                                       he

                                 tandcwd

                                                  earer


A   R E F O R M E D   SEMI-MONTHHLY  M A G A Z I N E





  ,j,N THIS ISSUE:

                      Meditation: "Endurance"


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


                      A Mutilated Ecclesiology

                      All Around Usi The Battle Over Confessions




                                                   Volume  XLIII/ Number  11/ March 1, 1967
                                             pqYL-.-----


242                                                                                                                         THE STANDARD BEARER

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

                                                          C O N T E N T S                                                                                 Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July and August
                                                                                                                                                              Published by the Reformed Free Publishing Association
Meditation  -
    Endurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    242                      Editor--  Prof. H. C. Hoeksema
           Rev. J. -I<ortering                                                                                                                            Communications relative to contents should be addressed to
Editorial  -
    The Nature Of The Atonement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                                      245    Prof. H. C. Hoeksema, 1842 Plymouth Terrace, S.E., Grand
           Prof. H. C. Hoeksema                                                                                                                           Rapids,  Mich.      49506. Contributions will be limited to 300
Examining Ecumenicalism  -                                                                                                                                words and must be neatly written or typewritten. Copy dead-
The Reformed Ecumenical Synod . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248                                                   lines are the first and fifteenth of the month.
           Rev. G. Van Baren
Trying The Spirits  -                                                                                                                                     All church news items should be addressed toMr. J. M. Faber,
    .Dispensationalism A Mutilated Ecclesiology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250                                                                     1123 Cooper, S.E., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49507
           Rev. R. C. Harbach                                                                                                                             Announcements and Obituaries with the $2.00 fee includedmust
In His Fear  -                                                                                                                                            be in by the 5th or the 20th of the month, previous to publication
    Virgins For Christ's Sake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                              252
           Rev. J. A. Heys                                                                                                                          N     on the 15th or the 1st respectively.
The Church At Worship -                                                                                                                                   All matters relative to subscriptions should be addressed to
    The Ceremony Of Ordination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                                     254
                                                                                                                                                   .,             Mr. James Dykstra, 1326 W. Butler Ave., SE.
           Rev. G.  Vanden Berg                                                                                                                                             Grand Rapids, Michigan 49507
Feature-Article  -
    The Significance Of The Races (concluded) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256                                                                Renewal: Unless a definite request for discontinuance is
           Rev. R. C. Harbach                                                                                                                             received it is- assumed that the subscriber wishes the sub-
All Around Us -                                                                                                                                           scription to continue without the formality of a renewal order.
       Prof. H. Hanko                                                                                                                                                   Subscription price: $5.00 per year,
All Around Us -
    The Battle Over Confessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                                  258        Second Class Postage paid at Grand  Ra$ids,  Michigan
           Prof. H. Hanko
From Holy Writ  -
    The Book of Hebrews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                      261
           Rev. G. Lubbers                                                                                                                                                      C O R R E C T I O N
Book Review -                                                                                                                                                 A very serious error appears  in my article of Feb.
    Jesus Of Nazareth: Saviour and Lord . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
           Prof. H. Hanko                                                                                                                                 1, 1967: The Providence of God; Miracles. In the second
News From Our Churches  -                                                                                                                                 column, page 208, six lines from  the bottom, instead of
           Mr. J. Faber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..~............................ 264                                           reading: `We must conceive of two spheres of life, a
                                                                                                                                                          natural and earthly sphere and a spiritual and heavenly
                                                                                                                                                          sphere," we should read: "We  must not conceive of
                                                                                                                                                          two  spheres of life, a natural and earthly sphere and a
                                                                                                                                                          spiritual and heavenly sphere."
                                                                                                                                                                                                        Rev. H. Veldman




                           MEDITATION-


                                                                                                                 ENDURANCE

                                                                                                                                        by Rev. J.  Kovteving


                                                  `IThe;  that  &us-t  in the  Lovd  shall be  as%n,& Zion, which cannot be  Yemoved, but
                                        abideth  for  evey.                                      As the mountains  aye  hound  about Jerusalem, so the  Lord is  ~o~+n.d
                                        about his people  from  henceforth even  fov  evey."
                                                                                                                                                                                          Psalm  125x1;,   2


       Some of you may never have seen a mountain.                                                                                                            They that trust in Jehovah aye as mount Zion.
       You've missed something. In fact, it will be  some-                                                                                                    The Psalmist David lived on top of- this mountain.
what difficult for you to become gripped with the                                                                                                         Its splendor consisted not in the glamor of a frosty
message of this text.                                                                                                                                     crown which flirted with the clouds. Rather it arose
       Try anyway; it will be worth it.                                                                                                                   as a mighty mass of granite about 500 feet above the


                                                TgE STANDARD  BEARER                                                            243

Valley of  Kidron.   .The surrounding boulders formed an         its persistent and wearing force. Think of the emer-
imaginary staircase for the stars.                               gency operation or hospitalization that `followed some
   This mount proclaimed the gospel of  endur'ance.              "accident." Its suddenness shakes us to the founda-
   If you have ever traveled through the mountains and           tion. Without warning we are cast into great crisis,
taken the time to absorb its message, you undoubtedly            the routine of life is changed so quickly that its
have sensed this same thing that David did. Yonder               dazzling speed creates confusion in our weary brain.
lies a sizable rock, you naively kick it, only to recoil         The fear of surgery, the critical moments when life
with a  .contused  appendage. Incensed with rage you             hangs in the balance, the inquisitive wonderings whether
resolve revenge and determine to reduce its mass to              a loved one will ever be normal -again, all these weigh
smithereens on the rocks below.  -. But alas, its weight         upon the soul. Even then the believer knows of a loving
makes mockery of rage. Gradually its message pene-               hand that rests upon the weak and faithful  arms:that
trates your blinded soul. It's rock! Lifting your eyes           bear up the troubled. God is  .good!  Usually  there'is
upward to the rising hills, one thought is driven home:          healing and soon we go on in life. For others however,
how durable. The winds of time have blown upon it,               there is a perpetual period of trouble. These. storms
the  `sun has baked it, the storms have unleashed their          are of quite a different nature. Perhaps it is- an in-
fury upon it, lightening, rain, and ice, yet there it stands,    curable disease, one that is not deadly; but limits one's
unaffected and immovable.                                        life.    For some it comes in the form of mental stress
   Well may we blend one song with another, "Bless the           in varying degrees of intensity.. Others suffer bodily
Lord 0 my soul, 0 Lord my God, thou art very great,              pains. The burden of these lies  inits persistence. One
thou art clothed with honor and majesty... .Who laid             gets up in the morning, it's on his mind and he
the foundations of the earth that it should not be re-           immediately faces it. All through the day, whether it
moved forever," Psalm  104:1, 5.                                 limits activity or makes usual activity more difficult,.
   Mount Zion was a picture of the people of God. You            the raw winds erode our soul.                     Sometimes we're
and I are represented in that mountain.          "They that      pushed aside from the traffic of life, we're forgotten,
trust in the Lord shall be as mount Zion, which cannot           we don't seem to count. Emblazoned on our forehead
be removed, but abideth forever."                                is that dreaded title, "Handicapped."                   Long night
   That's good news.                                             evolves into weary day and one after another. Yet
   We are as durable as a mountain.                              there is an amazing difference between the childof God
   Quite obviously the Psalmist does not speak of the            who faces these trials and the unbeliever. That point
child of God from the view-point of his physical and             of difference is in the heart. The believer's heart is
natural life. This is described for us in Psalm  905, 6,         rock-like in strength.                 Oh, the clouds are dark, the
"In the morning they are like grass which groweth up;            rains beat heavily, yet within our inmost being we look
in the morning it flourisheth and groweth up; in the             beyond the churning clouds and behold Father. He
evening it is cut down and withereth."' All this tran-           promised, "My grace is sufficient for thee." Faith
spires within the span of three or four score years, or          responds, "God is good" even in the hour of trial.
less.                                                                One could multiply these troubles ream after ream.
   Rather, he speaks concerning the durability of the            David knew -them; even though we are not able to dis-
faith that God has given to each of His children. The            `tern the nature of that trouble, it is obvious one
secret to the rock-like perseverance of the  childof God         storm after another swirled down upon him. Many
in the midst of the storms of life lies in the heart. It         are the afflictions of the righteous! We could delineate
is there that God has implanted a mighty power of                the pains of the battle of faith, the anguish of suffering
endurance.      God has given us a bond of fellowship that       for Christ's sake.              Incessantly, the ecclesiastical
places us in union with the Dynamo of life, Jesus                waters are churning, troubled by `the vexing winds of
Christ.       Through faith we receive spiritual under-          heresy.        As the end of the world approaches, the
standing, spiritual power, spiritual encouragement to            t e m p e s t   i n c r e a s e s .
press on. When the raw winds of death sweep over-the                 Yet, David. describes the child of God as mount
child of God, he lifts his head heavenward and cries             Zion, strong, steadfast, durable in the midst of the
out exaltingly, "Great is' Jehovah and greatly to be             storms.         David uses Old Testament language; the
praised."            `.                                          Apostle Paul declares the same truth  intheNew Testa-
   You have experienced this, haven't you? Surely you            ment in the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, "We
have seen it in your brethren and sisters in the faith.          are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are
   When the lightening of death strikes a loved one, the         perplexed, but not in despair, persecuted, but not for-
thunder of doubt rolls over the storm tossed soul.               saken, cast down, but not destroyed." II Cor.  4:8, 9.
Tears of sorrow. well from the fountains of grief. The               The supreme question is, how can- that be? How
paint of separation lasts many a long lonelynight. Yet,          does one ever come to this point, calm in the midst of
the grief of a child of. God is different from the. un-          the storm?
believer.     Beneath the surface of the storm lies an               It must become apparent immediately that the chil-
inner calm. The heart is not  trpubled,  for from its            dren of God do not. attain this supreme blessedness
inner recesses comes the amazing cry, "God is                    through an effort on their part. No man possesses
good."                                                           this calm in himself. It follows from this that mere
 Some storms `are sudden and devastating in tornadic             man cannot give it to another man.                   An unbelieving
force,- ,others  are extended and ravage the soul through        psychiatrist will not bring calm to the heart.  Counsel-


                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER

ing apart from the Word of God will never produce                        Applied to our lives, we recognize the durability of
this calm. Drugs, cocktails, the pleasures may dis-                   our faith does not rest in faith itself, but in the God that
tract the soul from its present plight, but these will                sustains that faith. We recognize that we are not alone
never reach the heart.              Unless the heart is calm          in the storms of life, we are surrounded on every side
there is no true peace, only hopeless confusion and              by the mighty Arm of Jehovah,. Jesus Christ. Apart
despair.                                                         from Him there is no life. Even devils and angels
    There is only one way to inner heart-felt peace, that        serve His sovereign will.             Brute creation is made
is faith. No gift is more precious than this one. This           subject to His powerful command. The proud world
gift is given us freely as we gather in worship from             of fallen man is reduced to unwilling servitude under
sabbath to sabbath. David realized this. This Psalm              our Lord Jesus Christ. That Jesus is  OU'Y Lord.. He
is one of fourteen (Psalms 120-134) classified as the            has taken away the curse of our sins and merited our
Psalms of Degrees. Listen to the emphasis upon the               peace with God.           All things are now for our sakes,
house of God. "I was glad when they said unto me, let            even as we are Christ's and Christ is God's.
us go into the house of the Lord." Ps.  122:l. "Except                   Faith recognizes this nugget of truth. Disease,
the Lord build the house they labor in vain that build           suffering, war, pestilence, even death is not apart from
it, except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh                God, but is from God. These things do not work against
but in vain." Ps.  127:l. "My soul waiteth for the Lord          us, they work for us. God is with us in the midst of the
more than they that watch for the morning." Ps. 130:6.           storm to bring us safely through. The purpose of the
"We will go into his tabernacles, we will worship at             storm is not to destroy, but to build. The proof rests
his footstool, arise 0 Lord into thy rest, thou and the          in the testimony of faith, "Affliction has been for my
ark of thy strength." Ps.  13::7.           "Behold how good     profit."
and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together                    What is the conclusion to this? Our endurance is
i n   u n i t y . " Ps.  133:l.    "Lift up your hands in the    a living reality only because Jehovah Himself as a
sanctuary and bless the Lord." Ps.  134:2.                       mountain encircles us in the arms of Jesus Christ.
    While we are gathered together in worship, God               God endures ! He is faithful.            He who loved us even
reveals Himself to us.             Through the Holy Spirit we    unto death, while we were yet sinners, how much more
begin to understand who God is and the more we gaze              is that love now that we are justified through His blood.
upon His Revelation and hear what God hast to say to             He does not love us one day and hate us the next. His
us the more we grow in inner peace. We see ourselves             attention is not limited, so that it is possible for Him
in proper relationship with God. We are weak  - He is            to be distracted and forget His precious seed. As a
strong. We are faltering - He is faithful. We are prone          steadfast and enduring mountain, so Jehovah is round
to darkness -He dwells in an unchangeable light. We              about his people.          His faithfulness reaches into the
hate - He loves. We are sinful - He is righteous.                mystery of His eternal decree,  it,is revealed in all its
    Still more, we learn to understand that all that God         splendor at the cross, and it is experienced now in our
is in Himself, is for our benefit, for He is  OU'Y God and       hearts.        From the flaming cherubim of Eden to the
Father through Jesus Christ.                                     pearly gates of heaven, He directs all things for the
    Then we are able to understand why the Psalmist              final salvation of His church and the glorification of
adds to the first verse of our text, "As the mountains           His holy name.
are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round                          Mount Zion cannot be removed. It is impossible.
about his people for henceforth even forever."                           You are weary and troubled?
                                                                 s       Trust in this Jehovah. He that thinketh that he can
    You. see, there is more to the figure than Mount             stand, let him beware lest he fall. Trust in yourself
Zion. Round about mount Zion were massive bulwarks.              or in men, you will never endure. Jehovah is faithful
These, too, enter into the picture. Mount Zion was               and sure. Lift up your weary storm-tossed soul and
strong and steadfast as a dwelling place because round           look upon Him who has revealed Himself to us in His
about were these other mountains. The safety of David            Word, behold Him in Jesus Christ and be not faithless,
living in Jerusalem rested for a large part upon those           but believing.
surrounding mountains which formed a natural wall of                     They that trust in the Lord aye as Mount Zion.
security.                                                                This is the blessedness of endurance.




