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AM~F~RMED  SEMI-M~NTHLY  M A G A Z I N E   ;                                                                                                                                                                                                       :
                                                   .                                                                                                                                                                      :                             ,.



      Ihi  THIS  !SSUE:                                                                                                                                                                                                        ::

                                                                   Meditation:  Ruiining Into The Tower                                                                                                                               :                        `.'
                                                              .                                                         _  .  .  .                                                                                             . .                             .-  .  . .-._
                                                                                                                                                                                                                         . .                                        - . .
                                                                   Editorials: `The Baby's Name                                                                                                                         `. `. . . _ ._  ,.
                                                                                           `.                          `,  ;
                                                                      .                     .
                                                                   `, .  `.,                             _..               :
                                                                                                        ;,  ?:  ,. .                  i; ,( J ,. .'                    .  _: .  ) .  .,
                                                                                                   A  N&  "Anti;ibbrract"`iheolo6ical  Method
                                                                                                                                      . .
                                                                   On-Going Reformation (concluded)
                                                                                                                 .              :            . .
                                                                                      .,                -.
                                                                                                                                                                                                  -' . .                       `_
                   i,                                              The Kingdonk'f Christ                                                                                                                                                . .  :
                           .


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3                                     .-,.                    :                                                                                                                                   -.                                                                   _i

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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         ,                    .     .





                                                                                                                                                                      Volume  XLN/   Number   8/ January  15, 1968


l-70                                                                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER

                                                                                                                                                                               THE STANDARD BEARER
          .  .  .                    CO-NTENTS
Meditation  -                                                                                                                                               Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July and August.
       Running Into The Tower . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                                              170                  Published-by the Reformed Free, Publishing Association, Inc.
          Rev. M.  S.chipper                                                                                                   .-                         Editor-in-Chiefi  Prof. H. C. Hoeksema
Editorials -                                                                                                                                              Department Editors: Rev. David J. Engelsma, Mr.  JohnM.  Faber;
        The Baby's Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                                    173                   Rev. Cornelius Hanko, Prof. Herman Hanko, Rev. Robert C.
                   Prof. H. C. Hoeksema                                                                                                                      Harbach; Rev. John A. Heys, Rev. Jay Kortering, Rev. George
        A New, "Anti-Abstract" Theological- Method . . . 174                                                                                                 C. Lubbers, Rev. Marinus Schipper, Rev. Gise J. Van  Baren,
                                                                                                                                                             Rev. Gerald  Vanden  Berg, Rev. Herman Veldman, -Rev.
                   Prof. II. C. Hoeksema                                                                                                                     Bernard Woudenberg
Trying The Spirits  -                                                                                                                                     Editorial  Off+e: Prof. H. C. Hoeksema
        The Kingdom of Christ .
                                                            . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .            176                                    1842 Plymouth Terrace, S.E.
                   Rev. R. C. Harbach                                                                                                                                         Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506
The Church At Worship -                                                                                                                                   Church News Editor:  Mr. John M. Faber
        The Theory of Worship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                                            178                                        1123 Cooper Ave., SE.                         I
                   Rev. G: Vanden Berg                                                                                                                                            Grand Rapids, Michigan 49507
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        The Blessed Giver (continued) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180                                                                        contents of his own articles. Contributions of general interest
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        MEDllATION-
                     ,               R u n n i n g   Intolhe  T o w e r
                                                                                        . .
                          k                    :                                                                    by.Revt   M;  Schipper
           I :                                                         ,_                 .__.                          ..-                          _
                                     .                                Th&  &me of  the-Lord  is  a  strong tower: the righteous
                          .                         .`-         m.mnkWr into it, and is- safe.                                                                     Pvovevbs  18flO              `. . . .           '
  ;         ",                  -           :                                     -_                                                                                                     .;      `..       _            .  :
                                                                                                   -.
  ,.  .,&&king  &lead   ifito,the   ,Ji&r  19&J,-`-  _("  -.  '                                                                       1  -         being the belief that' this world is the very best possi-
                                                                                        . . . -
       TWhatddyou:see~?.                            --Y            --.:I.. . .                                          z'.                   '    `ble and that the good will ultimately tr-iumph  over-the
  _ Are you. inclined to-be opt-tiistic? Or, do:-you feel                                                                                          evil, - it is the tendency to take the most hopeful and
rather pessimistic=about:it?  -.                                                 MY._ . .  2.                                        .~.           clieerful view' of matters that lie in- the future; while
 : gWe realize; -of course; that the terms "optimis.m" the` latter :-is -the belief that the-e%isting'%?orld.is'the
and `!pessimism"-  are philosophical terms; the. former                                                                                            worst possible, that `the `evil in life outweighs, the. good;


                                                           THESTANDARDBEARER.                                                                     171


- and it has the tendency to expect the worst and see                            These walls were high, and I deep enough to protect the
only the dark side of everything. It is not our .intention                       inhabitants within the city from the wild beasts, from
to philosophize or have you. to be philosophical about                           the, enemies that might at .any time attack the city.. On
it. We have very little interest in the philosophy of the
                            .                                                    the top of these walls there were often towers built
world !                                                                          which were supplied with weapons of war, as swell as
   .No.r is our question directed to the children-of this                        with food and water to carry them through~<a seige.
world!       There can be no doubt that. among them the                          From  these towers the .men of the city could not only
above philosophy will. run wild as they, too, are faced                          spy out the approaching enemies, but also shoot: out
with this new era of time;                 For you see, they are                 their arrows and stop the attack.                   In': still earlier
without God, and have no prophetic Word toguide  them.                           times, and in smaller cities there'could  be found.only
All they can do is guess, and hope, for the best. And                             a tower.        The defenders then would fight out in the
at the beginning of a new year they either optimisti-                            open field; and when the battle became, too- hot for
cally set their hope on the great unknown, believing                             them, they would run into the.. tower. for safety.,
that somehow they will gain greater and higher goals                                 It can easily be understood that  a. city was no
which they failed.-to attain in the year passed; or, siz-                        stronger than its tower.          Tbe inhabitants were as
ing up the present economy and the world situation,                              secure as the tower was strong.
may pessimistically expect the worst to happen. They                                 The figure of the tower points to a. reality which.
are without God and without hope in the world!                                   becomes an object of trust. It makes no difference
   `Rather, our question is directed to you, child of                            what that object may be, whatever becomes, ,an object
God !                                                                            of trust or a place of. safety,is  ,at the same time a
    What do you see that-lies ahead? Are you inclined                            tower.         Indeed, there are many such towers! I .In the
to be optimistic about it? Or, is all you see framed                             verse that follows our text, we read: ."The rich man's
in black?                                                                        wealth is his strong city." He trusts in -his gold, his
   If it is the former, it will be only because you re-                          carnal and material `possessions.              The-money is to
member the promises of God, and, with the prophetic                              him a medium of carnal security. It~will save him in
Word before you, you see vistas. of hope, horizon                                the time of depression and economic disturbance.
lights that streak the passing night which tell you the                          Another's tower is his good name and reputation. With
eternal day `is about to dawn! You believe that the                              it he establishes credit, he procures, a better job,-in
year 1968 can only make the night pass more quickly,                             this tower of a good `name he finds his impregnable
and hasten the time when the City of God shall descend                           fortress. Still another has the tower of good works,
from heaven, in which there shall be no night, where                             in which he feels secure for time and eternity.~ Still
your inheritance is, and' where every tear shall be                              others have their children, their. government, and  .even
wiped away from your eyes.                                                       their church as their towers of safety.
   On the other hand, if it is the latter, if what you                                The Word, .of God knows of and presents to, us only
see lying ahead in 1968 is framed in black, it is not,                           one strong tower of safety! I All other towers must
nor should it be because you are pessimistic; but you                            crumble and fall. The tower of wealth disintegrates
are still looking at all things in the light of God's                            and falls under the attack of depressions and. bank-
prophetic Word.           Then the days are not rosy and                         moratoriums. The tower of a good name breaks when
cheerful, but terribly dark. For though we have                                  one public sin is committed. The tower of good works
passed into a new era of time, we are still in the same                          ,will certainly not keep you in the judgment day. There-
old world; `the world that is steeped in sin and iniquity,                       is only one strong tower,-the  Name of Jehovah!
which is fast .developing to make the cup of iniquity                                 Jehovah! That is the Name  of the Lord mentioned
full. The prophetic Word informs you that the world                              in the original text.                     -_  ,_
of lust and .hate;-in which there are wars and rumors                                 The Unchangeable, Covenant God!                   me  <iI  -h
of war, in which the man of sin must soon appear who                             THAT I AM" which indicates that' He is' -eternal,
will persecute you to the death, who will see to it that                         without beginning or end. The Rock!
                                                                                                                      -
YOU can neither buy or sell- without- the mark-of the ._ . . . ;, @erywhere  ,-is the Name ,J&ovah  reve&d.                                        Ml
beast, in which the judgments -iof' -God in nature shall' _-. creation &g<&& iutters  .and reveals, .@is Name. The
increase.. . in that world you sojourn!                                          heavens declare His glory, and the firmament showeth
   Taking all that into consideration, what will you -His handiwork. The mountains tell of His power and
do? Where will you go?                                              i         `.  -;majesty.      The birds and beasts express His praise.
   The answers are all bound up in the Word of God,                              Centrally the eternal, infinitely wise God, Jehovah, has
cited above!                            -:,_ .  .._  1  .'  .'willed to. reveal I!I.is Name in His Son, our Saviour,
   The name of the Lord is a strong towers!..                                    Whose birth. we lately- celebrated. The Name Jesus
   The righteous runneth into it, and is safe!                                   means: Jehovah is salvation. That is the Name that is
                  -.  *-.:*  *  .*  *...*  *,.*:*-x                      .       attached to the cross'.-of Calvary; and which. rises:from
 -  ,The  name.of  theLord-!   :  i.  r  -j  -:-  ~  ;I     :     ;'  ~..        the tomb in Joseph's garden. In that Name I!Ie ascend-
  :: .A strong tower! .: 1 ._..- . .  -.~.                        . i  : : ed- to :$he. right hand, of-the Father, and .returned in the
  i : Figurative language i Solomon has in mind undoubt-.                        Spirit. It is that Name that is engraved. in the infallible
edly the _-figure, of- .:ag,. .ancie.nt :city. .- . -In.. olden. times Scriptures 5. and ,by His -grace in. our,+hearts.  It is this
practically. .every  -city .was surrounded: with .high walls.                    Name ..that, is written .over all the @eater .and lesser


