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                                                 earer


      A   R E F O R M E D   SEMI-MONTHLY  MAGACZINE




             1..  .  .




         IN THIS ISSUE:
I-


                           Meditation: Walking in the Midst of the Fire


                           Editorials: Pons Assinorum in Signo Ecclesiae

                                     Report of the Doctrinal Committee


                           The Importance of Maintaining

                                      the Three Forms of Unity




                                                      Volume XLII.I/ Num bev d i / June 1, 1967    I


386                                                                                                          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
Meditation              - .                                                                                                                   Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July and August
   Walking In The Midst Of The Fire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386                                                    Published by the Reformed Free Publishing Association
         Rev. J. Kortering
Editorials -                                                                                                                                                    Editor-  Prof. H. C. Hoeksema
   Pons Assinorum In  Sign0  Ecclesiae! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389                                                 Communications relative to contents should be addressed to
         Prof. H. C. Hoeksema                                                                                                                 Prof. H. C. Hoeksema, 1842 Plymouth Terrace, S.E., Grand              .
   Report of the Doctrinal Committee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390                                                Rapids,  Mich.       49506. Contributions will be limited to 300
         Prof. H. C. Hoeksema                                                                                                                 words and must be neatly written or typewritten. Copy dead-
A Cloud of Witnesses -                                                                                                                        lines are the first and fifteenth of the month.
   David and the Ziphites ..I........................................ 392                                                                     All church news items should be addressed toMr.  J. M. Faber,
         Rev. B. Woudenberg                                                                                                                           1123 Cooper, S.E., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49507
All Around Us -
   The C.R.C. Synodical  Agenda                                                                                                               Announcements and Obituaries with the $2.00 feeincludedmust
   The Question of Evolution                                                                                                                  be in by the 5th or the 20th of the month, previous to publication
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                                                                                                                                              see address below.
   The Dekker Case
   Other Matters of Interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395                                All matters relative to subscriptions should be addressed to
         Prof. H. Hanko                                                                                                                                Mr. James Dykstra, 1326 W. Butler Ave., S.E.
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         Rev. H. Veldman                                                                                                                      received it is assumed that the subscriber wishes the sub-
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         Rev. R. C. Harbach                                                                                                                       Second Class  Postage  paid at  Grand  Rapids,  Michigan
The Church At Worship -
   The Elder's Task (continued) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403                                                                     TEACHERS
         Rev. G. Vanden  Berg
Special Feature  -                                                                                                                          Adams Street Christian School has need for six teachers
   The Importance of Maintaining the Three Forms                                                                                            for the 1967-68 school year. Four needed in lower
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        Rev. J. Kortering                                                                                                                   for some grades. If interested, or for further details,
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        Mr. J. M. Faber                                                                                                                     call collect to:
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                                                                                                                                                                    Phone CH 3-5874




  MEDITATION-


                   Walking In The Midst Of The Fire

                                                                                                                        by Rev. J.  Kovteving

                                         He answered and said, Lo I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the
                                  five,  and they have no hurt; and the form of  the fourth is  like the Son  of God.
                                                                                                                                                                              Daniel 3:25


    "Who is that God that shall deliver you out of my                                                                                       a  composite  of flesh and bones, ever endure the heat
hands?"                                                                                                                                     of the fire raging sevenfold?
    That was the challenge: the daring taunts of  anti-                                                                                        They `were men of faith, "If it be so, our God whom
Christ  against the Christ.                                                                                                                 we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery
    Who were Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to face                                                                                        furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, 0
it? How could these mortal men, fashioned of dust  -                                                                                        king."


                                                  THE;STANDARDBEARER                                                   387


     Their God did deliver them, for they walked in the             Why did they refuse? The answer is very simple:
mist of the fire with Jesus, the Son of God at their side.       they refused to bow before antichrist.        The golden
     And so it is with us.                                       image was the natural by-product of the king's dream.
    The forces of evil had arranged a mighty confronta-          The statue in the king's dream is one of the clearest
tion. It centered in the image of Nebuchadnezzar.                revelations of the kingdom of antichrist from a
    The King had a dream and forthwith had forgotten             historical point of view.    It consists of outward glory,
it. In deepest consternation he had turned to his wise-          but has no foundation and therefore no real durability.
men, magicians; and sorcerers in hope of learning the            It is marked by division that for a time may appear
dream and the interpretation thereof. This proved                unified but in essence is bound to crumble into ruin.
futile. His consternation turned to wrath and he issued          Spiritually it stands opposed to Christ, it glories in
a decree that all these would-be wise men should be              gold and the things that perish, and hates the Kingdom
put to death. He was convinced that they possessed               of Christ. Yet, the  I<ingdom of Christ is triumphant,
no more power of divination than he. This edict of               for as a mighty mountain it shall fill the whole earth.
death was published by the executioners themselves.              This world shall be destroyed and the kingdoms of men
Coming to Daniel, they plotted their bloody deed.                shall perish, but the Kingdom of Christ shall be built
Quite naturally Daniel's response was, "Why is the               upon its ruins in the new heaven and new earth.
decree so hasty from the king?"               Immediately he        For Daniel's three friends, this kingdom of anti-
implored of the king that time be given and he would             christ was personified in Nebuchadnezzar and his
show the king his dream and the interpretation. Daniel           image.    Subsequently we have passed through the Per-
went to his three friends and together they brought              sian rule, the silver soon tarnished and Persian rule
their need unto God, that He might show the dream to             gave way to Roman power. Even the brass could not
Daniel and their lives might be spared.                          endure the weathering forces of time, and soon the
    The God of revelation answered their prayers.                glory of Greece overtook Rome. History indicates to
Daniel went in before the king and related to him                us that this too was but iron, an internal weakness
what God had revealed.               His dream consisted of a    that led to the dark ages and division of the nations
mighty image whose head was made of gold, breast                 into splintered world powers, that had no backbone of
and arms were of silver, belly and thighs of brass,              durability and therefore were as ten toes of part iron
legs of iron, and his feet of iron and clay. A stone was         and part clay.
cut out of the mountain without men's hands, and this               This entire image nevertheless represents anti-
stone smote the image and destroyed it, with the result          christ as he will be revealed in the last days. It isn't
that the stone became larger and larger till it filled           so that the antichrist that now reigns and is assuming
all the earth.                                                   his last "glorious" dominion consists of one of the
    In the interpretation of this dream Daniel pointed           ten toes of part iron and part clay. The entire image
Nebuchadnezzar to the golden head. His kingdom was               represents the  anti-Christian  kingdom of the last days.
one of power, strength, and glory.              Following him    This image is the product of history.          This is the
would be three kingdoms in decreasing glory, which in            ultimate of what man has produced.
turn would be divided into many smaller kingdoms, all               When Daniel's three friends were required by the
of which `would eventually be destroyed by the King-             king to bow before the image of gold, this in essence
dom of Jesus Christ. The whole image was no better               meant that they were required to bow before the
than the ten toes of iron and clay wrought by an im-             antichristian world power as it was represented in
p o s s i b l e   m i x t u r e .                                their day.
    Nebuchadnezzar ignored the little stone that would              We stand before this same image today.             It is
destroy the kingdoms of the world. All he cared about            obvious in the political sphere, the world is working
was that head of gold. His was a golden kingdom, and             for a unification of the ten toes into one great body
he was the golden king.              What more fitting way to    controlled by a golden head. This is the world unity
express the glittering vanity than to build a huge               that is sought today by such organizations as the
image,- overlay it with gold, tell all the princes of            United Nations. This same goal permeates the social
the kingdom that this image represented the king, and            sphere; big  gover'nment  is reaching its greedy fingers
command all the princes to bow down and worship the              into every sphere of life. Government is not simply
image and thereby pay tribute to the king.                       providing education for its citizens, it is `even inter-
    His proud heart throbbed excitedly at the very               fering with parents who feel it their duty to fulfill this
thought.       Construction began immediately and before         responsibility themselves. Government presumes to
long the sound of the cornet, flute, harp,  sackbut,             itself the care of the poor and even determines what
psaltery, and dulcimer and all kinds of music was                should be preached in the churches. Powerful labor
heard and the heads of all the princes and governors             unions have the blessing of government, to the degree
bowed low before the image that rose some 90 feet.               that the rights of the minority who cannot for con-
above the plain of Dura.                                         science sake join them are disregarded more and
    All, that is, except three Jews, the friends of Daniel,      more.     The nominal churches gladly flirt with govern-
who had refused. Daniel must have been absent be-                ment favors and abandon their calling to preach the
cause "he sat in the gate of the king." The three                gospel, in order that they can serve as mistress to the
friends of Daniel however, were among the governors              state to accomplish its dreams. What else is the World
of the land.                                                     Council of Churches doing?


388                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


   The child of God may not recognize and take part           Paul, the saints during the days of Nero, the persecuted
in this evil design. Surely the antichristian powers          under the Inquisition, our Reformed forebearers, and
desire and demand that we recognize them. Daniel's            even today.
three friends were not excluded from the assembly.               On the part of antichrist there is no compromise.
They had to come. The music was sounded and they              Refuse to join the union and the boss can only point to
were expected to bow. Yet theydidn't. The same holds          the door and say goodbye. It's not difficult to see that
for us.      We  may not  preach a social gospel even         if we refuse to cooperate with government in education
though this is popular and doing it wins government           we may be forced to close our schools. We refuse to
favors.    WC may not join worldly unions and sacrifice       preach the popular gospel, we won't be allowed to
our Lordship to Christ in order to get a little more          preach. We refuse to go along with the social program,
gold. We may not enter into the social sphere of anti-        we won't be allowed to live in this society. Sometimes
Christian "culture." We may not obey the government           death is the product of an extended period of suffering,
if its orders conflict with those of the Word of God. We      sometimes it comes suddenly with murderous wrath.
may not bow before the image of gold.                         Yet, it is death.
   The result is always the same, fire!                          Daniel's three friends walked through the fire.
   Of course they didn't grab the three friends of               Christ was with them. The Kingdom of Christ is
Daniel and immediately throw them into the fire.              victorious. He vanquished the foe when He established
Nebuchadnezzar had better psychology than that.               our peace with God on the cross. The devil and the
Listen, "Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear         world are living in a marked age;' their time is limited
the sound of the cornet...ye fall down and worship the        and the devil knows it. Feverishly he drives men to
image...well, but if not ye shall be cast into the burning    accomplish their empty dream of building a kingdom of
fiery furnace."     Nebuchadnezzar did a little elbow         gold on feet of iron and clay. A kingdom established
twisting first, it would be better for his "image" to         on the "virtues" of natural man and founded upon the
have all bow rather than have three refusals and force        dreams of depraved man is a kingdom that is the
them to death in a furnace.                                   object of the wrath of God. When Christ merited peace
   So he offered them a second chance.             Sounds     for His elect through the blood of atonement, He also
familiar doesn't it? That's that union manager who            received the necessary power to realize it. This is two
confronts you with all the "advantages" of the union          fold: the power to gather His church in history and the
and begs you to join. Sometimes it comes in the form          power to destroy His enemies.
of the county superintendent of public education who             The king had to admit that there was a fourth Man
threatens to  talce action if our schools can't meet the      walking in the midst of the fire, and with Him a mighty
required teacher certification. Remember the Amish!           work had been accomplished.. The wicked shall eter-
Our ministers get mail by the tons, brought by the            nally acknowledge, though by force, that God is God
Ministerial Unions and Councils of Churches telling us        alone and the Kingdom of Jesus Christ is victorious; it
what to do and how to preach. The schools of our land         is a mountain that shall endure forever.
are infested with the god of Science before whom chil-           No, Daniel's three friends didn't escape the fire.
dren are told to bow rather than before the Word of           We would desire that, but that isn't promised us. The
God. And the answer to it all: unification, one world         indignant wrath of the citizens of the kingdom of this
government, one world society, one world church, one          world shall surely be upon us; it will bring suffering
world people joined in the common good of man. Their          and death, yet God through Jesus Christ shall escort
arm twisting is appealing to the flesh.                       us safely through that fire as we walk our pathway to
   Refuse to bow, and there is only fire.                     glory.
   Just as surely as the three friends of Daniel were            And they had no hurt! What was true physically for
at last thrown into the fiery furnace heated seven times      Daniel's three friends is true spiritually for us. The
greater as an appeasement to the burning wrath of the         courage, the conviction, and the spiritual wisdom shall
king, so the church of all ages bears the brunt of the        be given us as Christ walks besides us by His Word
enmity of antichrist.     The history of the church is        and Spirit.
written in blood from this point of view. Stephen,               With God all things are possible.




                 . . ..The Church of Christ is not a mere number of saved believers: it is a body, a
                 unity. And its purpose is to show forth the glory of God in Christ. This one theme
                 all the saints sing and develop in their good works, each in his own position, and
                 performing his own part.        And the great Artist ordained and prepared all the
                 several parts of this glorious theme for every one of the saints, just as He, by
                 grace, prepares them all for the parts they are to perform. He created us in
                 Christ Jesus exactly unto those good works which He prepared for us, that we
                 might walk in them.
                                                      -H. Hoeksema, "The Wonder of Grace," p. 91


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                     389



  EDITQRIALS-


                    Ponk Assinorum In Signo  Ecclesiae!