                         It is of the great and glorious Lord of heaven and earth, that your salvation
                    comes. His work it is.  ToHis glory it must tend. Would you not fear and tremble,
                    then, while working out this marvellous work of the great God, lest you make a
                    mistake, lest you think an evil thought, speak a wrong word, commit a sinful act,
                    and lest you do not let your light shine to His glory as brighly as you ought?
                                                          - H. Hoeksema, "The Wonder of Grace," p. 89


                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER                                                   245



 E DITORIAl-


                         The Nature Of The Atonement

                                         Limited or General?

                                                       by Prof. H. C. Hoeksema

THE CONFESSIONS ON THE DEFINITE AND                                  church, therefore, who wants to deny what is commonly
PERSONAL ELEMENT OF THE ATONMENT                                     called "limited atonement" must do away with the
(continued)                                                          thrust and plain meaning of Article 8. From this point
       We are now ready to turn to that part of the Canons           of view it is no wonder that the Dekker forces made a
of Dordrecht which speaks directly of the atonement,                 frontal attack on Article 8 at various times: if they
and, particularly of the definite (commonly called                   could somehow change the meaning of Article 8 or give
"limited") nature of the atonement. It is nothing short              it an "interpretation" that would fit their ideas, they
of amazing that those addicted to Professor Dekker's                 would win the battle.
ideas on the atonement could appeal exactly to that                     However, the language of Article 8 is so very clear
article of Canons II which sets forth the Reformed                   that the attempt to maintain general atonement and to
doctrine of definite atonement. I refer, of course, to               swear allegiance to Article 8 is self-contradictory. It
Article 8, which reads as follows:                                   would be extremely difficult to imagine an article which
                                                                     more clearly and unmistakably sets forth this truth,
          For  this  was the sovereign counsel, and most
       gracious  will and purpose of God the Father, that the        that Christ's atonement is IN ITS VERY NATURE both
       quickening and saving efficacy of the most precious           definite (particular, limited) and personal.
       ~death  of his Son should extend to all the elect, for           Remember, too, that neither Professor Dekker
       bestowing upon them alone the gift of justifying faith,       nor the  Doctyinal  Committee want this  doctrine.
       thereby to bring them infallibly to salvation: that is, it       People are being fooled on this score. They seem
       was the will of God, that Christ by the blood of the          to imagine that the Doctrinal Report upholds the
       cross, whereby he confirmed the new covenant, should          doctrine of limited atonement, and that the report is
       effectually redeem  out of every people, tribe, nation,       even rather strong in its emphasis on the teaching of
       and language, all those, and those only, who were from        Article 8. More than appearance, however, this is not.
       eternity chosen to salvation, and given to him by the
       Father; that he should confer upon them faith, which,         For: 1) The Doctrinal Report nevertheless upholds the
       together with all the other saving gifts of the Holy          general offer and by implication, therefore, denies
       Spirit, he purchased for them by his death; should            limited atonement. 2) The Doctrinal Report neverthe-
       purge them from all sin, both original and actual,            less wants to find room in Christ's atonement for some
       whether committed before or after believing; and              general and non-saving benefits for all men. 3) The
       having faithfully preserved them even to the end,             Doctrinal Report makes the fundamental error of
       should at last bring them free from every spot and            agreeing that the atonement is not limited in its nature.
       blemish to the enjoyment of glory in his own presence         This last error is more serious than appears at first
       forever.                                                      glance.     At any rate, it must be remembered that one
       I characterized it as amazing that anyone addicted to         does not truly subscribe to the Reformed doctrine of the
the Dekker view of the atonement should appeal to this               atonement or to Article 8 of Canons II if he does not
article. Yet in a sense it is not so very amazing. For               maintain that the atonement is definite (limited) in its
the fact of the matter is that in this article we have the           very nature.
very heart of Canons II and the very heart of the Re-                   In order to understand the significance of this
formed view of the atonement. Without this article, it               article of the Canons and its implications for the Dekker
is safe to say, it is impossible to maintain any real                Case, we should note the following:
distinction between the Reformed and the Arminian                       1) This article very definitely speaks of the  atone-
doctrines concerning "The Death of Christ and the                    ment.      True, it does not use the term  atoneme?@.   But
Redemption of Men Thereby," -the subject in Canons                   it speaks of the atonement when it uses the following
II.      This is not to say that the other articles of this          expressions: the most precious death of his Son; the
chapter are not Reformed.              But it is to say that they    blood of the cross; effectually redeem; purchased for
either cannot be maintained, or they make no sense', or              them by his death. Right here we may also dispose of
they cannot be `distinguished from the Arminian pres-                the attempt to make a disjunction between atonement
entation, apart from Article 8. Anyone in a Reformed                 and redemption, as though it were possible that the


246                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER

atonement is general and redemption particular and                    tion, so that before God all those blessings of salvation
efficacious.      The two terms simply look at the same               accrued to the account of all who were represented by
reality from different viewpoints.             Atonement refers       Christ in His atoning death, namely, the elect.
to the payment, the satisfaction of God's justice, made                  And when, then, does the article also speak of the
by Christ's laying down of His life. Redemption refers                actual application of the benefits of salvation to the
to the purchase that was transacted by that payment,                  elect? The answer is: exactly to show and to emphasize
or satisfaction. Atonement is the paying of the ransom                the unbreakable connection between the atonement and
whereby the ransoming (redemption) of the redeemed                    that application of the -benefits of salvation, between
is accomplished.                                                      the work of Christ for us and the work of Christ in us,
   2) In the second place, it should be carefully noted               between the extent of the atonement and the extent of
that this article speaks of  efficacious atonement.  It               actual salvation, between the objective work of Christ
does not do this because there is  alsoa non-efficacious              in His death and the subjective work of Christ as the
atonement, but exactly because it opposes every idea                  quickening Spirit. The two are absolutely co-exten-
of a non-efficacious atonement. It was the Arminians                  sive!    And this co-extensiveness is absolutely neces-
who taught, and who still teach, the latter. They spoke               sary!    On the one hand, if the blessings of salvation
only of a non-efficacious atonement: Christ died for all              are to be applied to any man, they must be purchased,
and every man; but the limitation comes because we                    merited, for him. On the other hand, if the blessings
must separate between meriting (wrought by the atone-                 of salvation are purchased, merited, for any man, they
ment) and appropriating (wrought by man when the                      must and they will be applied to him.
conditions of faith and repentance are met). Prof.                       This, of course, is what Dekker, Daane, and others
Dekker originally wanted to distinguish three aspects                 have repeatedly denied.       For the same reason they
of the atonement, (design, availability, desire) in which             want nothing of the argument that particular salvation
the atonement was general and non-efficacious and one                 also means particular, limited, atonement.
aspect of the atonement which was limited, namely, its                   But this is the teaching that permeates Article 8.
efficacy.       Later (as I noted in my first article about           And anyone who does not want this doctrine should be
the Doctrinal Report, Feb. 1 issue) he did away with                  honest enough to inform the churches of his disagree-
these distinctions. He now denies any limitation in the               ment with the Canons forthrightly.
atonement: it is general.            And he now denies any               Here is the proof from the article itself that this is
efficacy in the atonement.            Prof. Dekker wants to           meaning:
restrict any limitation in salvation to the realm of                     In the first place, the article speaks of the "saving
what is called in dogmatics "soteriology," that is, to                efficacy of the most precious death of his Son." Notice:
the realm not of the atonement and the work of Christ                 it is the efficacy of Christ's  death.  There is efficacy,
fov  us, but to the realm of the actual application of the            power, in that death. That death accomplished some-
benefits of salvation and to the work of Christ in us.                thing. Mark you well, this term "efficacy of Christ's
   Now it might seem to some as though the article is                 death," is not the same as a term like "efficacious
speaking about this soteriological aspect of Christ's                 calling" or "efficacy of grace."         The latter terms
work, His work in us. And,  infact, the article certainly             belong in the realm of soteriology; they express doc-
does mention this. It speaks of the fact that it was the              trines which are treated in Canons III and IV. But
will of God  ". . . .that he should confer upon them faith.. . .      Article 8 of Canons II speaks of the fact that in that
should purge them from all sin, both original and actual,             death of Christ, in the atonement, there was quickening,
whether committed before or after believing." More-                   enlivening, and saving power.         As the hymn has it,
over, it even speaks of preservation  andfinalglorifica-              "There is power in the blood!"
tion: "and having faithfully preserved them even to the                  In the second place, notice that the article very
end, should at last bring them free from every spot                   plainly distinguishes between that efficacy of Christ's
and blemish to the enjoyment of glory in his own pres-                death and the actual  bestowing  upon the elect of faith
ence forever." All of this certainly belongs to the                   and all the other blessings of salvation. That bestowing
application  of the blessings of salvation to the elect,              of justifying faith (and the other blessings of salvation)
to the work of Christ  in  us, not to the work of Christ              was exactly the purpose which God had in view when
fov us. About this there can be no argument. But this                 He purposed that the saving efficacy of Christ's death
is not the main  thrust   of  the  article!                           should extend to all the elect.
       The question is: what is the main thrust of the                   In the third place, notice that this is all connected
article?      And why, in connection with that main thrust,           with  infallible salvation, certain, unfailing salvation.
does it say something about soteriology, about the                    This is what Arminianism does not have. As Canons
actual application of the benefits of salvation to the                II, B, 1 puts it, the Arminians had a doctrine according
elect?                                                                to which it was possible that no one would actually be
       The answer is:  the  main.thvust  of  the  article  is that    saved, and therefore a doctrine according to which
Christ efficaciously atoned  fov and  Yedeemed  His elect             there was no certain,  or  infallible, salvation. But the
people only when He died. That is: Christ actually and                Reformed faith has a salvation that is absolutely certain.
in the objective sense of the word satisfied for their                And that certainty lies in the first instance in the un-
sins and thereby actually and in the objective sense of               breakable connection between efficacious atonement and
the word purchased, merited, obtained for His elect                   efficacious salvation for the elect  dlone:.  "....that the
people, and for them only, all the blessings of  salva-               quickening and saving efficacy of the most precious


                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                                        247