 172                                                                                              THE STANDARD BEARER


 catastrophes of life, and in all the current events'of                                                                  the face of the enemy.                     In themselves they cannot
 our time: in war and famine, in earthquake and tor-                                                                     stand a moment, if they were to stand alone. They
 nado, and all their attending miseries you see the                                                                      must flee for safety always to the Tower. That the
 revelation of the Name of our God, Jehovah, Who does                                                                    righteous run, implies in the second place, that they
 all His good-pleasure.                                                                                                  are not carried into  `the tower. When they are re-
         A strong tower!                                                                                                 deemed and made righteous in the blood of Christ, they
         Into which the `righteous flee!                                                                                 are also made spiritually active. When Jehovah works
         Not all will run into this tower! The fool and the                                                              in them their' salvation, they work it out; though it be
 ungodly build their own towers. Like the tower build-                                                                   with fear and trembling.                       Indeed, we have here a
 ers at `Babel, they would.build  themselves a name, and                                                                 beautiful picture of the effectual working `of the Spirit
 exalt themselves unto the heavens, in defiance of the                                                                   of God in the righteous. He is instructed in the Name
 living God., and in the hope' of dragging Him from His                                                                  of Jehovah by the Word of God. He seeks to know, to
 throne. And as at Babel, Jehovah brings to confusion                                                                    confess, to glorify that Name of God. And he runs by
 all the tower builders, with their towers. The ungodly                                                                  faith into the tower of that Name of Jehovah. This im-
 cannot and will not flee to the strong tower. He has not                                                                plies that he knows the tower, he knows its strength.
 the right to flee there, for .he has not the pass-word                                                                  It implies also that he has cast off all his own -weap-
 which would allow him to enter. He wills not to flee                                                                    ons .         And it implies that he runs with all his might.
 there, because he is an enemy of Jehovah. He cannot                                                                                               ***********
 flee there, because God is his enemy.                                                                                       And he is safe!
         Only the righteous runners enter it and are safe!                                                                   A safe retreat is that Name of Jehovah!
 Not righteous are they in and of themselves; for of                                                                         For in it the righteous is raised far above the.
 themselves they confess that they are sinners, are                                                                      heads of all his enemies.                      In it he will be supplied
 most unworthy because of their sin. By grace they are                                                                   with all that is necessary to fight in the battle of
 the weary and heaven laden with the knowledge of guilt,                                                                 Jehovah. `In that Tower is the Bread of Life and the
 while they hunger and thirst after the righteousness of                                                                 Water of Life.                     Garrisoned there is the clothing of
 their Redeemer. The righteous are they whohave  been                                                                    righteousness, and all of the weapons of our warfare:
 justified by Jehovah in the cross of Christ. They are                                                                   the sword of the Spirit, the breastplate of righteous-
 the recipients of that faith through which they are made                                                                ness, and ali the rest. There in that tower he will be
 righteous and have peace with God through our Lord                                                                      able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one.
 Jesus Christ.                                                                                                               Run then, ye beloved righteous, into the Tower of
         The righteous run into' the Tower!                                                                              Jehovah's Name!
         That the righteous .run implies, first of all, that                                                                 Do that also in the year 1968, when the black
 there, is occasion for running. Though the text does                                                                    clouds of evil lower. Attempt not to stand in the battle
 not state what the. occasion is, we may safely conclude                                                                 in your own strength, and least of ail, do not follow the
 that it is because they are righteous.                                                      Because they                example of the world and think to build your own tower
 are righteous they experience besides the common                                                                        of safety.
perplexities and trials of life the persecution of the                                                                   Rather, run into the Tower!,
 world and the powers of evil.' They have no, strength                                                                       Hide yourself in this impregnable Rock of .Safety,
 of their own to'stand over against that evil. They have                                                                 and you shall never be ashamed!
 no weapons of their own to make them invincible in                                                                          Indeed; a safe `retreat!                                                     :

                                                                                       :.

                                                                                             ,                                    .


            O r d e r   `Y o u r   .Copy  Of  T h e   Boojclef   :'
                                                                                                        . . .  ._
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    . . .                           ,"The F&&Points  of  -C&in&`-
                                                                                                               `.                                                                           ;
           :.                                                              . .                               .' .,          : .                       .,                                          .'
   ' -. , _i                                               i.'  .'
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          : I  -.                                         :                                               Enclosed $1, and send your .order to:                               ::`.                *  `  :
                                                                                                                                                      r_
   :        '                              .._                 .,. ..-
                         :                . .  :                           1'  .:  ,I                                                          Rev. M.  Schipper   :                  i           .:.          -
   :.  .I . .                                   .,  -
                        ._          :`
                                     .                                                                                                         1 5 4 3   C a m b r i d g e ,   S . E .   `.'
                 .-                       `.              ,._-.."                                 -.                                           Grand.Rapids,  Michigan 49506  ~' ,
                                                                              .-.                              `_  3'                    ;.           :         ,;;                              `
                                                                                                                                                                                                 .
                 , .                                                                                                                                                                             :_
                               :                    `~                                                          .-.                     :.  ..,                         .'


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 173


 EDITORIALS-

                                     The Baby's Name

                                                by  Pvof.  H. C. Hoeksema

   We are expecting!                                              I am interested at this time, however, particularly
   The `&we" in this case is the Society for Protestant        in the baby's name, and I wish to accept the Board's
Reformed Secondary Education.                                  invitation of comments and suggestions.
   And the state of expectancy is indicated by a para-            My comments are as follows:
graph in a recent issue of the "Protestant Reformed                1) The criterion for the choice of a name should
High School Bulletin." It reads as follows:                    not only be practicalness and convenience. In fact,
                                                               this is not the first consideration. While it may be
       Although the Board intends to retain the legal          granted that a name should not be impractical and
   name, `Yiociety  for Protestant Reformed Secondary          inconvenient for everyday usage, it seems to me that
    Education," we think another, shorter name would be        a more important consideration is that the name of
   more practical and convenient for everyday usage.           our Protestant Reformed high school should be ex-
   Under consideration are regional names such as River-       pyessive,  accurately expressive.
   bend, Walker, or West Kent Chr. Egh. Names with                 2) Among all the classes of names and examples
   scriptural origins are also possibilities. In this group
   we have Ebenezer, Eleazer and Elhanan Chr. High. We.        of names .mentioned by the Board, the name "Cove-
   should also consider the attributive names. Concordia,      nant" appeals to me as the name most expressive of
   Faith, Grace, and Covenant Chr. High are amongthese.        the distinctive, Reformed character of the high school
    The Board invites your comments and suggestions as         we hope to have. In that high school covenant parents
   to a name for our school.                                   intend to furnish covenantal instruction and training to
                                                               covenant youth.
   This is a significant paragraph.                                3) It seems to me, however, that the name "Cove-
   For it means not only that we are expecting, but            nant Christian" would be redundant.        The idea of
also that the date of birth of the expected infant is not      "Christian" is already included in the name "Cove-
far off, the Lord willing. The infant, of course, is our       nant." It would be sufficient simply to call the school
own high school in the Grand Rapids area. And the              "Covenant High School." There is a difficulty here,
fact that the expectant parents are pondering the im-          however, due to the fact that by the name "Christian"
portant question of a name is a clear indication that          we also mean to express that our schools are neither
the date of birth cannot be far off. And thus it is,           public, nor parochial, nor mere private schools, but
indeed:    our high school is scheduled to become a            parental   schools. I would suggest that this is an in-
reality in time for the fall term of 1968!                     accurate use of the name "Christian" school, in spite
   This is reason for rejoicing. We look forward to            of the fact that this connotation has somehow become
the birth of this infant with joyful expectancy. And we        attached to the name.       If we mean to say that our
invite all our Protestant Reformed membership to               schools are parental schools, let us say that. In that
share with us in our joy.                                      case, I would make the name "Covenant Parental High
   At the same time, this indication of the approaching        School. ' '
birth of our infant high school is reason for renewed              But whatever the name, let us hope and pray and do
and intensified efforts toward preparation for the             all in our power so that the soon-to-be-born infant
blessed event.         Renewed dedication to the ideal of      may be healthy and strong, a school which truly mea-
distinctively Reformed, covenantal education is nec-           sures up to the ideal of Reformed, covenantal educa-
essary.    Moreover, this renewed dedication must be           tion.
manifested in hearty and generous support of this                  And this, by the way, .should not only be the aim
cause. Those who would share in the joy of this infant         and striving with respect to our proposed high school
must also be prepared to share in the responsibilities         in this area.       It should be the aim among all our
of preparing for and caring for the newborn child. The         people, wherever the Lord makes it possible for us to
privilege is ours !                                            have schools of our own.

   But thanks be to God, Who giveth us the victory             that we do not will, and cannot possibly will to come
through our Lord Jesus Christ! His grace is free and           to Him before His grace has touched us; not because
absolutely sovereign. It is rooted in eternal election.        we seek Him first, but because He seeks us; not be-
It is forever based on the perfect sacrifice of Jesus          cause we love Him, but because He loves us while we
Christ our Lord. It sovereignly and irresistibly takes         are yet enemies.
hold of us, making us new creatures in Christ, and                                  - H. Hoeksema, "The Wonder of
that, too, not because we will, but in spite of the fact                              Grace," p* 112


i 7 4                                          THE STANDARD BEARER




                    A New "Anti-Abstract"

