops." The
ON DIVINE  REVELAilON                                                    majority of the members of the council plainly approve the
   This schema, numbered One, was on the floor of the                    granting of more authority to the Bishops. Voteswere taken
ilrst session of- the council. It was returned to a special              on various questions concerning this subject. The votes
m&d commission after a vote barely failed to  ,reject  it. It            strongly favored "collegiality." These votes were  loot  i&al
did not reappear in the second session. In light of the                  and official approval of this chapter, but only `ypilot"  votes
contents, it is questionable whether this schema will be                 taken to indicate the mind of the council in order to guide
adopted. The schema faces the opposition of Roman                        the Theological Commission in revising this chapter. The
Catholics who fear that tradition might be minimized as a                votes revealed the following (affirmative votes' given first) :
source of Divine Revelation, and opposition of those seek-                        That Episcopal consecration is  .~the highest grade of the
ing closer union with Protestants who reject tradition as a                   Sacrament of Holy Orders - 2123-34;
                                                                                 That every Bishop who is `in union with all the Bishops
source of Divine Revelation. Summarizing the schema, the                      and the Pope belongs to the body or college of Bishops  -
Denver Catholic  Register  declared:                                          2,049-104;
         This schema treats Revelation and ran afoul in debate as                That the college of Bishops succeeds the college of Apos-
     to whether there are two separate sources of Revelation  -               tles and, -together with the Pope, has full and supreme power
      Scripture and Tradition, each containing a part of the deposit          over the whole Church  - 1,808336;
     of faith. Some commentators say such an interpretation would                That the college of Bishops, in union with the Pope, has
     be a misuse of the formula used by the Council of  Trent, and            this power by divine right - 1,717408;
     would alienate  Protestantszo                                               That the diaconate should be restored as a distinct and
                                                                              permanent rank in the sacred ministry - 1,588-525.2a
THE NATURE OF THE CHURCH                                                 Despite the favorable vote, "liberal" Roman Catholics
   The second schema, The Nature of the Church, was re-                  fear that action will be blocked by the powerful minority
jected for discussion at the ftrst session, but a revised version        who oppose the contents of this chapter. Roman Catholic
was accepted for discussion by a vote  .of' 2,231 to 43. No              magazines in our country commented as follows:'
action on the text or amendments (at least 1,500 of which                        Another  ,issue has already been raised, and it will be more
were presented) has been reported. This schema is a long                      urgent as the discussions move on. I mean the question of the



                            ,-


      3 9 2                                              T H E   S T - A N D A R D   -BEARER

            relation between the Petrine office- the office, committed to               ECUMENISM
            Peter by Christ and continued in the papal office-and the                      Schema five on Ecumenism probably aroused more dis-
            united Episcopal college. This issue  is of vast theological                cussion and comment within and outside of the council
            difficulty, and it is `not likely that  .the Council will  .give  it any
            definitive solution. . . .sr                                                than any of the other schemata. Except for de last two  of-
                . . . Although the notable vote of October 30 on Chapter                its five chapters, it was approved for discussion by a vote
            three of  D&  Ecclesiu   saw  the- bishops  a&m  four points lead-          of 1,996 to 86. No  ilnal action on the schema nor on its
            ing toward a theory of collegiality, neither  ,the Fathers nor              amendments was taken. The chapters on religious liberty
            the Pope followed through  v&h any decisive action. . .  .a2                and relations with the Jews (which gave rise to most of
          The  .third and fourth chapters treat various questions                       the discussion) were not voted upon in the second session.
-     concerning the position of the laity in the church, and a                           - The first chapter treats the "principles of Catholic Ecu-
      call to them unto greater holiness. There is evidently an                         menism." It declares Peter and his successors `to preside
     _ attempt made to raise the lay person in the Romish Church                        over the college  -of. his brethren, to  con&m them  .in de
      to `full-fledged" -membership.                                                    faith, and to feed the entire flock in perfect unity." It
          The fifth chapter will, if adopted, be the most disturbing                    acknowledges &at separated Churches (i.e., those other than
      to Protestants. This chapter, "On the Blessed Virgin Mary,"                       Roman Catholic) do have a certain "efficacy derived from
      resulted "from a vote to incorporate a separate schema on                         the  fullness~  of grace and truth . .  ." with the result that
      the topic  as, part of this schema on `the Church. The vote                       "the spirit of Christ . . . does not refuse to use such Churches
      1,114-1,074  was only 17 over the required 50 per cent. The                       as means to salvation." The chapter appears to moderate
      chapter treats Mary's role in the redemptive plan of God."20                      the old Romish view that salvation was to be found in the
        * The Roman (Catholic Church has adopted long ago the                           Roman Catholic Church alone, and here concedes that there
      idea  iof the "Immaculate Conception" of the Virgin Mary,                         is the possibility of salvation apart from the Roman Catholic
      that is, that she is born without the original sin of Adam,                       Church. However, concludes the chapter, separated breth-
      and also that she remained sinless throughout her entire                          ren'do not enjoy "that unity which Jesus Christ wishes to
      life on earth. This church has also adopted the dogma of                          lavish upon all those whom He regenerated and vivified
      the bodily `assumption of Mary into heaven. There has                             into one body and in newness of life."20
      been in the past, and remains today, strong agitation to                             The second chapter treats the "Practice of Ecumenism."
      assign now to Mary ,a certain role in the redemption. of the                      It suggests guidelines for Roman Catholics who desire to
      Church. It will prove interesting to observe what will be                         encourage and join in the ecumenical movement. It ap-
      decided. The `liberals" oppose any new statement conce.rn-                        proves, for instance, ecumenical prayer meetings, but does
      ing Mary for fear of antagonizing the church groups with                          not allow Roman Catholics `to celebrate the sacred mys-
      which they desire closer contact. It  vould appear unlikely                       teries of the Eucharist in common" with those outside of
      that this chapter will be adopted both because its adoption                       the Romish Church. It suggests to its members that to
      would  meet' with much Protestant criticism and because                           learn  "to know one another better" can open de way to
      -many in the Roman Catholic Church are not ready to speak                         Christian ~n.ity.~~ Incidentally, though the schema has not
      of Mary's redemptive role. Such statement, however, is but                        yet been finally adopted and promulgated, some of the
      a natural development in the heresies which have evolved                          above suggestions are  already  being followed, especially
       around the `person iof Mary in the Romish Church.                                the `learning to know one another better." Reports are
                                                                                        frequently seen, since the Vatican Council began; of certain
                                                                                        Protestant groups meeting with their Roman Catholic coun-
      BISHOPS AND  DlOiESAN GOVERNMENT                                                  terparts to discuss differences and to seek a common ground
          This is the fourth schema presented to the council. It                        of fellowship ?
      was accepted for discussion by a vote of 1,610 to 477. There                          The third chapter "pledges an effort to tear down the
      was no action reported on texts or amendments. The                                wall between the Eastern Orthodox Churches and Rome."
       schema is divided into four chapters and speaks of the                           It further declares concerning Protestants that they are
       authority- and power of bishops in the Roman `Catholic                           "true. brothers of ours (who,) can live by the charity of
       Church.  It suggests a "national conference of bishops" to                       Christ and `can be elevated by supernatural  gifts."2o  Very
      handle local problems. It proposes that dioceses' (the dis-                       obviously Rome is seeking to realize a one-world church -
       trict over which a bishop has authority) be "neither too                         on its own terms.     -
       large nor too small." Roman Catholic comment on this                                 The fourth chapter, widely discussed and criticized, is
       schema is :                                                                      summarized as follows by the Roman Catholic press:
                `An unhappy schema," said Archbishop Leo Binz,  St. Louis.                       In discussing  Relations  of Catholics to  the Jews,  Chapter 4
                Some Bishops charged the schema had been tampered with                        applies the principles of Catholic ecumenism to all who wor-
             since its completion in March, 1963; others said only the                        ship God and are at least trying in good will to observe the
             Bishops and experts in Rome were invited to review it. The                       moral law. The chapter reiterates the historic ties of the
             schema was also criticized for regarding the powers of Bishops                   Church to the Jews, and calls the Church "the continuation of
             as concessions rather than' rights and for disregarding the
            sentiment in favor of the idea of "collegiality of Bishops."20                                    (Continued  ora page 407)


                                                  THE   S T A N D - A R D   B E A R E R                                           393
                                                                                                                                   _.

                                                                         sider ~this  form of mission endeavor. It certainly has much
      --WE --LOiib~ GAVE Tt-i E WORD....
.r,                                                                      in its favor. First, many of our smaller churches need
                                                                         some program to make their presence known in the area.
                                                     (Psalm  68:ll)      They can do this by various methods. Many of our minis-
                                                                         ters have prepared pamphlets on various timely subjects.
                                                                         These have been distributed in their own area, but could
                     Mission Matters for &nod                            also be given a much wider distribution if a' local church
                                                                         would take it upon itself .to mail out these pamphlets in its
         Anyone who has had the opportunity to read through              own community. Moreover, the Radio Committee of First
     the Agenda for our next synod will realize that mission             Church (Grand Rapids ) has given considerable thought
     work will take up a lion's share of the -discussions. It so         to a fifteen minute program to be broadcast from some
     happens that this year we have no examination of candi-             local station for a period of thirteen weeks. If such a
     dates, nor any  (other matters that will demand a lot of            program were widely advertised, it might bring consider-
     synod's titne and effort. This may be advantageous.. As one         able response. If so, the response to the pamphlets and to.
     of the ministers expressed it, this will give pur synod ample       the radio program could prepare the way for more per-
     opportunity to make a thorough study of all the problems.           sonal contacts, so that others become acquainted with  OUT
     involved in our present mission program.                            churches and also much misunderstanding, be removed.
         The matter  `of domestic missions appears on the Agenda.           Second, this form of mission endeavor could well serve
         By this time it is known throughout our churches that           to show the effectiveness of a pamphlet and radio program.
     Rev. Woudenberg has declined the call that was `extended            If this should prove effective in a local area, where the
     to him to become our home missionary. To many of us' minister and elders can do the follow up work, we may also
     this came as quite a disappointment, because the need for           be able to use this method effectively in areas where no
     a home missionary is quite obvious and the brother does             Protestant Reformed Church is located.
     have ability for this work. -But we are confident that the
     Lord knows.  our needs also in regard to our mission calling           Third, under the blessing of God this may even serve
     and that He will give us the man of His choice in His own           td open the eyes of some who are now ,in error on the fun-
     time. _                                                             damental truths of God's sovereign grace, so that our smaller
         In the meantirne, the Houston field will have to be con-        churches may be strengthened by such a program.
     sidered. The Mission Committee' requests permission to                 Obviously, the initiative must come from the local
     seek release of our various ministers to labor in Houston           church, even as some of our churches have already initiated
     as long as .we do not have a missionary in the field. Hous-         lecture programs and pamphlet distributions. But if this is
     ton will have to be supplied for the present just. as our           to be bolstered by some sort of radio broadcast, financial
     vacant churches, even though the western churches already           aid may be needed. Therefore synod could encourage our
     are severely taxed with long absences of their ministers.           churches to put forth such an effort and establish a certain
         Maybe, the synod could also consider other areas of             amount of financial backing which will be made available
     mission endeavor during the period that we are without a            for this purpose. The Mission Committee  .would decide
     `missionary. I am thinking now particularly of a decision           whether or not these funds  Can be used to help a local
     that was made in 1959, when the Mission Committee was               church in her endeavors.
     urged to discontinue some of their local broadcasts.. At that          The Jamaican field will also be considered at this synod.
     time synod decided,                                                    It may interest our delegates and others to know that
-        "1. That the purpose of radio broadcasting by the Mis-          there is a constant flow of correspondence from the island,
                sion Board is church extension. and not extension        particularly from Rev. Frame and Rev. Elliott. Both of
                of already existing churches. Grounds.: Question 15      these ministers report that progress is being made in estab-
                asked by the Church Visitors. This implies that          lishing their churches on a sound basis both doctrinally
                church extension work is the task of the local           and church politically. Just recently tapes are coming back
                church in its own area.                                  to us with recordings of their singing as well as messages
                                                                         from their ministers. The churches are making use of the
        "2. That in cases where a local church furnishes good            two recorders that were sent to them, so that there is a
                reasons for broadcasting in  .its local area with a      constant demand for new sermons. Rev. Elliott in particular
                view to church extension, and where a local church       informs us that he takes  this recorder with him on his
                needs help in broadcasting, it is permissible for the    monthly tours through his churches and that the sermons
                Mission Board to give financial assistance. . . .        are greatly appreciated.
        "3. A definite effort should be made to elicit response             The offering that was taken last fall during the tour of
                with a view to developing a follow-up. program."         Mr. and Mrs. Meulenberg and Rev. and Mrs. Hanko
                (,A& 1959, p. 124.)                                      through our churches has been sent and gratefully received.
         It would appear that this is a very proper time to con-         Rev. Frame has informed us that the two hundred dollars