death of his Son should extend to all the elect, for             this means, mind you, that when Christ went to the
bestowing upon them alone the gift of justifying faith,          cross and died His atoning death, He possessed this
thereby to  bving them infallibly to salvation."                 great multitude of elect people, His  sheep.. They be-
    In the fourth place, notice the emphasis `upon the           longed to Him. They were a sacred charge given to
gift of faith in this connection. Reformed, as well as           Him by the Father. Some of them had been born four
Arminians, emphasize the absolute' necessity of faith            thousand years before, and were long dead. `Some
for salvation. That faith is the connecting link between         of them were living on earth at the time when Christ
a man and salvation: without it there can be no recep-           died and atoned. Some of them were yet to be born.
tion of all the other saving gifts of the Holy Spirit. The       But all of them Christ possessed and knew and per-
Arminians made faith a condition of salvation; they said         sonally represented when He died His atoning death;
the connecting link was forged by man. The Reformed              and for all of them He consciously atoned, so that He
said (and say) that faith is not a condition and a link          might effectually redeem them.
forged by man, but it is a gift of God. But the question
is: how can God justly bestow that gift of faith (as well              4) Finally, notice that all this is a matter of the
as all the other gifts of salvation), -that gift of faith        nature, the design, of the atonement. This is, in the
which is the crucial thing, the connecting link that is          first place, simply an historic fact. We are not speak-
indispensable for salvation,  - how can God bestow               ing of abstract atonement.         Nor are we  speaking,of
saving faith as a gift upon a man who in himself                 what might have been.          But we are speaking of the
deserves no gift, but only damnation? The answer is:             atonement,  the  only atonement there ever was or shall
                                                                 be. And the 
it must be  puvchased,,   and it was purchased for him.                          nature  of the atonement  was that its extent
By whom and how was it purchased? By Christ through              was definite, limited, particular.        This is simply a
                                                                 fact.
His atoning death. That is why salvation is infallible.                   There was nothing accomplished for anyone else
Christ purchased all the blessings of salvation: right-          in that death of Christ. There were no others included
eousness and justification, holiness and sanctification,         in Christ's substitutionary death.           T h e r e   a r e   n o
and everlasting life and glory. But He did more than             benefits in that death for anyone. When all the elect
that.    He purchased                                            shall have been born and saved, there will be, so to
                          for  us that gift, faith, which was
the absolutely necessary means whereby all the other             speak, no left-overs in that atoning death. To be sure,
blessings of salvation come into our actual possession.          the benefits of that death are infinite: to all eternity the
This is the reason why this article speaks of effectual          elect shall continue to reap its benefits, and the end of
redemption:  ". ..it was the will of God, that Christ by         them shall never be reached.            But all the infinite
the blood of the cross . ..should effectually redeem.. .."       fulness of those benefits, though never exhausted, shall
And this is doubly emphasized in the article. For                be fully applied to all the elect, and to them only, to
notice that when in the last part of the article mention         endless ages.
is made of the actual conferring of faith and the other                But the article also explains this particular nature
saving gifts (the work of Christ  in  us), the article is        of the atonement.        This was its divine design  from
very careful to mention the fact that these gifts were           eternity.  This truth, in fact, receives strong emphasis
purchased:  ". . ..that he should confer upon them faith,        in the article. For it explains this definite, or limited,
which, together with all the other saving- gifts of the          character of the atonement from God's sovereign
Holy Spirit,  he purchased  fov them by his  death.....`f        counsel, His gracious will and purpose. And again, the
Before faith and all the gifts of salvation could be             article speaks of its being  the will of  God that Christ
conferred on the elect, they had to be purchased for             by the blood of the cross . ..should effectually redeem...
the elect. If the latter did not take place, then there          And what, pray, could be of amore fixed nature, design,
could be nothing to confer upon the elect.                       than that which is fixed from eternity by God's sover-
    3) Returning now to the main thread of our dis-              eign counsel and most gracious will and purpose? In-
cussion, we note, in the third place, that this effica-          cidentally, it is interesting to note that the word
cious atonement is both definite (or: limited) and per-          rendered "purpose" in our English version of the
sonal. This is so evident from the article that it need          Canons is actually the Latin word  intention.  This
hardly be pointed out. The saving efficacy of Christ's           means, therefore, that the atonement was limited ac-
death is for all the elect, for bestowing upon them alone        cording to God's  intention.        God intended that the
the gift of justifying faith, thereby to bring  them  infal-     atonement should have a certain design, a certain
libly to salvation.    It was the will of God that Christ        effect, a certain extent; and that atonement was exactly
should effectually redeem  all those, and those only,            as God intended.
(restricted, limited, definite),  who  weve  from  eternity            How beautiful is the conception of salvation pre-
chosen to salvation, and given to him by the  Father.            sented in this article of the Canons !           Salvation is
Notice also how very really personal this is. The idea           absolutely a closed system! From its design and con-
is not a mere number of men, regardless of identity.             ception in God's eternal counsel, through its objective
They are mentioned throughout as persons. They are               realization in Christ's death, to its actual bestowal by
mentioned as  ~individuals "out of every people, tribe,          the Spirit of Christ, and all the way to its final reali-
nation, and language." And they are mentioned not                zation in everlasting glory, it is a closed system: it is
only as being chosen from eternity unto salvation,               for `the elect alone.       Because it is, it is absolutely
but as  having  been given to  Christ by the  Father.  They      certain.    For it is from beginning to end of the Lord,
were given to Christ, of course, from eternity. But              and of the Lord alone !


                                                                  \


248                                         THE STANDARD BEARER

   This is the truth which is under attack in the prop-      and Daane can aim in order to shoot down the Doctrinal
ositions of Prof. Dekker and others.                         Report.
   But this truth the Christian Reformed Church and             But this is the truth of our Reformed Confessions.
its committee cannot consistently defend on account          If we would be truly and Scripturally Reformed, to this
of the First Point, -the Achilles heel at which Dekker       truth we must hold wholeheartedly and consistently!


  EXAMINING  ECUMENICALISM-



           The Reformed Ecumenical Synod

                                               by Rev.  G. Van  Baven


   Our readers are likely acquainted with the fact that         A second "synod" was held in 1949 in Amsterdam
there is a "Reformed Ecumenical Synod."              This    to which delegates from fourteen denominations were
"Synod" is composed presently of 23 Reformed and             sent.' At this meeting the "Rules and Standing Orders"
Presbyterian' denominations from all six continents and      were discussed as well as the subjects of Christian
totalling about three million people. This ecumenical        education, eschatology, creation and evolution, and the
endeavor differs somewhat from others which  .exist          relation of church and state.
today in that it is limited to those churches which are         The third "synod" met in Edinburgh, Scotland in
confessionally Reformed in doctrine. The question has        1953. At this gathering the name of the organization
been asked if perhaps we also could have a place in          was finally decided upon: "The Reformed Ecumenical
this organization. Our past Synods have also confronted      Synod."       From reports given, this meeting was not
this question. Since we will possibly face the question      "fully satisfying to the delegates." Evidently not much
again, it is well that we,  ,members of the Protestant       was done at the meeting. The next "synod" was held
Reformed Churches, are aware of what this organiza-          five years later in 1958 at Potchefstroom, South Africa.
tion is. The present article is writtenwith the purpose      Here too "one of the disquieting features...was the
of encouraging discussion on this subject in societies       failure of some committees to present reports or to
or possibly in our visits in one another's homes.            submit reports of the entire committee."
                                                                The last-held "synod" was in 1963  inGrandRapids.
THE HISTORY .OF THE ORGANIZATION                             A part-time secretary was appointed to prepare for
   The first R.E.S. meeting was held in Grand Rapids,        this meeting.      At this meeting the "Synod established
Mich. in August 1946 with three denominations repre-         a permanent secretariat and appointed a general sec-
sented: the Reformed Church in South Africa, the Re-         retary to be the liaison officer between the churches
formed Churches in the Netherlands, and the Christian        and the committees. This Synod also empowered the
Reformed Church in North America.                            Interim Committee to meet between the meetings of
   This first Ecumenical Synod, which was foundational       Synod.      In addition, it made provision for the erection
and preparatory in character, set the structure, and to      of regional sub-committees on all study committees
an extent the agenda, for all succeeding ones. It            considering major issues and for the eventual meeting
declared that its purpose was to give aunited testimony      of the conveners of these regional committees. It
of its faith in the midst of the world and to other          established a standing committee onmissions, advisory
churches "which need to return to the faith of the           and consultative in nature, to assist the member
fathers." In deliberations that lasted two and a half        churches to proclaim the gospel to the world. It
weeks, the delegates considered not only the proper          erected a committee on evangelism and instructed it
name for the assembly and its ecumenical character,          to prepare a report to the churches." (op. cit.)
but also set guide lines for membership, broached the
question of relationship to other churches and church        Q UESTItiNS  FOR DISCUSSION
groups (especially the Church Union Movement) and               I am including in this article a copy of the "Rules
issued a ringing testimony in a reaffirmation of the         and Standing Orders of the Reformed Ecumenical
fundamental convictions which are embodied in the            Synods.  " Read and study it  - and in light of its con-
churches' standards. ("The Reformed Ecumenical               tents consider and discuss some of these questions.
Synod: a Venture in Confessional Ecumenism," Paul               1. Is the basis for the R.E.S. of a sufficiently
G. Schrotenboer)                                             limited character? Could we as Protestant Reformed


                                            THESTANDARDBEARER                                                    249

Churches subscribe to this basis?                           forsaking of which has caused the deplorable decline
   2. Could we benefit from a treatment of "questions       of modern life.     It has to be emphasized that only a
and problems of import pertaining to the spiritual          whole-hearted and consistent return to this Scriptural
welfare and the Scripturalgovernment of the churches."      truth, of which the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the core
If so, how?                                                 and the apex, can bring salvation to mankind and
   3. Could this R.E.S. also be of assistance to us in      effectuate the so sorely needed renewal of the world.
our mission work? How?                                         Because of the diversity in the forms of govern-
   4. In how far could we, with them, give "united          ment of the Reformed Churches, uniformity of church
testimony to our common Reformed  faith?"1                  policy cannot be stressed as a fundamental requisite,
   5. Under point V, would we not likely be in violation    except in so far as the principles of this policy are
of Art. 30 of our Church Order (In these assemblies         contained in the Reformed Confessions, as, for example
ecclesiastical matters  only shall be transacted...")?      the  headship of Christ and the marks of the true
According to the "Rules," the churches "are under           Church: the pure preaching of the Gospel, the Scriptural
obligation to take such decisions and deliverances under    administration of the Sacraments, and the faithful
serious consideration...." Would we not then obligate       exercise of discipline.
ourselves to discuss on our own  Synodical  gatherings                            III. PURPOSE
subjects which are not strictly "ecclesiastical mat-           The purpose for the holding of Reformed Ecumenical
ters?"                                                      Synods shall be five-fold:
   6. One of the purposes of this R.E.S. is "to express        1. To advise one another regarding questions and
our precious unity in Christ and our oneness as Re-         problems of import pertaining to the spiritual welfare
formed Churches, though scattered over the earth."          and the Scriptural government of the churches.
Would we not need a clearer idea of the phrase "to             2. To confer together, as far as advisability or
express our precious unity" before we could join the        necessity may require, regarding missionary work of
R.E.S.?                                                     the churches at home and abroad.
   Discuss some of these questions in light of the             3. To strive to attain a common course of action
"Rules" which follow.                                       with respect to common problems; likewise to issue
                          *  *  *                           joint resolutions regarding movements, practices or
                                                            dangers, when joint statements are deemed necessary.
           RULES AND STANDING ORDERS OF                        4. To give united testimony to our common Re-
      THE REFORMED ECUMENICAL SYNODS                        formed faith in the midst of a world living in error
                         I. NAME                            and groping in darkness, particularly to the many
   The name of the gatherings to which these rules          churches which have so lamentably departed from the
pertain shall be The Reformed Ecumenical Synod.             truth of God's Holy Word, and which are in dire need
                         II. BASIS                          of a return to the faith of their fathers.
   The foundation of the Reformed Ecumenical Synod             5. To express our precious unity in Christ and our
shall be the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New             oneness as Reformed Churches, though scattered over
Testaments as interpreted by the Confessions of the         the earth.
Reformed faith, namely the Second Helvetic Confession,                          IV. MEMBERSHIP
the Heidelberg Catechism, the Gallican Confession, the         Membership in the Reformed Ecumenical Synod shall
Belgic Confession, the Westminster Confession, the          be open to all denominations which profess and maintain
Canons of Dort, the Thirty-nine Articles. It should be      the Reformed faith and which therefore subscribe to
understood that these Scriptures in their entirety, as      the Basis as expressed in Article II of these Rules and
well as in every part thereof, are the infallible and       Standing Orders.
ever-abiding Word of the living Triune God, absolutely         Delegates to all Synod meetings are expected to
authoritative in all matters of creed and conduct, and      express their agreement with the aforementioned Basis
the Confessions of the Reformed faith are accepted          and to give testimony to the fact that they adhere to the
because they present the divine revealed truth, the         Confessions of the Reformed faith.




                   Thus the way to final glory is not like taking a Pullman and going to sleep till
                the angels meet us at the final station: it is rather like a steep and rugged road
               which we can take , and on the which we can advance only in the strength of His
               grace, who worketh in us to will and to do of His good pleasure. It is a battle. The
               way often is difficult. The battle is hard. But be of good cheer: the end is sure, the
               victory is won, the crown of life shall surely be given us in the day of our Lord
                Jesus Christ, Who fought the battle for us, and Who will fight it through us even
               unto the end!
                                                     - H. Hoeksema, "The Wonder of Grace," p. 89


250                                             TX'3  STANDARD BEARER


   T R Y I N G   T H E   SPIRIT$-


                                        Bispehsationalism
  .-                           -A  Mutilated  Ecclesidogy
                                                         :
                                                  :


                                                       by Rev. R. C.  Havbach

        "I will build My Church" (Mt.  16:18). These words          pleted habitation of God through the Spirit, because the
of Christ are appealed to by dispensationalists in their            building was to be raised upon Jesus Christ crucified
attempt to prove. that there was no church in the Old                and risen as the sure foundation and chief cornerstone.
Testament. ,They insist that such saints as Abraham,                    Therefore, "I will build My Church" does not mean,
Moses, David, Isaiah, Daniel, Malachi and John the                   "I will bring into existence My church." Nor does it
Baptist were not in the church. The words, "I will                  mean, "I will  begin  to build My Church." It means, "I
build My, Church" are said to be in the future tense,               will  continue  to build it." For the building had already
implying that the Church did not then exist, nor prior              been begun in the making ready of the stones and
to that time, but was yet to be established at  Pente-              materials.    That was the  0-T. stage of the Church.
cqst.       At this point in his reference Bible, Scofield,         The N.T. phase was in the putting of the stones together
on the Greek word for  church,  ekklesia,  says that it             upon the cornerstone. Jesus was referring only to this
means "an assembly of called out ones" and "implies                 latter operation.    The  0-T. church is symbolized in
no more." . So that Israel in the Old Testament, in                 David and his reign, while the N.T. church is typified
Egypt for example, was simply an assembly. What                     in Solomon and his reign.        David provided all the
Scofield means here is that  ekklesia  does not neces-              building materials for the temple of Solomon. Of
sarily mean  chuvch  and definitely does not mean so                Solomon's actually raising of the edifice it is said that
here.       But the word ekklesia, to get at the truth of the        "the house, when it was in building, was built of stone
matter, contains not only the meaning of the term                   made ready before it was  bvoug%t   thither."  (I Kings 6:
chuvch,  but also the extent of its membership. It                   7) The  0-T. church was a readying of the stones and
signifies a separated company. "The Church of God"                   a providing of the materials for the building. There
is synonymous with "the elect of God." For the Church               were living stones, but they were not yet set on the
is neither broader nor narrower in scope than the whole             foundation (except in plan and principle), for the simple
election of grace. This we can prove with the greatest              reason that the foundation stone had not yet been formed
ease  `and clarity.       Compare Col.  1:24, where Paul            (from the Virgin!). The N.T. churchwas in the bringing
speaks of his "sufferings" for Christ's "body's sake,               of all the materials to the erection site and the actual
which is the church," with II Tim.  2:lO where Paul                 framing of them together. The  0-T. church was in that
says he endured those sufferings "for the elect's                   dispensation so readied that when the N.T. church was
sakes."        The inference is that the Church and the             built "there was neither hammer nor axe, nor any tool
elect are one and  the  same!  The same evidence we                  of iron heard in the house while it was in building."
have in Eph.  5:25-27 where it is stated: "Christ also              There was an  0-T. church; it was then a prepared
loved the church and gave Himself for it..." Here the               work. The N.T. church is the finished building. Proof?
teaching is that Christ loved a people prior to His                  This: `Prepare  thy  work  without and make it fit for
giving Himself for them. Who are they? N.T. saints                  thyself in the field; and  aftevwavds  build thine house."
only? The  0-T. saints He alsolovedprior to His giving              (Prov.  24:27) The church of the old dispensation was
Himself for them.         "I have loved thee with an ever-          being prepared without and made fit in the field. Aftev-
lasting love" (Jer.  31:3). Both Old and New Testament              wards in the church of the new dispensation the building
believers are "the saints that are in the earth...the               of the prepared house was accomplished. It was in two
excellent in whom is all My delight." (Ps.  16:3)                   different forms in the two dispensations, but throughout
        "I will build My Church" makes not so much a                it is the  same  house!
reference to the future (I shall) as to the promise (I                  Not only is Dispensationalism far wrong, then, inits
will).     The Lord does ,not teach here that there was no          shallow interpretation of Matt.  16:18; but also in its
church in the old dispensation.          There was such a           claim that the body of Christ'is never mentioned in the
church, but the stones and the materials of it, ,although           Old Testament, it is fundamentally mistaken.          But
provided and  amassed, were not yet put into place.                 before we turn to  0-T. Scripture, which is most ir-
This awaited the laying of the "Sure Foundation." The               refutable and abundant on the subject, let us form in
"living stones" were cut out beforehand, but could not              our minds  son& idea of the body of Christ. Here is an
be actually built in  0-T. times to  then  form the  com-           illustration:  ..  ::nd he fell to the earth, and heard a