                                                        Theological Method

                                                 by  Prof.  H. C. Hoeksema


    In a previous article on this subject I have pointed         And my point is that the method propounded by Dr.,
out that the new theological method being promoted in            Stob is not the method followed by our creeds. This
the Reformed community has as one of its chief char-             means that when Dr. Stob proposes that we must not
acteristics, according to its own claim, that of being           inquire into any objective state of affairs, as in the
non-abstract, or anti-abstract. In analizing this char-          question, "Did Christ die for everybody?" then he is
acteristic as it is set forth in the writings of Dr.             implicitly criticizing our confessions. When Dr. Stob
Henry Stob in connection with the Dekker Case, we                takes the position that we must not seek objective
found that the terms abstract and objective seem to              answers to objective questions concerning concrete,.
be equated. Dr. Stob was critical of the problematics            objective, historical events in God's program of re-
involved in the question, "For whom did Christ die?" demption and salvation, he is implicitly proposing that
He arrived at this criticism by creating a fake prob-            our confessions (and not only Professor Dekker and
lematics on the basis of the false doctrine of the well-         the Doctrinal Committee) follow a wrong method. For
meant offer of the gospel, we pointed out last time.             our confessions do indeed inquire into "an objective
But the main point in this connection, the point that            state of affairs." Our confessions do indeed face ob-
must not be overlooked, the point that is important              jective questions concerning concrete, objective, his-
not only with respect to the issues of the Dekker Case           torical events of the gospel; and they do indeed furnish
but also with respect to all theology, is this: we must objective answers to these questions. They do this,
not, in  OUT theology and in  our doctrine, ask  fov  ob-        for example, with respect to the question used as an
jective  answers  to objective questions concerning              example by Dr. Stab, `"Did Christ die for everybody?"
concrete, obj.ective,  historical events and concerning          They do this with respect to all the fundamental doc-
an objective state  of  affairs.                                 trinal issues involved in the Dekker Case. And they
    We must not lose sight of this. It is rather diffi-          do this with respect to many, many other truths. In
cult to keep our sights trained on this issue because            fact, it seems to me that Dr. Stob himself could hardly
Dr.  Stab does not write directly about method, but              fail to recognize this fact in the light of the fact that he
about the doctrinal issues of the Dekker Case and                criticizes the Doctrinal Committee for being more
about the flaws in the report of the Doctrinal Com-              abstract than Prof. Dekker.
mittee. And it is a temptation to go astray and to                  But let me demonstrate that our confessions follow
criticize the doctrinal position which Dr. Stob assumes          the method which Dr. Stob does not want.
in the course of his writings. Moreover, Dr. Stob                   Turn with me to Canons I, A, 6. This article reads
does not clearly expound this new method; he rather              as follows:
assumes it, and from his own position of this new                       That some receive the gift of faith from God, and
method criticizes the methodology of both Dekker and                others do not receive it proceeds from God's eternal
the Committee. Further, he criticizes by way of ex-                 decree, "For known unto God are all his works from
ample.     Hence, it is rather difficult to pinpoint this           the beginning of the world," Acts 15:18. "Who worketh
entire matter of method. And yet this is the issue.                 all things after the counsel of his will," Eph.  1:ll.
And while I would not at all minimize the doctrinal                 According to which decree, he graciously softens the
issues at stake, I nevertheless want to emphasize that              hearts of the elect, however obstinate, and inclines
this  methodological question  is of the utmost impor-              them to believe, while he leaves the non-elect in his
tance. It is the question                                           just judgment to their own wickedness and obduracy.
                              behind the doctrinal issues in        And herein is. especially displayed the profound, the
the Dekker Case not only, but also many other doctri-               merciful, and at the same time the righteous dis-
nal issues of the day.         On this question of method,          crimination between men, equaliy involved in ruin;
therefore, we must focus our attention.                             or that decree of election and reprobation, revealed
    In this editorial I want to point out, first of all, that       in the Word of God, which though men of perverse,
this anti-abstract, or anti-objective, method is con-               impure and unstable minds wrest to their own de-
trary to our Reformed confessions.                                  struction, yet to holy and pious souls affords unspeak-
    My point, in this connection, is not that our creeds            able consolation."
make certain direct pronouncements about methods.                   Here is a clear example of following the method
They do not. But our creeds follow a certain method.             which Dr. Stob rejects.


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                         175


    Notice, in the first place, that this article obviously    Here we have an objective state of affairs among men,
deals with an "objective state of affairs." That ob-           mind you, equally involved in ruin, equally lost in
jective state of affairs is this: 1) Some men receive          themselves, that upon some faith, the gift of God, is
the gift of faith from God. 2) Other men do not receive        bestowed, -while upon others it is not bestowed. How
the gift of faith from God.                                    is this ? Whence does this proceed? What is the ex-
    In the preceding five articles of Canons I, our            planation of this objective state of affairs?
fathers have already made many objective statements
concerning the objective state of affairs. They have             . It seems to me that Dr. Stob must take the same
laid down the truths: 1) That God was not obligated to         position with respect to this question which he takes
save any man, and that He would have done no injustice         with respect to the question for whom Christ died. It
by leaving all to perish. 2) That the love of God was          is an abstract question.        It is a scientific question
manifested in sending His only begotten Son into the           concerning an objective state of affairs. And it is an
world, that whosoever believeth on Him should not              insoluble question. It seems to me, judging from what
perish, but have everlasting life. 3) That in order            he has written about theological method, that Dr. Stob
that men may be brought to believe, God mercifully             must take the position that we may not ask and answer
sends the messengers of these most joyful tidings to           this kind of question, that this is the wrong kind of
whom He will and. at what time He pleaseth, and that           problematics.     It seems to me that he would have to
by the ministry of these messengers men are called             write about this question also: "To avoid this im-
to repentance and faith in Christ crucified. 4) That           passe, to escape this cul-de-sac, we must descend
some believe not the gospel, and that the wrath of             from the cold heights of abstract truth and ask the
God abideth on them, while others receive the gospel,          biblical question: What is every man who hears the
embrace Jesus by a true and living faith, and are de-          preached Gospel - every such man without exception
livered from wrath and have the gift of eternal life           - called upon" to do? And it seems to me that Dr.
bestowed upon them.       5) That the spiritual, ethical       Stob would want to answer this question solely by this:
cause (cause in the sense of guilt, or blame) of the           Every man who hears the preached Gospel is called
unbelief of those who believe not the gospel is in no          upon to believe and repent, -period,-and  for the rest
wise in God, but in man himself; whereas faith in and          we must not inquire into the question.
salvation through Jesus Christ is the free gift of God.
In all of these truths we have statements concerning an            But let me point out that the Canons face this ques-
objective state of affairs.     And by means of these          tion.     They do not avoid it by calling it a  pseudo-
statements our fathers are busy, in these first five           problem, a question stated in terms of non-biblical
articles  .of Canons I, pinpointing the issue between the      categories, a problem which cannot be solved by the
Reformed faith and Arminianism. They have, as it               biblical givens, etc. They face this question concern-
were, finally narrowed the issue down. They have               ing the explanation of this objective state of affairs.
said, in effect, that the issue is not: 1) John 3:16 and          Moreover, the Canons answev  this question. And
the truth that God manifested His love in sending His          they answer it  objectively.       They answer that this
only begotten Son into the world, that whosoever be-           proceeds from God"s  eternal decree. They point out
lieveth, etc. Reformed believe this as well as Armin-          that this decree discriminates between men. They
ians 0    2) That God sends preachers of the gospel in         point out that according to this decree there are some
order to bring men to believe, and that these preachers        elect men and some non-elect men. They point out
call men to repentance and faith. Reformed hold to             that upon the former God bestows the gift of faith,
this as well as Arminians.        3) That it is those who      graciously softening their hearts and inclining them to
believe that are saved, while those who believe not            believe, while (in typically infralapsarian language)
have the wrath of God abiding on them. Reformed be-            He leaves the non-elect to their own wickedness and
lieve this as well as Arminians. 4) That the unbeliever        obduracy in His just judgment. They point out that this
is morally responsible for his own unbelief, while faith       is the decree of election and reprobation.
is a free gift of God. Reformed maintain this also.               Now I will not quarrel about the infralapsarian
    But now there still remains the question how this          language of this article. For the sake of argument, I
objective state of affairs is to be explained. How is it       will accept it. Besides, "infra-"' is historically and
that among men equally involved in ruin, equally lost          confessionally Reformed. This is not the question at
in themselves, there is a difference? How is it that           stake.     The question is not even whether what the
some men are saved, and some are lost? Well, you               Canons here state is matevidy true, although both Dr.
say, some men believe the gospel, and others do not            Stab and I are bound by this statement.
believe it! True ! But how is it that some believe and            The question now is simply one of method.
others do not believe? Mind you, they are equaZZy lost            And no one can possibly deny that the Canons very
in themselves! Well, you say, that some men do not             clearly deal with an objective question concerning an
believe the gospel is their own fault: that is their           objective state of affairs and furnish an objective
guilt! And that some men do believe is the free gift           answer to this question.
of God: by grace are ye saved, through faith, and that            Here, then, is Exhibit No. 1 in proof of my con-
not of yourselves, it is the gift of God," Eph. 2:8. One       tention that the method about which Dr. Stob writes
hundred per cent correct! But the question persists.           is not the method of our confessions, but that the


176                                         THE STANDARD BEARER


method which he severely criticizes is the method of         in the Netherlands and is now bearing its fruit in at-
our confessions. In other words, Dr. Stob is implicitly      tempts to change the confessions.
criticizing the confessions in his writings about a non-        All of this points again to one important word of
objective, anti-abstract method.                             caution: we must be extremely careful when it comes
   And it is my contention, not that the confessions are     to theological method!
infallible, above criticism, but that if we criticize the       There is one more important aspect of this example
confessions, we should do so directly and in the proper      from our Canons. It is this. Our Canons always reason
way, i.e., the `way of gYavamen. We must not first           directly and explicitly from "biblical givens." That
undermine the confessions and the doctrines which            is, they support their objective answers to objective
they set forth, in order then finally to do away with        questions concerning an objective state of affairs by
them. And above all, we must not undermine the con-          quoting Scripture profusely. This is important. For
fessions in this most basic aspect of methodology, in        it means that in order to follow a different method
order to prepare the way for an eventual gravamen.           and in order to criticize the method of our Canons,
I am not saying that Dr. Stob is deliberately and con-       one must ultimately show that this appeal to Scripture
sciously attempting to do this. I am saying that this is     itself is incorrect and illegitimate.      Only if this is
a consequence of his method. And I am saying that the        done may the confessions be criticized.
method which he advocates has already been followed                              (to be continued)


 TRYING THE SPIRITS-


                        The Kingdom of Christ

                                               by Rev. R. C.  Havbach


   It has always been so, yet our day is still one in        fore the divine judgment. "The kingdom is the Lord's;
which nations and kingdoms are overturned and up-            and He is the Governor among the nations (Ps. 22:28)."
rooted. Germany we have seen fall twice in a genera-         Once this word of God is understood, we will not
tion.    Then besides France, Italy, Spain, Japan and        waste our time preaching political sermons, for it is
Poland, we have seen the fall of numerous European           not our place, nor do we think that we can set the na-
countries, many under the Red yoke. With the end of          tions right by "good politics," or even by what we
the colonial age, we have seen before our eyes king-         preach (the Reformed-Faith world-and-life view)! We
doms become extinct, while nations now are dying             leave that to God and His King, whom He has set on
away, in many ways, it seems, our own among them.            His holy hill of Zion! Nor think we that we can set
Everywhere there are public rebellions, strikes, revo-       our own nation right, even though in and before it we
lutions, tumults, civil disobedience and anarchy. The        preach the right. No nation is more confused at the
most degraded nations are either still sunken in or          moment than ours. It will, therefore, take very much
are returning to gross idolatry.      The most exalted       more than politics, or sermons, to put it right. For
nations are gone down into atheism. Satan's kingdom          the ultimate end of nations to the left or going to the
of darkness aims to destroy the family, to estrange the      left, read Matthew 25~32,  33, 41. But the Lord is the
generations of parents from the generations of chil-         Governor among the nations; He is the Judge of all the
dren.    In education a breach is made by the "new           earth who will do right, put everything to rights. None
alphabet" and the "new `math." In sociology and              of the kingdoms mentioned have ever approached the
economics, there was John Dewey's "New Society" greatness of the kingdom which Daniel said would be
followed by  FDR's "New Deal," then  JFK's "New              set up in the days of these kings, a kingdom which
Frontier," now  LBJ's "Great Society," and already           shall never be destroyed!      That is the kingdom of
Romney's "New America." In politics the children             Christ.     It shall break in pieces, and consume all
are wooed by the  "New Left"; in philosophy, the             those kingdoms, while it shall stand forever.
"new morality"; in religion, the "new evangelicalism";          The term kingdom (basileia), as used in Scripture,
among the .pleasure  seekers, the "new generation";          has three senses. First, it denotes sovereignty, rather
in the ecclesiastical field, the "new theology," with than territory.           It refers to the king's authoritative
its "God-is-dead" idiocy and its paralogical "Chris-         control, his absolute dominion. This is what is meant
tian atheism." But with these evils we have nothing to       in the prayer, "Thy kingdom come," and of Christ the
do, except to bring them into their proper position be-      King that "of His kingdom there is no end," and that