394                                          .T.HaE  STAND.ARD   B E A R E R

 that were sent to him came at a.very opportune time, since          were taken-during the past year hardly were intended for
he was in the process of improving his tabernacle in Lucea.          Foreign Missions as they-  are defbaed in the report of 1962.
A part of the money- was used for a new floor and for walls          Besides, the field of labor for a Foreign Mission. Committee
 and windows in. his tabernacle, while the remainder was             will not be very large if it is limited only to `those who in
 distributed as equally as possible among the other churches.        their generations never- belonged to the sphere of the
Rev. Elliott also' informed us `that the two hundred dollars         covenant." Besides, with our limited means it may take years
he received was `equally distributed among his eight or ten          before we can reach out so far that we can be actively en-
 churches. Both of these ministers realize that an improve-          gaged in such a mission endeavor. As it appears now, de
ment of their tabernacles is necessary in order to obtain            Foreign Mission Committee will not be overburdened with
 government recognition as ministers of the Gospel from the          work for some time.
 civil authorities. This contribution may help them toward              This Foreign Mission Committee comes with the follow-
that goal.                                                           ing proposal:
       The Mission Committee is proposing to our next synod             `We  therefore suggest that Synod alter this  6nal para-
respecting Jamaica,                                                  graph of the study committee's report. The alteration that
       "1. To authorize the committee to continue sending            we suggest is to elide the entire point  "D", and that de
           the Standard  Beare?,  Beacon Lights, and -the Acts       following be adopted by Synod:
           of Synod: to the various churches on the island, and         "1. Domestic Missionary work is that work of Christian
           catechism books to the children.                                  missions by the church which is conducted in lands
       "2. That the committee be instructed to continue con-                 nominally Christian. These lands are, broadly speak-
           tact with the churches of Jamaica in order to                     ing, Europe and America.
           instruct them more fully in our doctrine, such as            "2. Foreign Missionary work is that work of Christian
           sending tapes, et cetera."                                        missions by the church which is conducted in lands
       Concerning our Foreign, Mission endeavor already much                 nominally heathen. These lands .are primarily Asia,
has been. written during the past few months. But there                      Africa, and South America."
is one report that will appear at synod which has not been              The Study Committee sees some problems in connection
discussed in this department.. I am referring to the report          with this new distinction, but adds that it also has some
of the  Foreign  Mission Study Committee.  This committee            very definite advantages, namely:
consists of ministers and elders from the mid-west who were             "1. It is a more workable distinction.
mandated to study our entire foreign mission program.                   "2. It comes as closely as possible to the  forefold   dis-
       In this report the committee, first of all, quotes the de-          tinction made `by the Study Committee under
cision of the Synod of 1962 in regard to the distinction                     TTT B.
made in various gelds of mission work. The Study Commit-                `3. `It will give a future Foreign Mission Committee
tee of 1962 spoke of a fourfold distinction, namely, as mis-                 something to do. If the term `foreign' is made
sion work among the Jews,  as, mission work among the                        synonymous with heathen', there is little point in
"unchurched," or those who in their generations had fallen                   our Churches expending the time and energy in
away from the church, as mission work among the                              pursuing Foreign Mission work. All work now and
"churched," or those who belong to churches that are erring                  in the foreseeable future would then fall under the
in `doctrine, and as mission work among the heathen. This                    jurisdiction of the Domestic Mission Committee.
`.Study  Committee of 1962 also advised synod to include
all these fields' under domes-tic missions ex&pt the mission            `% In case of a disagreement concerning whether any
work among the heathen. To quote one statement from this                     `one country, such as Aus'tralia  e.g., would be under
report, "A new standing committee should be appointed                      the jurisdiction of a Foreign or Domestic Mission
who shall devote their attention exclusively to mission work                 ,Committee,  this disagreement can be settled by a
among the heathen." And by `heathen" is meant, "those who                    decision of Synod."  _
in their generations never belonged to the sphere of the                Personally,  I wonder whether for all pratical  purposes
covenant." (Acts of Synod, pp. 75, 76.)                              it would not be far simpler, for the present at least, to
  : The Foreign Mission Study.  %ommittee  criticizes this.          classify all mission work within the continent of North
distinction particularly for two reasons. First, this is con-        America as Domestic Mission work and all mission work
trary to the terminology of "foreign" and "domestic" that            beyond the continent of North America as Foreign. The
has a long history in the Reformed Church world, and can-            Domestic Committee has always had an abundance of work
not be easily abandoned. Second, this distinction is too             .because  the .labors  of the Home Missionary as well as radio
difficult to maintain in actual practice.                   ,'       broadcasting at home and abroad have been under the
       Concerning this second objection, it must be' admitted        supervision of this &ommittee.       .
that the synodical  treasurer has had some diffic~~  in main-            Upon the basis of the revision suggested by the  .Study
taining this distinction in his funds. The collections that                              (Cmtlnued   om  page   407)


                                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                       395

                                                                        holy works may be performed in one building while holy
~ I[;IN's'  F.E-,A  R  ,`I deeds are practiced in another. They may both have been
                                                                        built with their specific uses in mind. That does not make
                                                                        the one holy or unholy in an ethical sense. An edifice may
                                                                        be erected for worship of the living God, and we call it a
                         The. End. of Faith (3)                         holy place. Another structure may be built to serve the
                                                                        lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes. Yet the holy work
            Johnny was being troublesome.
      .'                                                                of worshipping God -can be performed in both, and like-
            At least that is the way the story went, fragments of       wise immorality can be practiced in both. The Greeks in
     which I heard on the radio the other day.                          Athens had Mars Hill where they satisfied their sinful na-
                                                                        trues. Yet Paul preached the Word of God there.  -And on
      Johnny was not only standing up on the back seat of               many a pulpit today sins are committed, and sin is upheld.
     the car while his father was speeding through the busy             There are places which are called holy where very unholy
tra.& but Johnny also on occasion jumped up and down                    deeds are performed.                                             ..
     on the springs of the back seat.
            Johnny's father told him to sit down!                         Nevertheless, we can speak of certain places and  pre-
~                                                                       cincis as holy in that basic sense of the word. These places
            No response from Johnny, who felt quite safe beyond         and areas. have been set aside, set apart, separated from
     the reach of his father's hand and aware that his father           other regions for special work. Such was the Temple of
     could not and would not stop in the midst of the stream            Solomon, which also  had. holy precincts within it. There
     of  irafhc. Children can sense such situations and are             was the holy place and the holy of  holies. That inner area
1 quick to take, advantage of them.                                     of the temple was not more holy actually in an ethical sense
            A sudden stop or application of the brakes, and, Johnny     than the holy place or outer court. But it surely was more
     would come crashing through the windshield.                        separate, cut off more distinctly from any other area in
                                                                        the whole world. Its very veil made it the most cut-off
            His father shouted at him again! And being preoccu-         place in the world. Only one man might ever enter it, and
     pied with the  trafhc  his father called to him, "`Johnny are      that only once a year with the blood of a lamb. Only the
~ you sitting down?"                                                    priests might enter the holy place. And that temple was
            Johnny's reply was, `Yes, but inside I am still standing    built only for God's people. All this taught us that our
     up ."                                                              hearts must be set aside for only  <one activity. We are to
                                                                        love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul,
            How true that is of us so much of the time. We conform      mind, and strength. That is what it means that our bodies
     to the law. Because we fear the punishment and not be-             are temples of the Holy Ghost. For God is holy. He is
     cause we fear the Lord, we will avoid this or do that.             that because only He is Creator and God. There is none
     Oufwardly  we are like the Pharisees, sitting down in "per-        like unto Him. He is not even in a class by Himself. He
     fect" obedience. Yet inside we are still standing up and           is above all classification. He is God, and therefore He is
     doing our own will. Is the end of our faith nothing more           holy. Therefore we pray, "Hallowed be Thy name."- By
     t&an getting us to do as Johnny did?                               that we must mean that it is our sincere and unchanging
            Still standing up! That is the pride of man. And when       desire that HE be GOD ALONE. And He is holy also.
     we are forced to comply with the law, we do so while stand-        in that ethical sense that there is no darkness in Him or
     ing yet in our hearts in open rebellion against God. And           even a shadow of ~tuiming.
     that means, of course, that we might just as well be. stand-          The salvation  (of our souls, which Peter declares is the
ing up outside as well. For as Solomon declared in his                  end of our faith, is exactly that. We will have our souls
     wisdom, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." Proverbs       cleansed from all evil. We will not simply sit down out-
     23:7. And, as we pointed out last time, such shall not see         wardly, as  Johrmy did in fear. We shall sit down from
     the Lord. For we do not see Him without holiness. And              the heart and soul outwardly through the whole being. It
     holiness is the condition of the whole man. The whole.             will be a matter of displaying salvation from the center of
     man is holy, or the man is wholly unholy.                          our being to the outward manifestations of our  -external
            To be holy is to be cut off from sin. The word "holy"       deeds. At the moment, and through our entire earthly life
     in Scripture means literally "to be cut off, to be separate."      it will be a matter of -working OUT that salvation, Perhaps
     In that respect also we can speak of objects being holy.           a better translation of Philippians  2:12 would be, `Work
     Only man,  lof course, is ethically and morally perfect and        through your own salvation." But the point is that, even
     holy in that sense of the word. Sin is not in the thing, and       as the next verse indicates, God has worked IN us to will
     therefore you can neither speak of an unholy or of a holy          and to do of His good pleasure. Holiness and salvation
     building, if what you have in mind is ethical holiness. Un-        are not some whitewash `or rouge .that God -applies .to the
              -  .-