                                                         THE STANDARD i3EARER                                                251

voice saying unto him, `Saul, Saul, why  persecutest                   Himself.      So that the antecedents to  .these  pronouns
thou  Me?`!          (Acts  9:4).    It would take an extremely        is the Lord alone, who said,  `I  will go out," thus
carnal eye, indeed, not to see in these words any                      expressing His identity with His people in the exodus
reference to the body (the church) of Christ. For it                   - the Head intimately united with His body.
is undeniably there. Saul learned then that he had not                    "The land shall not be sold, forever; for the land is
been prosecuting heretics and extremists, but had been                 Mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners  with Me."
persecuting no less than the Lord of Glory. That is                    (Lev.  25:23) The N.T. expression of this thought is had
not difficult to see. Christ and His people are so united              in, "They are not of the world even as I am not of the
that what is done to Chriar'Kmembers is done to Him.                   world." (John  17:16)  ~Again  God is graciously identi-
He and they are  ,one, "members of His body, of His                    fied with His people. David saw this spiritual union as
flesh, and of His bones." (Eph.  5:30) He and they are                 a ground for answered prayer, "Hear my prayer, 0
one spirit. (I Cor.  6:17) When  they  are persecuted,                 Lord, and give ear unto my cry; hold not Thy peace at
He  is persecuted.          "In all  the@  affliction  He  was af-     my tears: for .I am a stranger  with Thee,  a sojourner
flicted," (Isa.  63:9) i.e., "all the members suffer with"             as all my fathers were." (Ps.  39:12)
any suffering member. (I Cor.  12:26) When  they  suffer,                 "All My  bones  shall say, `Lord, who is like unto
the  Head  suffers too. This truth runs so deeply and                  Thee, which deliverest the  poov from him that is too
widely throughout the Old Testament that it cannot be                  strong for him; yea, the poor and the  needy  from him
as  Scofield claimed, an entirely unheard of new truth                 that spoileth him.' " (Ps.  35:lO) A parallel passage we
revealed exclusively through the Apostle Paul. Hence,                  have in Isa.  26:19, "Thy dead shall live.  My  dead
the body  of  Christ is found revealed in the Old Testa-               body  -  they  shall arise! Awake and sing ye that dwell
ment. This contention we will now proceed convincingly                 in the dust !" How utterly insupportable is the contention
and conclusively to prove.                                             that the body of Christ is a spiritual reality unknown
       "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a                 to the O.T.! In this Messianic Psalm Christ speaks,
lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and                 as verses 7, 11-16, 19 undeniably show. He speaks as
unto Him shall the gathering of the people be." (Gn. 49:               Head of the Church, His body, and makes reference
10) This is the  0-T. form of the N.T. prophecy where                  to His members.       "For we are members of His body,
the Messiah "should gather together in one the chil-                   of His flesh, and of  His bones."  (Eph.  5:30)
dren of God that were scattered abroad." (Jn.  11:52)                     Psalm 40 is another where Christ speaks of Him-
The same truth is more highly developed in Eph.  l:lO,                 self and His body. That this is a messianic Psalm is
"That in the dispensation of the fulness of times, He                  plain from a comparison of verses 6-7 with Heb. 10.
might gather together in one all things in Christ, both                Verse 1 presents a  foreview  of Christ in Gethsemane;
which are in heaven, and which are on earth, even in                   verse 2, He is delivered from the sufferings of  Geth-
Him." What is here in view is not something yet to                     semane and the curse of the cross through the resur-
occur in the future, but that which has been accom-                    rection; verse 3 records His praise for that deliverance,
plished ever since God set Christ "at His own right                    "He hath put a new song in My mouth, even praise unto
hand" and  "h&h put all under His feet, and gave Him,                  OUY God." In victory over death the Redeemer is quite
the head over all, to the church." (1:20, 22)  He,has                  conscious of the spiritual union between Him  and the
assumed this authority far above all principality (1;21),              redeemed.      He constantly delights in it. This is the
and is thus over all things whatsoever. They are under                 covenant idea.      "Many, 0 Lord ,  My  God, are Thy
Him  now,  (Matt.  28:18), so that He is the head of the               wonderful works, which Thou hast done, and Thy
church. In this dispensation of the fulness' of times the              thoughts which are to  us-wavd." (vs. 5) Christ in the
Shiloh prophecy has its fulfilment.                                    0-T. insisted that the Head and the members of His
       "And Moses said (to Pharaoh), Thus saith the Lord,              body are  one  in God's sight.
`About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt, and                According to Dispensationalism, the Church in union
all the firstborn in the  lsnd of Egypt shall  die..`.and  all         with Christ, and especially conceived of as the body of
these thy servants shall come down unto Me,' saying,                   Christ, is not revealed in the  0-T. How foreign to
Get thee out, and  all the people that follow Thee !  .and             Scripture this poverty-stricken view! How far short of
after that I will go out."' (Ex.  11:4, 5, 8) In verse 4               the whole `range of the Old Testament! But very much
the first personal pronoun is emphatic, i.e., the Lord                 more proof that the body of Christ is revealed therein
will act here by no instrumentality, but wholly of                     can be furnished, and, D.V., will be.
  :            .)                                  c


                                            The Northwest Iowa Protestant Reformed School,.
                                        the Lord willing, will open its doors September of,
                                        1967. Two teachers  ,are needed: one for grades 1 to
                                        4, the other for grades 5 to 8. Prospective teachers
                                     m a y   w r i t e :
                     :                                      Mr. Ray Brunsting
                                                        R.R. 2, Rock Valley, Iowa 51247
                                                            The Northwest Iowa Protestant
                                             8'             Reformed School Board


252                                             THE STANDARD BEARER



        IN HIS  FEAR-



                           Virgins For  Ch:rist's Sake

                                                     by Rev. J. A. Heys


       It is a delicate subject.                                implied  ,in this seventh commandment. It is that of the
       Men speak more openly and boldly concerning it           bride and bridegroom, which is used in Scripture to
today, not because we live in a more chaste world               teach us of the intimate relationship of God's covenant
where these things can be spoken with less danger of            that exists between Himself and us as the bride of
inviting and encouraging the sin, but because the sin           Christ. The Church is betrothed to Christ. And there-
itself has developed to such tremendous proportions             fore she has a calling to be a virgin for His sake. The
that we are hardly shocked any more by anything of              betrothal in that day when Scripture spoke of it was
the immorality and filth of the day.                            far more than our present day engagement. A betrothal,
       But it is a delicate subject exactly because it deals    so we are told, took place before witnesses and was
with the most intimate of all the relationships of man.         very much comparable to our marriage ceremony. The
The fifth commandment deals with the neighbour as he            young man took a particular woman for his wife before
stands before us representing God in the office to which        witnesses, even as we do now in our marriage cere-
God has called him. In a sense it forms a beautiful             mony. And the young woman likewise took a man for
transition from the first to the second table of the law.       her husband before witnesses.       It was not simply
For indeed we are still dealing with our relationship           engagement.    It was more than a promise to be hus-
to God in the second table as well as in the first. In          band and wife, it was taking the first step of being man
the first table we deal with our direct relationship to         and wife, the legal step. It is exactly for that reason
God; and in the second with the indirect relation               that righteous Joseph intended to proceed  d with the
through the human being whom He places next to us.              divorce of Mary, his espoused wife. He was minded
In the fifth commandment-the first of this second               to "put her away." It was not breaking an engagement,
table-that man next to us stands also as the man over           it was separating from her to behave as though the
us, whom we must honour in order to keep the first              legal tie did not exist. It was divorce on the grounds
table of the law. The sixth commandment deals with              of an adultery that he feared had taken place.
that neighbour, that man God placed next to us, as one             We are such betrothed of Christ. The Church is
who has equal rights, from our point of view, to life           not simply living in a promise  - as wonderful as all of
as we do. To have no other God besides Jehovah we               Christ's promises are-to become His bride. We
must accept this person whom He places next to us and           are!    And as was the case in the days when Jesus was
may not remove him from the scene and in any way                on earth when the wedding feast was celebrated a long
reveal a desire to injure him and limit him in his              time after the betrothal and only when the man had all
actions before and next to us as a neighbour. The               arranged for a place for him and his betrothed wife
seventh commandment deals with man in his relation              to live, so we must wait for the wedding feast of the
to his help meet (please note not help mate) and physical,      Lamb. But we are His bride right now. The Church
psychical and spiritual counterpart, his life's companion       always has been since God began the workof regenera-
who rounds out his life and enables him to have the full        tion in the hearts of Adam and Eve, because in His
life of man.                                                    eternal counsel He had betrothed a Church unto Christ.
       The seventh commandment deals not first of all with      He picked the Bride of His Son from eternity; and He
sexual immorality in all the forms committed by the             does not, wait to see what in time can be salvaged for
unmarried but exactly and literally with the sin as             His Son. He is far more interested in a wife for His
practiced by the married. It does not ignore the rest,          Son than Abraham ever was and could have been in
and it surely does not condone it by simply speaking            getting one for Isaac from his kinsmen in  Haran. And
of adultery. But because it has to do with the relation         we are never to give Abraham credit for more concern
between a husband and wife, and because we are male             and thoughtfulness than the living God! Abraham's
and female for the sake of the marriage relationship,           covenant concern, according to which he made his servant
the commandment speaks simply of adultery.                      swear an oath before God that he would not let Isaac
       There is a beautiful figure in Scripture that is         take a wife from the wicked Canaanites, was only a