                                                by Prof. H. C. Hoeksema


   Decorating the cover of the Agenda for the 1967              seal is not acceptable because it does not truthfully
Synod of the Christian Reformed Church is the pro-              represent the doctrinal position of the Christian Re-
posed denominational seal. And occupying first place            formed Church, due to the symbolism of the tulip in
in the Agenda is the Report of the Denominational Seal          the proposed seal.  Grounds:
Committee.        As said report also puts it, in the center       "1. There is a large segment of our denomination
of this proposed seal is a TULIP. Moreover, according           which openly denies the doctrine of Limited Atonement
to the report, "The tulip in the center of the design           represented by one of the petals of this tulip.
refers to the well-known version of the `five points of            "2. There is another large part of thedenomination
Calvinism' elaborated by the Synod of Dordt: Total              which covertly denies the doctrine of Limited Atone-
Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement,           ment, who, even though they will speak of a certain
Irresistible Grace, Perseverance of the Saints  ."              Limited Atonement, nevertheless do not believe that
   This is, of course, strictly a symbolic, Calvinistic         the atonement is limited in its nature.         Moreover,
tulip. For a real tulip has six petals, not  fi.ve.             they compromise and in effect deny this doctrine: a)
        And, according to the Editor of  De  Wachtev, this      By claiming that there are benefits of the atonement
TULIP is an  ezelsbvuggetje,   - or, more refinedly put,        which accrue to all men. b) By claiming that the term
a  pans  assinomm. In plain English: an ass's bridge,           "world" refers to "an undifferentiated totality." c)
- only a picturesque term for  mnemonic,  or memory             By making the preaching of the cross (particular
aid.                                                            atonement) a general and well-meant offer of salvation
   Hence the title above this editorial: An Ass's Bridge        on the part of God to all who hear.
in the Ecclesiastical Seal!
   Now I might have some objections to this proposed               "3. There are many representatives of our denom-
seal. But I would not object to this TULIP because, as          ination, both in the seminary, on the mission field, and
I indicated before, I never think of it in terms of an          in our home pulpits who maintain that the atonement is
ass's bridge.       To me it is a very beautiful flower.        general, not limited."
However, I can imagine that the Editor of  De Wachtev              The above suggested motion has this to recommend
was not a little perturbed at the sight of this  "pans          it, that it is truthful, and that it would avoid the problem
assino~um" decorating the cover of the Agenda, and              of the ass's bridge at which the Editor of  De Wachtev
that too, even before it has been adopted by Synod.             stumbles.
   But this leads me to proffer him some advice,                   Perhaps Synod could also serve its committee for
even though in his editor's capacity, at least, he does         a Denominational Seal with some positive advice. In
not relish unsolicited advice.        For the Editor of  De     that case it could suggest that the committee seriously
Wachtev  is also a delegate to the forthcoming Synod.           consider the possibility of placing in the center of the
Perhaps he will not be on the committee that must               design a Janus-head, or perhaps a bust of James
serve Synod with advice about this seal; but in that            Arminius.
case he can give his advice from the floor, and perhaps                                   *  * *
even put it in the form of a motion. I would not, how-             Lest any reader think that I am being facetious in
ever advise that the matter of the adoption of this             this editorial, let me assure you that I am in dead
denominational seal be made to hinge on such a trivial          earnest !
question as that of an "ass's bridge," or mnemonic.                To date I have seen no evidence that any Christian
For after all, that is not such a basic matter. It              Reformed leader holds 100% to the doctrine of Limited
hardly merits the editorial attention it received in  De        Atonement and to the whole of the Five Points of
Wachtevj   especially not when the Christian Reformed           Dordrecht. I believe, therefore, that to adopt a denom-
ship is being rocked by winds of false doctrine and             inational seal with this beautiful TULIP in the center
liberal ecumenicism.                                            of the design would be a piece of ecclesiastical
   Whether the matter of this seal is treated before            hypocrisy.
or after the "Dekker Case," I would advise the                     And hypocrisy is an abomination to the Lord!
Editor of  De Wachtev  to make a motion somewhat as                Only if the Christian Reformed Church would repent
follows:                                                        and return to the Reformed heritage would it have the
        "Synod declares that the proposed denominational        moral right to include this TULIP in its  seal1


390.                                            THE STANDARD BEARER





               "Report of the Doctrinal Committee"

                                                 A Critical Study

                     The Committee on the Atonement
                                                  by  Prof. H. C. Hoeksema



           The Atonement in the New Formulation                  formed Synod, - open up the whole report for e,xtensive
    Since my last editorial on this subject was written,         debate also. For the adoption of any proposition de-
the revised report of the doctrinal committee has been           pends upon the grounds of that proposition. And now
published in the Agenda for the 1967 Synod of the                that the committee has stated its grounds in greater
Christian Reformed Church. The appearance of this                detail and with an appeal to Scripture and the confes-
revised report somewhat upsets my planned criticism              sions, there is something to debate about, namely,
in  SO  far as it was based on the committee's original          whether the grounds prove the committee's proposi-
formulation.         I had intended to continue my critique      tions.
along the lines begun in the May 15 issue of the                    2) It must also be admitted that the grounds from
Standard Beaver.         Now, however, I must change my          Scripture and the confessions give the report, at first
plans somewhat. We may ask the question whether or               glance, a more Reformed appearance.        The reader
not the committee has substantially improved its con-            might almost be fooled by this, in fact. The committee
clusions on the doctrine of the atonement in its revised         presents some very sound and beautiful proofs from
report.                                                          Scripture and the confessions. And if one divorces
   It would be interesting to make a detailed com-               these grounds from the propositions  whit
parison of the two reports in this respect, and to lay           supposed to prove, he might arrive at the
the reports side by side. However, space does not                that this new report is much more Reforme
permit this. The concluding recommendations in the               old one.     However, a more careful analysis of the
revised report are very lengthy, due to the fact that            conclusions will show that the grounds from Scripture
the committee has added many Scriptural and con-                 and the confessions serve as grounds only for the
fessional grounds. For the propositions themselves,              Reformed elements in each proposition, while the
I refer the reader to Prof. Hanko's department in this           elements which are not Reformed have no proof from
issue of our magazine. The reader should remember,               Scripture and the confessions. This is painfully ob-
however, that due to the addition of grounds from                vious, it seems to me, already with the very first
Scripture and the confession, the "Conclusion and                proposition, which speaks about the love of God. All
Recommendations" of the committee have now grown                 the proofs from Scripture and the confessions are
from 2  l/2 pages to 9  l/2 pages in the Agenda. The             very good proofs for God's sovereign and particular
number of propositions has also increased from 5 to 6.           love, His love for His people in Christ Jesus. How-
   What has happened in this revised formulation to              ever, this same proposition now also speaks of "God's
the doctrine of the atonement? This is the important             general benevolence toward all His creatures" and of
q u e s t i o n .                                                "God's love of compassion for every sinner." And for
   In answer to this question I present the following:           these two elements there is not one iota of proof from
   1) From a formal point of view, the committee has             Scripture and the confessions. What does the commit-
certainly improved its report. I refer to the addition           tee do? It adds a third kind of grounds,  -  synod&al
of numerous grounds from Scripture and the confes-               xdecisions! And, of course, those  synodical decisions
sions.      It  will, be recalled that in its original report    are the decisions on common grace.
the committee repeatedly used the phrase, "In  thelight             This same policy is followed throughout the con-
of Scripture and the Confession," but cited almost               clusions.    All the elements in the conclusions which
nothing from either Scripture or the confessions as              are not Reformed have no proof from Scripture and
grounds. This is, therefore, a formal improvement.               the confessions.    And in some cases, especially when
It will, -- at least, if the committee's report is actually      it comes to the matters concerning the universal offer,
submitted for adoption at the coming Christian  Re-              the committee cites grounds from Scripture and the


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER


confessions which  donot prove a universal whatsoever,        double-track theology with respect to the atonement as
but prove the thoroughly Reformed truth of the general        in the conclusions. I had intended, prior to the appear-
proclamation of a particular promise and the necessity        ance of the revised report, to enter into this aspect in
that      the     preaching    of the promise always be       greater detail. Now, however, space and time do not
accompanied by the demand of faith and repentance.            permit this. If, after the coming Christian Reformed
   3)  In this same connection, the committee has un-         Synod, it is still pertinent to do so, I shall enter into
doubtedly removed from its conclusions some expres-           these matters at a later date, D.V.
sions which would be very troublesome to them and                Now, however, I wish to point out, briefly, the
which would open up areas of valid criticism on the           following:
part of the pro-Dekker forces. I refer especially to             1) Although the committee has revised its report
proposition IV of the old report, which has been re-          and removed the statement that no Reformed person
placed by proposition V in the new report. This is  also      would maintain that the atonement is limited in its
true,, to an extent, of proposition V in the old report as    nature,  (probably in order to take away the ground for
compared with proposition VI in the new report.               criticism such as Dr. Daane has made on this count),
Space does not permit me to go into detail on this            at no point does the committee state that the atonement
matter.          But I submit that the committee has not      is limited in its very nature. But this is the most basic
changed its position essentially. What has happened           issue. If this is not maintained,- and it is not main-
is that the committee has made its own position more          tained in the report,- the battle for the Reformed
vague and ambiguous. The committee, of course, must           doctrine of the atonement is lost.
be Reformed enough to condemn Dekker's position;                 2) The committee, also in the body of its lengthy
but it must not be so Reformed that it lets go of the         report, has absolutely no proof from either Scripture
First Point of 1924 and its well-meant offer. The             or the confessions that there are universal and un-
result is that it recedes as much as possible into the        deserved benefits which accrue to all men from the
ambiguity of the traditional double-track theology. A         (atoning) death of Christ. We have seen that this is
Reformed man will not be satisfied with this  double-         true of the committee's conclusions.       But it is also
talk; and the Dekker forces will not be fooled by it, I       true of the body of the report. What the committee
predict.                                                      offers as proof is  meve statements of  theologians.They
   4) But has the committee changed its position on           quote Murray and Stonehouse and Vos. And what is the
the atonement? Absolutely not! Certainly, the com-            reason for this`? It is very simple: the committee's
mittee in part has taken a very Reformed position on          proposition  cannot be  proved  from  Scviptuve   and the
the atonement. Moreover, the committee has furnished          confessions!  Meanwhile, the fact remains that while
abundant grounds from Scripture and the confessions           the committee does not want to go as far as Dekker
for this position. The committee has even emphasized          does, they nevertheless concede the basic point that
the very key element that the Holy Spirit Himself, Who        the atonement is general.
applies the benefits of salvation to the elect, is a gift        3) And when the committee confronts Prof. Dekker's
merited for God's people by Christ's atonement. How-          claim that the universal, well-meant offer of salvation
ever:                                                         demands a universal atonement, they continue to insist,
   a) The committee continues to speak, -without an           of course, upon the universal offer. And remember:
iota of proof from Scripture and the confessions, and         this universal offer means actually nothing less than
in contradiction of the Reformed doctrine of the              this, that Christ-crucified, though actually crucified
atonement,  - of "certain universal and undeserved            for the elect alone, is in the preaching of the gospel
benefits accruing to all men from the death of Christ."       made general and undifferentiated! But what is the
This is basically,  - though the committee tries vainly       committee's solution for this contradiction? Do they
to make a distinction,  - universal atonement.                come with Scripture and the confessions? Of course
   b) The committee continues to speak of the "world"         not; this is impossible!      They come with a "very
which God loved and for which He gave His only be-            illuminating illustration" by Dr. Roger Nicole. It is
gotten Son, John 3:16, as "an undifferentiated totality."     the illustration of a department store offering for sale
Note: it is a totality! And as surely as the whole is         a brand name refrigerator at the cost of  $199.95! Now
equal to the sum of its parts, that undifferentiated          apart from the fact that it is very well possible, both
totality of the committee is equal to all men. This is        from the point of view of the Dekker forces and from a
universal atonement, pure and simple.                         Reformed point of view, to shoot this illustration full of
   c) The committee continues to make the very same           holes, the simple fact is that such work is altogether
Christ-crucified concerning whom it insists in part of        unworthy of a doctrinal study committee. The com-
its report that He was crucified for the elect only,  -       mittee should have come with Scripture and the con-
they make that same Christ-crucified universal in the         fessions. This they could not do. Instead the commit-
preaching. For they maintain the universal, well-meant        tee resorts to the method of rationalism, -the same
offer of grace. This is universal atonement.                  rationalism with which we have' always been unjustly
                                                              charged in connection with 1924.        They come with
         The Atonement in the Body of the Report              human reasonings and human illustrations apart from
                                                              Scripture and the confessions. And these human rea-
   When one turns to the body of the committee's              sonings are altogether unsatisfactory. If rationalism
report, he finds the same ambiguity and the same              we must have, then give me Prof. Dekker's rationalism:


392                                              THE STANDARD BEARER


universal availability of salvation (in the general offer)         the committee offer little choice.
requires universal atonement. That makes sense, at                     And I can put the matter, as far as the committee's
least, even though it is not true! But why, - this is the          statement is concerned, very succinctly.
important question, -why must the committee resort                     1) The committee's divine "love of compassion for
to this method? Because when it comes to the  well-                every sinner" presents a compassion and a love that is
meant offer, they must agree that in that offer  Christ-           not worthy of God! It is a love so compassionate that
crucified is universal, while they do not want to admit            it allows its objects to go to hell!
to Prof. Dekker that Christ-crucified on Golgotha                      2) By this doctrine the committee presents the God
nineteen hundred years ago was universal.            In other      of the supposed Reformed faith as a  weak God,  -  as
words, the committee is basically committed to the                 weak as the God of the Arminians. Though He loves
doctrine of universal atonement, but does not want to              the sinner and is filled with compassion toward him,
face up to this reality.        "                                  He is unable to prevent the sinner's destruction.
                                                                       3) By this doctrine the committee must needs accept
        The Most Important Issue In The Report                     the implication that the sinner is a powerful sinner,  -
                                                                   as powerful as the Arminians' sinner, more powerful
      For the time being we may conclude this critical             than God. For though God loves him and is filled with
study at this point and await further developments.                compassion toward him, the sinner is able toovercome
      But in conclusion I must point out that-the under-           the love and compassion of God by his sin and unbelief
lying issue of the entire "Dekker Case" is that of the             and goes lost in spite of divine love!
love of God.                                                           This is not the God of the Reformed faith, however.
      In this connection, the committee wants a three-                 It is the God of the First Point of 1924!
fold love of God: His general benevolence toward all                   And until the Christian Reformed Church forsakes
His creatures, His love of compassion for every                    and repudiates the errors of 1924, it will never be
sinner, and His unique love for His elect. (Proposition            able to fight Arminianism, but will continue to be
I>                                                                 swallowed up by it.
      As I have already pointed out, it is only for the last
of these three that the committee offers proof from                    And to those seriously Reformed believers who
Scripture and the confessions in its conclusions. For              want neither the Arminianism of Prof. Dekker nor the
the other two it offers proof from  "synodical deci-               Arminianism of the committee's double-track theology
sions."                                                            (the theology of  1924), but who want the God of the
      But it is in this proposition of the committee that          Reformed faith, -to them I say in all earnestness  ,and
the fundamental question is involved, --`from a Reformed           good will: Come out, exercise your right of reforma-
point of view.      From this point of view, the stand of          tion, and stand with us ! We are Reformed according
Dekker (though more consistently Arminian) and that of             to Scripture and the confessions !

A CLOUD OF  WITNESSES-

                            David and The Ziphites

                                                     by Rev. B. Woudenbevg

                       Save me, 0 God, by thy  name,  and judge me by thy  strength.
                      Here my  pyayev, 0 God; give  cay to the  wovds  of my  mouth.
                       Fov  stvangevs   aye  risen up against me,  and  OppYessovs  seek  after my soul;
                   they have not see God  before them. Selah.
                       Behold, God is mine helper: the  Lovd is with them that uphold  my  soul.
                       He shall  yewavd  evil unto mine enemies: cut them off in thy  trmth.
                       I will freely sacrifice unto thee: I will  praise thy  name,  0  Lovd;  fov it is  good.
                       FOV he hath delivered  me  out  of all  trouble:  and mine eye hath seen his  desire
                   upon mine enemies.
                                                                                                     Psalm 54

      Escaping from Keilah before Saul could gather his            was that David finally moved down into the woods
forces to march against him, David was left no choice              close by the town of Ziph. From many points of view,
but to return to the wild hills, valleys and woodlands             it appeared to be an almost ideal locationi The woods
of southern Judah. It was in the mountain territories              were thick and few people thought to pass through them,
that David found the best protection; but finding  suffi-          providing an opportunity for David and his mento  make
cient food for his soldiers was difficult there. Thus it           camp, with very few being conscious of their exact


                                                THESTANDARDBEARER                                                     393


location.      Much more than in the mountains, there was       could ever have become so oppressive to him as the
the possibility of catching game for food and even              atmosphere in his father's court where he had to dwell.
farming a little in the small clearings that were found         Undoubtedly he himself would have fled to live with
amid the trees.         In addition, the town of Ziph was       David in the wilderness had not his own duties in the
close.       They could go there to do their necessary          court been of such responsibility that they were nec-
trading, and there was the possibility of holding what          essary to keep Israel functioning as a nation: and, of
small bit of fellowship their life allowed with people          course, his presence as the royal seed of Israel in the
of their own nation. Nor was it infrequent that they            camp of David would have done more to confuse the
found for themselves opportunities to aid and assist            situation than to help it. Nevertheless, when there
the peoples of the territory with the kind of deeds of          came through to his attention the news that David was
kindness they were much prone to perform. Next to               encamped in the woods of Ziph, Jonathan determined
the actual convenience of living in a town itself, as           that he would go down to render what little help and
they had done in Keilah, it was about the best situation        encouragement he could. Thus it was that Jonathan all
that they could hope for. Gradually the wound that had          by himself left the court of Saul andmade  his way down
been inflicted upon their hearts by the treachery of            to the forest of Ziph.
Keilah began to heal.                                              One can well imagine, although it is not recorded
   It was during this time that David was staying with          for us, the emotion with which David and Jonathan met
his men in the woodlands of Ziph that there came to             there under the canopy of the trees. Nevertheless, we
him one of the most impressive events of that period            are given Jonathan's reason for coming to David and
of his life; he was visited by Jonathan.                        the words that he spoke.         He came to strengthen
   Undoubtedly, Jonathan stands upon the pages of               David's hand in the Lord, and his words were these,
Scripture as one of the most amazing persons in the             "Fear not: for the hand of Saul my father shall not
history of the church. The son of a viciously proud             find thee; and thou shalt be king over Israel, and I shall
and wicked father, his own disposition was one of               be next unto thee; and that also Saul my father knoweth."
meekness and kindness throughout.            A man through      It was not a prophecy which Jonathan had received
whom some of the greatest victories to come to Israel           directly from God; for, Jonathan was not a prophet and
were brought about, he had no desire at all to receive          his words contained an error. He would not serve as
a hero's reward. Himself being the seed royal of the            second man under the throne of David; but he would
nation, he might well have taken to himself airs above          himself be privileged to precede David to a far more
every one else in Israel; but he was quite willing to           wonderful throne in glory.       It was only Jonathan's
conduct himself as a servant to all. Through his heart          personal conclusion which he had observed from
ran the love and faithfulness of friendship so that his         watching the workings of Jehovah in Israel. And yet,
name stands as a symbol of the same to this day. Even           by that very measure, was it so wonderfully great for
when it became evident that his best friend was                 it was completely contrary to what the present circum-
ordained to receive the throne of Israel instead of             stances suggested and was based alone upon the faith
himself, he was the first to acknowledge it openly and          that God would reward his servants according to their
without one trace of bitterness or regret.          His life    faithfulness.    Thus it was that once again the two
held as its fountain-spring, the love of God and a child-       friends renewed their friendship in a covenant before
like devotion of true faith. It was this finally which          their God. Little did they realize that they would never
bound him so closely to David with a bond of love and           meet again until their covenant had obtained its perfect
faithfulness which could not be broken.                         fulfillment in the presence of God.
   It came out most beautifully in an event that we are            It was not long after Jonathan returned from his
often inclined to overlook completely -- the visit of           visit with David that the situation of David changed and
Jonathan to David while he was living in the woodlands          the need for the encouragement that Jonathan had
of Ziph. The mere fact that he should have made that            provided became evident.       Once again, it was the
visit is in itself touching and goes far to demonstrate         treachery of David's own countrymen with whom he had
the meekness and beauty of his love. Here he was the            taken up his dwelling. David had never done anything
seed royal, living in all of the splendor and ease of           but good to the inhabitants of Ziph and it was to be
the royal court.         The opportunities which he had to      expected that he had nothing to fear from them. But
pursue almost any interest or diversion he might desire         these men knew, as did everyone in Israel, that David
were present. But his life in the court of Israel was           was hated by Saul, and that Saul wanted desperately to
to him one constant source of grief and sorrow, for,            kill David. To them it appeared to be a perfect  oppor;
through the months and years, the palace of Israel had          tunity to ingratiate themselves to the king.     Secretly
become more and more dominated by one thing  - the              they sent a delegation to Saul, saying, "Doth not David
overwhelming hatred of his father for David. Never              hide himself with us in strongholds in the wood, in the
had any heathen nation been hated so bitterly by the            hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon?
royal court, never had the vile Philistines been so             Now therefore, 0 king, come down according to all the
derided as David was, never had strategy against any            desire of thy soul to come down; and our part shall be
enemy of Israel been so determinedly pursued as the             to deliver him into the king's hand."
various plots to destroy David and his small but valiant           The response of Saul was quick and elated and
force.       In the midst of it Jonathan was forced to live,    expressed itself  inxords that are apt to make us
and under it his soul suffered and wept. No dungeon             wince.    He said, "Blessed be ye of the Lord; for ye


394                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


have compassion on me. Go, I pray you, prepare yet,           confronted. He had indeed been surrounded by Saul's
and know and see his place where his haunt is, and who        men before; but that was when he was alone and able
hath seen him there: for it is told me that he dealeth        to slip through the enemy lines undetected.      Now he
very subtilly. See therefore, and take knowledge of all       had four hundred men with him, and he could not
the lurking places where he hideth himself, and come          escape himself without seeing them through to safety
ye again to me with the certainty, and I will go with         also.    Quickly David did what he could to try to evade
you: and it shall come to pass, if he be in the land, that    Saul's forces. The territory was large and he made
I will search him out throughout all the thousands of         every possible evasive move. First he brought the men
Judah."                                                       up into the rocky hills and then down into the open
 The depravity of King Saul had reached a new level           plains; but Saul was prepared this time and with the
of perversity and hardness.       Although he had never       men of Ziph to guide him he was able  .to keep in very
been a sincerely religious man, of course, it had not         close pursuit of David. At last, there was only a small
become openly evident until after his battle with Amalek      mountain between them, and every possible route of
when Samuel had informed him that God had rejected            escape for David was cut off. David was shut in by an
him and his family from continuing upon the throne of         army many times the size of his own force and one
Israel. This had hit him hard, for he had always con-         made up of his own countrymen against whom he was
sidered himself to be somewhat of a favorite with the         most hesitant to do battle. David's whole being drew
God of Israel even though religion itself did not appeal      back with revulsion from the very thought that he might
particularly to him. At the pronouncement of Samuel           have to fight against his own king and destroy his own
it seemed as though the spirit which had been upholding       countrymen.      But what could he do?' It appeared
him had suddenly vanished from him and he had been            truly unavoidable.
cast into a fit of deep depression. It was a long time           But God was with David, and at the last moment
before Saul was able to cast this off completely, and         there came a messenger running desperately into the
then it was only to have it replaced by a much greater        camp of King Saul.       His message was this, "Haste
form of wickedness. He determined that David was              thee, and come; for the Philistines have invaded the
ordained to be king after him, and somehow it relieved        land." To Saul it was the most terrible news  .imagin-
him to have a specific enemy upon which to focus his          able, not because he feared to fight the Philistines,
hatred. At first, he had more or less felt that in fight-     but because he wanted so badly to have out this battle
ing against David, he was also fighting against God. But      with David. But there really was no choice. With an
now time had passed and he had spent so much time             anguished sigh he signaled the men to turn back from
mulling over his plans to destroy David that he had           their pursuit of David and to follow him back to the
finally even convinced himself, at least at times, that       borders of Philistia; and as he went he knew deep down
it was a righteous battle that he was fighting, that          in his heart that so all of his efforts against David
David was a man of wickedness, and God was on his             would have to come to naught. But this was a voice to
own side. It was this that he was expressing when he          which he would never listen.
assured the Ziphites that he considered them to be               It was David alone that openly recognized and
blessed of God in their betrayal of David.                    acknowledged that true power which had saved him
   Soon, once again, David found himself in a most            once again. It was then, at that moment, that he began
critical position. Without warning one day, the Ziphites      to compose the words of Psalm 54, "Behold, God is
appeared at the edge of the wood where he and his men         mine helper...For he hath delivered me out of all
were camped leading a great army of Israelites. The           trouble: and mine eyes hath seen his desire upon mine
situation was as crucial as any he had ever before            enemies."




             RESOL UTION OF SYMPATHY                                         RESOL UTION OF SYMPATHY
The Eunice Society of Southwest Protestant Reformed           The Mary Martha Society of the Hope Protestant Re-
Church wishes to express its sincere sympathy to              formed Church, Redlands, California, herewith express-
Mrs. Albert Talsma in the loss of her brother                 es its sincere sympathy to one of its members, Mrs.
             MR. ANTHONIE DE KRAKER                           Kate Veldman, in the loss of her sister,
May our Heavenly Father comfort her in the knowledge
that He doeth all things well and for the welfare of His                       MRS. NELLIE VAN DYK
children.                                                     May the Lord comfort you in this time of sorrow.
                       Rev. G. Lubbers, Pres.                                                   Donna Huisken, Sec'y.
                       Mrs. R.  Clawson,  Sec'y.