                                                                                                         .     -

                                             THESTANDARDBEARER                                                      177


"there was given Him dominion, glory and a kingdom            blessed inherit the kingdom (25:34). The subjects of
which shall not pass away." Second, the word denotes          the kingdom are numberless and deathless. They are
the subjects of the kingdom. They are made a kingdom          first seen numbered as one hundred forty-four thou-
of priests. They are the children of the kingdom. Their       sand, representing the whole number of the elect
character is described (Matt.  5:3, 10;  19:14; Luke          within the Israel'of God. They next appear as a multi-
18:16), and it is said that theirs is the kingdom. They       tude "that no man could number, of all nations, and
are made partners of His kingdom in the giving of it          kindreds, and peoples and tongues, which stood before
and the receiving of it by them (Luke 12:32; Heb. 12:         the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white
28). Third, the word is used figuratively of the eflects      robes (Rev. 7)."
of the exercise of His sovereignty. This idea is evi-            The character of the kingdom is spiritual, since it
dent where men are said to inherit the kingdom (Matt.         is "not of this world" (John 18:36), not an earthly, but
25:34), see it (John 3:3), enter it (3:5),, seek it (Matt.    a "heavenly kingdom (II Tim. 4:18)." It is the king-
6:33), find it and treasure it  (13:44). The idea is          dom of heaven. It comes not with outward show; it is
further evidenced where the kingdom is said to con-           "within you (Luke 17:20)." It is a kingdom of right-
sist in righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit       eousness (Rom.  14:17).     The unrighteous shall not
(Rom.  14:1?). These are all the effects of the invinci-      inherit the kingdom of God  (1. Cor.  6:9). Christ's
ble reign of Christ.                                          throne is as spiritual as His Father's (Rev.  3:21).
   The kingdom is Christ's by nature, as the second           His sceptre is "a sceptre of righteousness (Heb. l:B)."
Person of the trinity, as God over all, co-equal with         His weapons are not carnal, but the weapons of truth,
the Father and the Spirit, having absolute, intrinsic         righteousness, peace, faith and the Sword of the Spirit,
sovereignty as King of the universe. This dominion is         which is the Word of God (Eph. 6:13-17).
independent, underived, essential and inherently His             This is a true kingdom. It is no republic, much
as the Son of God, the Creator, and as Jehovah. Of            less, a democracy, but an absolute monarchy. The
the triune Jehovah, of each of the three Persons, it is       King is a benevolent Despot (Rev.  6:10, Gk.). He
said, "Thine, 0 Jehovah, is the greatness, and the            elects His subjects, not the subjects their Sovereign.
power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty;       Useless, confused and ignorant philosophizings and
for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is Thine.      wranglings over civil rights there are not in this king-
Thine is the kingdom, 0 Jehovah, and Thou art exalted         dom.    The moralization of human rights which now
above all (I Chr. 29:11)."                                    churns all the world's political bodies into  pande-
   The kingdom is also Christ's as bestowed on Him            moniums has no place in Christ's kingdom. Instead,
by the .Father, delegated to Him as the Mediator. As          the exalted doctrine of the whole duty of man prevails,
Man, all things absolutely have been put under His            binding the hearts of its citizenry in homage to the
feet, except for the triune Father, who put all things        throne of the Prince of Peace and in harmony with
under Him (I Cor. 15:27). He left nothing that is not         their own happiness.
put under Him (Heb. 2:B). He is appointed Heir of all            The rule of Christ is in every realm of nature,
things (1:2), so that this kingdom is universal in ex-        providence and human life, causing all the outworkings
tent.    Its  I<ing has absolute sovereignty over the         of history, controlling the tumults of the peoples, the
universe.      All authority in heaven and earth was given movements of nations, the rise and decline of civiliza-
Him; He has authority over all flesh (Matt.  28:lB;           tions, the acts of scientific, political and religious
John 17:2).      Out from the eternal counsel of God He       organizations, making all these to subserve the cause
speaks as He is viewed within the decree of the cove-         of His kingdom, its coming, advance, extension and
nant and the decree of the incarnation, "By Me kings          perfection. Mainly, the kingdom comes in the epochs
reign and princes decree justice, by Me princes rule          of redemption: the giving of the law, the incarnation,
and nobles, and all the judges of the earth (Pro;. 8:         crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, reign at God's
lSf)." So that He is King of angels (Heb. 1:6), King of right hand, and His final, visible coming in glory.
saints (Rev. 15:3), King of providence (Heb. 1:3), King
of kings, Lord of lords and the Ruler of the kings of            Christ's kingdom of glory shall have in it only
the earth.                                                    the redeemed, for the Lord will gather out of it every-
  The subjects of Christ's kingdom are His people.            thing that offends. "There shall in no wise enter into
The substance of the kingdom is the holy seed (Isa.           it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh
6:13), which seed shall serve Him in the kingdom. He          abomination, or maketh a lie, but they which are
shall see His seed; He shall call God's seed. "I will written in the Lamb's book of life." This final aspect
bring Thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the        of the kingdom shall come about cataclysmically. The
west, I will say to the north, `Give up!' and to the          kingdom has both a present gradual and a future
south `Keep not back! Bring My sons from far, and My          catastrophic realization. The former aspect has been
daughters from the ends of the earth, every one called denied          by ultraeschatologists, the latter by the
by My name' (43:6)." It is a kingdom of sons and Modernist school. The former has been perverted by
daughters. It is a possession of nations to the utter-        the Modernist school, holding that the present kingdom
most reaches of the earth (Ps. 2:B). The saints shall will almost imperceptibly develop into the future
possess the kingdom (Deut. 7:lB). The righteous are kingdom. According to this idea, the kingdomis a one-
in this kingdom, shining as the sun (Matt. 13:43). The        world church union of all denominations interacting
                                                                                                  . .


178                                          THE STAND&D BEARER


and cooperating on the `principle of love.        But the    represented himself as the realizer of His own king-
principle of love does not, as Modern thought,  de-          dom, but that its present (Matt. 12:28; Luke 19:12,`15;
theologize the conception of the kingdom, making its         Col.  1:13)  and final realization (cp. Luke 22:30 with
realization not the redemptive work of God, but the          Matt.  26:29) are God's.       When the final kingdom of
ethical processes and socialistic activity of man. This      glory shall come, the seat of it will be the throne of
makes man the realizer of the kingdom, which is so           God and of the Lamb (Rev. 22:l) and will be located in
opposite to the thinking of Jesus that He almost never the New Heavens and the New Earth!


  THE CHURCH AT  WORSHIP-

                               The Theory of Worship

                                               bj Rev.  &  Vanden  Berg

    We are not yet ready to discuss our order of wor-        part of his definition is this: "Worship is the act of
ship and to consider its various elements step by            paying divine honors to a deity; religious reverence
step. There are other matters pertaining to the idea         and homage."      Simply stated, worship is an act of
and meaning of worship `that' come first. It is im-          religion. It is not an exclusive act. There are also
perative that before we try to understand -what we do in     many `other acts which are religious but which cannot
our acts of worship;we realize the nature of worship         be characterized as worship. Worship is a very limit1
itself o     Without this our study cannot be meaningful.    ed and  .particular religious act and because of its
Worship must be scrutinized and carefully examined           religious character we must discuss religion first.
from its most profound .motivation  in the heart to its         What is your religion?
visible expression in the act. Only in the light of these       ,Religion is not the same as tradition. It does not
findings will we be able to intelligently explain the        consist of something that has been handed down to you
things in which we actively participate in the house of      through past generations, so that you are today a
God.        The WHY of our worship is fully as important     religious person because your ancestors also were.
as the HOW, and because the former determines. the           Neither is it something that is offered to you or even
latter, it must be considered first.                         inculcated into you by the church. The church is not a
    We m.ay also state parenthetically here that we are      religious depository.      It is not true that your affilia-
not yet ready to make a comparison of the various            tion with some church makes you religious. Your
orders of worship that a.re currently in use in our          environment, education, culture, etc. are not the origin
churches. The reason for this is that to date we have        of' your religion.       If that were the case you could
received a copy of. the order of worship from only           classify all of humanity into two groups: religious and
three of our churches and therefore have- no certain         non- religious. This, however, cannot be done, for the
knowledge of the order that is followed in the rest;         fact is'that all men are religious.
Until we do we simply cannot offer suggestions or give          Calvin in his Institutes, Book I, Chapt. 4, says that
any directives toward, a possible  `.unified order of        all men are born with the, "seed of religion.". This, of
w o r s h i p .                                              course, does not mean that Calvin teaches that all men
    Our present purpose is to discuss religious wor-         are religious`in the true sense of the word, that is, that
ship. We speak of religious worship`bedause religion         all men have the .ability or inclination to engage in true
and worship -are. two closely related .things. The one       religion. This is evident when we, consider what Calvin
is bound up `in, the other. We'may, distinguish them by has to say., We quote:
pointing out that religion is the broader concept while         "While experience testifies that' the seeds of reli-
worship is a single aspect of it. Webster defines reli:      gion are sown by' God'in every heart, we scarcely find
gion as: "1. The service' and adoration of God'& a           one man in a hundred. who cherishes what' he has
god as expressed in forms of worship. 2. .-One of the        received, and not one in whom they grow to maturity,
systems of faith and worship. 3. The  profession..or         much less bear fruit-' in dueseason. Some perhaps
practice of religious beliefs; religious observances         grow vain' in' `their own. superstitions,, while: others
collectively;, rites.  .4.     Devotion or fidelity; con-    revolt from  God: with intentional wickedness; but all
scientiousness.` 5. An awareness or conviction of the        degenerate from the true knowledge of him; The fact
existence of a supreme being, arousing reverence,            is, that no genuine piety remains .in the world.. But,
love, gratitude, .the"' will to obey and serve,. and,the     in saying that some fall into superstition'through.er-
like; as, man only is' capable of religiond" When Web-       ror, I would not insinuate that their ignorance. excuses
ster then defines the term "worship," the important          them from guilt;' -because `their blindness is always