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                    253

faint reflection of what is in the eternal and sovereign     seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come
mind of God. Abraham did this because God had done           hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife."
so long before.        God put that covenant concern in      John is then carried away to see the Church. For we
Abraham's heart because of what is eternally in His          read in  ,the next verse, Revelation  21:10, "And he
own. The distant window pane that lights up at sundown       carried me away in the spirit to a great and high
with a warm reddish glow does not cause the setting          mountain and  shewed me that great city, the holy
sun to be, as it were, on fire. The fire of that setting     Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God." And
sun is reflected in that window pane. We do not show         that this city, the new Jerusalem, is the Church is
God how things ought to be done. He teaches us how           evident from so many passages of Holy Writ.
we must do them. He betrothed us unto Himself before            That therefore the Word of God forbids rather than
we even knew that He existed. Christ is quite capable        condones a divorce that allows remarriage, and calls
of choosing His own bride and is no beggar Who is            remarrying of such a violation of the seventh command-
dependent upon the whims and fancies of men. "Ye             ment is plain to all who want to listen to that Word.
have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained      The union between Christ and His bride is unbreakable.
you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit." John          No matter how unfaithful His Church becomes, and the
15:16.      "For the children being not yet born, neither    passages already quoted indicate that she has given Him
having done any good or evil, that the  purpose   of God     every reason in the world to put her away (Which, by
(italics added) according to election might stand, not       the way, is not the same as divorce and remarriage),
of works, but of Him that calleth, (not begs or invites      Christ remains faithful, forgives His faithless Bride
but commands) It was said unto her, The elder shall          because He died for her sins on the cross. And
serve the younger. As it is written, (before they did        through the Apostle Paul he gives those unequivocal
good or evil) Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I            words quoted above, "Therefore as the Church is sub-
hated," Romans  9:11-13.  And hated is not the same as       ject to Christ, so let the wives be subject to their own
loved less. It is the opposite of love and is used that      husbands in every thing." Yes,  in  every thing  except
way by Jesus when He says, using  the same wovd,  "But       in the sphere where they have no right to subject and
this  cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled       command, and that is in the sphere of sin. Moses did
that is written in their law, They hated me without a        not give the Israelites a bill of divorcement that dis-
cause." John  15:25. And this was written in their law       solved the legal tie and allowed remarriage, and Jesus
in Psalm  69:4 where it is explained not as loving less      does not agree with the wicked Jews that he did. He
but as that most intense of man's passions that leads        concedes that because of the hardness of their hearts
him to seek to  destroy.  Note the text, "They that hate     Moses gave them a right to put away, set loose from
me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine           that subjection under their roof, those mates who were
head: they that would destroy me (and here the Hebrew        filthy and whose sexual corruption made it impossible
parallelism explains the hatred), being mine enemies         for them to live under the same roof, to prevent a filthy
wrongfully are mighty." Thus to hate is to desire to         home from being established and maintained. But we
destroy!                                                     are to note that this is due to the hardness of their
   Nay, Christ chooses His Church and that from              hearts and that, according to Matthew  5:31, 32 who-
eternity, and not because of something that we do in         soever marries that filthy partner commits adultery
time.       And Scripture is full of references to this      not only, but whoso  marrieth one put away for any other
relationship to Christ. In Isaiah  54:5 we read, "For        cause causeth her to commit adultery.
thy Maker is thine husband, the Lord of Hosts is His            By the hardness of their hearts Jesus plainly means,
name." This truth is implied in what we read in              for this is set forth in that beautiful Sermon on the
Jeremiah 1 and 14, "They say, If a man put away his          Mount, that Sermon on the Kingdom, which describes
wife, and she go from him, and become another man's,         the citizens and portrays their spiritual characteristics,
shall he return to her again? shall not that land be         that these are not able to forgive and forget! That is
greatly polluted, but thou hast played the harlot with       the first calling and duty of the mate whose partner
many lovers: yet return again to me, saith the Lord.         has become unfaithful and is not a "virgin" either for
Turn, 0 backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am       Christ's sake or for the human partner's sake. Here,
married unto you; and I will take you one of a city and      too, "Judge not that ye be not judged, for with what
two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion." More         judgement ye judge, `ye shall be judged, and with what
literally we find in the New Testament these words,          measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again,"
"For the husband is the head of the wife, even as            Matthew  7:1, 2. If we are hardhearted and cannot for-
Christ is the head of the Church: and He is the  sav-        give the unfaithful mate (and cannot forgive young
iour of the body. Therefore as the Church is subject         people who sincerely do confess their evil, and there-
to Christ, so let the wives be subject to their own          fore constantly hold it against them) we must not expect
husbands in every thing." Ephesians  5:23, 24. And           Christ to forgive and forget our constant unfaithfulness
again in Revelation  19:7 and  21:9 we read, "Let us be      to Him as His Bride. We are not very often virgins
glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him: for the            for His sake. We are ready to marry the world, the
marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made         devil in his Antichrist for gold, silver, houses, land,
herself ready," which is further explained then as to        fame, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, the pride
who that wife is, "And there came unto me one of the         of life! Every time we sin we have ceased being virgins
seven angels which had the seven vials full of the           for Christ's sake. A little selfexamination will reveal


     254                                          THE STANDARD BEARER

     that we deserve to be divorced from Christ forever and        ever a third party is added  in  that  Yelationshilp   it is
     to be banished to hell.                                       adulterating and it is sin before the living God. Death
                                                                   severs the bond. Death takes away the one element so
            If the sin committed bothers so much that with our     that there is now no mixing of flesh, no adding of a
     hard hearts we are troubled by the presence of one who        foreign flesh.       Separation may sometimes become
     committed it, then the rule is to put away, set loose from    necessary because of the weakness of the flesh and
     the subjection that a husband has over his wife. But          often because of the hardness of the heart, but this
     before God they remain "one flesh" and that is not            putting away, this loosing from subjection does not
     changed as long as their flesh remains. Only death can        declare them no longer man and wife and one flesh
     sever that "one flesh" bond. Therefore whosoever              but a separated man and wife, who by all must still be
     marries the "innocent" party commits adultery. To             considered man and wife, because God so considers
     adulterate is to add a foreign element. To mix in that        them.      To be a virgin for Christ's sake, all divorce in
     which does not belong there. From marriage onward             the sense of claiming to be a free flesh to be joined thus
     .man and wife before God become "one flesh", and when-        to another must be put aside and be condemned.



        THE CHURCH AT WORSHIP-



                             -The Ceremony  Qf Ordination

                                                    by Rev. G.  Vanden  Berg


        Ordaining a man in the ministry of the Word is             that it expresses unmistakably the. fundamental truth
     always a most solemn act.          It ought not to be ac-     that the work of the ministry and all that is involved
     companied with a gaudy and pompous ritual which can           therein  :is dependent solely upon God, our Heavenly
     only divert the attention of the congregation from the        Father.      The success of the ministry is contingent
     real significance of the occasion. Prolongation of the        upon His enlightening, strengthening and  .governing
     affair through the addition of many superficial, mean-        the minister of the Word. The power of the Word unto
     ingless activities does not enhance its beauty.               salvation is not bound up in the personality and orator-
-       With this in mind the ceremony prescribed in our           ical ability of man.       God can and does bestow gifts
     Form for Ordination is limited to two things. The             upon His servants which are necessary and useful in
     officiating minister pronounces a benediction while he,       the ministry, but these things in themselves do not
     and the other ministers who are present, engage in            assure an effective and fruitful ministry. The purpose
     the laying on of hands ceremony. Concerning the laying        of the ministry is the impartation of spiritual blessings,
     on of hands, however, it may be observed that Reformed        and this no man can accomplish except that God works
     Synods did not always insist upon this practice. Some         through him. Thus the ministry aims at the glory of
     of them, perhaps out of fear that this might lead to          God exclusively through the propagation of the King-
     some superstitions, omitted it. But the Synod of the          dom of Christ. The bestowal of this gift by God Him-
     Hague in 1586 and also the Synod of Dordrecht in 1618         self constitutes the heart of the ordination.
     prescribed it, and since that time it has been observed        The ceremony of the laying on of hands then must
     in the Reformed Churches. There can, of course, be            collaborate this purpose.        Whatever significance is
     no objection to this practice, provided it is understood      attached to it must certainly agree with the under-
     by the congregation and is given a correct interpreta-        lying idea of the ordination, and otherwise this cere-
     tion according to the Word of God.                            mony becomes a needless additive which we might
        Before we discuss the laying on of hands cere-             better omit altogether. It is to be observed that this
     mony, we must take note of the benediction pronounced         practice is employed only in cases where one is
     by the officiating minister. He says:                         ordained in the ministry for the first time. It is not
        "God our heavenly Father, Who hath called thee to          repeated with each installation.
     His holy ministry, enlighten thee with His Holy Spirit,          The custom of the laying on of hands is mentioned
     strengthen thee with, His hand, and so govern thee in         in both the Old and New Testaments. James Orr, in the
     thy ministry, that, thou mayest decently and fruitfully       I.S.B..,  Vol. II, page 1335, remarks:
     walk therein, to the glory of His name, and the pro-             "The act or ceremony of the imposition of hands
     pagation of the kingdom of HisSon Jesus Christ. Amen."        appears in the Old Testament in various connections:
        The significance of this benediction lies in the fact      in the act of blessing (Gen.  48:14ff);  in the ritual of


                                 I           `TBESTANDABDBEARER                                                    255

sacrifice (Ex.  29:10, 15, 19; Lev.  1:4;  3:2, 8, 13); in     that God Himself speaks through these admonitions of
witness-bearing in capital  offences (Lev.  24:14). The        His Word, declaring what is expected and demanded
tribe of Levi was set apart by solemn imposition of            of both the minister and the congregation in their new
hands (Numb.  8:lO); Moses appointed Joshua to be his          relationship.
successor by a similar act (Nu.  27:18, 23). The idea             The charge of the minister is summarized under
in these cases  ,varies  with the purpose of the act: The      four headings by Rev. Hoeksema in his  "Liturgies."
primary idea seems to be that of conveyance or trans-          These are:
ference (cf. Lev.  16:21), but, conjoined with this, in           "1. He must take heed to himself and to the flock.
certain instances,  are,the  ideas of identification and of       "2. He must also be an example to believers in all
devotion to God.                                               his word and walk, speak and live and walk in the midst
    "In the New Testament Jesus laid hands on the              of the congregation and in the midst of the world as a
little children (Matt.  19:13, 15; Mark  10:16) and on the     believer in Christ Jesus.
sick (Matt.  9:18, Mk.  6:5), and the apostles laid hands         "3. He must give attendance to reading, exhortation,
on those whom they baptized that they might receive the        and doctrine, must meditate on those things, give him-
Holy Spirit (Acts  8:17, 19;  19:6), and in healing (Acts      self wholly to them, and continue steadfast in the
12:17). Specially the imposition of hands was used in          doctrine.
the setting apart of persons to a particular office or            "4. He must be willing patiently to bear all suffer-
work in the church. This is noticed as taking place            ing, not only from the world, but also from evil men
in the appointment of the Seven (Acts  6:6), in the sending    in the church."
out of Barnabas and Saul (Acts 13:3), at the ordination           Doing this faithfully the minister of the Word may
of Timothy (I Tim.  4:14; II Tim.  1:6), but though not        look forward to the crown of glory that fades not away
directly mentioned, it seems likely that it accompanied        and. that surely awaits him in the day of Christ. Al-
all acts of ordination' of presbyters and deacons (Cf.         though the procural of reward may not be the motiva-
I Tim.  5:22; Heb.  6:2). The presbyters could hardly          tion of his labor, the minister finds in this comforting
convey what they had not themselves received (I Tim.           promise a strong incentive to carry on in labors that
1:14).     Here again the fundamental idea is commu-           are so often disheartening, discouraging and disap-
nication. The act of laying on of hands was accompanied        pointing.     The minister labors in the consciousness
by prayer (Acts  6:6;  8:15;  13:3), and the blessing          that he is only a steward of Christ. He is given
sought was imparted by God Himself. No ground is               charge of Christ's precious heritage, a heritage which
afforded by this symbolical action for a sacrament of          Christ purchased with His own blood. The minister
`Orders.' "                                                    must love that heritage, zealously guard it and feed
    It appears then that the significance of this act in       and nourish it through the teaching and preaching of
connection with the ordination of ministers is that it is      God's Word.        In doing this he must not be moved by
a natural symbol for the transmission of the power of          any carnal consideration or motive, but with a willing
the Holy Spirit which is necessary for the proper              heart and mind, constrained by the love of Christ, he
exercise of the office.      More than this we may not         must labor for the well-being of Zion. That well-being
attribute to it, and even then we must be on our guard         of the church is not the same as material prosperity,
against the danger of conceiving of this in some               but it is emphatically  spiritual and consists in her
mystical way, limiting the transmission of the Spirit          growth and development in the truth. Thus the minis-
to the ritual itself. This, of course, would be all wrong.     ter must be a faithful student of the Word of God. He
Rev. Hoeksema says, "The meaning of this ceremony              must study the Scriptures, meditate on them, give
cannot be that at the moment of the laying on of hands         himself wholly to them, and that necessarily implies
the Holy Spirit is imparted to the one that is installed       that he himself must be a living example of the power
into the ministry of the Word. Nor can it be that the          of the Scriptures. He must "go forth in God's service,
one installed receives the consciousness of his having         and strong in His might, to conquer all  evil.and stand
received the Holy Spirit.     All this is in the calling of    for the right." In this he will unavoidably be assailed
God, through the church and therefore prior to the             by evil men who will oppose him and make him suffer.
ceremony of the laying on of hands. Nevertheless, it           All this, however, may not dissuade him from obedi-
is meant to be a symbol of the fact that seeing that           ence to his calling and he must "be steadfast, un-
he is called through the church by God, he has received        movable, always abounding in the work of the Lord,
the Spirit necessary for his functioning in the ministry       knowing that his labor in Him is not in vain."
of the Word, and that he will in the future receive the
Spirit,  -Who only can enable him to function in this             The congregation too must be exhorted. She must
office.    As such it is of significance both for him that     receive her minister with gladness, esteem him highly
is installed and for the congregation that witnesses           for the works sake, remembering that God will speak
the installation." (Liturgies,  page 24)                       through him to her. She must not oppose the Word of
                    THE EXHORTATIONS                           God that is preached to her, but she must receive it
    Following the installation ceremony, the officiating       with meekness and in obedience honor it as the Word
minister, from the pulpit, charges the installed minister      of God. It stands to reason that any philosophy that is
and the congregation. The exhortations addressed to            not of the Word of God she must also reject. To those
both are  ,taken from the Word of God, and the import-         that are in authority over her, she must be submissive,
ance of this may not beminimized. In effect this means         knowing that they watch over her soul. In the way of


256                                             THE STANDARD BEARER

her spiritual cooperation there will be joy in the labor      minister and congregation in the execution of their
of the ministry. And when the congregation is faithful        mutually God-given task must be so firmly cemented
to this her exalted calling, she also will experience the     together that no intruding power of evil can break it.
peace of God that passes all understanding, and she           The more faithful the minister is and the more diligent
will have the consciousness of eternal life.                  the congregation, the stronger this bond becomes.
   The necessity of these exhortations stems from the             Yet both minister and congregationmust also realize
fact that reality in life in the church in the present        that "no man is of himself fit for any of these things"
world does not very often correspond to the ideal              and that our "strength and help is always in the Lord
situation set forth in these admonitions from the Word        our God." Therefore, this beautiful ordination form
of God. Sin, with all of its horribleness, remains in          also closes with a prayer, committing these needs to
the church and is forever lifting up its ugly face.           Him Who alone can fulfill them and giving praise and
Repeated reminder of the responsibilities of the office       thanksgiving to Him from Whom all blessings flow.
of the ministry as well as the duties of the congrega-            But our consideration of this prayer must wait,
tion is not out of order.     The bond of unity between        D.V., until next time.