                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                                          395



ALL AROUND  US-


                              The CRC  Synodical Agenda

                                       The Question of Evolution

                                                 The Position on  the. WCC

                                                         The Dekker Case

                                                                Other Matters of Interest

                                                       by Pyof. H. Hanko


THE CHRISTIAN REFORMED  SYNODICAL  AGENDA                               II. Matters of Specific Concern:
   The Agenda of the Synod of the Christian Reformed                          A. What is the nature of the Divine revelation in
Churches is a large book of 550 pages this year. We                 Genesis l-11?
give here a brief summary of some of the matters of                           B. What is the essential teaching of Gen. 1-11
interest which are coming before the Synod.                         regarding the origin of the universe and of man.
                                                                              C. In the light of these considerations, how
   Perhaps the three items of greatest interest to our              should we deal with the questions of detail such as have
readers are: The Dekker Case; The Question of                       arisen among us?
Evolution; The Christian Reformed Churches' position
on the World Council of Churches.                                    In this same connection a protest against the deci-
THE QUESTION OF EVOL UTION                                       sion of last year's Synod will have to be considered
                                                                 by this year's Synod.           This protest is a very well
   Our readers will recall that last year's Synod gave           worked out protest which questions "the decision of the
the material on evolution to a committee which was               Synod of  1966  to appoint a committee to recommend a
charged with the mandate of recommending a committee             committee" to study these matters of evolution. The
to study the question and of formulating a specific              well-grounded protest (grounds from Scripture itself
mandate for this committee.  The present committee               and the Confessions) reads in part:
recommended a committee of eight to study the question;
and it recommended that this committee be given the                         I. Specifically we protest the consideration of cer-
following mandate:                                                   tain matters which the Synod of 1966 seems to regard
      To serve Synod with a study of the problem of                  as legitimate for discussion such as:
   origins, as it confronts the Christian community today,                     1. The possibility that Genesis 1, 2, and 3 may
   which will assist pastors, ecclesiastical assemblies,             be viewed as being symbolic or poetic rather than
   and the whole body of Christian believers in dealing              historical and literal.
   with this problem in Biblical perspective.                                  2. The possibility that sub-human creation may
      Specifically, the committee is asked to address                have developed gradually from lower to higher forms
   itself to such matters as the following:                          of existence under divine direction by way of theistic
      I. Matters of Perspective:                                     evolution.
           A. The proper role of the church as community                       3. The possibility that Adam may have developed
   of believers, and the specific role of the church as              gradually from some lower form of animal under divine
   ecclesiastical organization, in dealing with the problem          direction by way of theistic evolution.
   of origins.                                                              II. Specifically we are concerned about the follow-
           B. The Christian evaluation of the cultural con-          ing:
   text in which the question of origins has arisen among                      1. "Theistic evolution" is being embraced and
   us as a problem.                                                  espoused by many present and `future leaders in our
           C. The proper function of Scripture and of                church.
   General Revelation in the development of a Christian                        2. The time factor and the element of indefinite-
   understanding of the origin of the universe and of man.           ness involved in appointing a committee to recommend
           D. The nature of the sciences (natural, anthro-           a committee to study this problem.
   pological, theological, etc.) from the Christianperspec-                    3. The considerable emphasis placed on "the
   tive, and an evaluation of their consequent contributions         present status of scientific studies" and the necessity
   to our knowledge of the origin of the universe and of             of having members on the committee who possess
   man.                                                              scientific competence, making these requirements


396                                                THE STANDARD BEARER


   almost equally as important as theological competence          grounds which we cannot quote, the recommendations
   and the ability to interpret the Reformed Confessions.         read:
            4. The seeming disregard for the perspicuity of
   Scripture and the competence of the average member                      We therefore propose that Synod do not make
   to exercise spiritual discernment in understanding by             isolated extra-creedal statements, but that it deal with
   faith such matters as creation,`the  fall andredemption.          the theological problems involved, by adopting the
         III. In the light of the above, we respectfully over-       following recommendations:
   ture the Synod of 1967:                                                 I. In the light of Scripture and the Confessions a
            1. To reaffirm the Biblical and traditional Re-          distinction must be maintained between God's general
   formed view of the historicity of Genesis 1, 2 and 3              benevolence toward all His creatures; His love of
   and of creation by divine fiat:  - "by the word of His            compassion for every sinner; and His unique love for
   power."                                                           His own (the elect).       It is therefore unwarranted to
            2. To remind Classes, the Board of Trustees,             speak of one love of God which is redemptive in nature
   School Boards, Consistories and all in positions of               for all men distributively.
   teaching and leadership that this is the official position              II. In the light of Scripture and the Confessions it
   of our church which signers of the "Form of Subscrip-             must be maintained that, although there are certain
   tion" are obligated to endorse, which they promise to             universal and undeserved benefits accruing to all men
   diligently teach and faithfully defend and which they             from the death of Christ, the atonement of Christ, as
   will  inno way contradict either by proposal, preaching,          expressed by the Biblical terms: obedience, expiation,
   teaching or writing unless there is an official change  of.       satisfaction, propitiation, reconciliation, and redemp-
   position.                                                         tion, is definite and particular (limited). It is there-
POSITION ON THE WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES                            fore unwarranted to state that "the atonement itself is
                                                                     inherently universal" and "there is neither need nor
   The committee appointed to study the position of                  warrant for retaining the con ept of limited atonement,
the Christian Reformed Church in relation to the World               as it has been traditionally used among us."
Council of Churches was asked to do this especially in                     III. In the light of Scripture and the Confessions it
the light of the decision of the  Gevefovmeevde Kevken               must be maintained that the atonement is efficacious
in the Netherlands who had gone on record as seeing                  and that there is no disjunction, but essential unity in
no reason why membership in this body was to be                      the work of the Triune God concerning our salvation.
                                                                     What God the Father willed in sovereign love for the
opposed.                                                             salvation of those elected in Christ; was effectually
   The committee split into a majority and minority                  merited by Christ through His death on the cross; and
element.        The majority report is a very lengthy but            is being savingly applied through the work of Holy
extremely well-worked out report which ends with                     Spirit. It is therefore unwarranted to state, "Redeeming
recommendations to Synod advising Synod to express                   efficacy lies neither in the love of God nor in the
her disapproval of the World Council of Churches; and                atonement as such, but rather in the redeemingwork of
advising Synod to send a copy of the report to the                   the Holy Spirit."
Gevefovmeevde Kevken.                                                      IV. In the light of Scripture and the Confessions it
   The minority report while also recommending that                  must be maintained that the particularism of redemp-
Synod decide "not to commit the Christian Reformed                   tion, historically applied in the lives of believers,
                                                                     is the fruit of a definite and particular ( limited)
Church to membership in the World Council of Churches                atonement, since the Holy Spirit Himself, who applies
at this time" nevertheless also asks Synod to declare                that redemption, is a gift which Christ has merited
that there is nothing in the basis, nature and purpose               for His people through His death.          It is therefore
of the World Council of Churches as defined by the                   unwarranted to "insist on a universal atonement, in
Constitution which makes membership impossible.                      the sense that . . . Christ died for all, and a
   There is also one overture sent to Synod from                     particular redemption based on God's decree to save
Classis  Wisconsin petitioning Synod not to join the                 only the elect," and incompatible with the statement:
W.C.C. and to advise the  Gevefovmeevde Kevken  not to               "At the same time I recognize . . . that the redeeming
affiliate with this body.                                            work of the Holy Spirit is a fruit of and is dependent
                                                                     upon Christ's atonement."
THE DEKKER CASE                                                            V. In the light of Scripture and the Confessions it
                                                                     must be maintained that when we preach and confront
   It is not surprising that material concerning the                 men with the Christ of the Scriptures we are not dealing
"Dekker Case" constitutes a large part of thematerial                with them as elect or non-elect, nor yet as those whose
coming before Synod.                                                 eternal destiny is an accomplished fact; but we are
   There is first of all a lengthy document from Prof.               dealing with them as sinners who must be pleaded with
Dekker himself which is a defense of his position                    to be reconciled to God in the way of repentance and
which he has taken on the atonement. This document                   faith. It is therefore unwarranted to state: "We may
alone is 27 pages long.                                              say to every man individually . . . `Christ died for
       Further the committee which has studied the Dekker            you' 1'; or to state: "When I say `Christ died for you'
Case for two years comes with a report to Synod                      to any man, I mean to say that Christ has actually
                                                                     suffered for his sins and has in that sense expiated
covering 84 pages to which is attached an appendix of                his guilt. If, however, the word `expiate' is intended
8 additional pages. In general, the report of the com-               by definition to include the idea of effectuation, . . . I
mittee is much the same as last year's report. How-                  would not want to use the word  expiation to describe
ever, some changes have been made in the recommen-                   what Christ has done for all men."
dations with which the report ends. Along with extensive                   VI. In the light of Scripture and the Confessions


                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER                                                      397


   the Church must maintain that the atoning work of             again that a study committee be appointed to seek ways
   Christ is the basis for the universal and well-meant          to bring Calvin College under society control rather
   offer of the gospel in missionary preaching, the heart        than ecclesiastical control.
   of its message, and the guarantee of its fruitfulness.           One overture asks "that those who are teaching in
   And this is an incentive to mission spirit and activity.
   It is, therefore, unwarranted to state that "thedoctrine      Calvin College and Seminary contrary to Holy Scripture
   of limited atonement, as commonly understood and              as we of the Christian Reformed church as a denomina-
   observed in the Christian Reformed Church . . . tends         tion believe Scripture ought to be interpreted, viz.: in
   to inhibit missionary spirit and activity."                   harmony with our accepted Forms of Unity  (Heid.
   There are also various overtures coming to Synod              Catechism, Belgic Confession, and the Canons of Dordt)
dealing with this same case. Although these overtures            be forbidden from the promotion of such views."
overlap somewhat, they do express also a certain                    There is an overture protesting the Catechism
difference of opinion in the churches. Two overtures             material published by the  Synodical  Committee on
ask  .for a continued discussion of the atonement using          Education.
the material thus far presented to Synod as a guide.                There is also an appeal against Dr. Kromminga's
Five overtures ask for a decision which is in harmony            participation in the "interfaith ecumenical service"
with the Doctrinal Study Committee's recommendations,            last November. This appeal is against the decision of
three of these five also asking for enforcement of the           the Board of Trustees which upheld Dr. Kromminga's
Formula of Subscription and treatment of departures              action.
from the view of the committee according to the                     All in all, matters coming before this year's Synod
Church Order and the Formula of Subscription. Two                are important for the maintenance of the Reformed
overtures specifically request that the views of Prof.           faith in the Christian Reformed Church.             It is our
Dekker be condemned and one asks that measures be                sincere hope that the Christian Reformed Church will
taken to insure that these views of Prof. Dekker no              maintain the truth of Scripture and purge herself of
longer be taught in the Seminary.                                the errors which now trouble the church deeply  -
                                                                 errors which to a considerable extent go back to the
OTHER MATTERS OF INTEREST                                        basic error of common grace adopted now some 43
   One overture is coming to Synod requesting once               years ago.



 CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH-


                                 The Effects of the Fall

                                     The First Period:  80-250 A.D.