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                    179


connected with pride, vanity, and contumacy. Pride               Now our present. concern is not with this general
and vanity, are discovered, when miserable men, in            religious aptitude or religious consciousness of man.
seeking after God, rise not, as they ought, above their       Our liturgical study does not concentrate in this. Our
own level, but judge of him according to their carnal         only purpose in pointing it out is to bring out the
stupidity, and leave the proper path of investigation in      reality that in this present world it exists along side of
pursuit of speculations as -vain as they are curious.         the true worship of God by His regenerated children.
Their. conceptions of him are formed, not according to        We must know that all idolatry is not outside of the
the representations he gives of himself, but by the           sphere of the church or even nominal Christendom. It
inventions of their own presumptuous imaginations.            is very near to everyone of us. Its seed is planted in
This gulf being opened, whatever course they take,            our. natural hearts. The masses of mankind cannot be
they must be rushing forwards to destruction. None            classified as "religious" and "non-religious" .but the
of their subsequent attempts for the worship or ser-          distinction must be drawn between those that "worship
vice of God can be considered as rendered to him;             God in Spirit and in truth" and all the rest who indeed
because they worship not him, but a figment of their          worship and engage in religious practices but "their
own brains in his stead.         This depravity Paul ex-      god is their belly and they glory in their shame".
pressly remarks: `Professing themselves to be. wise,             What then is your religion?
they become fools'. He had before said, `they became             .The `embodiment of religion is life. In all that we
vain in their imaginations'. But lest any should ex-          think and are and do, we exercise ourselves religiously.
culpate them, he adds that they were deservedly               Religion is the spontaneous reaction of man to God
blinded, because, not content within the bounds of            whether in the sphere of His creation or more partic-
sobriety, but arrogating to themselves more than was          ularly with respect to His revelation in the Word. It
right, they  wilfully darkened, and even infatuated           is not something that is concealed in church-member-
themselves with pride, vanity, and perverseness.              ship or that is confined to a series of pious activities,
Whence it follows, that their folly is inexcusable,           traditionally executed within the walls of the church
which originates not only in a vain curiosity, but in         each Lord's Day. When such limitations are drawn
false confidence, and an immoderate desire to exceed          upon the religious acts of man, the net product is an
the limits of human knowledge."                               abomination that in ,God's sight is more contemptible
    The point and warning of Calvin here is well put.         than the silly practices of the pagans and, according
We need not point the finger at the foolish heathen as        to His Word, He will visit it with a manifold more
they engage in their superstitious religious exercises,       severe judgment.      Our religion is manifest in our
bowing to four-footed beasts and creeping things, but         "eating and drinking and whatever we do" and only
rather cast the `searching light of God's Word upon           when- all these things are done to the "glory of God"
ourselves and our practices to probe an answer to the         is our religion true. (I Cor. 10:31) Building a house,
question that counts: Is my religion true? There is a         pushing a pencil in -the office, turning out various
lot of religion in the world. The world is full of it.        products on an assembly line, buying and selling, all
We are part of it and we cannot escape it no-matter           constitute religious activity and when we consider this
how we try. But that is not the important thing. Of           we will also realize that w.e cannot gauge the genuiness
serious consequence is the answer to the question,            of our religion by our church affiliation, our creed or
"Why do I worship God?" And this question must be             our ancestry. Do not misunderstand. I do not say that
followed later with the inquiry, "How do I do that?"          these things are unimportant and have no bearing. On
    In an article of The Bannev  of July 1, 1960, Prof. the contrary, we would point out that our creed is
Martin Monsma makes this observation.                         exactly determined by our religion and we will seek
    "We note that the liberal, modernistic churches           affiliation with the church in the world that gives truest
base their services -on the .general aptitude in man's        expression to our religious conviction. Believers in
heart for the worship of God.         Now we do not deny Christ, who earnestly desire  .to glorify God in  -all
that the worship of God is natural to man. But we spheres of life, will seek one another in the true com-
hold that according to God's Word the natural, un-            munion of saints and there the church will spring to
regenerate man is unable and unwilling to worship life .with a dynamic witness that can be both heard and
God.       He is totally depraved, and in his fallen state    seen and that will boldly contradict the testimony of all
even hinders the truth in unrighteousness (Romans             pseudo-religion. Maybe, as Calvin suggests, it will be
.l:lB).    Man needs to be born of the Spirit if he is. to    but one in a hundred, but. that is not the important
see the kingdom of God (John 3~3)' .`The natural man thing. What counts is that the true religion originates
receiveth not the things of the Spirit of-God: for they with God, is wrought in man by Him through regenera-
are foolishness unto him; and he cannot know them,            tion, is preserved by grace and empowered by His
because they are. spiritually judged' (I Corinthians 2:       Spirit so that all the powers of hell and the world are
14). And although man was created with the aptitude ,not able to destroy it. It is in no way contingent upon
for the worship of God, the, natural man uses this            numbers, upon man,. or upon institutions. It is God's
ability and aptitude in the wrong .direction,  .and ulti-     gift of. grace to that people- whom He has sovereignly
mately. he makes himself guilty. of self-worship -            chosen- unto -eternal life from before the foundations
think of pantheism -,- idolatry, and: demon -worship          of this world.
(Deuteronomy 32.~17, I Corinthians 10:20);" :           ,.       Concerning all -of this we plan to write.more in our


180                                         THE STANDARD BEARER


next article but let us conclude now by observing that      that God, because of His holiness, will not meet
out of this true religion proceeds worship. It is im-       with a people to bless them and fellowship with them
possible to have true worship without true religion.        when they live religiously as the world itself. The
Where religion is false and corrupted, worship will be      apostle Paul warns the church about coming together
in form and content abominable.        We have earlier      `,unto condemnation." Worship the Lord we must!
pointed out that worship is the meeting of God with         And that worship must be "in the beauty of holiness."
His people as the instituted church on earth and            Another worship there is not, and this worship must'
through the medium of the offices.       Now it follows     then be characterized by holiness in all our living!




 IN HIS  FEAR-

                                  The Blessed Giver

                                                by Rev. J. A.  Hew




   Lest the accusation be raised, because of the lines      ye rich men, weep and howI for your miseries that
which we wrote in this rubric of In His Feav last time,     shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and
that we are partial to management and not filled with       your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver
enough concern for the employee and his needs and           is cankered and the rust of them shall be a witness
rights, let it be stated that we purpose to be partial      against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire.
neither to the employer nor to the employee. Our only       Ye have heaped treasures together for the last day.
concern in these lines, both last time and now, is ex-      Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped
pressed by the question, "What saith the Scripture?" down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud,
Our concern is, "What is in His fear?" That is all          crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are
that counts. And Holy Writ will have to tell us what        entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth." And
right we actually have and what rights we only as-          centuries before this God Himself gave warning through
sume.    The Word of God must point out to us               the mouth of Moses and unto Moses, "Thou shalt not
what action we may take when our rights are trampled        oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy,
upon and we are abused by men.                              whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy strangers that
   Even if we would have to be a traitor - because we       are in thy land within thy gates: At his day thou shalt
also stand in the category of employee and not em-          give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon
ployer - as far as man's judgment of us is concerned,       it; for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it: lest
we must be loyal to the Word of God and bear all of         he cry against thee unto the Lord, and it be sin unto
our trials in His fear. The natural inclination of an       thee."       Unjust wages and unmerciful treatment are
employee is to take the side of the employee and not of     not inventions of the nineteenth and twentiethcenturies,
the employer in today's struggle between capital and        even though they have through the ages come to their
labor, management and help, master and servant. But         culmination in the end of the ages, as is the case with
it is the spiritual reaction that counts.  `The carnal      all sins.      Let's face it! The employers through the
mind or natural  `mind,remember,  is enmity against         ages set the stage, gave the occasion and initiated the
God, is. not subject to the law of God and cannot be.       action that enabled the labor unions to appear and..to
We must always restrain ourselves, therefore, and           gain such tremendous power. There always has been
walk according to the leading of the Spirit; He gives us    greed on the part of the laboring.-man, indeed. But
in our hearts God's Word as a lamp for our feet in          management and the master have never been devoid,of
every situation and a light upon our .path in all the       it either. And we do not mean to, say that, if the em-
darkness of this world of sin in which we have been         ployers through the. ages had paid decent wages, been
placed to be witnesses and servants of the living God.      concerned with the. working conditions of their em-
   It cannot be denied that through the ages the em-        ployees, there would be no unions, no union constim;
ployer generally ,has been the one whom any impartial       tions with strike clauses and no lockouts, boycotts and
mediation board would have found guilty, and whose. the like. But what we do say is that the employer so
practices .the* Word of God condemns in no uncertain        often steals the goods of the neighbour who works for
terms. James could cry out in his. day, "Go-to now,         him, even. when that neighbour- serves very faithftdly