 FEATURE  ARTICLE-


                    The Significance Of The Races

                                           In The World

                                                 by Rev. R. C.  Havbach

   Nimrod did not intend being an instrument in God's         of time) were determined to make an end of sins.
hands, fulfilling His will. But he became the sling,          (Deut. 9) Here with the cross in view covenant com-
and the confederate humanity under him the stone,             pleteness is seen in one of its clearest and plainest
which, hurtling out with terrific centrifugal force           0-T. forms! In the N.T., Jesus sent forth 70 disciples.
flew into pieces, that in turn soared in orbit around a       (Lk.  1O:ll)  In each of these instances there is the idea
central Semitical fragment. These fragments, to begin         of humanity in covenant completeness  withGod.  This is
with, were the 70 descendants of Noah, representing           the destiny of redeemed humanity with its races and
as many nations. In the number 70 we may see latent           nations  0
something of the destiny of the world's races and                 Plainly seen, then, is a fundamental'reason for this
nations.    In Scripture the number 70 is significant of      register of the nations which we have in Genesis 10.
humanity in covenant completeness with God. It so             The idea is that according to sovereign predestination,
happens that in Scripture 7 signifies the covenant, and       the decree of the covenant has a trinitarian-humanitarian
10 the idea of completeness. This humanity originally         consciousness. Election embraces a humanity, a world
embraced the sons of Noah and their seed. For "God            citizenship of mankind. Outside of Scripture, this idea
spake unto Noah and to his sons, saying, `I, behold,          was not found until  .the time of Alexander the Great,
I establish My covenant with you, and with your seed          and especially in the Greek Stoics. Only, as they in
after you'. ..and the sons of Noah...were Shem and Ham        their philosophy made the distinction of "Greek and
and Japheth. These are the three sons of Noah: and            Barbarian," everyone else was barbarian, while they
of them was the whole earth overspread." (9:8,9,18,19)        alone were the citizens of the world. It was Paul who
Here then in the new world was humanity in covenant           pierced the heart of this Greek pride when he said,
completeness with God.       This idea is borne out in        God  "bath made of one blood all nations of men for to
other places in Scripture, as for example, from the           dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined
loins of Jacob there came 70 souls (a humanity in             the times before appointed, and the bounds of their
covenant completeness) who were preserved through             habitation."_ (AC. 17:26) The point is, though this table
the instrumentality of the Egyptian nation. (Ex.  15)         shows that in the  Shemites  redemption comes to its
Egypt, like the chaff, served the development of the          fullest realization, yet the other nations are not relegated
wheat.      The same was true of Assyria and Nimrod.          to biblical oblivion, nor are they dismissed to the mere
They all, though unintentionally or ignorantly, subserve      fringes of biblical history. They are registered to
the salvation of the elect. Also in Israel there were         establish the principle that in the fulness of time,
70 elders, (Ex.  24:l) signifying the covenant life of the    God shall enclose them within the inner sanctum of
nation. Further, upon this people 70 weeks (the fulness       His tabernacle.


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                     257

    A further insight into this destiny we have where            Therefore in this Genesis record we see the begin-
the register makes reference to the  Casluhim,  (10:14)       ning of races, cities, kingdoms and nations ordained
an aggressor race whose origin and end are delineated         and raised up of God.            The kingdoms of this world
in Scripture.       They were a people sprung from the        come into being according to the counsel of God. This
Egyptians.        From them came the  Philistim   or the      counsel includes the ordination of their sin and  anti-
Philistines, whence Palestine derives its name, which,        God administrations. Yet so that God is not responsible
by the way, means "Wanderers," for they "wandered"            for their sin and evil.          Man in his totally depraved
from Egypt and settled in Canaan; it became their             nature alone bears the responsibility for all racial,
home.        So they were not true pilgrims. Yet they         national and human sin.           But God uses the wicked
claimed a place in the realm of faith. Their modern           world civilizations to serve the church.           In God's
counterpart is not in heathendom, but within Christen-        hands these civilizations are in themselves good; it is
dom.       In Jesus' day they were the Pharisees. They        man who perverts them to an evil end. So, to the
are any who are of the flesh, yet claim the blessings         reprobate of the world, God's good gifts become a
of the promise. In Gen. 26:14,15 we find them making          snare and a curse. To the elect they are a blessing
trouble for Isaac by depriving God's people of the            in that they are a means to advance them in their
Water of Life. Final reference is made to the  Philis-        pilgrim journey.
tines in  Zech.   9:6,7, where we are told that they shall       What this record puts forth clearly, then, is:
be cut off, except for an elect remnant of them, which        1. the original divine plan for the human race, namely,
shall be converted and "be for our God." This points          complete covenant communion with God. 2. The lost
to the N.T. era, when the universal character of the          inheritance of man by the Fall. 3. The ultimate goal
church is restored.           Then God would save even        of the Christian dispensation, which is to restore and
Philistines 1                                                 redeem mankind. 4. The renewed inheritance of the
    The most important national genealogy of the three        redeemed and glorified humanity, when there shall be
recorded here is that of the Semitic races. Not that          neither Jew nor Gentile, bond nor free, neither male
there is any superiority claimed for them. They are           nor female; for all shall then in the fullest sense be
elect, but election is sovereign, and unconditional, not      one in Christ Jesus. (Gal.  3:28) This divine plan shall
for anything foreseen in man. There is nothing remark-        be realized.     For God himself is our Strong Tower,
able about the  Shemites as compared to the  Hamites          (Prov.  18:lO) and from Him we get a name, for His
or the Japhethites.        What makes Shem outstanding        promise is, "I will write upon him the name of My
is nothing in himself, but his election.      Shem is last    God, and the name of the city of My God, which is
in this history of the world, but first in the eternal        New Jerusalem, which  cometh down out of heaven
counsel of God. Before this point in history the human        from My God, and I will write upon him My new name."
race was Adamic and Noahic.           There were neither      (Rev.  3:12) This is the guarantee that our labor shall
Jews nor Gentiles. Now out of the river of humanity,          not come to naught. (I Cor.  15:57) For the city of man
God, in the call of Abram, draws off a slender rill,          shall be burned up, (Rev.  18:9,10) but the city of God
the source of the nation of Israel. It shall be this tiny     shall be everlasting.  (22:5)
rill which shall purify the great river of humanity              "So Jehovah scattered them."  (11:8) He did this
itself.      For it  is- in Shem that the unity of mankind    with a view to His end-purpose for them. It was a
consists.        Here is the first humanity in the  post-     punishment meted out on them. It was a blessing on the
deluvian world, which is a type of the new humanity,          righteous, but a curse on these wicked men. What
having its completion in the Second Man; and which,           brought the civilization of Cain to destruction was the
being new, shall not be merely something higher phys-         idolizing of feminine beauty,  (4:19,22;  6~2) lust  (4:19,
ically (although  that  would require God's power alone),     23;  6:4) and anarchy.  (4:23;  6:1,13) Then the building
but shall be in a glorified universe lifted entirely to       of cities,. the discoveries of invention toward a better
the plane of eternal life.                                    means of living, or art, industry, weapons of defense,
                                                              all became buried in the corruption and overthrow
    In Eber  (10:25) we have another inkling as to the        of that humanity.      Now the civilization of Nimrod
destiny of the heathen peoples. The Lord began to             falls by the lust of empire, the lust of glory (the pride
separate the Jewish nation to himself in Eber, the            of life), lust of display (the lust of the eyes), and world
father of the Hebrews. They would enjoy the peculiar          despotism. For man's national peculiarities and language
favor of the Lord.        Balaam's true prophecy relates      differences tend to enrich the world. But the trend
to this. Foretelling the coming of Christ, the Star of        to absolute simplification and unification tends to im-
Jacob and the Sceptre of Israel, he reveals that all          poverish all mankind. In our own day and age we see
the enemies of Israel would be destroyed, namely,             how, under dictatorial rule and totalitarian uniformity,
Edom;      Amalek, the first that warred against Israel;      men lose their individual character; they lose their
the Kenites though strong and secure would not con-           opportunity to develop their diversity of gifts and
tinue, but Assur would take them away; Eber would             talents.    Thus the individual and his conscience, his
be afflicted, yet Israel's chief enemies would fall.          convictions, his personality, his freedom, his private
In fact, every heathen people, thoughfirmlyestablished,       initiative must be sacrificed to this spirit of the world,
must perish. According to this remarkable prophecy,           whether it be in the world or in the church. In this
the whole heathen, reprobate, world is doomed to              movement we have the absence of real development,
destruction.                                                  and the obstruction of the true progress of the world.


258                                          THE STANDARD BEARER

   This -being so, it may be easily seen that without        of the frustrating action of God could deter them
the scattering of the nations, the development of Shem       from what they had imagined to do. So it is today.
cannot takes place. FBr if the people had continued one,     Men have forgotten the ravages of World Wars I and
vast areas -of the earth would not have been replenished,    II, or so it would seem. They still persist in evil and
and the political powers of their ruler (Nimrod) would       violence with the horrible ruins of atomic warfare
have become that of  the most enslaving despotism.           apparent.       What then shall restrain men from. the
.Abounding  violence, corruption and wickedness would        evil they have imagined to do? Nothing  but- judgment,
be hideously rampant; for every means would be at            - or the grace of God in Christ!
their disposal to increase in the ingenuity of evil.             In the destiny of the races we see the nearer ap-
The result would be that the church would be swept           proach of the promise. History always invariably sped
up into  `. this maelstrom of iniquity, and the children     in the line of Shem.         Now it flies in the same but
of. men would swallow up the  .little  remnant of the        advanced line of the covenant. Time speeds down the
children of God. The godly seed would become extinct.        avenue of history.       What conception do we have of
For in the -religion of Shem lay the true unity of the       either?      of time, people or history? We know very
human race.      Things were moving in that direction.       little of the people who lived before us, even of those
For in their "let us make us a  name"  (Heb.,  "shem")       who live in the same places we live. We know so little
there.,is  a- sneer of derision at Shem.  .They derided      of our neighboring contemporaries, and less of those
him and his  blessing~`(by  Noah) in their proposal. But     who are distant from us.         Apart from the Bible we
imperialism and totalitarianism are contrary. to the         would be  altogether  out of touch with men, the times
will. of God.     Nationalism has God's sanction. In         and the meaning of history. History is the revelation
religion,. many false ones are better than one corrupt       of the narrative and development of the covenant of
one, since they cancel out  .one another. No human           God in Christ in time and in the midst of the world.
world-kingdom scheme has ever been successful, nor               Throughout all the ages of the church, the aim of
ever will. God frustrated their purpose by the miracle       God from all eternity with respect to all the races of
of the confusion of tongues. Thus the inventions and         the world is that they should overspread the earth.
exploits of man become monuments of his folly. The           They, largely, should be God's scaffolding to serve
world; is full of such. Think of the Spanish Armada,         His purpose according to election, to serve the cause
destroyed by a storm and tempest off the Hebrides; of        of the church, in the bringing and building of God's
the great. wall of China, of the Maginot Line in France,     Tabernacle with men, to order it and establish it in
of the Graf Zeppelin and the steamship  Titanic.  But        the New Jerusalem.         For there shall take place the
the wicked never learn.        They quickly forgot the       complete "healing of the nations," (Rev.  22:2) "and
judgment of the Fiood, and went back to their former         the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the
evil ways. Sin still increased along with the develop-       light of it:     and the kings of the earth do bring their
ment of the races; and this in spite of the fact that the    glory and honor into it...They shall bring the glory
ruins of the Flood were at this time still visible, and      and honor of the nations into it."  (21:24,26)   Amen.
also the fact that they lived near the descendants of
Noah, and he himself was still living, Nothing short         *Geike,  Hours with the Bible, I.