                                                      by Rev. H. Veldman


   Hagenbach, writing on the "Effects of the Fall,"                 sin of every individual, as found in experience, had its
writes as follows:                                                  type in the sin of Adam, and consequently appeared to
                                                                    be a repetition of the first sinrather than its necessary
      Death was the punishment which Jehovah had                    consequence. In order to explain the mysterious power
   threatened to inflict upon the transgressors of his law.         which drives man to evil, they had recourse to the
   Nevertheless the act of transgression was not imme-              influence of the demons, strong, but not absolutely
   diately succeeded by death, but by a train of evils which        compulsory, rather than to a total bondage of the will
   came upon both the man and the woman, introductory               (as the result of original sin). Nevertheless we meet
   to death, and testifying that man had become mortal.             in the writings of Irenaeus with intimations of more
   Accordingly, both death and physical evils were con-             profound views about the effects of the fall. Tetullian
   sidered as the effects of Adam's sin; thus, e.g. by              and Origen aided more defintely the theory of original
   Irenaeus and others.      But opinions were not as yet           sin, though on different grounds. Origen thought that
   fully developed concerning the moral depravity of each           souls were stained with sin in a former state, and thus
   individual, and the sin of the race in general, considered       enter into the world in a sinful condition. To this idea
   as the effect of the first sin. They were so much dis-           he added another, allied to the notions of Gnostics and
   posed to look upon sin as the free act of man's will,            Manichees, vis., that there is a stain in physical
   that they could hardly conceive of it as simply a heredi-        generation itself.    According to Tertullian, the. soul
   tary tendency, transmitted from one to another. The              itself is propagated with all its defects, as matter is


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  398                                                     THESTANDARDBEARER


            propagated. The phrase  "vitium  originis," first used           from Adam had fallen under the power of death, and
            by him, is in perfect accordance with this view. But             the guile of the serpent, and each one of which had
            were far from considering inherent depravity as                  committed personal transgression. For God, wishing
            constituting accountability, and still farther from be-          both angels and men, who were endowed with freewill;
            lieving in the entire absence of.human  liberty.                 and at their own disposal, to do whatever He had
                                                                             strengthened each to do, made them so, that if they
            Justin Martyr, in his dialogue with the Jew, Trypho,             chose the things acceptable to Himself, He would keep
  chapter  95,  laments the universal corruption of man-                     them free from death and from punishment; but that if
  kind.          In this chapter, entitled: "Christ Took Upon                they did evil, He would punish each as He sees fit.
  Himself The Curse Due To Us," he writes:                                   Similar sentiments are also expressed by Justin
               For the whole human race will be found to b.e under        Martyr in Chapter 124 of this dialogue. In  this chapter
            a curse. For it is written inthe law of Moses, `Cursed        he first quotes Ps. 82. And then he writes as follows:
            is every one that continueth not in all things that are
            written in the book of the law to do them." And no one              But in the version of the Seventy it is written,
            has accurately done all, nor will you venture to deny            "Behold, ye die like men, and fall like one of the
            this; but some more and some less than others have               princes," in order to manifest the disobedience of m,en,
            observed the ordinances enjoined. But if those who               -I mean of Adam and Eve, - and the fall of one of the
            are under this law appear to be under a curse for not            princes, i.e., of him who was called the serpent, who
            having observed all the requirements, how much more              fell with a great overthrow, because he deceived Eve.
            shall all the nations appear to be under a curse who             But as my discourse is not intended to touch on this
            practice idolatry, who seduce youths, and commit other           point, but to prove to you that the Holy Ghost reproaches
            crimes7 If, then, the Father of all wished His Christ            men because they were made like God, free from suf-
            for the whole human family to take upon Him the                  fering and death, provided that they kept His command-
            curses of all, knowing that, after He had been crucified         ments, and were deemed deserving of the name of His
            and was dead, He would raise Him up, why do you                  sons, and yet, they, becoming like Adam and Eve, work
            argue about Him, who submitted to suffer these things            out death for themselves; let the interpretation of the
            according to the Father's will, as if He were accursed,          Psalm be held just as you wish, yet thereby it is
            and do not rather bewail yourselves?                            *demonstrated that all men are deemed worthy of be-
            Nevertheless, it appears that original sin, and the              coming "gods," and of having power to become sons
                                                                             of the Highest; and shall be each by himself judged and
  imputation of Adam's guilt are conceptions foreign to                      condemned like Adam and Eve.
  Justin Martyr.             At least, although there may be and
  are men who completely corrupt, yet there are others                       The same also applies to Clement of Alexandria.
  who are characterized by moral feelings. This appears                   He, although admitting the universality of sin among
  in the same dialogue with Trypho, chapter 93:                           men,  does not seem to regard man as absolutely
                                                                          depraved.    He sets forth the idea that men become
               For God sets before every race of mankind that             noble and good by learning, as in Book I, chapter 6:
            which is always and universally just, as well as all
            righteousness; and every race knows that adultery, and              For nutriment, and the training which is maintained
            fornication, and homicide, and such like, are sinful;            gentle, make noble natures; and noble natures, when
            and though they all commit such practices, yet they do           they have received such training, become still better
            not escape from the knowledge that they act unright-             than before both in other respects, but especially in
            eously whenever they so do, with the exception of those          productiveness, as is the case with the other crea-
            who are possessed with an unclean spirit, andwho have            tures.    Wherefore it is said, "Go to the ant, thou
            been debased by education, by wicked customs, and by             sluggard, and become wiser than it, which provideth
            sinful institutions, and who have lost, or rather quenched       muchandvaried food in the harvest against the inclem-
            and put under, their natural ideas. For we may see               ency of winter."      Or go to the bee, and learn how
            that such persons are unwilling to submit to the same            laborious she is; for she, feeding on the whole meadow,
            things which they inflict upon others, and reproach each         produces one honey-comb. And if "thou prayest in the
            other with hostile conscie&ces  for the acts which they          closet," as the Lord taught, "to worship in spirit,"
            perpetrate.                                                      thy management will no longer be solely occupied
                                                                             about the house, but also about the soul, what must be
            It is also difficult to conclude from the following              bestowed on it, and how, and how much; and what must
  quotation of Justin Martyr that he understood fully the                    be laid aside and treasured up in it; and when it ought
  Scriptural truth of the imputation of Adam's guilt to                      to be produced, and to whom. For it is not by nature,
,all mankind and that Adam's corruption was trans-                           but by learning, that people become noble and good,
  mitted to the entire human race, Chapter 88:                               as people also become physicians and pilots. We all
                                                                             in common, for example, see the vine and the horse.
               And then, when Jesus had gone to the river Jordan,            But the husbandman will know if the vine be good or
            where John was baptizing, and when He had stepped                bad at fruit-bearing; and the horseman will easily
            into the water, a fire was kindled in the Jordan; and            distinguish between the spiritless and the swift animal.
            when He came out of the water, the Holy Ghost lighted            But that some are naturally predisposed  tovirtue above
            on Him like a dove, as the apostles of this very Christ          others, certain pursuits of those, who are so naturally
            of ours wrote. Now, we know that he did not go to the            predisposed above others, show. But that perfection in
            river because He stood in need of baptism, or of the             virtue is not the exclusive property of those, whose
            descent of the Spirit like a dove; even as He submitted          natures are better, is proved, since also those who by
            to be born and to be crucified, not because He-needed            nature are ill-disposed towards virtue, in obtaining
            such things, but because of the human race, which                suitable training, for the most part. attain to excellence;


                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER                                                     399


   and, on the other hand, those whose natural disposi-            difference between being born so and being made so.
   tions are apt; become evil through neglect.                     For the first is indeed born from the person referred
   Clement also rejects the idea of original sin as                to; but the second is made so by him, whether as
already imputed to children, and he does not regard                respects his creation or by the teaching of his doctrine.
Ps.  51:5 and proof, which reads: "Behold, I was                   For when any person has been taught from the mouth
                                                                   of another, he is termed the son of him who instructs
shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive              him, and the latter is called his father. According to
me."                                                               nature, then- that is, according to creation, so to
   Irenaeus developed the doctrine of original sin and             speak- we are all sons of God, because we have all
hereditary evil so fully, that the characteristic features         been created by God. But with respect to obedience
of the western type of this doctrine may be fully                  and doctrine we are not all the sons of God; those only
recognized.                                                        are so who believe in Him and do His will. .And those
   In his "Writings Against Heresies," Vol. IV, chapter            who do not believe, and do not obey His will, are sons
41, Irenaeus distinguishes between what men are by                 and angels of the devil, because they do the works of
virtue of their creation by God and what they have                 the devil.    And that such is the case He has declared
                                                                   in Isaiah: "I have begotten and brought up children,
become through their disobedience.           He writes as          but they have rebelled against Me." And again, where
follows:                                                           He says that these children are aliens: "Strange
        Since therefore, all things were made by God, and          children have lied unto Me." 1 According to nature,
   since the devil has become the cause of apostasy to             then, they are His children, because they have been
   himself and others, justly does the Scripture always            so created; but with regard to their works, they are
   term those who remain in a state of apostasy "sons of           not His children.
   the devil" and "angels of the wicked one" (maligni).
   For the word "son," as one before me has observed,
   has a twofold meaning: one is a son in the order of             In this quotation Irecaeus distinguishes rather
   nature, because he was born a son; theother, in that he      clearly, and does not hesitate to call man, as he is a
   was made so, is reputed a son, although there be a           sinner, a child of the devil.



    IN HIS  FEAR-


                        Virgins For Christ's Sake

                                                     (continued)

                                                     by Rev. J. A. Heys


   There was a time when the murderer was looked                still a very socially acceptable person. That is, of
upon as an evil man. Today he is often pitied more              course, if you can get away with it before men. You
than the relatives of the murdered. And he is presented         never get away with it before God. If you get caught,
as the victim himself of anuncontrollable evil for which        there is a period  of  shame  befove:men   which you may
he is not responsible, namely, insanity.                        have to experience.        But more and more freedom
   Likewise the young man or young woman who com-               for these evils is demanded and practiced, without
mits the sin forbidden in the seventh commandment,              any regard to the fact that God is still in heaven and
instead of being considered to be a sinner is accused of        not dead, as men would like to have Him be. The
no more than being guilty of a social indecency or              seventh commandment expresses His unchangeable will
evil and is presented as one who is to be pitied because        as surely as the sixth, which forbids murder. And
he became a victim of some "body chemistry." The                the penalty for committing the sin forbidden by the
spiritual aspect of sins is talked away. That men have          seventh commandment is as great and identical to that
sinned against .God is an old fashioned approach to             of the sixth commandment. Sin is sin, and as James
modern problems and will bring no solution!                     writes, whether we break this or that commandment,
                                                                we break the whole law. It is not possible to love God
   The sin forbidden by God in the seventh command-             while breaking the second table of the law any more
ment is not forbidden today by men, but at best is              than it is to do so while breaking the first table of the
frowned upon. If you can. "get away with it," you are           law.


400                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


    Let it be stated here first of all that there is a        the knowledge of that sin of adultery is spread perhaps
difference between a public sin and making a sin public.      even years and generations later by a gossipy, back-
The sin against the seventh commandment is usually            biting tongue !
one that must be confessed publicly before the church,           As we wrote, there is forgiveness with God, and there
not because it is worse than theft or murder or covet-        ought, therefore, to be forgiveness with men. And
ousness, but exactly because it is public and brings          forgiveness means receiving as though the sin has
shame and reproach to the church of Christ. It be-            never been committed.          The blood of Christ is able
comes public because it bears visible and public              to make the scarlet white as snow. The cross that
fruit.    And when it cannot be hid because it manifests      could promise a penitent malefactor immediate glory
itself in the birth of a child, or the coming birth of a      in heaven is able to save the adulterer and adulteress
child,, it is a public sin, though it was committed, as       and to make us once again virgin's for Christ's sake.
usual, in secret and in darkness as  awork of darkness.       The adulterer and adulteress who have confessed their
The church that does not demand public confession             sins are more honourable than the thieves  andmurder-
or public announcement of such confession invites all         ers and liars and revolutionists who do not confess.
manner of increase in this evil not only, but advertises      This has always puzzled us in the churchand has never
itself as one not concerned with the walk of life of its      looked to us as in His fear. Other. sins have become
mem.bers  and as one little concerned with the law of         public, and no confession is required. Why? A church
God, and consequently as one not moved by the love            member gets his name in the newspaper for theft,
of God expressed in that law.        It may look ever so      for breaking the fifth commandments in reckless driving
merciful and "Christian" to overlook such sins, but it        or speeding (potential murder), or violating fishing and
certainly is not.     It shows no mercy to the rest of        hunting laws.        The world knows of these matters,
the congregation, and it is never mercy to encourage          and so does the church council and the congregation.
the rest of the young people in this sin, because the         Very often as far as traffic laws and hunting and fishing
church council  is  sympathetic towards those who be-         restrictions are concerned  - which  are laws  imposed by
come victims of "body chemistry" and see little or            those to whom GOD gives authority in these spheres  -
no sin before God.       Neither is it Christian. Christ      the violations are laughed about and the content of
never did that! He forgave the sin. And we want to            these episodes becomes the occasion for laughter and
say something about that presently. But He did not            amusement.         But they are not! They too are rebellion
cover up any sin. Witness His public cleansings of            against God; Who is pleased to place men over us to
the temple. This was a public sin, and He did not sit         rule us in every sphere and department of our life and
down and first write a few personal and private letters       with all the creatures of this earth. The young man or
to the evil doers to warn them that they must get out!        woman to whom God gives the grace to confess his
He did not quietly walk up to each one and whisper in         sin of fornication is more honourable and pleasing in
his ears the fact that this was His Father's house and        His sight than those who commit these other sins and
that they must take out their  merchandize.         He let    laugh about them and make no confession private or
the public know that the Church may not condone such          public of having not walked in love before Him. And
things ! He rebuked sin openly when the sin was openly        one who has fallen and risen in confession is a far
committed. And even though Peter had runout  weeping          stronger Christian than one who has never fallen and
tears of repentance after his public denial of Christ,        dares to boast of being incapable of falling. Peter was
Jesus demanded of him a public confession before the          not strong in faith when he boasted of never forsaking
Church, in the person of the disciples, at the Sea of         Christ, even though all the other disciples would.
Galilee. Peter had to answer three times before those         But Peter was strong when he ran out weeping tears of
before whom he publicly boasted of loving Him more            repentance and publicly confessing by these tears his
than these. No, the Christian thing to do is to demand        sorrow for his sin.
that people walk as Christians; and that means confess           Confession is a good work, but it is far more pleas-
publicly sin that has been committed publicly or become       ing in God's sight that we so walk that confession is
publicly known because of the nature of that sin.             not necessary.         "To obey is better than sacrifice;
    However, not every sin against the seventh com-           and to hearken than the fat of rams." To remain a
mandment need be confessed  publicly..  As we said,           virgin for Christ's sake is far to be preferred to re-
there is a difference between public confession of sin        turning from adultery. Return we must, when we have
and of making a sin public by confession. Lest we             departed.    But it is far better to continue in good than
are misunderstood let it be stated first that every young     to confess that we departed. A filled tooth is fine and
man or young woman who commits the sin MUST con-              may serve again for a long time. But the decay that
fess that sin, regardless of whether he "gets caught"         demanded that filling was for a time painful and is
or not and regardless of whether the sin will become          not something to.seek,  even though it may be repaired.
public or not. Sin must always be confessed. And the          What a relief for the nearsighted to be able to have
Pill does not eliminate the sin, even though it may elim-     corrective lenses; but it is far better to be able to see
inate the. public nature of that sin.    But the church       well without them.         God demands that we love Him
is not to make public a- sin that is not known; Which         uninterruptedly and not as a corrective measure. And
also means, of course, that once it. has been confessed       confession does not pay for. sin. It declares with God
publicly, or the fact of the confession has been announced    that it was sin. It honours and glorifies Him, but the
publicly, that sin is gone; and it is another sin when        better way to honour and glorify Him is not to commit