 396                                         THE   ~T.ANDARD   'B.EARER

outward surface. Salvation is a work of God that begins               and when the child of God has the victory over all sin and
 in the very depth of our being. God touches the heart of             its consequences.
 the matter, - He touches our hearts, - when He begins the                    It is .for that very reason also that God brings 
 work of salvation in His child. It is, in the  first place, a                                                                     His  child
                                                                      into death. Then for the first we are to see God. Through
 matter of the salvation of the soul and not of the body.             death God severs us from the old man of sin and all the
 The body will soon die. If the soul has not been saved,              motions of sin. Indeed, death is a work of God's grace
 and if salvation has not begun in that soul, so that we will         as well as life. `The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting
 and in principle are able to do God's good pleasure, there           to everlasting upon those that fear Him." Psalm  103:17.
 is nothing at death that can enter the glory of heaven.              His mercy and grace are upon us then when He brings
 Even though we may through carnal fear be sitting down               us into death. The work of holiness of the soul is com-
 outside,' that which is still standing up inside must-be cast        plete. There is then no. more working out of that salvation
 from God's presence. Remember that without holiness no               but a glorious and joyful working of that salvation. And we
 man shall see the Lord. Oh, he shall see Him in His wrath,           are brought to that of which faith is the God-given means.
 and he will then have the fear of the Lord that  terrihes.
 But He shall not see Him in His love and- live with Him                      Meanwhile,  while we still are here to work out our
 in His house of many mansions.                                       salvation, it is by faith that we receive strength to do  SO.
                                                                      Not only is there the opposition of the flesh; there is also
        As we stated a moment ago, in tbis life it will be a. mat-    the opposition, of the ungodly world. And what we see.
 ter of working out our own salvation: It will be work.               with the natural eye will frighten us rather than encourage
 And we will not attain to perfection. What God implanted             us to work out our salvation. What good can it do? What
 in us is perfect. The salvation of our souls is a complete           is there in it for us? The more we become like the Christ,
 deliverance from all evil. The whole man must be and will            the more we will be hated of men. The fear of the Lord
 be. delivered before we see God. In this  life,. and-in  His         brings the world upon our necks! Shall we go on? Shall
 fear, we work out of that center of our being the salvation          we invite more  .persecution  and, tribulation? Indeed! We
. . which  God implanted there, so that it takes hold of all our      shall go on. The fear of the Lord, or if you will, faith, has
 members and  a11 our faculties. It is there because God              for its end salvation full and free. There may be momentary
 worked, it in. And you may note that, in both instances              misery and torment. But fear not those who can only de-
 the word "work" is used. God works in it, because it is              stroy the body. Rather fear Him Who can cast body and
 contrary to our nature. We do not reach out and accept it.           soul into hell. In His fear is life and peace and joy. For
 We, do not open our hearts and. let Jesus come in. God               read the whole expression of Peter, "Whom (Jesus Christ)
 u;or7cs  it in, that is, God with  .His irresistible grace forces    having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now, ye see
 it in contrary to our desires, as we are by nature. We put           Him not, yet believing ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and
 up opposition. To us also it must be stated, as to the               full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the
 apostle Paul, "It is hard for thee to kick against the               salvation of your .souls."  .That salvation of the soul brings
 pricks." The  dumb' mule will do that, and so will the ox.           joy and glory to the believer. He sits down in love and
 When he is goaded with the iron-pronged stick because                faith and hope. And he enjoys the consciousness of God's
 in his stubbornness he will not pull the plow, he often              love for him. And fighting against the flesh that still wants
 kicks back at the pricks and gets himself in a worse mess            to stand up, he has the assurance that in principle he is
 than before. He hurts himself. So we kick against the                holy Andy shall see the Lord. In the fear of men that moves
 truth, `against the Spirit, oppose the admonitions and ex-           to hiding our faith, we will only know God's wrath. In His
 hortations, rise up in rebellion against those whom God              fear that fights against sin and evil withinas well as with-
 uses to point out our errors, and kick at the pricks. Never-         out, we are sure of the goal of our faith.                      J.A.H.
 theless, in His own God' works both to will and to do.
 He overcomes our fiercest opposition and the wonder of
  salvation is wrought within us.                                                           TFiACXiER NEEDED
                                                                              Teachers and/or Teachers-to-be.
        `And we work that salvation out. It is hard work because
 of the opposition that the flesh still gives us every step                   The Loveland Protestant Reformed Christian School is in
  of our earthly way. We have received the seed  -of that             need- of a teacher for the coming school year. If you are
  new life, which is perfect and holy, as John declares when          inclined to consider our school, please feel free, to contact
  he states that he that is born of God doth not commit sin           us for information.
  and cannot sin because His seed  remaineth  in him. I John                  Kindly address your correspondence to:
  3:9. He takes hold of our members and subdues them for
  the glory of God. He works out that salvation so that it                                       Vem Huber
' permeates the whole man. The end of our faith is the                                           612 Lesser Drive
  moment  -when man according to body and soul is holy,                - .                       Fort Collins, Colorado
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                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                     397

                                                                        such men do unworthily eat of the Lord's Table. `Now they
                                                                        who do -unworthily eat of the Lord's bread and drink of the
                                                                        Lord's cup, they are guilty of  .the body and blood of de
   I'                                                            -`I    Lord,  and- they eat and drink it to their judgment' (I Cor.
             The-- ~=hurch--aild--t~-~a~~~~~~ts-.-  ...- -.             11:26-29).  For when they do not approach with true faith,
              THE TIME OF THE REFORMATION                               they do despite unto the death of Christ, and therefore eat
    VIEWS ON THE SACRAMENTS (LORDS SUPPER)                              and drink condemnation to themselves.
                     THE REFORMED VIEW                                      `We  do not, therefore, so join the body of the Lord and
                                                                        his blood with the bread and wine, as though we thought
         -We now continue with our quotation of Chapter XXI of          that the bread is the body of Christ, more than after a
   the Second  Helvetic  Confession of Faith, 1566, which sets          sacramental manner; or that the body of Christ does he hid
  -forth the doctrine of the Lord's Supper.       .                     corporeally under the bread, so that it ought to be wor-
         "From all this it appears manifestly, that by spiritual        shiped under the  for&r of bread; or yet that whosoever he
   meat we mean not any imaginary thing, but the very body              be who receives the sign, receives also the thing itself. The
   of our Lord Jesus, given to us; which yet is received by the         body of Christ is in the heavens, at the right hand of his
   faithful not corporeally,  ,but spiritually by faith: in  which      Father; and therefore our hearts are to be lifted up on high,
   point we do wholly follow the doctrine of our Lord. and              and not to be iixed on the bread, neither is the Lord to be
   Saviour Christ, in the 6th `chapter of John. And this eating         worshipped in the bread. Yet the Lord is not absent from
   of the flesh and drinking of the blood of the Lord is so             his Church when she celebrates the Supper. The sun, being
   necessary to salvation that without it no man can be saved.          absent from us in the heavens, is yet notwithstanding, pres-
~ But this spiritual eating and drinking takes place also with-         ent among us effectually: how much `more Christ, the Sun
   out the Supper of the Lord, even so often as, and whereso-           of Righteousness; though in body he be absent from us in
   ever, a man does believe in Christ. To which purpose that            the heavens, yet is present among us, not corporeally, but
   sentence of St. Augustine does happily belong, Why  ~dost            spiritually, by his lively operation, and so as he himself
   thou prepare thy teeth and belly? Believe,  and thou hast            promised,  .in his Last Supper, to be present among us
   eaten.' .                                                            (John 14, 15, and 16). Whereupon it follows that we have,
         "(3) Besides that former spiritual eating,. there is a         not the Supper without Christ, and yet that we may have
   sacramental eating of the body of the Lord: whereby the              meanwhile an unbloody and mystical supper, even as all
   believer not only is partaker, spiritually-and internally, of        antiquity called it.
   the true body and blood of the Lord, but also, by coming to             "Moreover, we are admonished, in the celebration of the
   the Table of the Lord, does outwardly receive the visible..          Supper of the Lord, to be mindful of the body whereof we
   sacraments of the body and blood of the Lord. True it is,            are members; and that, therefore, we should be at concord
   that by faith the believer did before receive. the food that         with our brethren, that we live holily, and not pollute our-
   gives life, and still receives the same; but yet, when he            selves with wickedness and strange religions; but, perse-.
   receives the sacrament, he receives something more. For he           vering in the true faith to the end of our life, give diligence
   goes on in continual communication of the body and blood             to excel in holiness of life. It is therefore very requisite that,
   of the Lord; and. his faith is-daily more and more kindled,          purposing to come to the Supper of the Lord, we do
   more, strengthened and refreshed, by the spiritual nourish-          examine ourselves, according to the commandment of the
   ment. For while we live, faith has continual  increasings;           apostle: first, with what faith we are indued, whether we
   and he that outwardly does receive the sacrament with a              believe that Christ is come to save sinners and to call them
   true faith, the same does not only receive the sign, but also        to repentance, and whether each man believes that he is
   does enjoy (as we said) the thing itself. Moreover, the.same         in the number of them that are delivered by Christ and
   does obey the Lord's institution and commandments, and               saved; and whether he has purposed to change this wicked
   with a joyful mind gives thanks for his redemption and that          life, to live  holily, and to persevere through God's assis-
   of all mankind, and makes a faithful remembrance of the              tance, in the true religion, and in concord with his brethren,
   Lord's death, and does witness the same before the Church,           and. to give worthy thanks to God his deliverance.
 of which body he is a member. This also is sealed to those                "We think that rite, manner, or form of the Supper to
   who receive the sacrament, that the body of the Lord was             be the most simple and excellent which comes nearest to the
   given, and his blood shed, not only,&  men in general, but           first institution of the Lord and to the apostles' doctie:
   particularly for every faithful  comnumicant,  whose meat            which does consist in declaring the Word of God, in-godly
   and drink he is; to life eternal.                                    prayers, in the action itself that the Lord used, and de re-
         "But as for him that without faith comes to this Holy          peating of it; in the eating of the Lord's body and drinking
   Table of the Lord, he is made partaker of the outward                of  his blood; in the who1esom.e remembrance of the Lord's
   sacrament only; but the matter of the sacrament, from                death, and faithful giving of thanks; and in a holy fellow-
   whence comes life unto salvation, he receives not at all; and        ship in the union of the body of the Church.