       ALL AROUND US-




                  The  Battle Over Confessions

                                                 by  Prof. H.  Hank0


   The apostasy which characterizes the ecclesiastical       therefore, the  creeds  must be discarded. This can be
scene is notable for its hatred of the historic  confes-     done in the very subtle manner of simply ignoring
sions of the church. It is not strange.that this should      them.      And this often happens. But sooner or later
be so; for the historic confessions of the church are        comes a day of reckoning  - a day usually brought on
barriers.:to false doctrine and bind the church closely      by some conservatives within the church who, to their
to the truth of Scripture.     If apostasy is to prevail     dismay, notice that the creeds are being maligned and


                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER                                                        259

denied.,~ Hence, something has to be done about the                 ern document necessary to challenge the modern age.
creeds.    The easiest thing to do is to consign them to            `But careful study reveals a close parallel between the
oblivion by ecclesiastical decision.                                criticism of the Scriptures as stated in this new Con-
   This is precisely what is being done by the United               fession and the criticism of atheists and extreme
Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.              The method is        liberals down through history.
extremely clever, however. The proponents of apostasy               The second area in which the ad finds fault with the
are not prepared merely to erase the Westminster                 new confession is in its emphasis on  social,`political
Confession (the creedal basis of Presbyterian Churches)          and economic issues. It quotes several paragraphs:
from the books. This would create too great an uproar.
They propose rather the adoption of a new creed, "The                   Part II, Sec. A; No. 4:
Creed of 1967," which would be incorporated into a                      4a. "The church is called. to bring all men to
"Book  of' Confessions" and which would effectively                 receive and uphold one another as persons in all
dispose of any  creedal  basis in the church. There are             relationships of life: in employment, housing, educa-
many who are alarmed by this all, and who have voiced               tion, leisure, marriage, family, church, and the exer-
their protests of this action. A short time ago, a large            cise of political rights. Therefore, the church labors
ad appeared in over 100 newspapers and magazines,                   for the abolition of all racial discrimination. Congre-
sponsored by the Presbyterian Lay Committee Inc.                    gations, individuals, or groups of Christians who ex-
                                                                    clude, dominate, or patronize their fellow men, how-
bringing their protest to the attention  ofthe public. We           ever subtly, resist the spirit of God and bring contempt
have before us one which appeared in the Farm  Joumull.             on the faith which they possess.
   This Lay Committee calls attention to the fact that,                 4b. "The church, in its own life, is called to practice
while the alteration in the  creedal basis of the Church            the forgiveness of enemies and to commend to the
will bring about "the most radical and revolutionary                nations as practical politics the search for cooperation
change in its history," there was little "opportunityfor            and peace. This requires the pursuit of fresh and re-
effective opposition, criticism or careful consideration            sponsible relations across every line of conflict even
of such an important change."                                       at risk to national security, to reduce areas of strife
   Their objections are primarily that -the new con-                and to broaden international understanding."
                                                                        4c. "A church that...evades responsibility in
fession undermines the basic doctrines of the Christian             economic  a.ffairs...offers  no acceptable worship to
faith and lacks the clarity which a confession ought to             God."
have. After offering a brief history of the new confes-
sion, they remark:                                                  The ad goes on to point  out that all of this has no
                                                                 part in the calling and ministry of the church, and
       As often happens with the written efforts of com-         quotes the Westminster Confession which substantiates
   mittees, the resulting product is so full of compromises,     this position.
   concessions, contradictions, and obscure sentences that
   it promotes serious disagreements in the way it is               After calling attention to the significance of these
   interpreted and applied.                                      charges, the ad goes on to warn against these dangers
       Far more serious, however, is the radical  natureof       and to plead for more time to consider the implications
   some of the proposals that shatter the very foundation        of this radical step.
   of our faith.                                                    Naturally, some reaction to this ad was bound to
   The Lay Committee calls attention to two funda-               appear. The Rev. Theophilus Taylor, secretary of the
mental changes in the confession of the Church. The              General Council of the United Presbyterian Church,
first deals with the doctrine of Scripture:                      issued the following statement: (We quote from the
                                                                 Christian Beacon.)
       Is the Bible "Words of Men" or the Infallible Word               On Tuesday, December 27, Presbyterians invarious
   of God?"                                                         cities across the country were surprised to find in their
       Did you realize that the Bible will no longer be             morning papers a large advertisement headlined, "A
   considered as the inspired and infallible Word of God?           Call to Every United Presbyterian." The advertise-
   How far the authors would go in humanizing the Bible             ment is signed by Mr. Roger Hull and other laymen
   can be realized in this excerpt from the new confession:         under the masthead, "Presbyterian Lay Committee,
       "The Scriptures, given under the guidance of the             Inc.," and is in no sense an official communication
   Holy Spirit, are nevertheless the words of men, condi-           from the church.
   tioned by the language, thought forms, and literary                  The advertisement is deliberately calculated to
   fashions of the places and times in which they were              undermine the faith of Presbyterians in their historic
   written.       They reflect views of life, history and the       form of democratic representative government. In
   cosmos which were then current. The church,  there-               effect it challenges the integrity, theological and
   for, has an obligation to approach the Scripture with            otherwise, not only of the members of two General
   literary and historical understanding." (Part I, Sec. C,          Assembly committees which produced, studied, and
   No.  2)....                                                       recommended certain revisions in the  Confession of
       Are you willing to give up your belief in the Bible as        1967,  but of the duly-elected representatives of nearly
   the true and infallible Word of God? Are the Scriptures          two hundred presbyteries which considered it and
   a divine guide or is the Bible a human, and, therefore,           recommended revision of it last year. It also chal-
   unreliable document?                                             lenges the integrity of the General Assembly itself,
       The new Confession now attempts to answer these               composed of duly elected commissioners from all
   questions in a way that weakens the concept of the Bible          presbyteries of the church, which after the most
   as we have always accepted it. It claims to be a  mod-            extensive debate on any subject in recent years made


260                                               THE STANDARD BEARER

  further revisions of the  Confession of  1967 and sent it              This response of Taylor certainly demonstrates
  down to the presbyteries for their action this year.                how evil the leaders of the church have become. He
       In particular the advertisement condemns by in-                does not hesitate to confirm his belief in the destructive
  nuendo and the most arbitrary and untrue association                higher critics of Scripture. In a subtle way he con-
  the original drafters of the  Confession of 1967, alleging
  that                                                                demns the views of these laymen, views so obviously
          "careful study (sic!) reveals a close parallel
  between the criticism of the Scriptures as stated in                based on Scripture and the Westminster Confession.
  this new Confession and the criticism of atheists and               And he castigates the Laymen's Committee for writing
  extreme liberals down through history.,' This kind of               ads to make their views known while he knows full well
  irrational and irresponsible statement will not be                  that effective opposition to the new Confession was
  dignified by any refutation.                                        refused on the Assembly.
       The sponsors of the advertisement have at least                   But the battle seems lost. The presbyteries are
  made clear their fundamental objections to the Con-                 already voting on the new confession, which needs
  fession  of1967,   which are two: (1) They choose to                approval from two-thirds of the 188 presbyteries which
  ignore the obvious fact, which is true of all human                 make up the United Presbyterian Church. The latest
  literature including the Bible, that the words and
  thoughts of all human authors are inevitably conditioned            tally available shows that of 25 which have voted thus
  by the times in which they live; (2) they insist that the           far, only two have turned it down.
  church should keep silent on all social, political, and                                       * * *
  economic issues and confine its utterances to pious                    In a recent issue of the  Pyesbytevian  Journal,  the
  platitudes on "ecclesiastical and spiritual subjects."              editor calls attention to the fact that the writing of new
  On the first point they are still fighting a battle that            confessions is being done elsewhere. The Southern
  was lost a full century ago when most American                      Presbyterians appointed a committee at last year's
  theological schools of whatever denominational or                   assembly to write a new confession to supplement the
  confessional persuasion recognized the necessity of                 Westminster Creed. The Reformed Church in America,
  teaching the grammatico-historical method of inter-
  pretation of the Scriptures. This by no means  denies               presently engaged in merger talks with the Southern
  what Christians have historically believed, that they               Presbyterians, is considering a new confession pre-
  hear the voice of God in the Bible. On the second point             pared by a Committee which also wants this new con-
  they are opposing a stand taken fifteen hundred years               fession to supplement the historic confessions of the
  ago by the Hebrew prophets, that social and economic                church and will serve as a "statement of our confes-
  life and the affairs of state cannot be considered immune           sional beliefs in this time."
  to the moral and ethical criticisim  of organized religion.            The editor asks, editorially: "Is This A  `Creed-
       The sponsors of the advertisement seem to have a               Writing' Age?"      I recall that, while I was going to
  radical misconception of the nature of the church, and              Seminary, we were discussing in class the possibility
  in particular of Presbyterian order.         Perhaps they
  would be helped by a reading of the                                 of writing new confessions. Rev. Hoeksema made the
                                           Form of Govern-
  ment  as well as of  The Westminster Confession.  Pres-             very pointed remark at that time: "While certainly
  byterians also believe "that all church power, whether              there would be nothing wrong in writing new confessions
  exercised by the body in general or in a way of repre-              as the truth develops, nevertheless, the church today
  sentation by delegated authority, is only ministerial and           is not strong enough doctrinally or spiritually to write
  declarative"; and "that no church judicatory ought to               any new confessions." This is certainly being proved
  pretend to make laws to bind the conscience in virtue               by the shoddy work which has thus far been produced
  of their own authority" (FG I. 7). The sponsors of the              and by the obvious intent of those who write them to
  ad are not bound by the declarations of the General                 destroy the church.
  Assembly in social, economic, and political matters.
  They will not be "read out" of the church even though                  If there is any lesson in all this, it is certainly this:
  their opinions may differ.                                          we must defend our historic creeds at all costs. We
       Nor is there any reason why Presbyterian laymen
  should not express their views, even though they differ             must know them by studying them; we must love them
  from `those of the majority in the church. But it is                so that the truth of them lives within our hearts; and
  unfortunate that they choose to do it in the public press           we must defend them against all attempts to destroy
  `in a manner reminiscent of labor-management disputes               them or consign them to oblivion. These confessions
  rather than in the courts of the church.                            form a sturdy barrier against apostasy.

                                                            N O T I C E

                                  Men, for an evening of Spiritual enjoyment attend the
                                  Men's League meeting.
                                      WHEN           April 3, 8:00 p.m.
                                      WHERE          Hope Protestant Reformed Church
                                      SPEAKER Rev. J. Kortering
                                      TOPIC          The Important of Maintaining the Three
                                                     Forms of Unity and the Formula of
                                                     Subscription.
                                                                             H. Dykstra, Sec'y.


                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER  _                                                261




   FROM HOLY  WRIT-


                               The Book Of Hebrews

                                                     by Rev. G.  Lubbers

                  "For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come where of we
               speak.     But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man that thou art mindful of
               him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the
               angels; thou  crownest him with glory  ,and honor, and didst set him over the work of thy
               hands: Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in sub-
               jection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all
               things put under him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for
               the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should
               taste death for every man. For it became him for whom are all things, and by whom
               are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation
               perfect through sufferings. For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are
               all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will
               declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will  I.sing praise unto
               thee.     And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which
               God hath given me. Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he
               also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him who
               had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death
               were all their lifetime subject to bondange. For verily he took not on him the nature of
               angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved him
               to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in
               things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that
               he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour  them that are tempted."

                                                       He brews 2:5-l  8

ANEWSECTIONINTRODUCEDBYTHE  WRITER.                                  It is a remarkable fact that the writer, already in
(vs. 5-l 8)                                                       this section, implicitly is speaking of him who is a
   The writer had spoken in the foregoing concerning              King-Priest.    The section begins with the setting forth
the greatness and the exaltedness of the Son over all             of Christ's exaltedness; however, it ends with showing
things, far above the station of the angels in glory;             that it is an exaltedness which is through the office of
now he will exhibit from the holy Scriptures that such            being a priest, a high priest in the things pertaining to
exaltation and glory is only possible through the suf-            God. In a masterful way the writer exacts this teaching
ferings of death.         The glory of the mediator is only       concerning the King-Priesthood of Christ from the Old
possible through the sufferings of death on the ac-               Testament Scriptures. One hears in this section the
cursed tree.       To all of these things we are to give          refrain of Jesus, when he says: 0 fools and slow of
the more earnest heed as New Testament church.                    heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.
   We have good reason to give all our attention to               Ought not Christ to have suffered all these things, and
what the Lord himself began to speak on earth, and                to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all
that which was witnessed to us by those who saw him,              the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the
and which was confirmed by signs, wonders and powers              Scriptures the things concerning himself. (Luke 24:
through the Holy Ghost according to God's will. For               25-27)
these things pertain to the world to come. In this world             While the writer emphasized the real deity of
to come Christ is the exalted Lord. Into it many sons             Christ in Chapter  l:lff., here he shows us the true
are brought to glory, and the Son is perfected through            humanity of the Christ in his utter humiliation being
sufferings in bringing this about. And it became God              made like unto the brethren in all things. He is very
thus to do; it was befitting to his Godhead, wisdom,              God, and, at the same time, he is real and righteous
power and glory.                                                  man.