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                   401


the sin in the first place.                                    body can do to this body chemistry. Adam and Eve
   In the day and age in which we live there is so much        also became aware of their nakedness as soon as they
then that our young people need to avoid so as not to          hadsinned. But Leviticus  18:6-19 is likewise. a warning
fall into the temptation and to continue as virgins, rather    that `is necessary not simply because of body chemis-
than to fall and confess the evil. That there is this          try but because of that lust of the flesh and of the eyes.
element of "body chemistry" would `be foolish to deny.         To this may also be added Leviticus  20:17-21.  All
That men were not so educated in the day when Moses            this falls in the category of that of which we spoke
was given this seventh commandment on Mt. Sinai                last time and is referred to in the Heidelberg Catechism
that they knew anything about "body chemistry" does            in its explanation of what is demanded and forbidden
not take away the fact that it is there, and always was        in the seventh commandment. The Catechism, you will
there.    In itself this body chemistry is a wonderful         recall, condemned also that which "entices men there-
function of these earthly tabernacles in which wedwell.        to." This usually is what the eye sees and that to which
And we are not simply referring to this body chemistry         the eye is attracted by the seducer. It can, however,
that sometimes leads to the sin condemned in the seventh       be words and gestures. But the eye plays an important
commandment, but the whole amazing process that                part in any attempt at seduction and temptation. Sad
controls all the systems of the body, the digestive,           to say this is often that which attracts the covenant
circulatory, excretory as well as the reproductive sys-        young man to an unbelieving young woman. It is not
tems.     As we said, men were not so "educated" in            without good reason that God moved Moses to write in
the days of Moses, that is, as far as the workings of          Genesis  6:2, "That the sons of God (the covenant
the various members and organs in our bodies, but              young men) saw the daughters of men that they were
they surely were spiritually educated and knew that God        fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose."
had wrought all this wonder and power in our bodies.           And Delilah, the Philistine harlot, became such an en-
Thus the psalmist says in Psalm  139:14, "I will praise        ticement for Samson.
Thee; for I am fearly and wonderfully made: marvellous            But matters become "worse" with bodily contact,
are Thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well."           and let us note that "worse" in quotation marks is
   Body chemistry being what it is, and there being            due to the fact that we are speaking of the sin. This
in us as well the lust of the eyes and of the flesh, and       body chemistry through sight or touch is not in itself
therefore the desire to use our flesh for self rather          sinful but part of that fearful and wonderful way in
than in His fear, in His service, and as virgins for           which we were made. It is part of GOD'S marvellous
Christ's sake, the one matter that above all bears             work.    But for the unmarried both of these are to be
watching by our covenant young people is bodily contact!       controlled in His fear and, the Lord willing, we want
There is enough for the eye to see in this lewd world          to say something about these matters in the dance,
to activate this body chemistry, that bodily contact           courtship, the teen-age date and the like. For our
must be watched as never before. The account. of Ham's         covenant seed must remain virgins for Christ's sake.
evil in connection with Noah's in Genesis 9 ought to be        And their bodies must be living sacrifices to God as
a warning and indicate to us what the sight of a naked         their reasonable service.



    TRYING THE SPIRITS-



           Dispensationalism and The True Zion


                                                  by Rev. R. C.  Havbach


    The undersigned was born, baptized and raised in a         tation they mean, as the dictionary shows, one "ac-
Presbyterian church where Dispensationalism had                cording to the letter; real, not figurative." At this
crept in and imbued him with its teaching. By it he            point we may save ourselves much confusion if we see
became acquainted with a certain class of "Bible               that such texts as Rom.  2:27-29;  7:6 and II Cor.  3:6 do
teachers" who boast that they understand, interpret            not apply in this definition, as the distinction between
and teach the Bible  ZitevaiZy. They emphasize this in         "letter" and "spirit" is not analogous to "literal"
such a way as to give the  imp?ession that they espe-          and "figurative."       But we do not care much for the
cially for this reason meet one of the principal tests of      dictionary use here and the word "literal," not be-
orthodoxy. They point out that by a "literal" interpre-        cause Dispensationalists employ the term, but because it


402                                             THE STANDARD BEARER


is inadequate. For a passage of Scripturemay be taken           12:22,  2 3 . "    (The Book  of  Revelation,  p. 131)          But
"literally" and still refer to that which is "real" or          William R. Newell, also a very strict Dispensationalist,
that which is "figurative." For example, the words,             takes the Mt. Zion here to be the "seat of the glorious
"that which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (John  3:6)        reign" of Christ and the saints in the historical
surely are to be taken literally. Are they not literally        Jerusalem  (The Book  of  the Revelation,  p. 209). In the
true? But are theytobeunderstood in the natural sense           interest of adhering as strictly as possible to the so
or the figurative sense? Evidently the latter! So when          called "literal" interpretation (for he maintains that
it is said, "She  literally  sailed into the room," what        "the number 144,000 is literal," i.e.,  strictlyarithme-
sense is intended? Obviously the  figurative!  But it is        tical) Newell interprets, "And I saw, and behold, the
a mistake of the dispensationalists to suppose that the         Lamb standing on the Mt. Zion" to mean that "the
so called "literal" interpretation necessarily calls for        Lamb is seen standing on Mt. Zion before He actually
something  material  or  natural;  For a comparison of          comes there as in Revelation 19." This means, to be
Isa.  54:l with Gal.  4:26f will prove otherwise.               consistent with literalism, that the  Lamb is seen on
       We therefore rather prefer to distinguish between        Mt. Zion "literally" and bodily before He comes there
the  natural  and the  spiritual. Scripture makes this          literally and bodily in the final and visible coming of
distinction (I Cor.  15:46). The distinction is not that of     Revelation 19.
the "figurative" and "real" ("literal"), but that of the            Mt. Zion originally was a heathen Canaanite strong-
natural and spiritual.       To illustrate, the word "the       hold. David conquered it and fortified it. There he
reproach of the Christ" (Heb.  11:26) we are certainly          raised up the tabernacle of David  -and placed in it the
to believe literally, but what is the sense intended in         ark of the covenant. So that here on Zion the church
the words? a natural or a spiritual one? Plainly the            becomes centered.        Not in the tabernacle of Moses,
latter, for "the Christ" here, according to the principle       then at  Gibeon, but in the tabernacle of David  Gentiles
of parallelism refers to "the people of God" (v. 25)            were also gathered.         Proof: Psalm  87! Eminently
and so means the Church, the Body of Christ. To                 suited is Zion to be the symbol of the Church of God!
enlarge a little, Jesus said, "the Scripture cannot be              Let the reader take a concordance and trace the
broken."         Without question we take those words           words "Sian" and "Zion" throughout the Scripture.
literally. Yet we understand that Jesus did not have            He will find something like this: "But chose the tribe of
something material or natural in mind. He was talking           Judah, the mount Zion which He loved." (Ps.  78:68)
about the infallibility of the truth. Where the Jews            "And out of Zion it shall be said, `This and that man
went wrong, and where the Dispensationalists per-               was born in her: and the Highest Himself shall estab-
petuate their error, is not in understanding the Scrip-         lish her."' (87:5) "Thou shalt arise, and have mercy
ture literally, but in interpreting it naturally where          upon Zion: for the time to favor her, yea, the set time
not only unwarranted, but where such an interpretation          is come." (102:13) Expressed here is God's love and
renders it altogether impossible to beunderstood. This          mercy upon the regenerated elect, not dotage upon a
is plainly delineated in Jesus' words, "Destroy this            natural hilly locale in Palestine. The idea is not only
temple, and in three days I will raise it up again"             meaningless, it is pitiable, as the following reveals.
(John  2:19).     The Jews understood this in the natural       "For the Lord hath chosen Zion; He hath desired it
sense, as applying to that material building sited on           for His habitation. This is My rest for ever; here will
one of the two peaks of Zion, Mt. Moriah. "But He               I dwell; for I have desired it." (132:13f)
spake of the temple of His body." Just so, when we                 Many passages in the O.T. reveal that "Zion" is a
read that "there was war in heaven. Michael and his             designation of the people of God. "Remember  Thy
angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought         congregation which Thou hast purchased of old: the rod
and his angels," (Rev. 12:7)  it ought to be perfectly          of Thine inheritance, which Thou hast redeemed; this
clear that no mere natural meaning is intended, but             mount Zion,  wherein Thou hast dwelt."  (74:2) Again
spiritual ideas are in view.         For "we wrestle not        notice Zion is a people.       "Zion  heard, and was glad,
against flesh and blood, but against principalities,            and  the  daughters  of  Judah  rejoiced because of Thy
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of           judgments, 0 Lord."  (97:s)       "I have put My words in
this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."       thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of
(Eph. 6:12)                                                     Mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the
   So, the Dispensationalists have been called extreme          foundations of the earth, and say unto  Zion, Thou  avt
"literalists." But they naturalize Scripture more than          My people."  (Isa.  51:16) "They that trust in the Lord
they literalize it. The Scripture does not need to be           shall be as mount  Zion,  which cannot be removed,
literalized.     It is already so.  What;the  Bible needs is    but abideth forever. As the mountains are round about
proper interpretation. When; fG&ample,  we read of              Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about  His  peopZe from
"Zion," much more is meant than merely a mountain               henceforth, even forever."         ( P s .   125:l)   T h e   r e a l
in Palestine. Naturalize the term "Zion," and a most            preaching agency in the world is the congregation
glorious truth of the gospel is reduced to an absurdity.        (qahal) of the Lord, the  ckuvch  (ekklesia).  "0 Zion,
This will be evident in the following. Clarence  Larkin         that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the highest
of Foxchase, Philadelphia, than whom there is no one            mountain; 0 Jerusalem that bringest good tidings, lift
more dispensational, taught that the Mt. Zion of Rev.           up thy voice with strength; lift it up, but not afraid;
14:l `is not "of the earthly Jerusalem, but of the heav-        say unto the cities of Judah, `Behold your God!"' (Isa.
enly Jerusalem, of which Paul (sic) speaks in Heb.              40:6)


                                              THE  STANDiRD BEARER                                                     403


   This is all in harmony with the interpretive passage        Pet.  2:6)    It was the place not only of glad tidings,
in Hebrews  12:22, "But ye have come unto mount Zion,          but of salvation.    "0 that the salvation of Israel were
and unto the  :ity of the living God, the heavenly Jeru-       come out of Zion! when the Lord  bringeth. back the
salem; and to an innumerable company of angels: to             captivity of His people," (Ps. 14:7) an aspiration that is
the general assembly and church of the firstborn."             surely realized (Isa:  52:7), for it is the place of divine
Who have come already to Mt. Zion? According to                blessing: "The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion,"
this epistle, the "holy brethren, partakers of the                   128:5) and no less than the blessing of eternal
heavenly calling,"  (3:l) that is, true, regenerated           Ifi:*: "as the dew of Hermon that descendeth upon the
Christians.                                                    mountains of Zion: for there the Lord commanded the
   When we read "the Lord hath chosen Zion" (Ps.               blessing, even life for evermore." (133:3) Zion indeed
132:13) the meaning is that God chose a people. When           enjoyed salvation! "Zion shall be redeemed with judg-
we read that God "dwelleth in Zion," (9:11), it is the         ment, and her converts with righteousness." (Isa.  1:27)
O.T. way of referring to the "habitation of God through        "The Redeemer shall come to Zion." (59:20) It is also
the Spirit," (Eph.  2:22; see I Tim.  3:lS) "The Lord the place of the Redeemer's royal throne, which he
loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of        shall occupy not for a mere millennium, but "the Lord
Jacob." (87:2) Compare this with "the gates of hell            shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth,
shall not prevail against it" (Mt.  16:18) and "Christ         even for ever." (Mic.  4:7)
loved the church." (Eph.  5:25) The mere natural hill
of Zion in the earthly Jerusalem shall be burned up in            In the N.T. Zion is called "the city of the living
that final universal conflagration (II Pet. 3). But the        God." In the O.T. Zion is calledthe city of God. He is
spiritual Zion "abideth forever." (Ps.  125:l)  Hence,         the Builder of it. He inhabits it. He exercises His
it is called "beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole    sovereign rule there. His elect Gentile children there
earth," and "the perfection of beauty." (48:2;  50:2, 5)       "are no more strangers and foreigners, but  fellow-
It is the place where God's elect are new-born. "And           citizens with the saints." (Eph.  2:19) Their citizen-
of Zion it shall be said, `This and that man was born in       ship is in the heavenly Jerusalem, where they principally
her.' " (87:5)    It is the sphere of election. "Behold, I     already are. Zion, then, is  spiritual,  andin it is all the
lay in Sion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious: and          free and sovereign love of God made ours and ready for
he that believeth on Him shall not be confounded." (I          the faith of God's elect to appropriate and enjoy!