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398                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D   B.EARER

       `We  therefor(e  disallow those who have taken from the      other spiritual and heavenly, which is given them in their
faithful one part of the sacrament, to wit, the Lord's cup.         second birth, which is effected by the word of the gospel,
For these do very grievously offend against the institution of      in the communion of the body of Christ; and this life is not
the Lord, who says, `Drink ye all  ,of this' (Matt.  26:27);        common, .but is peculiar to God's elect. In like manner, God
which he did not so plainly say of the bread.                       hath given us, for the support of the bodily and earthly life,
       `What manner of mass it was.  that the fathers used,         earthly and  cominon bread, which is subservient thereto,
whether it were tolerable or  intolera0le,  we do not now           and is common to all men, even as  l&-itself. But for the
dispute. But this we say freely, that the mass which is now         support of the spiritual and heavenly life, which believers
used throughout the Roman Church is quite abolished out             have, he hath sent a living bread, which descended from
of our churches for many and just causes, which, for brev-          heaven, namely, Jesus Christ, who nourishes and strength-
ity's sake, we will not now particularly recite. Truly we           ens the spiritual life of believers, when they eat him, that
could.not approve of it, because they have changed a most           is to say, when they apply and receive him by faith in the
wholesome action into a vain spectade; also because the             spirit. Christ,~  that he might represent unto us this spiritual
mass is made `a meritorious matter, and is said for money;          and heavenly bread, hath instituted an earthly and visible
likewise because in it the priest is said to make the very          bread, as a'sacrament of his body,, and wine as a sacrament
body of the Lord, and to offer the same really, even for the        of his blood, to testify by them unto us, that, as certainly
remission of the sins of  the- quick and the dead. And this         as we receive and hold this sacrament in our hands, and eat
also, that they dot it for the honor, worship, and reverence        and drink the same with our mouths; by which our life is
of the saints in heaven (and for the relief of souls in purga-      afterwards nourished, we also do as certainly receive by
tory), etc."                                                        faith (which is the hand and mouth of our soul) the true
       In connection with the above quotation,  we. wish to         body and blood of Christ our only Saviour in our souls, for
make one remark. We would call attention to the statement,          the support of our spiritual life. Now, as it is certain and
 at the close of the second paragraph from the end of the           beyond all doubt, that Jesus Christ hath not enjoined to us
article: "For these do very grievously offend against the           the use of His sacraments in vain, so He works in us all that
institution of the Lord, who says, "Drink ye all of this"           He represents by these holy signs, though the manner sur-
 (Matthew  26:26);  which he did not. so plainly say of the         passes our understanding, and cannot be comprehended by
bread." This is somewhat striking, is it not? Had Rome de-          us,, as the operations of the Holy Ghost are hidden and
cided to withhold the bread from the laity, inasmuch as it          incomprehensible. In the meantime we err not; when we
is not so plainly stated of the bread that we must all eat of       say, that what is eaten and drunk by us is the proper and
it, it would not have been so striking as the fact that Rome        natural body, and the proper blood of Christ (Notice,
withholds the  wme from the laity, and this in the light of         please, that this article declares that we eat and drink the
the fact that the Saviour explicity  declares that we must aZZ      proper body and blood of Christ. - H.V.). But the manner
drink. of the cup.                                                  of our partaking  af the  same,  is not by the mouth, but by
       We will conclude our quotations from the Reformed            the spirit through faith. Thus then, though Christ always
Fathers, in connection with the sacrament of the Lord's             sits at the right hand of His Father in the heavens, yet
 Supper, by quoting Art. 35 of our Confession of,Faith.  The        doth he not therefore cease to make us partakers of himself
 Heidelberg Catechism, we know, also treats this subject, in        by faith. This feast is a spiritual table, at which Christ
 Questions  75-80. We will not quote these questions and            communicates Himself with all His benefits to us, and gives
answers. We know that our Heidelberg Catechism calls the            us there to enjoy both Himself, and the merits of His sufFer-
Popish Mass, very properly, an accursed idolatry.  To wor-          ings and death, nourishing, strengthening and  comfortirrg
 ship bread and wine, as if they were the body and blood            OUT poor comfortless souls by the eating of His flesh,
 of the Son of God, when these signs are merely bread and           quickening and refreshing them by the drinking of His
 wine, is surely an accursed idolatry. But we will conclude         blood." The Lord willing, we will conclude this quotation in
 our quotations by quoting Art. 35 of our.Belgic Confession         .our following article.                                              H.V.
 or Confession of Faith, the article which treats the sacra-
ment of the  Lords  Supper.                                                          W E D D I N G   A N N I V E R S A R Y
 i.                                                                    On May  32, 1964, our beloved parents,
 BELGIC CONFESSION  - ART. 35                                                   MR. AND MRS. MEINDERT  GAASTRA
       "We believe  <and  confess, that our Saviour Jesus Christ    celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. We thank our heavenly
 did ordain and institute the sacrament of the holy s.upper,        Father for sparing them for these many years. It is our prayer that
 to nourish and support those whom he hath already regen-           thk God of all wisdpm continue to bless them in all things.
 erated, and incorporated into his family, which is his                                                   Mr. and Mrs. Philip Lindeman      -
 Church. Now those, who are regenerated, have in them a                                                   Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Gritters
                                                                                                          Mr. and Mrs. Ray Gaastra
 twofold  .life, the one corporal and temporal, which they                                                Mr. and Mrs. Otto Gaastra
 have from  the.:first  birth, and is  .common to all men: the                  (                            and  -15 grandchildren


                                               T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                  399

                                                                           ment and control and appointment. But His power and
        The .Voice of Ok Fathers                                           goodness are so great and incomprehensible that He orders
                                                                           and executes  His. work, also with respect to the deeds  of
                                                                           devils and wicked men, in the most `excellent and just
                  The Belgic Confessioti                                   manner.
                                                                              4/ Our attitude with respect to the above is not one
                                     a                                     of curiously inquiring into what surpasses our understand-
                           ARTICLE  .X111                                  ing, but one of humility and reverence, and therefore one
                                                                           of being content to stay within the limits of God's Word,
   We believe that the same God, after he had created all things,          as disciples of Christ.
did not fosake them, or give them up to fortune or chance, but that           5/ This doctrine is one of rich comfort because it means
he rules and governs them according to his holy will, so that nothing      that all things are under the direction of our heavenly
happens in this world without his appointment: nevertheless, God           Father, Who watches over us with a paternal care. Even
neither is the author of, nor can be charged with, the sins which are
committed. For his power and goodness are so great and incompre-           our enemies cannot do anything without His will  and.
hensible, that he orders and executes his work in the most excellent       permission.
and just manner, even then, when devils and wicked  men act unjustly.        .6/ On our part, this doctrine calls forth a firm trust in
And, as to what he  doth surpassing human understanding, we will           our heavenly Father.
`not curiously inquire into, farther than our capacity will admit of;
but with the greatest humility and reverence adore the righteous              There are especially two facts that draw our attention
judgments of God, which are hid from us, contenting ourselves that         inrmediately when we read this article. The first is that
we are disciples of Christ; to learn only those things which he has        the entire emphasis of the article is on God's government
revealed to us in his Word, without transgressing these limits. This       and rule of all things. That element of providence which
doctrine  affords  us unspeakable  ; consolation, since' we are taught
thereby that nothing' can befall us by chance, but by the direction        we call "preservation," or the upholding of all things is not
of our most gracious and heavenly Father; who watches over us              so much as mentioned in the article. In the previous article
with a paternal care, keeping all creatures so. under his power, that      it is mentioned, but not explained. And the second fact,
not a hair of our head (for they are all numbered), nor a  sparrow,        closely connected with the first, is that there is a strong
can fall to the ground, without the will of  o'ur Father,. in whom we      emphasis on the practical significance of the doctrine of
do entirely trust; being persuaded, that he so restrains the devil and
all our enemies, that without his will and permission, they cannot hurt    God's providence for the believers in the midst of the
us. And therefore we reject that damnable error of the Epicureans,         world and in the midst of their enemies. A large part of
who say that God regards nothing, but leaves all things to chance.         the article is devoted to the unspeakable consolation which
                                                                           this doctrine affords us. Undoubtedly there  is- a historical
I n t r o d u c t o r y   Rema.&                                           reason for this two-fold emphasis of our Confession. And
    In this article we have a. rather thorough and detailed                that historical reason is the fact that when our Confession
expression of our Reformed faith concerning the. truth of                  was `written, our fathers' were in the crucible of  suffering
God's providence. This truth was briefly mentioned already                 for Christ's sake. Their faith was being put to the test. It
in connection with the doctrine of creation in Article XII,                was a time of severe persecution by the Spanish-Roman
as follows: "`That he doth also still uphold and govern them               Catholic powers. And through them the devil himself was
by his eternal providence, and  in&rite  power. , .  ." In the             operating. And there must have been many occasions when
present article the term providence itself does not appear,                it seemed to the Reformed believers that "the devil and
even as it does not occur in Scripture; but we have here an                all our enemies" were not only hurting the cause of the
elaborate explanation of this doctrine and of its significance             church of Christ, but were actually triumphant. It is
as an article of our faith. We may distinguish the  follow-                especially, of course, at such times that the truth of the
ing,items  that are mentioned-and treated in Article XIII:                 paternal care of our heavenly Father, Who rules and gov-
    1/ God did not forsake His creation, or give it up to                  ems all things  acording  to His holy will becomes a poign-
fortune or chance. This is' the error of the ancient Epi-                  antly real and precious  truth to God's people. There are
cureans. We may add that it is essentially the error. of the times when, as it were, God takes away every other possible
modem Deists, who. deny the truth of God's  immanence.                     support and says to His people, "Now trust solely in  Me,
And, as far as the rational creature, man, is concerned, it                and believe, when all the evidence seems to contradict it,
is the error of Pelagianism of every kind, which excludes                  that all things work together for good to them that love
man's will from God's government and control.                              God, who are the called according to His purpose." And
    2/ God so rules and governs all things according to His                at such times God's people learn, as never before, to confess,
holy will that nothing  .happens in this world without His                 "In Thee we do entirely trust."
appointment.
    3/ Yet God is neither the Author of sin nor responsible qrovidence  and Faith
for the sins that are committed, Notice that the implication                  We may observe from the outset that the truth of God's
here is that also sin does not happen without His  govem-                  providence'& a matter of  f&h.  Both the Heidelberg  Cate-