262                                               THE STANDARD BEARER

THE  STRONG  TZSTlM'@iiY  03  "SOMiZONE                             These strains we hear in the song of Zacharias when
SOil&EWfiE&E"  CONCERNING MANS BEING                                he says, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he
VISITED  TN  GRACE (Psalm  85-7;  Hibtiews   2:6;`7)                hath  visited  and redeemed his people." It is the visit
       It  1:s to' be observed that the- writer to the He-          of redemption.' (Luke  1:68) For the coming of the
brews  i]s..`writing  on the general subject here of the            Christ is  characteriied in the same prophecy from
"world  j-o  .come", as this. is the work of God in Jesus.          Zacharias' lips "To give knowledge of salvation unto
,The term                                                           his people by the remission of their sins, through the
              WO~Y.@ in the original Greek is "oikoumeneen"
and refers to the inhabited world of men and angels in              tender mercy of our God; whereby the day-spring from
their relationship to the throne of God. , To be sure               on high hath  visited  us.`! (Luke  1:77, 78) The Psalmist
this includes the entire universe, the Cosmos, which                in Psalm 8 testifies vigorously of this visit by our God
.was finished. from the beginning of creation (Hebrews              in Christ.
4:3) It  also:includes~  the "ages" of times and. history.             Furthermore, the Psalmist presents this visit as
,(B,ebrews   .1:2;  11:3)    Yet, the viewpoint here is that of     being such that it is for the exaltation of man over  all
.the. inhabitable world, of.. men and -angels. (Matthew             things.    In the poetical description we have more than
24:14; Luke  2:l;  _Acts  11:28; Romans  10:18; Hebrews             a mere nature Psalm.         The terms of the present
1':6).                                                              earthly creation are employed to portray "all" things
       The world to  come  must therefore refer to the              of the world to come. Sheep and oxen, the beast of the
world as it shall be in relationship to God, His throne,            field, the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and
His kingdom, His temple, and the glory of God in setting            whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.
all things in heaven and on earth in relationship to                These are all subjected to man.' They refer to all
Himself: Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth             things being subjected to the Christ of God, as so
among the men of Hisgood-pleasure! This  s,ong of the               beautifully expressed by Paul in I Corinthians  3:21-23
angels in Bethlehem-Ephratha was `sounded long before               "..;For all things are yours; Whether Paul or Apollos,
in. Psalm  8:l "0 Lord, our Lord, how excellent is                  or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things
Thy name  .in.  ali the earth; who hath set Thy glory               present, or things to come; all are yours; and ye are
above,  ,thG heavens." . . This "glory above.the heavens"           Christ's, and Christ is' God's." This implies that in
must refer to the  .glory -of God as this is revealed to            -Psalm 8 the one who "testifies" concerning God's
us in the mystery of godliness in His Son, in his death             visiting men is not speaking of the first Adam and all
and resurrection. There is an evident contrast in this              things as they were to be subdued by him in the earthly
world' "to `come" with the world that is past. .The world           creation, nor can this refer simply to David or any
that. is past refers to the entire world as Satan would             other mortal under the sun.      For, as Calvin states in
offer it to Christ,  spe.aking of all the kingdoms of  .this        in his Commentary on this text, "...I indeed allow that
world..     .(Luke  45)      Bere  `is- the kingdom of sin and      man was first put in possession of the world, that he
death;`.`of darkness and corruption; it is men and                  might rule over all the works of God; but by his own
angeis.,as  they are doomed by the righteous judgment               defection he deserved the loss of his dominion, for it
of  God-`. and the entire world as  .it is subjected to             was a just punishment for ingratitude as to one thus
vanity.:.(Romans   8:20)                                            favoured, that the Lord, whom he refused to acknowl-
                                                                    lledge and faithfully to worship, should have deprived
    Thfs world is definitely not subjected to the angels.           him of a right previously granted him. As soon then
It is true the writer had already stated this before in             as Adam alienated himself from God through sin, he
Chapter, 1, but now he will demonstrate this more                   ,was justly deprived of the good things which he had
completely and  with particulars in this section which              received; not that he was denied the use of them, but
we are. considering. The name above every name is                   that he could have had no right to them after he had
inherited by the Son of God.                                        forsaken God. And in the veryuse of them God intended
    Concerning this we have strong testimony in the Old             that there should be some tokens of this loss of right,
Testament Scriptures. It is vigorously and solemnly                 such as these, -the wild beasts ferociously attack us,
affirmed in the prophets through which God spoke in                 those who ought to be awed by our presence are
times past. `The w.riter does not designate the secondary           dreaded by us, some never obey us, others can hardly
author.       In the absence of such an indication  all the         be trained to submit, and they do us harm in various
attention is called to what was testified, and not to               ways; the earth answers not to. our expectation in
who' it was that said it. The. writer stands in  the midst          cultivating it; the sky, the air, the sea, and other things
of men `here on this earth, when he speaks, in Psalm                are often adverse to us.       But were  all creatures to
8. It is a Psalm in which it is joyfully and wonderingly            continue in subjection yet whatever the sons of Adam
affirmed that. God has visisted man. Jehovah remem-                 possessed would be deemed a robbery; for what can
bered man in his plight as he did remember Noah in                  they call their own when they themselves are not
the ark: of old during the time of the Flood. The term              God's?"
"remember" and "visit" according to the Hebrew                         Hence, we must understand Psalm 8 as referring
parailelism are so related that the latter term shows,              to  m.an's  dominion over all things due to Jehovah's
that the remembering was such, that it resulted in a                gracious visit in Christ Jesus. Thus the Holy Spirit
ltViSit.~J>   ' It. was a visit to help man in.his sinful iivoe;    definitely -interprets Psalm 8 here in Hebrews 2.
it was the time of visitation in love: Immanuel,  God-              Besides, the praise which God prepares for himself in
with-us,       at the time when Jesus was upon `earth.              this manifestation of Jehovah's name is interpreted by


                                                  TliE  STAND&D  BEARER                                                               263

Christ in Matthew  21:16 as referring to Himself as                     heavenly Paradise, when the tabernacle of God shall be
the one to whom Hosannas are sung by the children in                    with man.       Small wonder that the Psalmist includes
the temple. Well may we give the more earnest heed                      within the scope of his vision and  ecstacy the sun, the
to the things which Christ thus began tospeak concern-                  moon and the stars. He is not interested in `an astronaut
ing Himself and his glorious exaltation through suffer-                 on one of the planets, but rather `the great wisdom and
i n g s .                                                               dependability of God as reflected in the constellation of
                                                                        the heavens; determining times and seasons. `This all
THE "ALL THINGS" OF PSALM 8                                             may seem so stupendously great and vast. And man is
AS INTERPRETED IN Hebrews  2:8, 9                                       seemingly but a mere speck in the universe of the world.
   Sometimes      "a l l   t h i n g s "are not  all  things; the       Yet, all things are subjected to man. Man is the concern
expression "all things" often refers to all things within               of God. God did not visit the moon and the stars. He
a certain class of things. However, here in Psalm 8,                    came and made His abode amongst men. .And all things,
as interpreted in Hebrews  2:8, `9, the expressionrefers                nothing excluded, are subjected unto man, the man
to all things without exception.          There was nothing             Christ Jesus.           Thus we see the world to `come sub;
which was not put under Christ. For the world is here                   jetted not to angels but to the Son of God in our flesh,
not the world of a Paradise Lost but the world of the                   the Word Incarnate!


    BOOK  REVIEWS-

                         Jesus Of Nazareth: Saviour And  Lord-
JESUS OF NAZARETH: SAVIO.UR  AND               criticism have been leveled against                alone without any human factor involved
LORD, Edited by Carl F. H. Henry;             the gospel narratives of Scripture. All             in it.  O&such a position as this can
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company,           recent forms of higher criticism are                successfully resist the devastating in-
1966; 277 pp., $5.95.                         dealt with extensively: demythologizing,            roads of higher critical thought. The
                                              form criticism, "the quest for the                  book does not do this.
   This volume is another in a series         historical     Jesus,"        Sitz   im  Leben         While it is not a book written for
of books dealing with contemporary            theories,  Gemeinde-theologie, etc.; as             those unversed. in critical problems,
evangelical thought. Other volumes in         well as philosophies of history under-              it is a rather complete description of
this series include: "Revelation and          lying these higher critical views. The              modern trends in this field. This is
the Bible"; "Basic Christian Doc-             philosophies of such men as Barth,                  also its value. But the book must be
trines"; "Christian Faith and Modern           Bultmann, Kahler and all recent higher             read with discretion since. many of
Theology." The Foreword and initial            critics are dealt with.                            these higher critical views are ex-
essay is written by Carl F. H. Henry,            While the book is intended to be a               tremely dangerous.        Even Prof. Van
editor of the magazine "Christianity          critic of these higher critical views               Elderen, professor of New Testament
Today." Other authors include Paul             and a statement of the evangelical                 in Calvin Seminary, concedes major
Althaus, F. F. Bruce, GordonH. Clark,         ., position, nevertheless, important con-           points to the Sitz im Lebentheory. The
Adolph Koberle, Leon Morris, Merrill           cessions are made to the higher critics            conclusion can only be that evangelical
C. Tenney, Bastiaan Van Elderen.              throughout the book.          Especially the        thought is considerably removed from
  The essays in this book deal with           weakness appears of failure to empha-               the position of the Reformers, and
the modern questions of higher criti-          size strongly         and throughout that          from the position the Reformed Church
cism especially as the guns of higher          Scripture is God's Word-His Word                   must take on the doctrine of Scripture.




              RESOL UTION OF SYMPATHY                                                    RESOL UTION OF SYMPATHY
   The congregation of the Kalamazoo Protestant Re-                          On February 3, 1967 it pleased our Heavenly Father
formed Church expresses its sympathy to its mem-                          to call home  unto Himself  after an illness of several
bers, Mr. and Mrs. George Moerman, Ronald, and                            years, our beloved husband, father and grandfather
Robert, Mr. and Mrs. Larry Moerman, Gwendolyn and
to former member Mrs.  Lambert Doornbos in the                                                   MR. SAM VELDMAN
loss of their father, grandfather and husband,                            at the age of 79 years.
                MR. LAMBERT  DOORNBOS                                        "For the Lord God is a sun and sheild: the Lord
                                                                          will give grace and glory: no good thing will He with-
May the Lord comfort His sorrowing saints with the                        hold from them that walk uprightly".                Psalm  84:ll
truth that to be absent from the body is to be at home                     Mrs. Sam Veldman                         19 Grandchildren
with the Lord (II Cor. 5:8).                                                  Mr. and Mrs. Sieger Heys               1 great grand son
                          Rev. R. C. Harbach, pastor                          Mr. and Mrs. John Veldman
                          Wm. Clason, sec'y.                                  Mr. and Mrs. John Bovenkerk
                                                                              Mr. and Mrs. Henry Veltman


  264.                                        THE STANDARD BEARER


                                     NEWS FROM OUR  CHURCHES-

                                       February 15, 1967      School Society at its meeting last Tuesday., It was
     Holland's. congregation has extended a call to Rev.      decided to proceed with the building of our own school
 J. A. Heys, of South Holland, Ill., to be their minister.    `with a view to providing Protestant Reformed instruction
    ,Rev. C. Hanko, of Redlands,  Calif., `has received       for our children in September of this year. `May God
 the call from our church in Hull, Iowa to come over          give us courage and strength to persevere in this our
 to'help  t h e m .                                           holy covenant calling that we may  also experience His
                          * * *                               richest blessings in the future in our generations. To
     The 1967 Lecture Series in Grand Rapids is off to a      Him be the Glory."
 good start  - the first meeting having been postponed                                 *  * *
 due to severe weather conditions. The lecture on,               The Winter Beacon Lights Singspiration was held
 "Total Depravity" was given by Prof. H. Hanko to a           in Southeast Church after the evening service, Feb.
 large-audience in First Church a week later than was         11. The spirited singing was led by Mr. Henry Vander
 announced. The audience, like those of last year, was        Vennen, and special music was furnished by Donna
 characterized by marked attentiveness. It'is heartening      Knoper and Eunice Hoeksema who gave a piano-organ
 to observe this interest shown in a subject such as          duet. The audience was neither too large or too small,
 this which, to say the least, is suffering neglect by the    just an average winter evening crowd.
 `churches of the Reformation; this neglect is beginning                               % * *
 to bear fruits of `opposition and direct denial in some         Lynden's pastor, Rev. Woudenberg, informed his
 instances. But this is the sort of revival that Reformed     congregation, "One of the readers of our Study Sheets
 people, should experience - a revival of the basic truths    in Houston, Texas, has offered to send out one thousand
 as embodied in the Five Points of Calvinism. For you         sample copies to the members of a Christian Political
 who. would like tapes of  each'lecture  the news is  out-    Party to which he belongs."
 that they are available for the nominal price of $3.00                                *  * *
 per tape.     By the time you read this the first two           One of the bulletin notices announcing the second
 lectures will have been taped for your benefit. Send         lecture of Prof. H. Hanko on, "Unconditional Election"
-your request to: Mr. H. Vander Wall047 Alto Ave., S.E.       added this promise, "Not only is this series a diet of
 Grand Rapids, Michigan 49507.                                meat for the aged in the faith, but there also is plenty
                          *  *  *                             of milk for the babes in the faith."
     The blizzard that hit the Chicago area blanketed                                  * *  ,*
 South Holland with twenty-six inches of snow, forcing           Oak Lawn's new clerk is Mr. J. W. Regnerus,
 the. cancellation of Rev. Heys' morning service. Cars        6855 W. 107th St., Worth, Illinois, 60482.
 were forbidden to park on the streets but their parking                               ***
 lot was cleared in time for the evening service. Ex-            Rev. M.  Schipper,  of our Southeast Church, has
 periences like this, no doubt, were duplicated in many       submitted to a kidney stone operation Feb. 13, and the
 of our Western churches.                                     reports are that the surgery was successful.         .
                          * *  *                                                       *  *  *
     The Permanent Committee for the Publication of              Are you' listening to the Reformed Witness -Hour
 Protestant Reformed Literature, those good people who        regularly? If you cannot tune in to the current series
 gave us Rev. H. Hoeksema's Dogmatics, has decided to         of sermons on the Book of Genesis by Prof. H. C.
 begin working with Rev. Hoeksema's commentary on the         Hoeksema, you should send for the free copies thereof.
 Book of Revelations, and expect to get it off the presses    Every high school `and college student should have them
 later this year. They are sure that book will have great     to combat the influence of their instruction regarding
 appeal because of the general interest in The Doctrines      the revelation of God the Creator. Remember, young
 of the Last Things generated by the many signs that so       people, after Genesis, has been safely covered up in
 plainly indicate the nearness of the Day of the Lord.        your schoolroom's wastebasket the other sixty-five
 It is their hope that this forthcoming publication may       Books will soon follow it!
 help fill the need of the Christian who is awaiting that                              *  * *
 Day and who wants to be alert, to heed the word of              The Northwest Iowa "Reformed Witness" latest
 Christ, "What I say unto you, I say unto all, Watch!"        pamphlet is being mailed to many on the mailing lists
                          *  * *                              of each church extension committee  - Loveland alone
     Note this paragraph lifted from  Doon's Feb. 5           sends out 500  - and this one is by Rev. R. Dekker of
 bulletin:    "A momentous and far-reaching step has          Doon, on, "For Whom Did Christ Die?"
 been taken by our Northwest Iowa Protestant Reformed            . . .see you in church.                       J.M.F.