    THE CHURCH AT  WORSHIP-


                                     The Elder's Task

                                                   (continued)

                                                by Rev. G.  Vanden   Berg

                                                Counsellovs  (Continued)


   We do not exaggerate when we say that the major             for all Christians. Not infrequently we hear of mem-
task of the elder in the church is that of  counselling.       bers of the church, arguing in defense of questionable
This does not mean that he is called upon at set times         practices, say, "What's so wrong with that? The
to sit down in conference, to deliberate and advise            elders do it!" Any further attempt to convince such
with regard to various problems that arise in the              members of wrongdoing is futile, for if the elders do
life of the members of the church and even in the              it, it must have the sanction of the church. In this
church at large. Although this function is certainly           respect the elders have a strong influence but also
not to be excluded, it may `not be. construed as the           carry a very great responsibility. Always let it be
limitation of his task.                                        remembered that one's conduct holds more potential
   In a sense the life of the elder is in itself a giving      advisory power than one's opinion, and especially when
of advice, good or bad. There is an adage, "Actions            the latter is not in accord with the former, its strength
speak louder than words," which has considerable               is greatly weakened.
application here.     The elders of the church ought to           Counselling is soul-care. No one would question
realize that their conduct is expected to be exemplary         the fact that the souls of the people of God are often


404                                            THESTANDARDBEARER


disturbed, tried, troubled and even confused in this              The third method the author rejects is the "Author-
world of sin, and often therefore in need of the good          itarian Approach" in which the elder assumes the
advice of the elder.       By  counselling from the Word of    "father role" or "plays God" and assumes the posi-
God the elder can be a means to establish confidence,          tion that he alone is capable of deciding the course of
courage and hope in the troubled soul. Directing the           behavior for the members of the church. This method
soul to Him Who is "the Truth, the Way and the Life"           usually succeeds only in building up strong resentment.
is a glorious and important task. We do not minimize           The one who is in need of counsel is not brought to
all of this when we point to the danger that always            see and to feel the need of his changing his course of
lurks of undermining and destroying the effectiveness          action and adopting a different pattern for his life,
of this work by the impartation of poor advice through         and if such is actually the case, he cannot really be
unbecoming conduct on the part of an elder. The good           helped in his problem until he is brought to see that.
elder not only holds fast the profession of faith; he          Although the elder certainly is vested with the authority
lives it, and in so doing he gives an irrefutable testi-       of his office, he must not use this as a coercion in
mony to all who know him.                                      rendering advice.       This will weaken rather than
       Rev.  R. Heynen, pastor of the Pine Rest Christian      strengthen his counsel.
Psychopathic Hospital, wrote a little pamphlet entitled,          From here the author of the above named pamphlet
"Guidelines For Elders." In this pamphlet he stresses          proceeds to outline a method of counseling which "is
the importance of the elder's work as a counselor. In          not intended to be a prescription as to `how to do it',
our present article we will share some of his guide-           but lays down certain concepts which we hope you will
lines with our readers.                                        find helpful in your work." The following points are
       Defining the elder's task, the author quotes Dr. B.     enumerated in his outline:
Wurth as follows:       "In the care of souls we are con-         (1) Learn the Art of Listening. Let the burdened
cerned with an encounter, an encounter between us as           one unburden himself and let him do this with the
elders with a person who needs our help, in the hope           minimum of interference. Let him  tallc freely. Listen
that this interpersonal encounter will be conducive            carefully and often you will discover the hidden cause
to the great encounter of God with this person, and of         of the problem.
this person with God."           He then adds, "It is not         (2) Be Alert to the Emotional Overtones. Here to
enough to tell a person with a great problem, `Just            be remembered is that what is said is not alone im-
pray about it'. You must also try as a person to enter         portant but also how it is said. The author tells a story
into the problem of this person and try to help him            of a certain young man who came to see an elder and
find a solution.     But as an elder, you also represent       said, "I can't understand this matter of God's Provi-
the church.        You are not just serving as a social        dence." So the elder immediately started explaining
worker or a non-Christian counselor.          You become       this doctrine to him. When this was finished the young
involved in the lives of the members of the church             man got up to leave and said "My girl friend guit me
because of the position to which you have been chosen.         last night." The elder had missed the whole point of
So you use the best possible human means to assist the         the interview because he did not wait to find out what
person, but your goal and aim always must be the               really was troubling the young man.
spiritual benefit and spiritual growth of the members
of the flock of Christ."                                          (3) Counseling also Includes Instruction.         The
   In this role the elder needs to exercise a great            author suggests three kinds of instruction: on an
deal of patience and sympathy but he also needs                emotional level, on an intellectual level, or on a
"empathy," which means that you put yourself in the            practical level.    He cautions that none of this should
place of others. Yet so that he is not carried away,           be given in an authoritarian way but suggest the more
but only that he may really understand the problem             effective method of giving the person counseled a choice
and be an invincible aid in working toward a solution.         of various alternatives or to put your instruction in an
   Discussing the methods of counseling, the above             interrogative form.     "Don't you think that it would be
author mentions three approaches, admitting that every         well to try it this way?" And in this connection must
situation must determine which method is to be chosen          be kept in mind, as we have stressed before, that the
and in many cases a combination of methods may be              counsel must be based on and in accord with the Word
advisable.                                                     of God. It is best, whenever possible, to let the Word
               The author is critical of the three methods     of God speak for itself.
he mentions.      By the "Warning and Advising Method"
he points out "the only result that you can hope to               (4) Prayer often Can Be a Strengthening Force in
achieve is to change the superficial behavior of people.       Counseling.    We quote from the pamphlet here: "Not
You do not solve any problems. At best this method             every visit or session need be closedwithprayer. It is
gives the elder the feeling that he has done his duty,         well to ask the person if he desires prayer. If the
and little more."                                              person requests it, it should be used. If the person
   Because it fails to take into account the most impor-       should refuse, it would be sacrilegious to use it. Be
tant element in counseling, the "Intellectual Reasoning        sure that your prayer is genuine and that it is not just
and Arguing Method" is also to be discouraged.                 a means of getting in the last word to the person at a
Nothing is gained this way. Many will argue just for           time when he cannot very well object. The prayer
the `sake of arguing but when all is said and done the         should fit the particular problem with which you have
situation is unchanged.                                        been dealing, and should not be long. Remember that


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                    405


the great purpose of your visit is toencourage the per-        life.       The purpose of the key power in the church is
son's relationships with God."                                 four-fold.       First, it aims to keep in the church that
   (5) The Goal of Counseling. "The purpose of                 which belongs there. Secondly, it purposes to put out
counseling is not just to make the person feel more            of the church that which is within but belongs without.
comfortable or to give him peace of heart. There are           Thirdly, this power is designed to keep' out of the
times when it is needful to stir up the -person's feelings.    church that which is without and belongs there. Finally,
Some should become a bit anxious and develop feelings          the key power draws into the church true believers who
of guilt. The real goal must be to lead the person to          are still without. Thus must the elders use this power
greater emotional and spiritual maturity."                     diligently and faithfully in taking heed to the flock of
   From all the above it is evident that the work of the       Christ and watching over God's heritage. They must
elder that we are now discussing is not an easy work.          safeguard the church against the intrusion of wolves
Yet the difficulty of the task must not cause us to shy        who, often in sheep's clothing, creep in to devour the
away from it, but rather, realizing our sufficiency also       lambs.       This supervision, though over the entire con-
in these things is in God, we must use the most effect-        gregation, must begin with the ministers of the Word
ive means, do our best, and leave the results in His           and must be directed not only at the doctrine which
gracious hands.                                                they preach in the pulpit but also the manner of life they
                     Disciplinmians                            live.       The elders of the church have the right to de-
                                                               mand that the ministers of the Word conduct them-
   "Unto you is given the keys of the Kingdom of               selves as good examples unto the flock. And if this is
Heaven."                                                       not the case, the elders must take action to depose
   "What you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven;           them from their office for the sake of the welfare of
whatsoever you loose on earth shall be loosed in               the church. If this is not done, the church will suffer
Heaven".                                                       greatly and in due time reap the sad consequences of
   This forms the basis for that which is written in           this neglect.
the Form of Ordination of Elders, describing the third              Requisite to the faithful performance of this duty is
and last part of their office. We quote:                       a sound and thorough knowledge of the Word of God on
                                                               the part of the elders. Continually they are to meditate
   "It is also the duty particularly to have regard unto       on the mysteries of faith. Diligently they are to search
the doctrine and conversation of the ministers of the          the Word. It is indeed a sad omen to find men, who are
Word, to the end that all things may be directed to the        elders in the church, neglecting such opportunities for
edification of the Church; and that no strange doctrine        searching the Word as are afforded in our Men's
be taught, according to that which we read, Acts 20,           Societies.      Can we say that a man who has no interest
where the apostle exhorteth to watch diligently against        in the activities of the Men's Society in the church
the wolves, which might come into the sheepfold of             lacks one of the essential qualifications of an elder?
Christ; for the performance of which, the elders are in             Indeed, the task of the elder is an exalted one. The
duty bound diligently to search the Word of God, and           responsibility is very great. The performance of this
continually be meditating on the mysteries of faith."          duty is often extremely difficult but the encouragement
   Although no specific metnion is made here of the            may be found in the promise: "Let the elders that rule
keys of the kingdom or their use, the implication is           well be counted worthy of double honour, especially
clearly that the elders are--to use this disciplinary          they who labor in the word and doctrine." (I Tim.
power in the church to maintain purity of doctrine and         5:17)


  SPECIAL F/iATURE-


                    The Importance of Maintaining
                                                                   L;>,
                            the Three Forms of Unity

                                                  by Rev. J.  Kovteving

    The church and the world are spiritually  anti-            the world. In the process of fulfilling her calling, it
thetical.    They are spiritual opposites. The calling         often happens that the church is influenced by this evil
of the church is to live in the midst of the world. Her        world.       This I believe is the plague which besets the
calling is not physical or spiritual isolation, but rather     church today. This is the root cause of the problems
that of witness. She must be in the world, but not of          which we face.