400                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

chism and our Confession present it thus. Our Confession           the children of men. Indeed,~men  will speak of providence,
states this when it begins  this thirteenth article with-the       especially with respect to the good -and- favorable-things
words, "We believe that the  same  God. . .  ." Our Heidel-        and events of life, or especially when in a pseudo-religious
berg  Catechism  already points to this in clear language          feeling, faced by catastrophic events or fearing catastrophic
in the well-known Question and Answer 1, where this truth          possibilities, they feel called upon to. invoke some  kind of
of God's providence is placed in the context of our only           outside help in coping with troubles and obstacles which
comfort in life and death. Moreover, the Heidelberg Cate-          seem overwhelming. They will do this even though for
chism, in Lord's Days IX and X includes this truth of God's        the rest they speak of luck, or chance, or fate. They will
providence under the question, "What~  believest thou when         speak thus though they will hate and deny with all their
thou sayest, `I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker         .power  the very idea that also the so-called evil events of
of heaven and earth?' m And also here providence is plainly        history come by God's all-wise government. All this only
considered in the context of the Christian's only comfort.         serves to emphasize the fact that  while  men know very
       It is fundamental that we understand this fact and its      well that there is a God in heaven Who upholds and
implications. For it is of sweeping significance.                  governs all things to His own determinate purpose, they
                                                                   nevertheless hate Him and will not and  carmot believe in
       In the first place, this means that faith in the God of     Him.- The unbeliever, the man outside of Christ, cannot
providence is emphatically faith in the invisible and in-          possibly understand that. all things, - also` adversity, sick-
comprehensible God. The work of providence belongs in              ness, war, famine, pestilence, death, - are brought to pass
the realm of the things that are not seen. You cannot arrive       by God's providence; and he certainly cannot  understand-
at it by a reasoning process. You cannot prove it, even as         and will not .acknowledge  that all things work together for
you cannot prove the doctrine of creation. You cannot              good. And sm,all wonder! For to the ungodly all things do
prove` the existence of the providential God by reasoning          not work together for good, but for evil. Moreover, this
from the fact of a certain order in all things to the existence    unbelief becomes manifest very readily. Confront an un-
of Him Who orders and designs them all. Even when you              believer with the truth that sickness, suffering, death, ad-
consider providence as a bare power of God whereby He              versity, poverty, famine, drought, pestilence, war are sent
upholds all things, and they continue to exist, and even           by God; and his  bla.$hemous reaction will be, "Such a
when you consider it from the point of view of its being           God I do not want. In that kind of God I cannot believe.
that  power of God according to which He directs and con-          God would never do such things."
trols all things, this can only be explained from the fact that
God did not leave Himself without witness, `in that he did            In the second place, as we have already suggested above,
good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons,          that providence is a matter of faith means that it can only
filling our hearts with food and gladness." But especially         be understood and apprehended in the-light of God's reve-
when we consider the doctrine of God's providence in its           lation in Jesus Christ our Lord. The God of providence
full scope, as it includes not only a bare government and          is the God and Father of  our. Lord Jesus Christ, and our
control of all things, but.  a. government and control that        Father for Christ's sake. It is only in the light of Christ,
has its end, its goal, in the day of Christ, in the realization    in the light of the cross and resurrection, and in the light
of God's everlasting tabernacle with men, in the salvation         of the -salvation accomplished and realized. through Jesus
of the elect and the judgment and condemnation of the              Christ that one can understand and lay hold of this blessed
ungodly, the reprobate, as it includes the, knowledge and          tn.& of Gods. providence. A mere, bare doctrine of provi-
the confidence that "all things work together for good to          dence is a horrible thing. Such a providence is horrible
them that love. God, who are the called according to his           because it is the providence of a God Who is against us!
purpose," -1 say, especially then the truth of God's provi-        But in Christ Jesus and in connection with God's  @n-pose
dence cannot possibly be apprehended except in the light           of election in Christ, the whole operation of God's provi-
of God's revelation in Christ Jesus our Lord, and therefore        dence becomes clear. All the problems of the divine gov-
by faith. First of all, we must remember that the faith of         ernment of the world and its history have their solution in
providence is a matter of the heart, not merely of the mind.       Christ, the Firstborn of every creature, and that too, as
And even as with the testimony of God in creation, so              the firstborn from the dead. In that light `alone,  "we know
with the testimony of God in His work of upholding and             that all things work together for good."
governing -all things', the natural man changes the truth             And'therefore, in the third place, that providence is a
of God into the lie, and worships and serves the creature          matter of faith implies that it can be. known and under-
rather than the Creator. Secondly, apart from Christ, man          stood and believed strictly and only in the light of Holy
can only apprehend the wrath of God that is revealed from          Scripture. And, as our Confession has it, we must be con-
heaven against all ungodliness and um-ighteousness  of men         tent to learn only those things that are revealed to us in
who hold the truth in unrighteousness. Apart from Christ           -God's Word. Only from it can we. know the God of
there is no `kind Providence" who smiles benignly upon             providence.                                           H.C.H.


               .I

                                            T H E   S-TAN.-DAR-D.   B-E~RER                                                     401

                                                                     her forever, leading and guiding her into all the truth.
     THE CHURCH AT WORSHIP Again, we remember that this is not some mystical in-
                                                                     fluence or power, some strange feeling or experience but
   "0 WorshQj  the ,Lord in the beauty of holiness." Psalm  96:9a    it is the Person of God working to bring unto ultimate
                                                                     perfection the everlasting covenant. God the Spirit effectu-
                                                                     ally applies the benefits of Christ to His people till they
                     Sign and Seal' (cont.)                          shall all appear in the assembly of the elect in life eternal.

   Beautiful and profound is the second part of the doc-                 The unilateral, that is, one-sided, character of the cove-
trine of Holy Baptism as outlined in our Form. Beautiful             nant  lof grace is emphasized in this description of the doc-
it is, because in lucid and' simple language it uncompro-            trine of Holy Baptism. Therefore is also that interpretation       .
misingly sets forth the truth concerning our salvation. That         impossible that explains the future tense in connection with
salvation is of God alone is the  -underlying  theme and             the description of`the work of the Holy Spirit conditionally.
basis of all that is said. The Triune God originates, realizes,      God, the Spirit, will dwell in us, will sanctify us, will apply
and perfects that salvation which is `signified in baptism.          to us that which we have in Christ but all this willingness
"He which hath begun a good work in you will perform                 of the Spirit is contingent upon our cooperation and readi-
it until the day of Jesus Christ." (Phil.  1:6)  And all this        ness to consent to His working. The incorrectness of this
deals with a very profound matter. The work of God is                interpretation ought to be obvious on the very surface. The
mysterious, surpassing the height and `depth of our  corn-           seal of the Holy Spirit is and can be no less conditional
prehension. That work,  signised  in holy baptism, has to            than that of the Father. There, too, the future tense is used,
do with the realization of the covenant of grace,  which in          and consistency would demand that we then read:. "God,
effect is the external revelation of the internal life of our        the Father witnesseth and sealeth unto us, that He doth
covenant God.                                                        make an eternal covenant of grace with us, and adopts us
                                                                     for His -children and heirs, and therefore  will  p?ouide   US
   It does not lie within the scope of ,fhis rubric to discuss       with every good thing . . . etc.," i.e., if we will permit
detailedly the doctrine of the covenant. It is  sufhcient  to        Him to do so.  This  is. directly in conflict with Romans 8,
note here that according to the second part of the doctrine          the 28th verse, and many other passages of Scripture. The
of holy baptism, it is God, the Father, Who establishes His          future in this connection is not even a mere future of time.
covenant with us; God, the Son, Who seals it with His own            It does not simply express what God Triune will do in
blood; and, God, the Holy Spirit, who applies all the bene-          times yet to come although it is certainly true that unto
fits of that covenant unto the people of God in the midst            the very end of time He will work His own covenant-work
of the present world. This need not be interpreted to mean           unto perfection. However, we interpret the future tense to
that each of the three-Persons: of the Holy Trinity is indi-         emphasize primarily certainty, factualness, so that the idea
vidually referred to here. That explanation of. the Form is          is that what `is stated here concerning the Triune God will
valid and Scriptural that includes in the mentioning of the          certainly and without any question or reservation come to
Father the Triune God. God Triune, Who is the God and                pass.
Father of  our. Lord Jesus Christ and Whom we address
when in our prayers-we say, "Our Father in heaven," is He               We may illustrate the point. A father gives instruction
Who establishes an eternal covenant of grace with us. The            to his child concerning certain things he expects the child
mentioning of God the Son then must be construed as                  to do. Upon completion of the giving of these instructions
referring to the Son of God Incarnate. He is the Second              the child murmurs, "I don't want to." The father firmly
Person of the glorious Trinity, but He is also the Son of            ,states., "But you shall." Father does not mean that some
Man. He is the Head of the eternal covenant, mediator,               time in the future. the desired work will be accomplished.
surety. As such He provides the basis of righteousness in            Nor does. he mean that the son will do this work if he
His own blood, and on this basis alone the covenant is               changes his mind. But he means that in- spite of all protes-
founded. The sole ground of our salvation is Jesus Christ,           tation and unwillingness on the part of the child, the work
crucified and risen. All other ground is sinking sand.               ordered'will be performed at once. So it is with the work
Hence, Jesus, our Savior, washes us in His blood from all            of God described in our Baptism Form. The devil opposes
our sins and incorporates us into. the fellowship of His             it. Man plots and plans to overthrow it. There is no
death and resurrection. This is the reality of baptism ex-           acceptance of this work in all the world, for even the cbil-
perientially. And when mention is made of the Holy Spirit            dren of God by nature do not desire it; and yet, God
in this connection the. reference is then to the Third Person        "makes an eternal covenant of grace . . , washes us in the
of the God-head as He is given to the exalted and victorious         blood of Christ . .  : and applies unto us all the benefits of
Savior and poured out into the church on Pentecost. That             salvation in Him." Who will let it? Is God's arm shortened
Spirit takes up His abode in the church  ,and  dwells with           that it cannot. save? Nay, He is sovereign and does all His