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER


and at times at the risk of his life, and without com-      wages that we pay them must be not ONE penny less
plaint. The employer so often is the sinner!                than the amount for which we would be willing to do
   We might just as well face the fact as well.that         the same work. Would we work for what the govern-
there is no hope for the whole tragic situation. Union-     ment lists as the minimum wage for that kind of labor?
ism is not the answer. Disbanding all the unions .and       And the very fact that the government finds it neces-
taking away all fear of strike will not solve the prob-     sary to set a minimum wage indicates how widely this
lem. Government control of both employer and em-            Golden Rule is ignored. But is it so among us that the
ployee will solve nothing. There simply is no hope in       family man struggling to keep his chin above the water
this world even  .though dreamers and church men            with the constant rise in the cost of living has to come,
philosophize and antichristian promises are made and        almost on his knees before us, begging for a few more
hopes expressed. Management simply hikes the price          pennies in his pay check, when we ourselves would
of its commodity to regain the amount it must now give      never work for that little sum of money? That the un-
in wages. And the help that gets a few more pennies in believing employer is unconcerned with the needs of
its pocket has to give them up in greater measure for       his employees is to be understood; but should not a
the same item that, before the strike days, he reluc-       believer be the best of all employers? My brethren,
tantly bought with fewer of his coins. And so another       should not those in the church be the first to volunteer
strike is called. Neither side loves the other. Neither     to raise the wages as the cost of living rises and
side will give in, for both are moved by greed. Both        rises?
are seeking the things here below and have their af-           And, of course, the rod measures both ways.
fections set on these matters; and are simply going to      Whether you begin at the one end of the rule or yard-
GO OUT AND GET THEM! By legal means or illegal,             stick or at the other, they still measure just exactly
by a spirit that declares that might makes right, neigh-    the same distance. Where ought we to find the best
bour is after the goods of the neighbour !                  employee? And let the employee then also ask him-
   But in the midst of all this despair and hopeless        self, "If I were boss, would I pay that kind of money
picture as far as the natural man is concerned, there       for the kind of work that I perform?" What is more,
is a directive for the church.       My brethren, these     in the very same passage where James rebukes the
things ought not so to be !      There ought not be any     rich who oppress and DO keep back the wages and
strike either against the brother in Christ before whom     steal from their employees, he counsels these op-
we work or against the unbelieving master who de-           pressed ones, not to go on strike and to take things in
frauds us by unjust wages, and keeps back what we           their own hands to steal from the employer by de-
could expect to receive, and for which we laboured.         stroying his business, but to be patient unio the coming
And the believing employer ought not to keep one            of the Lord.
penny of that wages which his employee-be he a                 Always it is with an eye to the coming of Christ
brother in Christ or an out-and-out unbeliever of the       that the child of God endures his afflictions and abuses
world -has coming to him because of  labour per-            at the hands of the ungodly. He refuses to sin against
formed.    For, although the Church has no "social          the one sinning against himself. He knows that if he
gospel" the Church has the Word of God to preach and        is not rich toward God, then with all his gold and silver
practice, which gives principles to guide all the citi-     he still is a poor fool! For riches consisteth not in
zens of the Kingdom of Heaven in their earthly life.        the abundance of things. And the riches of the kingdom
And one, of them is that beautiful, so-called Golden        of heaven are so infinitely great and precious that all
Rule: "Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto          the material is not worthy to be compared with it.
you, do ye even so unto them: for this is the law and       These riches, moreover, are never obtained in the
the prophets." Matthew 7:12.         Here is something      way of revenge, retaliation, violence and coercion
positive. Here is a rule that willguide every employer      against those who wrongfully treat us. They are ob-
and every employee.                                         tained in the way of patience.       For we obtain them
   Let the man who hires for a definite wage ask him-       from Christ in His day. And. He sees and knows.
self, "Would I do it for that amount of money?"             Our cry does reach His ears; and as the Lord of
"Would I, had I done the job, have considered that          Hosts He will `come with power to. right every wrong
amount of wages fair?" "Had such meager pay been            and to bring us where we can everlastingly enjoy the
given to my son, my daughter, for that amount of toil       righting' of that. wrong. `What is it worth to take things
and grief, would I be satisfied that they were not taken    in our hands- to try to right a wrong among men and
advantage of and that time and toil had not been stolen     enjoy for a few days or months some little carnal
from them?".`: "Or would I consider it my duty to go        advantage? Nay, Wait for The Master' Who. will give
and talk with-.that  employer about his shameful con-       wages to all men atHis coming; And then we can en-
duct?" It is quite easy to "see" the mote in the em-        joy without end a reward of bliss and glory that no
ployer's eye, when you are not that employer, but fail      man can take from us.
to `see the beam in -your own eye as employer. We              In His fear let us DO unto others as we would have
may not measure with two rods. And if we stand in           them do -unto us, whether we are. employers or em-
that enviable position where- we' are not in need'of        ployees. Then we will not steal from each other but
being bossed and- employed by others for our daily          give unto each other and enjoy presently as well as
needs' but instead hire'mento -work for us, then the        now that it IS more blessed to give than to receive.


182                                                 THE.  STANDARD BEARER



PAGES  FRO/i THE  PAS.T--  -~  T

                                 On$oing  ReformaGon.
  ^                                                       .'
                                                          (coricluded)
       ..



                                                    :           ,..

(Note:- This is the last in a series-of translated-arti-                            Neither do we .have our eye upon what is usually
cles from the pen of the late Rev. Herman Hoeksema.                              understood by .an orderly restoration of the Church,
These particles- first -appeared in the Holland language                         by a reformation of the Church within the Church. The
in Volumes 6 and 7 of the Stundavd  Beayev. HCH)                                 latter is, for example, the intention of those orthodox,
             Church reformation can, take place, thus -we have                   Reformed. preachers who are _ aware of the. corruption
seen, through secession and departure out of a certain                           in the Netherlands Reformed (Hehormde)   Church, who
church communion.                                                                are grieved on account of it, but who nevertheless did
 This cannot and may not wait, and in history it does                            not appear to have the freedom and courage to break
never .wait, until a certain church has b.ecome false in                         with that church and to affiliate with the men of the
the absolute sense of the word, so that there is found                           Secession or later to cooperate with the  DoZeuntie.
in it no remnant of the truth whatsoever and so that in                          They conceive of the possibility of an orderly and
the absolute sense such a church has corrupted `and
                   . .                                                           gradual restoration of the Reformed  (HevvoVmde)
profaned the.. sacraments.            But when the church de-                    Church, and they always continue to labor with that
clines, when the Church does not maintain and pre-                               ideal in view.    Their motto is: reformation of the
serve the pure truth, but perverts it; when it profanes                          Church within the Church!
the sacraments; when it places the righteous under the                              At present we do not have in mind such methodical
ban and protects the ungodly; a.nd -when it appears im-                          restoration either.
possible to reform the Church within the Church,                                    Also the necessity of such restoration and the at-
something which  .becomes especially evident from this,                          temct. at it already presuppose that the Church had
that they persecute and cast out those who sound the                             declined and departed in doctrine and in life,. in wor-
trumpet-call of repentance, then there is but one way                            ship and in discipline, and that there is therefore in
of reformation open: secession. The true Church is                               the special sense of the word a need of restoration, of
then continued by those who separated themselves from                            reformation.
the existing communion of churches.                                                 When we speak of on-going, -or continuing, reforma-
             Reformation can also take place, as we have seen,                   tion, then we refer to a reformation for which there is
through so-called Yevival.                                                       an always continuing need: a reformation which as-
             At such a time the Church has suffered a spiritual                  sumes the form of a continuing and orderly process.
relapse, has fallen asleep.                                                         Even .as the child of God, apart from special sins
             And the King'of MS Church raises up men who have                    and backslidings,  experiences the need of constant and
been awakened out of that spiritual sleep of death, who                          always continuing conversion, so also the Church of
are concerned about the condition of the Church, and                             Christ in the world is in need of continuing reforma-
who, moved by the Holy Spirit particularly for that                              tion. This is true, on the one hand, because it is al-
purpose,, send forth the call unto sorrow and repent-                            ways surrounded by enemies who are intent upon the
ance.            And the Savior Himself causes this word of                      Church's destruction, who cannot rest until they have
awakening of such preachers to find entrance, to find `destroyed the Church of Christ. In various ways they
reception, so that. a real spiritual awakening takes                             attempt to deceive the Church into forsaking the right
place, whether.. in the local congregation or in the                             path,-that triple alliance of the devil, the world, and
broader sphere of the church communion.                                          the sin which still remains in the Church. Corruption
             However, at present we do not have our eye upon                     is always sneaking in. The danger of the falsification
any of these forms of reformation..                                              of the truth, of the profaning of: the sacraments, of the
 Rather are we speaking of  on-going  vefovmation.                               weakening and emasculation of discipline, of the de-
        -And it lies in the very- nature of the case that by                     generation of the worship service, and of thedespoiling
this we do .not mean the reformation of the churches                             of church government,-these dangers always threaten
through secession. The latter is exactly character- the Church of the Lord on every hand. On account of
ized by this, that .it takes place at definite periods,                          this there, is a continuous need to watch and to fight,
that it passes through a history .of longer or shorter                           to purge out the, evil, to cast out the wicked. A watch
duration, but that rhen it is an accomplished fact.                         '    must be. set. over the confession of the churches, in
 The same, ,al,so. applies to spiritual awakening, to                            order that no false philosophy may corrupt it.. A watch
revival..           . .                        _                       "  `.:    must be set not only over the formulated confession,