40.6                                           THE  STANgARD  BEARER


   We?re living in the "`instant generation." Young            that is made upon them.       And finally, the urgency to
people have adopted their own description; they call           resist this attack and maintain them.
it the "Go-go generation."        We adults are too so-           The way you have formulated the subject indicates
phisticated to admit that we are affected by the spirit of     to me that you understand that the Forms of Unity
youth,  : yet the  ,inevitable  has happened. We eat our       and the Formula of Subscription have value. You do
instant oatmeal for breakfast, we. guzzle down our             not question this, you assume this  in, the subject you
instant soup for. lunch,  .we stash away our instant           have chosen. You say it is important that we main-
potatoes for dinner, and in between we sip our instant         tain them.       This importance is subject of course to
coffee and tea. Barely have our womenfolk learned to           their value. We believe that the importance of main-
prepare one type of food and another is on the market.         taining the Three Forms of Unity rests exactly in their
Canned,foods  are practically obsolete. It appears as if       great value. This we must see from the very outset.
our freezers will. soon give way to `cupboards full of            The Three Forms of Unity are made up of three
dehydrated foods  ~    We are' forever hurrying up and         confessions. The oldest of the three is the Netherlands
finding something new.                                         or Belgic Confession. This confession was written by
   This."spirit',' has seeped into the fibre of the church.    Guido de Bres in 1561. Tke faithful children of God
The result is that what calls itself church is now busy        who had followed in the. footsteps of the reformers
producing what I want to call "instant theology."              were undergoing the convulsive strains of persecution
Today, any man with a bachelor or doctor's degree              at this time.        They were dying for the faith once
can sit in his ivory tower of theoretical thought and          delivered unto the saints.      DeBres wrote this con-
spin a few theories, compose them in presentable               fession as a formulation of the faith, enabling the
form, rush into print and make a hit under the pre-            children of the Reformation to know the truth and
tense  ~of "theology."      The history of dogma and the       maintain it even unto. death. The second of the Three
particular.  .position  which the church has taken. in         Forms is known as the Heidelberg Catechism. Two
centuries past mean nothing in today's world. We're            men were commissioned to write this catechism as a
living in our day and what the church had to say in the        basis for instructing the members of the churches in
past cannot by any.. stretch of the imagination be             the Netherlands.        Zacharius Ursinus and Casper
relevant today.  .Only a mind thoroughly conditioned by        Olevianus presented the finished catechism to the Synod
our twentieth- century can produce a "theology" signif-        of Heidelberg in 1563, and it was subsequently adopted
icant to themodernmind. This I call "instant theology."        as the official textbook of instruction. The third of
And the -peculiar point is' that barely has the ink dried      the Three Forms is the Canons of Dordt. This con-
before the very same person has another book ready             fession was composed and adopted by the great Synod
to print with the very opposite or different ideas. In         of Dordt in 1618-1619 as an answer to the five points
the quest to .be new and up-to-date, modern "theology"         of the Remonstrance or the Arminians.
has lost her foundation.                                          These three confessions are called the Three Forms
   This "spirit" has begun to make its impact upon             of Unity because they were adopted as the expression
the Reformed church world. There now arises within             of the faith that united the Reformed churches. They
the sphere of the churches which have their common             are three in number. Taken together they perfectly
roots in the Reformation of Luther and especially of           compliment each other. The Netherlands Confession
Calvin an attitude of historical indifference. Reformed        is a dogmatical summary of the truth, The Heidelberg
tradition means nothing to them; they are thoroughly           Catechism is arranged according to the significance of
imbued with "instant theology." They are cut loose             the doctrines of the Word of God for our daily life,
from the moorings of the Reformed faith  andset adrift,        and the Canons of Dordt is a formulation of the heart
being cast about by every wind of doctrine.                    of the gospel over against the insipient error of
   This fact becomes most evident by the attitude of           Arminianism that had threatened the church in the
many~.Reformed  ministers, professors, and lay mem-            past and continues to do even unto the present.
bers toward our Reformed confessions. One gets the                Added to the Three Forms of Unity is the Formula
impression that there are many within the sphere of            of Subscription. Prior to the early 1600's the church
the Reformed churches that are ashamed of their                simply insisted that professors and ministers sign
confessions.    They openly begin to criticize them, they      their names to the confessions themselves. However,
teach views that are blatantly contrary to them, and           already in 1608 the  Classis  of Alkmaar entertained a
even begin to cry aloud for a nullification of the             proposal to formulate a positive statement of agree-
Formula of Subscription.                                       ment which should be signed by office-bearers. The
   I'm glad that the League of Protestant Reformed             Synod of Dordt likewise followed this direction and
Men's Societies is aware of this situation. Evidently          drew up what is now called the Formula of Subscrip-
you have been alert  enough~to  sense this tendency, and       tion, which demands that all professors, ministers,
you believe that something is wrong, and therefore             elders and deacons agree with the Three Forms of
you desire to be instructed in the importance of main-         Unity.       This Formula places office bearers in the
taining our  .Three.  Forms of Unity and the Formula of        church before the duty to maintain the Three Forms
Subscription. Since this is the subject you asked me to        of Unity.
speak upon, I'll. divide the material into three aspects:         The Three Forms of Unity are of great value to the
First, the significance of the Tbree Forms of Unity            Reformed Churches for four reasons,
and the Formula of Subscription. Secondly, the attack             First,  they are a brief, systematic formulation of


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  -407


the- truth of the Word of God. Let me emphasize this;          lying idly on a shelf. What better means of instruction
they are not  extra-Biblical. There is nothing in the          have we than by pondering the Wordof God and studying
Reformed Confessions that is new, that one cannot find         the Word with the assist  of.the  Three Forms of Unity.
in  the.pages  of the Bible. Rather, they are a systematic     By preaching on the Heidelberg Catechism, by studying
arrangement of the truths which are taught in the              the Netherlands Confession in the catechism class, by
Bible. Their basis and value rests upon the Word of            discussing the Canons of Dordt in society we put to use
God itself  .;                                                 this Reformed heritage. Through this instruction the
    Secondly, they are an expression of  Reformed              truth is preserved from generation to generation. Only
thought.     The Reformation movement had begun under          in this way can there be proper development in the
Luther and reached its forte in Calvin. This move-             truth; we begin where our forefathers left off. Holding
ment spread over Europe and especially to the Nether-          high the banner of our Reformed confessions we testify
lands.      The Synod of Dordt which adopted these Three       to the whole world that this is what we believe to be
Forms of Unity may be considered a Reformed inter-             the truth of the Word of God, and all who see this banner
national Synod. The children of the Calvinistic Ref-           may know the truth and either reject it or walk with us.
ormation may find their faith articulated in these                The Reformed Confessions have great value to us.
three confessions. This means that they are Reformed              It stands to reason that the Fprmula of Subscription
over against Roman Catholicism, over against other             is valuable to the extent that the-Three Forms of Unity
branches of Protestantism, and over against every cult         themselves are of value. Our Reformed fore-fathers
and sect that may arise in the world. These Three              recognized, the significant place which office-bearers
Forms of Unity express what the Reformed Christian             have in the church. The pulpit may be a tremendous
believes to be the truth of the Word of God.                   influence for good or for evil. The same holds true
    Thirdly, these three confessions were formulated           for the seminary; professors have a powerful influence
during the golden age of the Reformed churches;                on the entire history of the church, they instruct future
That's of value, tremendous value. God had provi-              ministers, and that instruction may be either for good
dentially defivered the faithful church from apostate          or evil. Elders and deacons have significant influence
Rome.       In the process of reformation, the spiritual       in the local congregations. Consequently, it was in the
senses of the believers were sharpened. The battle             good interest of the church that the Synod of Dordt
over the truth had waged long and hard. The calumni-           adopted a Formula of Subscription which had to be
ators had assailed the truth by presenting every argu-         signed by all office-bearers.      With their signature
ment, but the faithful reformers had answered by               they promise four things. First, that they agree with
slashing with the Sword of the Spirit undauntedly. This        the confessions and believe that they properly express
golden age was marked by two things. The one thing is          the truth of the Word of God. Secondly, that they will
that Scripture had a proper place in the mind of the           teach and defend these confessions.        Noti-ce, office
reformers.        For centuries it was lying on the shelf      bearers. agree to make use of the Three- Forms of
collecting dust; now at long last they could pour over         Unity and not let them lie idly on the shelf. Still
its contents, drink of its fountain, and be thoroughly         more, they even promise to defend them if anyone
imbued with its message. One cannot help detecting             should' attack them. Thirdly, they promise to refute
this in the writings of Calvin, which influenced the           the errors that are enumerated in the Reformed con-
writing of the Reformed Confessions. The other is that         fessions and if anyone should teach the errors that
being Biblical, their thoughts were faithful to the Word       are condemned in them; they as office bearers. will
of God and their theology was God-centered. They               expose them as being un-reformed and contrary to
pondered the great truths in the glorious light of the         Scripture.     Finally, office bearers by signing the
pre-eminence of God. God is the center of truth and            Formula of Subscription promise that they will be
this had to be maintained at all cost. This I consider         faithful to their promise and if any doubt arises in their
to be the distinct aspect of the golden age of Reformed        mind, before publicly contradicting the Reformed
thought that are manifest in the confessions.                  confessions, they will request an  examinat&  by the
    Finally, the Holy Spirit so directed the things in the     Classis or Synod.
church that these Three Forms of Unity have been                  By signing the Formula of Subscription, office
preserved and handed to us to be used by us. The               bearers promise to maintain the Three -`Forms of
Reformed church of the twentieth century did not have          Unity. This, too, is of great value.
to discover these confessions; they were handed to us.         (Editor's Note: This special article is the text of an
They are part of our heritage. When we recognize this          address to the spring meeting of the Men's League:
we clearly understand that their value rests in making         it is being published in two installments, the second of
use of them. They don't serve the cause of the church          which will appear in the July issue.)

                   CLASSIS  EAST MEETING                                            STAFF MEETING
Classis  East will meet, D.V., in Hudsonville Protestant       The Standard Bearer Staff will meet Monday evening,
Reformed Church on Wednesday, July 5, at 9 a.m.                June 12 at 8 o'clock in First Church, Grand Rapids,
Consistories will take note of this in the appointment         Michigan.     All Staff members please take note of this
of delegates.                                                  meeting.
                                        M.  Schipper,   SC.                                      Rev. J.  .A. Heys, sec'y


408                                         .._  THEST;ilNDARD-BF-A;~~-~-~   ~  ~~  ~-


                                          NEWS FROM OUR  CHURCHES-

                                                May 15, 1967
   The  `66-`67  Lecture Series came to termination on           Book of God's council-as we find this account por-
the evening of May 11 with Rev. G. Van  Baren  giving           trayed in Revelations 5. And so, the annual celebrations
the concluding lecture on, "Perseverance of the Saints"         which begin Dec. 25 and conclude May 14, commemor-
the fifth of the famous Five Points of Calvinism. The            ating the work of redemption accomplished by our
speaker examined that concept from three aspects, its           Savior, is again ended, the final  culm.ination  of which
essence, its basis and its comfort. He postulated the           we eagerly anticipate when we plead, "Come, Lord
elemental fact that the Saints (Separated Ones)  pev-           Jesus, come quickly".
severe unto the end because they are pvesevved by the                                     * * *
same God Who chose them; that all of the Infinite                   The Young People's Annual Spring Banquet was held
Attributes of God are the basis for this truth; and, that       in  Gr-and  Rapids May 9 with young folks coming from
when saints see themselves as sinners they are im-              Holland, Kalamazoo, Oak Lawn and South Holland to
measurably comforted with the blessed truth that God            help fill the  Oakdale Church parlors to capacity. Rev.
will, for Jesus sake, preserve them unto the Day when           Kortering, Hope Church's pastor, in his address pro-
they shall be lifted up to meet Him at His Coming.              vided some worthwhile directional signals in develop-
   This series of lectures was characterically Scrip-           ing the banquet theme, "Guidance of the Youth". The
ture-orientated.      As Mexican food has gained its            program included a male quartette consisting of Don
reputation by being liberally sprinkled with spicy              I Jonker, Gary Bylsma, Bob Velthouse and Jim Huizenga,
condiments, so this final lecture, too, was liberally            and a violin solo by Mary Klop accompanied by Anita
spiced with quotations from Holy Writ, giving it its            \Clason,  both from Kalamazoo. Surely, if ever Covenant
flavor: that of  The  Tmth  of  God's  Wovd.                    `.Youth seek for guidance it is now, a time of violence
   Special music was a vocal duet by Messers  C.                in all spheres of life when it is becoming increasingly
Jonker and A. Dykstra who sang a  versification  of             evident that, "the wickedness of man was (is) great
Psalm 51; Mrs.  C. Lubbers, organist for the whole              upon the earth, and that every imagination of the
series, was in her accustomed place at the console,             thoughts of his heart was (is) only evil continually".
accompanying the singing as well as performing some             Pastors, elders, teachers, leaders and parents: this
beautiful solo work for the prelude and postlude. Rev.          responsibility of guidance rests upon you!
C. Lubbers closed the meeting with a prayer of thanks-                                    **c*
giving to our God Who so greatly privileged us in the               The Society of Protestant Reformed Secondary
past season.        There were some empty seats, not            Education gathered in annual meeting May 10 and
surprisingly in these days of nonchalance in respect            ~`adopted  the budget proposed by the Board, planning to
to the basic doctrines of the Church, but those in              :erect the building this year and opening the doors in
attendance were privileged to hear sound lectures by            September of `68. This project is contingent upon the
sound expositors of the Scriptures whose theme through-         receipt of sufficient funds which are not yet in evidence
out was, "To God  ,Be The Glory". It is hoped that the          but are hopefully anticipated. An administrator has
Mission Board will schedule a new series for next               been retained to expedite the work involving the details
winter and that the dates will not coincide with the            of personnel, curriculum, supplies, etc.      Three new
winter's worst storms as did the majority of the past           board members were elected and the work goes on with
series.                                                         the blessing of the members of the society who, in
                           * * *                                effect, say  "GO with God".
   Holland's new pastor preached his inaugural sermon                                     ***
Sunday morning, April 30. Rev. Heys chose the passage               The Sunday School children of First Church have
of God's Word, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you              contributed the funds to purchase 200 Bibles to be
richly in all wisdom", one in a series of admonitions           distributed to our  Jamaican  friends. The opportunity
penned by the Apostle Paul to the Colossians. Fitting           to contribute to this cause is open to all our people,
no less to the latter-day-saints in Holland, Michigan.           and if you would like to donate Bibles or Psalters send
than to the early `Christians in Colosse, Asia Minor.           them to Rev. G. Lubbers, 2612 Central Ave., Wyoming,
                           *    *    *                          Mich. 49509. Two hundred Bibles seems quite a large
       As is our custom, all our churches met in Divine         number, but there is need for many more, and many,
worship services on Ascension Day to commemorate                many Psalters will also be appreciated by the Protestant
the day when our Lord left the terrestrial to enter the         Reformed people in Jamaica.
celestial sphere. Rather than to take the earthly view-                                   ***
point Rev. Van  Baren  led his congregation into viewing            In a May 15 congregational meeting  FirstChurch
it from Heaven's vantage point, sharing the joy of the          approved a substantial remodeling and repair proposal
heavenly host which the "Lamb that had been slain"              by the consistory. After nearly 40 years of service
occasioned at His reception into the company of the             the property is in need of much work to bring it up to its
elders and Him that sat upon the throne when it was             value, which can now be realized.
announced that He alone was worthy of opening the                   s . .see you in church                         J.M.F.