402                                          T H E      S.TANDARD   B>EARER

good pleasure, for "Whom he did foreknow, he also did. ilrst of all the blessed relationship of fellowship within the
predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that          Divine Being; and, secondly, the manifestation of that life
he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover             .of friendship as He reveals it in Jesus Christ. His Son in
whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom             the relationship He establishes with those whom He has
he called, them he also justified; and whom he justified,           eternally given to Christ and as based on the merits of the
them he also  glorihed."  (Rom.  8:29-30)                           cross.
L As usual when the matter of the absolute sovereignty of              It is a covenant of grace. And grace alone it is that
God is brought forth, so here the age fold question is raised       gives to us that part in the covenant. Hence, on the one
in the form of a  criti.cal  objection. Does not this emphasis      hand, that  p&t is a gift, a blessing in the  form.  of a privi-
on God's work destroy or completely nullify the responsi-           lege. Blessed indeed are they who possess it. On the other
bility of man? Does not this presentation leave man a stock         hand, as our Baptism Form states, God "admonishes us
and block? If God establishes, maintains and perfects His           and `obliges us" through baptism unto this part in the
covenant according to the pleasure of His own will, there           covenant. The privilege is also a responsibility, a duty, a
can be no incentive in man to aspire after Him in any way.          calling to be fulfilled. And here we encounter no  eontia-
This doctrine tends  to' carelessness and profanity! Doesn't it?    diction,  for, life itself even in the realm' of natural things
                                                                    is filled with similar phenomena. Though in sin it is per-
       On this  ,point there is a mixed reaction of misunder-       haps  diflicult to do and tberefore often not done, we may
standing and of, antipathy toward the truth. Many souls, we         .look at the privilege of a man-to labor and support his own
believe,. are misled `and beguiled by this intimidation of          `as both a blessing and calling. His duty it is as bread-
truth. It sounds so harsh, so cruel, so impossible that God         winner to provide for his family, but at the same time  .he
would do all and leave nothing over for man. What these             is gifted with the ability to go to his place of labor each
poor souls fail to consider, however, is that God in His            day anew. One has to witness the sick, infnm, maimed, and
grace does not treat His people as stocks and blocks, but           halt, who, though they may desire ever so much to be occu-
activates them in the faith, so that as knowing and willing         pied, are not able.
children they cannot resort to carelessness and profanity, but
bring forth fruits of thankfulness in tlneir part of the cove-          And so it is in the covenant of grace. All men have not
nant. To this we will return momentarily but let it be              the ability to fulfill the human-part in God's covenant. In
remembered that there is a vast difference between the              fact, no man of himself possesses that. Neither is there any
basis, ground, or establishment of the covenant and the             in the state of sin-that desires to be active in  fulhlling  that
reality  ' of living the covenant life once that covenant is        part. On the contrary, man wills the very opposite and
realized. And the realizing. of one's part in the covenant is       plainly shows it. But God, Who is, rich in mercy, calls us
the grace of God operatively and can never be the founda-           and brings  -us into saving fellowship with Christ, making
tion on which the covenant is erected.                              us conscious of this: "that we cleave to this one God,
                                                                    Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; that we trust in Him, and
       On the other hand, there are those that openly resent        love Him with all our hearts, with all our souls, with all
the  truth that God is all in all: This stems from the proud        our minds and with all our strength; that we forsake the
enmity residing in the heart of man and seeking always              world and crucify our old nature, and walk in a new and
to rob God of His glory. Man seeks self-honor and  self-            holy life." Concerning this, our part in the covenant; we
glory in his arrogant and wicked way. He will speak of an           have more to say, D.V., next time.                          G.v.d.B.
eternity of glory, but then it must be something~  of .his own
making or at least something toward which he has contrib-
uted. Man will not obligate himself to God, but arrogantly                            RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
he will claim that God  ,ow"es  it to him to give a future of          The First Protestant Reformed Sunday School Teachers hereby
                                                                    wish to express their heartfelt sympathy to one of their members,
joy and peace. A doctrine that erases even the smallest             Mrs. Stuart Looyenga, in the loss of her Mother-in-law,
traces of the possibility of making such a claim, proud man                                MRS. LOUIS  LOOYFNGA
will disown.                                                           May our God comfort the bereaved family with His glorious grace.
       Our Baptism Form, however, proceeds in the third part                                           Edward Ophoff, Supt.
                                                                                                       William Corson, Vice Sec., Treas.
of the doctinal  section to speak of our part in the covenant
of grace. It is indeed noteworthy that the Form speaks-of
parts and not  purEies  in the covenant. This distinction ex-                         RESOLUTION. OF SYMPATHY
cludes the possibility of making that covenant a contractual           The Sunday School Teachers of the First Protestant Reformed
thing.. It cannot be a promise, an alliance, a pact or agree-       Church wishes to express its sincere sympathy to one of its mem-
                                                                    bers, Mr. Marvin  Koemer, in the `loss of his Father.
ment between the parties. There is only one party in the               May our God comfort the bereaved in their sorrow.
covenant of grace, and that party is God. He is a party                                                Edward Ophoff, Supt.
unto Himself. He is His own party; For His covenant is                                                 William Corson, Vice Sec., Treas.:


                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   B:EARER                                                       403

                                                                    the curse a little in one place, only to increase its force some-
(11 A L I- -A I3 0 U ti I3 U S ,\I where else. There is also a hint of this in the article. The
                                                                    suggestion has been made by scientists to blast off the high
A~-                                                           J[    peaks  of. the' Rockies. Presumably this would change air
                                                                    &u-rents to such an extent that much of the Arizona and
 CAN NATURE BE TRICKED BY SCIENCE?                                  Nevada deserts would become arable. The danger is. how-
    An interesting article recently appeared in a -local news-      ever, that the entire fertile Midwest would probably be-
 paper discussing the subject of control of the weather under       come another Death Valley. By sprinkling vast quantities
 the above title. The article speaks of progress that has al-       of coal dust over the polar ice caps, sufhcient  heat from the
ready been made, and claims that, in another decade or              sun would be absorbed to melt the vast quantities of ice
 so, weather will be so completely controlled by man that           there. The result would be huge tundras of prime farmland
 he will be  able to make it rain where water is needed; he         `to feed the hungry of the earth. The trouble is that by
 will be able to prevent rain where it. might do damage; `he        melting the ice caps, so much water would be released that
 will be able to take the ~destru&ive  power of lightning out       New  ,York, London, and other low-lying areas would be
 of storms to prevent forest  fires and the destruction of          flooded.
 property; he will be able to force clouds to drop their
 moisture before hail fonns; he will be able to stop hurri-            This is the vanity of science without God.
 canes and tornadoes before they form, or at least before
 they can do any damage. Admitting that scientists still face       PRAYER IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
many grave problems in connection with weather control,                Ever since the United States Supreme Court ruled last
this article is nevertheless highly optimistic about the            year that recitations of prayers in classrooms were  uncpn-
future. The chief obstacles seem to be only the minor mat-          stitutional, the issue has been hotly debated over the coun-
 ters of getting enough young men to study the science of           try. Some recent news items:
meteorology and to get more money to further progress in
 the field..                                                           - Fifteen states have refused to discontinue prayer and
                                                                    Bible reading in their state school systems. With the ex-
    The title of the article aptly describes the attitude that      ception of Indiana, Idaho,, and Kansas, these states are all
 scientists take towards these problems. Evidently when they        in the South.
 speak about tricking nature, they really mean that they are
 attempting to trick God.                                              - Before the House of Representatives there are no less
                                                                    than 147 resolutions proposing 35 different constitutional
    There is little doubt about it that, to some measure, men       amendments to permit devotions in the public school sys-
will be successful in accomplishing these goals. They have          tem. The resolutions are so far bottled up in committee, but
 done many amazing things before in their efforts to subdue         petitions are being circulated to get the bills to the House
 creation; and they will do many amazing things in the              floor. 218 signatures are required for this; 167 have been
future.                                                             obtained. Yet most congressional experts give the bill only
  But they forget that God gives them all the  strength.~           very slim chances of ever becoming law.
to do this; and all their mighty developments are under               -Although people and churches are pretty much split
 His sovereign control. Therefore, although they shall indeed       on the issue, the major Protestant denominations have come
 subdue the creation and use its powers to serve-themselves,        out against such amendments. Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran,
they will never be able. to escape the curse. The power of          Presbyterian, Episcopalian denominations, as well as the
 creation that destroys is the power of the curse, of God in the    National Council of Churches, are all opposed. Roman
world. Above this curse man can never rise; no matter how           Catholics are divided, Cardinals  Spellman  and Gushing
hard he tries. There will always be pestilences that stalk the      both favoring some sort of amendment. Jews are also
land; there will always be earthquakes to demolish what             opposed.
man proudly builds; and it all is the language of God's
wrath against sin. The creation shall only be lifted up above          - The Pwsbyterian  Joz~nal  bites an-,example  of the fool-
the curse through Christ and the power of His redemption.           ishness the controversy has started: in Maryland teachers
 That is why these very catastrophes' which man  triesto            may presently be permitted to lead their pupils in a moment
 overcome are signs of Christ's coming that shall persist un-       of' silent meditation. The legislature has passed such a law,
til the end.                                                        but has included in the law a provision allowing teachers
                                                                    `and students to hold a Bible during this moment. The
    The evidence of, all this is evident from the fact that         Attorney General of the state takes a, dim view of this; He
men solve one problem only to open the doors to another.            is afraid, that the teacher will read'the .Bible  to herself while
They eliminate one disease by their wonderful medicines             she is meditating. "The teacher's reading of the Bible, even
 only to face two more diseases, more horrible than the one         though' to herself, cannot help but give the exercise . . . an
 they overcame. They seem to relieve the creation from              official religious significance," the Attorney claims.


                                                                    ,'                                                       I





404                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

       In the meantime, Atheist Madalyn Murray, the woman                  Other Presbyterians are also merging.. The General
who started all this,  is striking out in different directions.     Synods of both the Reformed-Presbyterian.Church-in North
She claims to have forsaken  Christianity  at the age of 13,        America and of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church both
after she had read the Bible. Now she boasts that reason is         voted unanimously to approve union. Now the question will
her only faith and that no one has ever been able to best           go to the presbyteries. If the presbyteries also agree, next
her in an argument.                                                 year's Synods must approve once more.
       However all this may be, she is determined to do a lot             The Reformed  .Presbyterian  Church is descended from
more to further her atheism.' Last month she started suit           the Scottish  Covenanters  and has been in existence in this
in Maryland courts to prohibit compulsory meditation in             country since 1736. It  mrmbers 4 presbyteries and 27 con-
the schools. ( Cf. above. ) Shortly she intends to go to court      gregations. The Evangelical Presbyterian Church separated
to strike down laws which  m,ake church property tax                from the Presbyterian Church in the USA in the middle of
exempt. Also on her list of targets are government-paid,            the  1930's.  It has 12 presbyteries and 80 congregations.
military chaplains, courtroom oaths that invoke the name                   According to the  Pr&yterian  Journal, the plan for
of God, and income tax deductions for church contributions.         union was approved on these bases:
She is also head of the Freethought Society of America, Inc.,              1) "A constitution based on the Westminster Con-
which finances her court cases; and of Other Americans,
Inc., which owns 80 acres of land in Kansas which is to be          fession of Faith in an early American form with only minor
                                                                    changes, the Westminster Shorter Catechism in its original
used for an `Atheist University of the Americas".                   form, the Larger Catechism with minor changes, and pres-
       There are a lot of abuses in this matter of tax exemption    byterian forms of government and discipline similar to those
of church property. Time speaks of tax exempt revenue that          now in use by the two denominations."
the Roman Catholic Knights receive from land on which                      2) A. warning against association with churches that
Yankee Stadium stands, revenue from a Detroit steel ware-,          have rejected. the absolute authority of Scripture.
house and a Connecticut steel mill. Jesuit-run Loyola Uni-
versity in New Orleans pays no taxes on its revenues from                 3) A resolution which permits belief in  pre-millennial-
the radio and television stations which it owns.                    ism (a major issue among these  presbyte+.ns,) as long as
                                                                    that belief `is not otherwise inconsistent with the system of
       The legal arguments will no doubt be settled in time;        doctrine of the Bible and the Confession of Faith and
but it seems that the general trend in this country is surely       Catechisms of the Church."
towards Mrs. Murray's atheism.                                             4) The name to be given the-new denomination is The
                                                                    Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod.
       There is progress in the merger talks going on between
the Reformed Church of America and the Presbyterian                       Merger talks have been going on for some time now be-
Church US (Southern). A  .joint committee expressed the             tween the United Presbyterian Church, the Methodist
opinion "`that there are no major impediments between our           Church, Episcopalians, Disciples. of Christ,- Evangelical
two denominations" in the basic fields of theology, worship,        United Brethren Church, and United Church of Christ.
and polity. However, unity is not going to come this year           (See above) These  -talks were  first proposed by Eugene
or even in 1965. Maybe by the end of the decade, The                Carson Blake, Stated Clerk of the United Presbyterian
major stumbling block seems to be: Who's going to join              Church and Bishop James Pike from the Episcopalians.
whom? This gets a little involved, but it goes something            They have become known as the "Blake-Pike Merger Talks",
like this: The Presbyterian Church US, under the influence          which, if successful, would create` a denomination of 20,-
of its more liberal members, officially is asking the Re-           000,000 members.
formed Church what they think about including the United                   There seemed  .to `have been a fair amount of progress
Presbyterian Church in the USA into their talks. The United         made until the Methodists recently threw the whole thing
Presbyterian `Church, on the other hand, is deep in discus-         out of gear. Methodists are suddenly very uncooperative.
sions with the Methodists, Episcopalians, Disciples, Evan-          Although they decided to continue talks, they are looking
gelical United Brethren, and United Church. of Christ               elsewhere for other merger possibilities  - particularly to
denominations. In fact, this latter proposal for merger             English Methodism. The main objections Methodists have
originated with Eugene Carson Blake, Stated Clerk of the            are: 1) They don't like the doctrine of apostolic succession,
United Presbyterian Church. However, these talks are going          which is strongly maintained by Episcopalians. 2) They
rather badly at present. (See below.) The Reformed Church           insist on open communion, also opposed to Episcopalians.
in America' is not so sure it wants to get' involved in this        3) They are at odds with the United Church of Chris.t and
big merger discussion. But there are also more conservative         with the Disciples who are pretty much congregational in
elements in the Presbyterian Church US (Southern) that              their church. polity. The Methodists emphasize more the
`want no part of such mergers.                                                  .        (Continued  on page  407)