                                                      THE STANDARD BEAXER                                                               183


as we possess it in the Three Forms of Unity, but                          Next to this negative side of all reformation, the
also over the living confession of the congregation in                 positive side may not be absent. i        .
word and in walk.          A .watch must be set over the                The Church of Christ in the world may also never
sacraments, not only so that they are not profaned,                    be satisfied with that to which it has already attained,
but also in order that they may not be corrupted by all                in order now `to rest upon its laurels and to live out of
kinds of superstitions, such as takes place, for ex-                   the past, out of tradition.
ample, in the Romish Church. A watch must be set                           If it assumes this attitude, then the Church will die,
over church discipline and church government, in                       nay, perhaps better stated:           the Church is already
order that the former be- maintained and the wicked                    dead.
banned and the pious protected, and in order that the                      Above all, this is true with respect to the confes-
latter may not go in the direction. of hierarchy. Es-                  sion of the truth.
pecially to the latter we must pay attention. The                          We may be thankful, yea, we are thankful, for that
telmptation  is so very great, and the history of `the                 which the Lord our God has been pleased to pass on to
church confirms this, that the priesthood of believers                 us through our Reformed fathers. Thankfully we may
is forced into the background, is denied, and that they                acknowledge, and shall acknowledge if it be well with
who should be disciples of Christ .now begin to lord it                us, the guidance of the Holy Spirit in the Church of the
over the flock! A watch must, be set over the public                   past. We do not go along with those who are proud of
worship, in order that it remain free from dead form                   the fact that they have shoved aside every formal con-
and continue to be -a worship in spirit and in truth.                  fession and have dispensed with every credo. "Un-
Also the latter may well be emphasized, especially                     denominationalism" is not only absurd, does not only
also in our day. All kinds of forms and formalism are                  in last analysis not really exist; but is deceit in things
introduced, mainly in order to keep the crowd in the                   sacred,       because every church after all has its
church; and the preaching of the Word and the worship                  "name," its peculiar character, possesses its con-'
of the Lord in spirit and in truth are disappearing                    fession, and because those who shout most loudly of
more and more. Here the -attempt is made to attract                    "undenominationalism" also shout most loudly that
the crowd, especially the young people, so it is said,                 they alone know it all and have %a monopoly on the truth.
by a so-called song-service and the promise of a short                 as well as on wisdom.          But the attempt to despise
sermon; there they advertise special music and sing-                   every confession and to be a church without a credo is
ing and offer sacrifices to the goddess of heathen art,                deeply sinful. It is a despising of the guidance of the
attempting at least to gratify one's artistic sense in-                Holy Spirit `in the Church in the past, a breaking-with
stead of worshipping the living God. And the stubborn                  the organism of the body of Christ. The Church as it
striving of some, of whom one would expect better                      reveals itself in the present in the midst of the world
things, in the Christian Reformed Churches here-                       does not stand alone, does not stand apart from the
abouts, again to introduce absolution has certainly                    Church in the past. The entire Church, of the past, of
demonstrated how great the danger of corrupting the                    the present, and of the future, is one great organism.
worship service is.                                                    To that Church the Savior has given His Spirit and has
                                                                       promised and bestowed the guidance of the Spirit. Also
   There is, therefore, a continuing need of purifica-                 in the past .the Church was led by that Spirit. And
tion.                                                                  under and by means of the- guidance of that Spirit the
   We may not sit down by the. burdens.                                Church in the past has mined the truth out of the Word
   The Church  inay not rest upon its laurels and                      of God, has consciously apprehended and assimilated
imagine that the battle has already be,en fought, that                 that truth, frequently-in fact, most often-in the way
the danger has already disappeared, that the enemy                     of a fierce and bitter struggle. The fruit of all this we
has already been defeated, that the victory has already                possess in the confession of the- churches. To despise
been gained.       Danger is always threatening.              The      all this, to act as if we ourselves, independent from
enemy is constantly on the attack.. Corruption is                      the past, must and will and can derive the truth of'God
always sneaking in. ,-There is a continuing process of                 out of His Word is not only self-deception, but it is
corruption against which we must always be on guard,                   also deeply sinful `pride and a despising of ,the work of
constantly. fighting. Always and again corruption must                 (-J-j&..-                   .;-'
be warded. off and banned, wherever it creeps in.                        Therefore we -shall then also thankfully -enter into
    Even- as the -individual child of God `is in need-of               the heritage of the fathers `.and appreciate our Re-
continuing conversion, constant mortification' of the, formed- confession, make it `our own, assimilate, it in
old man,' so the. ' Church is in this negative sense' of our consciousness, love it; and  defend-it0  1
the  word-in need of continuing reformation.                            .' We' shall, as much -as `possible, make the history
 We must put on the whole -armor of God.                               of the Church and of the development of the truth and
   It is better for the' Church .of tlie.Lord  continually             of the confession our own, consider it and contemplate
to' watch and to pray and to:fight and always and again                it; .in :ordek  that -we may recognize and understand
to reform, than to wait until corruption has crept in                  therein the guidance of the Spirit.
and ,has gnawed `at' its vitals `and until the need of a                -I `And we shall take our own `starting-point and find
special awakening-or reformation arises.  :                          . our own point of union in the positive line of that
 :  This;however,   i s .   butthe  one,side:   /.      '     -.       history.       J      i          :             .,     _     :


1 8 4                                         THE STANDARD BEARER


    Yea,. we shall be extremely careful when we begin           Well, then, for this reason the Church of Christ
to speakof changing or expanding the confession.             will also want to walk the path of reformation in the
    The Church shall not change its confession because       positive sense of the word.       While it accepts with
of the, clamor of a certain new generation (de jongwen),     thankfulness that which it might receive through the
who perhaps know the confession not at all, much less        fathers, and while it condemns as so much pride every
have ever learned to appreciate it land' to love it. That    attempt to shove the confession aside and to live im-
would certainly result in the emasculation of the truth.     mediately and directly out of God's Word, as though
And the example of the Christian Reformed Churches           there were never a guidance of the Spirit in the past,
in 1924, who in a rash way, in what very much ap-            the Church will nevertheless keep in mind both that
peared to be a passionate, headlong spirit, under the        the confession is fallible, and therefore can be puri-
greatest confusion, without calm deliberation or se-         fied, and that the confession is not perfect, and there-
rious examination, added three points of doctrine to the     fore can always be enriched out of the Word of God.
Reformed confession,-that example we certainly will             This enrichment of the confession does not take
not imitate. May God keep us from it!                        place through the cultivation of the science of theology
    But when we have emphasized this, when we have           in a certain school or university. This can be a means,
fully appreciated the work of God in His Church in the       but it can  as' such never lead to the  enrichment.or
past, when we have thankfully acknowledged the spirit-       purifying of the confession. But it does occur through
ual heritage which our fathers have bequeathed us,           the on-going reformation of the churches in the posi-
then we must immediately add to this that we may not,        tive sense. The Church, the congregation itself, must
without anything ,more,  live out of tradition, that we      grow up and increase in the knowledge of the Word of
may not merely live out of the confession.                   God.    It must consciously apprehend and assimilate
 In that sense, in that dead sense, we may not be            ever more and more of the riches of the truth revealed
Confessionally Reformed. Then we fall again into the         to us in the Holy Scripture. Only then will the Church
clutches of Romish tradition.                                be able to give expression to. that enriched con-.
    Then the work of men would Iagain be thrust into         sciousness in its formal confession. And as it is with
the place of the work of God.                                the matter of the. confession, thus it is with the entire
    The Church lives with its co,mession. It does not        life of the Church.
live out of that confession.                                    Thus it is with church government and with the
    Above that confession, for the Reformed con-             worship and liturgy. Development, progress, growth
sciousness, always stands the iiving Word of God.            must characterize the life of the Church. On-going
That Word of the Lord is always the only fountain out        reformation, in the healthy sense of the word, must be
of which the Church drinks. Out of it only does the          the motto of the Church.
Church receive the living water which alone can quench
its thirst.      That Word only is `for the Church the          To be sure, - and we have indeed kept this in mind
infallible rule of faith, the rule whose infallibility is throughout this entire discussion,- the reformation of
guaranteed by divine revelation and.`inspiration.  How-      the churches, in whatever form, in whatever manner,
ever highly the Reformed believer-may appreciate and         can never be the work of men. As little as the con-
esteem his. confession, never will, he place it next to      version of the Christian, the sanctification of the child
the Word of his God; neither will he ever consider that      of God, is the work of men, so little can the reforma-
confession to be infallible.        /                        tion of the churches ever take place through an arm of
    But there is more.              I                        flesh. To present matters thus is Arminian. To at-
    Not only does the Reformed believer never consider       tempt to reform the Church in one's ownstrength leads
his confession as infallible; he will even concede that      to nothing else than artificial bungling. To attempt
in that confession the acme, perfection, the ultimate,       even to improve the life of the Church may have the
has not been attained.                                       result that we get precept upon precept and rule upon
    The fathers have `said much, bit they have not said      rule, about which finally no one concerns himself and
it all.                                                      by which no living Church of Christ is profited; but to
    They have assimilated much of the rich Word of           reformation this will surely never lead.
God in the consciousness of their faith and have ex-            If He, the King of His Church, Who walks in the
pressed it in the confession; they have not digested         midst of the candlesticks and has the seven stars in
and understood everything.                                   His right hand, forsakes us and visits us with His
    The Church in the past enjoyed the guidance of the       judgments, if He comes as a thief in the night to re-
Holy Spirit. Thankfully we acknowledge that fact. The        move the light from the candlestick,. if the seven
Church in the present has that guidance, however, no         spirits which are before His throne do  .not finally
less.      And also the latter fact may never be over-       .work their life-quickening work in the bosom of the
looked.                                                      churches, then all human effort is vain.
    Added to this is the fact that also the development         The reformation of the churches is the work of
of history sheds light for the Church of the present on      God!
the revelation of God's Word, light which the fathers           He must cause His north wind to blow and His south
necessarily lacked.                                          wind to awaken; He must quicken and maintain life in
    .And God's Word is so unfathomably.rich!                 the Church; He must cause His Word to,find, entrance.


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                   185


into the hearts; and He must call His servants to the              Indeed, then the fruit will not be that we shall
ministry of that Word.                                         obtain a perfectly pure -church on earth. Even the
   Therefore also all reformation of the churches,             necessity of secession will not be averted. Always
also the on-going purification and edification of the          and again the church will decay and become false.
Church, must be sought from the Lord, with deep                But we shall be and shall remain, through the grace
humiliation before His face.                                   of God, also for the church of the future, bearers of'
   Let all our expectation be of Him!                          the truth of God and of the pure confession.
        But this does not change the fact that the Church
must understand its calling, its calling to walk in the            The remnant is preserved.
way of continuing reformation and to fight the good               And the blessing of the Lord shall be upon our
fight of faith to the very end.                                churches !


           FROM HOLY WRIT-



                            The Book Of Hebrews

                                                 by Rev. G.  Lubbers

MERCY AN? GRACE IN TIME OF NEED                                confession of this same man when he says "Lord, I
(Hebrews  49 6b)                                               believe; help thou mine unbelief." (Mark 9~24) Thus
                                                               also in the vision of the Macedonian to Paul in Troas
   We need mercy and grace. And there are special              when he says "come over and  help us."  (Acts  16:9)
times when we need this mercy and grace. It is called          In all of these cases there is a time of need. It is
in the text "the time of need." These times of need            really deep calling unto deep to God for pity, for
arise because of our sins and our weaknesses. Such             mercy and grace.       God has appointed a high priest
times we think of in the cases of a David when he flees        who is able to succor us in time of need, at a time
before the face of Saul, or the same David after he had        when we are tempted. (Hebrews 2:18)
sinned both the sins. of adultery and murder, in the              Mercy and grace.       These two are not the same,
matter of Bathsheba and Uriah. It was then that David          although they are most closely related. Mercy is
wrote the great confession of Psalm 51 in which he             Yeceitied  and grace is found. Perhaps there is truth
pours out his heart in contrition and draws nigh to the        in the presentation of Dr. Westcott when he says "The
throne of grace, and pleads for mercy and grace in             twofold aim corresponds with the twofold necessity of
the time of his great need.                                    life. Man needs mercy for past failures, and grace for
   The time of need is exactly the fit time                    present and future works.
                                                (eukaivon)t                                  There is also a difference
for receiving grace and mercy. The Lord's eyes are             as to the mode of the attainment in each case. Mercy
upon the righteous and His ears are directed to their          is to be "taken" as it is extended to man in his weak-
cry.       He is like a mother hearing the cry for help        ness; grace is to be `sought' by man according to his
from her infant child. He hears from afar the faintest         necessity." However, we prefer to see in mercy the
rustlings of this cry. For the term "need" is really           great "help" of God as He is moved by inner love and
a word in the Greek which comes from the verb                  compassion to save the "helpless," those, who are
"boee-thew" which means: to run to the cry of those            weak and defenseless in themselves: while in grace we
in danger. Hence: to help, succor, bring aid. What             see the redemptive love of God as he comes to help
a kind consideration of God to us in the great high            us in our worthlessness in ourselves. Hence, we find
priest, who can be touched with the feeling of our             grace in seeking pardon, and receive mercy in. our
infirmities. Does he not say, call upon me in the day          own helplessness.
of trouble and I will help thee? How wonderfully this             Only they, who thus come to the throne of grace,
is exhibited in the prayer of the Canaanitish woman,           receive mercy and grace. Thus one enters into the
who cried saying "Lord,                                        rest of God, does not fall away from the living God,
                               help  me." She came in the
humility of one who whould be as the little dogs who           but clings to him in firm faith, lively hope and ardent
eats the crumbs under their masters' tables. (Matthew          love.
15:25)      Thus the father of the son, who had a dumb         Hebrews  5:1-l 0 (Read  from  own Bible)
spirit, pleads with Christ saying "but if thou canst do
anything, have compassion on us, and help us." (Mark           A MASTERFUL TRANSITION
9:22) And who can be untouched by the heart moving                In the foregoing section the writer admonishes the