                                                                                                                      -


                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   .BEARER                                                    405

                                                                     who. are determinists in another sense  - behaviorists in
  ~/CO~NTRIBUTiOhSj~ psychology, and economic determinists in history  - and I
                                                                     don't -like what. they're saying. God certainly takes the
                                                                     initiative but I made the choice. It is impossible for me to
                                             237  Broadmor  Dr.      be saved because I made the choice, but the choice is not
                                             Tempe, Arizona          what saved me. At the moment I said Yes to God, I was
                                             March -31, 1964         aware of a fearful loneliness, realizing that God Himself
E d i t o r                                                          was refusing to give me even the- slightest nudge toward
  The Standard Bearer                                                Himself. I have sat- with dozens of young people as they
                                                                     entered the Kingdom, and I have never failed to be aware
  Grand Rapids, Michigan                                             of that same terrifying aloneness. Some have come to the
                                                                     moment of decision, have sighed and said, 4 can't.!' There
  Dear sir,
      A friend has mailed me your comments on an article of          was a rich young ruler who did the same thing.
  mine recently published in The  Reformed   Journal under                 Regarding, the story of the life of Jesus Christ, I was
  the title `Why Teach in a Secular College?" It is obvious          simply trying to get rid, of a few of the cliches, of the
  that your primary intention is to embarrass  tbe editors of        picture of the Lord inherited from mortician's calendars
  the Journub as being remiss in their obligation to split hairs     and from some of the gummier instructional materials of
  of the Reformation faith, but since the brickbats were             the church schools. The "errors" you attribute to me are
  lobbed specifically at me, I suppose I am entitled to some-, essentially no more than the result of your eagerness to find
  thing of a rejoinder..                                             error. `Given half an hour to talk to a person like this, just
     The aim of the article was not to. outline a system of          how fine are you going to spin the thread.
  `theology but simply to indicate  hozo one might go about                I suppose it is quite inevitable that you  *shou$l  have
  talking  to  a young person with only the  -most skimpy            missed the point of the article. Send people to a Christian
  orientation in religious matters. That theology took some-         school for sixteen years, and it's a cinch. Most of them are
  thing of a beating here and there was not my primary               astonished that they still have a choice to make. The point
  concern. I wanted these p.eople to meet the.Person of Jesus        of my article is this, that God calls a few of us to minister
  Christ. And they did.                                              to some rather dubious candidates for His Kingdom  m
       "Judy," as I called her, was vaguely Methodist. If there-     these secular colleges and universities. That they come to
  fore I made the discussion sound more Methodist than               know Jesus Christ in this  manner  apparently makes no
  Reformed, it, was to take advantage of the little orientation      difference  to you. It does to the angels.. Jesus  .Christ tells
  she had had. Unfortunately the editors of the Journal  found       us that they rejoice. Evidently you resent it. Whose side are
  it necessary to blue-pencil the first part of the conversation     you on?
  in which. Judy described advances by lecherous dentists and                                     Sincerely yours,
  other chaps -offering her as much as $200 for her favors. The                                   J. J. Lamberts      _'
  girl had turned &em all down. Now I should ftnd it a .bit
  gauche .to suggest to such a person "`the terrible and total
  depravity .of man whereby he sins against God's most high          Reply:
                                                                     -.
  majesty and deserves only hell."?You may try it if you like.             There is no point in making reply to Prof.  Lamberts'
  I should be surprised if you got very far.                         implied slur against Christian education ("Send people to
  I find it very hard to think that my description of                a Christian school for sixteen years, and it's a cinch. Most
  creation is "tantamount to a denial" of it. You must remem-        of them are astonished that they still have a choice to
ber  *at I am working with a rather godless faculty. The             make."); although the desperate need of it ought to be
  students are saturated with the do&me  that if there was a         evident to anyone who loves the truth of God's covenant.
  Creator, He was pretty much detached. I am trying to say                 Nor is there much point in entering a discussion con-
  precisely the opposite. He is not detached. He is a Creator.       cerning the professor's evident Arminianism. It is obvious
  This student is going to say, "If I've got to believe all this     that we must part ways at this critical point. Yet his choice
  happened in 144 hours, you can lump it." I am not insisting        of Arminianism  gives him. no right tot erect a "`straw man"
  on that, but I am insisting that this universe was designed        when he criticizes the truth as being deterministic after the
  and executed by God. Himself.                                      fashion of behaviorists and economic determinists. He
       The other  thing  is the matter of choice. You  seem to       would do well, however, to read his confessions, which he
  imagine that the exercise of any choice is Pelagian, that a        flatly contradicts: `<. . . he who works in man both to will and
  human being is simply a chess-piece manipulated by the             to do, and indeed all things in all, produces both the will
  Almighty. This makes utter nonsense, of course,  .of Jesus         to believe, and the act of believing also." "But that  o,&ers
  Christ standing at the door knocking. You assume @at He            who are called by the gospel, obey the call, and are  con-
  kicks the door in and takes over, I live with a lot of scholars    `verted, is not to be ascribed to the proper exercise of free


406                                        T H E ' S T A N D A R D   BE.ARER

 till.. . . , but  ,it must be wholly ascribed to God. . . .  "                Report of Eastern Ladies' League -
"Wherefore unless the admirable author of every  .good work                                              ,-    ._
wrought in us~~man  could have no hope of recovering from               The spring meeting of our Eastern Ladies' League was
his fall by his own free will. . . .  * Further, the only place . held the evening of April 23,X964,  at our Hope church.
that `I  lorow of where Scripture mentions Christ standing           : We began our meeting with the singing of `our theme
at the door and knocking is in Rev. 3:201 If Prof. Lamberts         song, Psalter No. 374:1-2-5, and Psahn 256. .Our president,
had read this before he sat down to write, he would have            Mrs. J. Kuiper, read from II Cor.  6:11-X3,  and verse  I of
discovered that this does not speak at all of man's heart and       chapter 7, after which Rev. R. Harbach offered prayer.
is no support for his Arminianism.  He-would be'wise not to             A trio from our Southeast Ladies' Society sang for us
use this text `in  his discussion with students. And, by the        two selections, "Nearer My God to Thee,"-and "Sweet Hour
way, although the language is very crude, it is surely true         of Prayer."
that Christ  "kicks  open, the door and takes over." If he
didn't, no one could be -saved. (Perhaps sometime Prof.                 Mrs. Kuiper then introduced the speaker for the evening,
Lamberts could explain what he means by the statement:              Rev. R. Hai-bath. He chose for his topic: "Personal Dedica-
"It is possible for me to be saved because I made the choice,       tion and Consecration." The speech was divided into three
but the choice is not what saved me.")                              parts: `What," "How," "Why."
       The chief issue is whether we must sacrifice the truth in       Consecration has been completed by God for us. We
order to -lead others to Christ. The professor is not at all        have been  sanct%ed  by Christ on the Cross. It has been
averse to giving theology a, beating to accomplish  th&even         realized in every believer through the work of Christ. We
though theology is the krmwledge  of. God, Whom to know             were baptized with Christ in his death, united with Christ
is life eternal.. He considers it gauche (tactless). to speak of    in his burial and in his resurrection; that  i.s walking in
total depravity under certain' circumstances - even though          newness of life; united with Christ in his ascension, we
our Heidelberg` Catechism very explicitly points out that           are raised together with Christ. Consecration to God is
there is for man no knowledge of deliverance from sin               om separation from evil, "Come out from among them and
through the blood of Christ without a knowledge of our              be separate." God's children must not compromise. Dedica-
total depravity into which we were born. He prefers to be           tion is our  separating  ourselves unto God.
more Methodist than Reformed even when, obviously, our                  How! A personal use of the Bible daily. We must search
Reformed faith is the truth of Scripture, and that over             the Scriptures. We  must'have fellowship with God. Have
against Methodism. He--is  more concerned with getting rid          sympathy one with another, and strive together for the faith
of cliches `and of pictures found on morticians' calendars          of the Gospel. Be a good example to each other in good
than he' is of witnessing to the Christ of Scripture. He does       works. Our great comfort is that the Lord is our God.
not hesitate to turn his `back on the doctrine of creation          Dedication and Consecration means a submission to God's
because he works with a godless faculty and a student body          will. Through much tribulation we enter heaven.
that considers. creation in six days of 24 hours to be non-            The  glori&ation of God is the chief end to which man
sense. And all this is supposed to be conducive to leading          must strive. God is our chief and only good, Psalter No. 27.
someone to Christ.                                                  The Word of God is. the standard, faith is the motive, and
   To lead.one to Christ is not possible for any man. Omy           our' incentive is that we know we shall be saved in the day
Christ Himself can do this. Perhaps this is the professor's         of Jesus Christ. In the- way of this life we must be busy,
trouble. He is trying to do what only God can do. So he             Answers 55 & 86 of .the Catechism. We must be a separate
makes his own Christ.                                               people. We have comfort in knowing that the victory  is ours
   When in a sinful world the saints of God witness of              in Christ.      \
Christ they must witness to the truth. For Christ is the               The minutes of the Fall League meeting were read, roll
truth. Christ is the perfect revelation of God; and `Christ         call was taken, and the treasurer's report given.
is the perfect revelation of the truth of God. Christy  Himself        While we sang Psalter No. 251 a collection was taken for
says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." To deny .&is
truth, to compromise it for expediency's sake, to adapt the         our Hope and Adams Schools.
truth  '$0  circumstances by corrupting it is not to lead to           We then enjoyed an organ and piano duet, given by
Christ; but is to lead to an idol. To be led to a caricature        ladies of our Hope Church who played, "How great Thou
of Ghrist is not to be led to Christ.                               Art,"  ,:"rhe  Unveiled Christ," "Trust in the Lord."
   Indeed, the angels rejoice when one sinner ii brought               The meeting was closed with singing Psalter No. 250:1-
to repentance. But when one is guilty of leading- a sinner          2-5, and prayer by our President.
to an idol instead of to Christ, there can be no repentance.           Refreshments were served and a social hour was  .en-
Then the angels only weep.                                          joyed  by everyone.
                                                     H.  Hanko'                                     Mrs. H. Velthouse,  Reporter.


                                                                          :


                                                       T H E 'S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                    4 0 7

                             SPECIAL REPORT                                  ing the past few years some very interesting correspondence
                                                                             has been received from Tasmania, Australia, which could
                     (Continued  from page  3 9 2 )                          well be followed up with distribution of pamphlets and
        that people with whom God of old in His ineffable mercy              letters. Or if the field of the Foreign Mission Committee
       deigned to make His  `Old Covenant.`" It is this chapter that
        rejects the idea that the Jews as a race killed the God-Man          be broadened to everything beyond the continent of North
        and are therefore accursed.20                                7.      America, this' new committee could immediately proceed
  : In a concluding article, I wish next time to show the                    to carry on the correspondence that has already been estab-
  objections raised against de chapter, and also the concern                 lished by some `of our ministers with Hungary. And there is
  expressed by Roman Catholic leaders in this country  be-                   still a steady flow of response to our radio broadcasts from
 `cause of the obvious intent of a minority in Rome to prevent               England and other countries.
  the approval of this and the following chapter.                  G.V.B.       When we look at all this material before the next synod,
  ZO.  Denver Catholic  RegWer, supplement, Dec. 26, 1963, pgs.  l-          we may well pray our God to bestow a rich measure of His
      and2                                                                   grace and Spirit upon the delegates, in order that Christ
  21.  America,  John Courtney Murray,  S.J., Oct. 1963, p. 451              Himself may guide them in performing the. work He has
  22.  The Commonweal,  Dec. 27, 1963, p. 384                                entrusted to them unto the coming of His Kingdom."
                                                                                                                                        .C. Hanko

                 THE  LOiD GAVE THE WORD . . .

                     (Continued   f r o m   p a g e   3 9 4 )
  Committee, they propose a revised program of labor, par-                                                 ALL AROUND US
  ticularly involving areas of investigation. Quoting from the                                      (Cohinwd  from page  404)
  report.
      "a. Investigate the possibility of sending an ordained                 authority of higher assemblies. 4) They disagree with the
             minister into the foreign, field. This should be the Disciples on baptism only by immersion. 5) They are afraid
             ultimate objective of, all our foreign mission work.            that by merging with these other churches they will damage
             There may be other methods of seeking contact, but              their relationships with Methodists in other' countries out-
             these should not be ends in themselves, but should              side the United States, for  "`the Methodist Church is a
             be means to search out a possible field of work for             world church," they say. 6) They are afraid that their stand
             the personal contact of a missionary in the future.             against alcohol and gambling is going to be threatened by
      `b. The investigation of radio broadcasts in the foreign               the more tolerant attitude of the other denominations
         field, whether that be in the English language or a                 towards these social ills.
             foreign language.                                                  This is particularly a bitter pill because. it was `origi-
   -- "c. The investigation of the distribution of our literature            nally hoped that the Methodists would be a bridge between
             in the foreign field."                                          the `high church"  episcopal&is  and the `low church?
      Thereupon the committee advises that we "attempt to                    Disciples.
  find a particular country in which we could do one or all                                           ,
  of the above  ,three."  Since the field of foreign `missions                   But notice that there is no dispute over doctrine.
  covers many counties, and since all counties will not be                   Doctrine has evidently ,been  eased out the door as irrelevant
  equally suitable for our purpose, "It may be possible to do                to merger talks. The truth means nothing to these churches..
  mission work in some countries, in the English language                    And that implies that Christ means nothing to them.
                                                                                           . ,-
and  `not in others. -There may be some countries that have                                                                       ' H. Hanko/
  Reformed people among its citizens and these could serve
  a3 a point of contact." To gain this information, they sug-
  gest that contact be sought with present mission boards and                                      RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
  mission schools "concerning the status of mission work in                     The Men's Society of the  Doon Protestant Reformed Church
  any particular country and information as to procedure."                   wishes to express its heartfelt sympathy to one of its members, Mr.
Moreover, they recommend that "contact should be main-                       E,dward  Van  Egdom,   & the passing away of his father,
  tained with the present Domestic Mission Board whose
 broadcasts reach into.  slome countries included in foreign                                        M R .   PETER  V A N   E G D O M
  missions. If any correspondence is received pertinent to
  foreign missions this should be forwarded to the Foreign                      May our Lord comfort the bereaved family. Romans  8:28, "And
  Mission Board."                                                            we%noW that all things work together for good to them that love
      If the Study Committee has in mind correspondence re-                  God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."
  ceived from such areas as Australia, the synod could advise-                                                     Rev. H. Hanko, President
  follow up on this correspondence at once. Repeatedly dur-                                                         E. Van Den Top,  Secretary


                                         I                                                                  /                 `_           )
                                                                                                            I

                                         THE           STAND-ARD                  BEARER              R           -     .-

                                                                   Minnesota. One wonders if the European authors of  ,our
                                                                   Church, Order ever dreamed that the 44th Article would
                                                                   cause so many-mile  &msuming  trips in  tiorth America!-
                                                                   : The-Sr. Young People's Society of First-Church is spon-
                                                                   soring a. clothing ,,drive for. Jamaica; This contribution is to
                                                 May 29,  1964.    be  sent. to .`another `part of the' Island than that of the &st
    Rev. C.  Ham&  of First `Church in Grand Rapids, has           drive. The `committee `received  those donations three eve-
received the call' from `Redlands,  Calif.        :                nings-at Adams school and one at Hope school.-
    Randolph's:pastor~had  to move back his Classical ap-          . .When South Holland's Men's Society concluded the
pointment to  -Lynden  one week.  -This change in Rev. Van         Season's activities they invited the Ladies to meet with
 Baren's  schedule wa.s necessitated by the death and funeral      them. The Ladies responded to that enjoyable evening with
 of 85 `year old Jacob Zont, one of Randolph's oldest mem;         an invitation to the men to  ,meet  .with them in their  &st
 bers.             :      I                                        meeting of the next season!
    The Young People of the Michigan churches held a joint             Hope School's Commencement Exercises have been
 Spring Banquet Tuesday, May 12 in First Church's parlors.         scheduled for June 5 in the Unity Christian High School in
 Included were a few visitors from Oak Lawn who rode in            Hudsonville. `Rev. R. C. Harbach, of Kalamazoo, has been
with Rev.  Vanden  Berg who was the speaker at the ban-            secured to give the Commencement Address.
 quet. The committee' arranged to have. de speech before               Southeast's May 10 bulletin carried a note of  appredia-
 the dinner instead of afterwards which is the usual custom.       tion to Rev. H. Hoeksema who consented to preach twice in
-This type of programming may have been due to many                First Church thereby freeing Rev.  Hanko,to occupy South-
 compelling reasons, two come readily to mind: Rev. Vanden         east's pulpit for both services. The next Sunday the same
Berg had a captive audience, and  he, did not have to face         arrangements were made at First Church that Rev.  Hank0
the bane of many an after dinner speaker - the glassy-eyed         might conduct an early morning service in Southwest
stare of a too-well-fed drowsy listener. The speaker warned
the young people of the lateness of the hour on God's Time         Church, a late morning service in Hope Church, and an
Clock, admonishing them` to continue in the things they            evening service in Southwest Church again. And, Rev.
had learned and had been. assured of, because they have            Kortering, of .Hull, Iowa, conducted three services April -19
                                                                   and 26 - two in his church and one each in Edgerton and
known the Scriptures from their childhood-those Scriptures         Do& in the evening. So it goes, in the East as well as in
that have been given to them that the man of God may be            the West, because of  the, shortage of Shepherds in the
perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. Audience
singing, a piano duet, a male quartette and an interpretive        Sheepfold of Christ.
reading comprised the balance of. the program. That, and               Rev. M.  S&tipper's  recuperation has now reached the
the delicious dinner, expertly served, was thoroughly. en-         point that he could attmd the services May 10, and conduct
joyed by the 150 young people and their leaders.                   the evening service May 17.
    The Lord willing,  Rev: C.  Hank0  continueshis "visit" to         The Young People of Southeast Church report that their
the radio pulpit of the Ref. Witness .Hour during June. Pro-       Home Talent Program was an unqualiiied  success. Musical
claiming the truththat  `love to God must .manifest itself in      numbers were accomplished by means of piano, organ, flute,
sincere obedience in every phase and in every sphere of our        harmonica  and. by the human voice. Selected readings
lives", the pastor explains the essence -of "Obedience to the      rounded out the program. "Praise the Lord from the earth
Lord" in his first radio sermon (June 7). For the following. .,,. . . . . . . both young men and .maidens,  old men and children
Lord's Day (June 17)he  has chosen for his subject-"Youth                                                                            .:
                                                                   . . . . . . =  Psalm  148:7,12.
and Marriage"  - (a very appropriate subject for June).
"Sorrowing Unto Salvation" is the theme of Rev.  Ha&o's                Southwest `Church is planning on the installation of Rev.
third radio sermon (June 21). The-final broadcast (June 28)        G. Lubbers for Sunday morning, June 7. Rev. M. Schipper,
the listening audience will be informed of the meaning of          their Counselor, has been asked to conduct this service.
"A Living Faith". Printed copies of these practical messages           Did you meet with the people of God in public worship
may be obtained by writing to: The Reformed Witness                services Ascension Day? Did you also rejoice in our Lord's
Hour, P.O. Box 1230, Grand Rapids, Mich.  49501.                   Ascension as a witness of the transformation of the Church
    South Holland's Rev.  Heys, while on a three week              from this earth into Heavenly glory? Then you, too, with all
Classical appointment to Isabel and Forbes, planned to meet        devout men the world over, are looking forward to His
Rev, Van  Baren  in Lynden to conduct Church Visitation            Coming on the clouds of heaven.
there, as well as in the churches in the Dakotas, Iowa and             . . . . see you in church.                                    J.M..F..