186                                              THE STANDARD BEARER


Hebrew readers to look to Christ, the greater than                  We read "And Moses laid up the rods before the LORD
Moses. .In so doing he had touched upon the high                    in the tabernacle of witness. And it came to pass that
priesthood of the Christ. (Hebrews 2:17; 3:l) Now he                on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of
will proceed with a more elaborate and basic discus-                witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house
sion and exposition of the high priesthood of Christ,               of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and
contrasting it with the priesthood of Aaron. He will                bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds." This indi-
introduce Christ as the priest according to the order               cated that Aaron only was appointed. of God to "bear
of Melchizedek..                                                    the iniquity of the sanctuary". Any one not appointed
 In this section here in the verses l-10 the writer                 by God, who then  cometh "unto the tabernacle (to
develops briefly the two basic requirements of any                  minister) shall die." We see this very significantly
priest. Both Aaron and Christ prove to possess these                in the case of Uzziah, king of Judah. (Numbers 17~7'8;
qualifications, although each in his own way and in his             13, and Numbers 18:l)
own order. As to becoming a priest the requirement                     Yet, even so, this glory of Aaron had no glory by
is that one be called, appointed directly by God. (ver-             reason of the glory of Christ's priesthood which ex-
ses 4-6) This is a very important point which must                  celled.    Aaron could never be a proper candidate to
not be overlooked. The outstanding spiritual qualifica-             bring the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the people.,
tion in any priest is that he be able to bear gently with           Only the Christ of God could perform this work in
the ignorant and the erring.                                        "my Father's house,`, where he must be busy in the
   Upon this last qualification the writer had already              things which.pertain to God. (Luke 2:49; II Cor. 3:7-11)
touched in the former Chapter where he spoke of                        For the Christ is the anointed of  God. And this
Christ's being able to be touched with the feeling of               anointing implied both appointment and qualification
our infirmities. He is the great sympathizer; he suf-               for the office of prophet, priest and king. He is ap-
fers, as it were, with us. Here, however, the earthly               pointed in the decree of God, in the counsel of peace.
priest did not measure up to the heavenly., In this, too,           Here the eternal Son was appointed by the triune God,
he ,was but a shadow and a type.                                    Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Before the foundation of
   This entire subject will be pursued more in depth                the world he had this "glory" of appointment to the
in this section, the verses l-10.           We will see how         priesthood.    Wherefore he says in the high-priestly
Christ is indeed the great high priest who passed                   prayer in John 17:s "And now, 0 Father, glorify thou
through the heavens 0                                               me with thine own self with the glory which I had with
                                                                    thee before the world was." And again in John 17:24
CHRIST, THE DIVINEL Y APPOINTED HIGH PRIEST                         ".00 and that they may behold my gZovy, which thou
(verses 5,  6)                                                      hast given me: for thou lovest  me before the foundation
                                                                    of the world." This must refer to the glory of the Son
   Christ was not merely a priest called from "among                in his office as he ministers to the saints in God's
men," Thus it was with .any priest in the Old Testa-                house, the Father's house with its many mansions.
ment dispensation. Yet, even so, the priest had to be                  To substantiate this glory and, that too a glory by
called directly by God. Aaron was called to the priest-             appointment, the writer to the Hebrews quotes Psalm
hood not by popular vote, nor by the mere appointment of            2:7, where we read "my son thou art, this day have I
Moses and the elders of the people, `but he was ap-                 begotten thee.`, The writer had referred to this same
pointed by God. The text says that Aaron w 1s called passage from Psalm 2 already in Chapter 1:s. There
by God.      (alla  kaloumenos  h u p o   t o u   theou)..   The    he proves the fact that this refers to Christ's exalta-
preposition  "Hupo" with the genitive indicates direct tion at God's right hand. Such glory has never been
agency. Aaron was called immediately as we read in                  accorded to any of the angels. This is only for the
Exodus  28:l "And take thou unto thee Aaron thy                     Son, who, after he had brought about the purging away
brother, and his sons with him, from among the chil-                of our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty
dven of IsvaeZ,  that he may minister unto me in the                of God. Here the writer emphasizes not so much the
priest's office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, I :leazar             distinction from the angels, as he does the fact of the
and Ithamar, Aaron's sons." These are to be clothed                 appointment as such.     In the context of Psalm 2 the
with the office of the priesthood, and these only.                  poet speaks of the raging of the nations. They imagine
Therefore we read "And thou shalt make holy gar-                    vain things D They would cast off the cords of God and
ments for Aaron thy brother for glory and beauty." his anointed Son.                     It is then that we hear the divine
(Exodus 28:2)       Yes, it was for "glory and beauty!" laughter which has the nations in derision. He speaks
   However, this was not a glory which Aaron took unto the nations in his wrath, and he vexes them in
upon himself D       This is not only evident. from the             sore displeasure. God will declare of the decree, that
Scripture passages which we have just cited, but is, he will send his Son in the fulness of time; the Son
became evident from God's direct intervention when will suffer and die, and be raised from the dead on the
Korah, Dathan and Abiram became guilty of insurrec-                 third day to fulfil Psalm  2:7.    Thus the passage is
tion against Moses and Aaron. It was then that the                  clearly interpreted by Paul in the memorable sermon
Lord told all the heads of the tribes to place their in Antioch of Pisidia as recorded in Acts 13. We read
respective rods before the tent of the congregation,                in verses 30-34. Thus the promise which was made to
even before the testimony "where I will meet you." the fathers was fulfilled by God unto us the children,


                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER                                                       187


in that he raised up Jesus again. From this it is evi-            God hath sealed.
dent :                                                               3.      And this Psalm was written of the~christ and
    1.      That Psalm 2:7 does not refer to the eternal          not of Aaron and his priesthood by David, at the very
generation of the. Son by the Father in the  inter-               time when the priesthood of Aaron was "bearing the
trinitarian life of God's own Being, but rather refers            iniquities of the sanctuary," and to cleanse the people
to the Son in the counsel of peace and in the economy             as they came before the Lord.
of salvation.                                                        4. Thus he is proved to be an authentic priest, who
    2. That the actual "begetting" refers to Christ's             did not take this "glory" upon himself, but was called
receiving the glory to which he is appointed in the               of God, and presented to the people  atthe Jordan river,
suffering and death, resurrection and ascension at                when a voice came from the cloud: this is my beloved
the right hand of God. The "begetting" in this sense              Son in whom I am well-pleased. (John 1:32, 34; Mat-
is glorious exhibition that He is the Son of Man whom             thew 3:17)

ALL AROUND  Ui-

             Does It Matter What Preaching We Hear?
                     Heresy Approved in New Zealand
                             Once Again Federal Aid To Schools
                                        Coddling Criminals

                                                       by Prof. H.  Hank0

DgbES IT MATTER WHAT PREACHING WE HEAR?                              the laity of such parishes to sit still; be content, and
    A very interesting article appeared in a recent                  take it quietly? They ought not. And why? Because,
issue of "The Banner of Truth" written by J. C. Ryle                 like St. Paul, they ought to prefer truth to peace.
under the above title. I think it important enough to                      There are not a few parishes in England where the
share with our readers. It touches upon an issue of                  religious teaching is little better than morality. The
grave concern in our day of spiritual lethargy and                   distinctive doctrines of Christianity are never clearly
                                                                     proclaimed.      Plato, or Seneca,. or Confucius, or
apostasy.                                                            Socinus, could have taught almost as much. Ought the
                                                                     laity in such parishes to sit still, be content, and take
          I ivarn every one who loves his soul, to be very           it quietly? They ought not. And why? Because, like
   jealous as to the preaching he regularly  hears, and  the         St. Paul, they ought to prefer truth to peace.
    place of  worship he regularly attends.    He who de-                  Divisions and separations are most objectionable
    liberately settles down under any ministry which is              in religion. They weaken the cause of true Christian-
    positively unsound is a very unwise man. I will never            ity. They give occasion to the enemies of all godliness
    hesitate to speak my mind on this point. I know well             to blaspheme. But before we blame people for them
    that many think it a shocking thing for a man to for-            we must be careful that we lay the blame where it is
    sake his parish church. I cannot see with the eyes of            deserved.  False doctrine and heresy are even-worse
    such people. I do believe, if false doctrine is unmis-           than schism.      If people separate themselves from  ,-
    takably preached in a parish church, a parishioner who           teaching which is positively false and unscriptural,,
    loves his soul is quite right in not going to that parish        they ought to be praised rather than reproved. In such
    church. To hear unscriptural teaching fifty-two Sun-             cases separation is a virtue and not a sin. The old
    days in every year is a serious thing. It is a continual         saying must never be forgotten, "He is the schismatic
    dropping of slow poison into the mind. I think it al-            who causes the schism.'
    most impossible for a man wilfully to submit himself                   Controversy in religion is a hateful thing. It is
    to it, and not take harm. I see in the New Testament             hard enough to fight the devil, the world and the flesh,
    we are plainly told to` `prove all things,' and `hold fast       without private differences in our own camp.         But
    that which is good.' (I Thess. 5:21.) I see in the Book          there is one thing which is even worse than con-
    of Proverbs that we are commanded to `cease to hear              troversy, and that is false doctrine tolerated, allowed,
    the instruction which causeth to err from the words              and permitted without protest or molestation. It was
    of knowledge.' (Prov. 19:27.)  If these words do not             controversy that won the battle of Protestant Reforma-
    justify a man in ceasing to worship at a church, if              tion. If the views that some men hold were correct,
    positively false doctrine is preached in it, I know not          it is plain we never ought to have had any Reformation
    what words can.                                                  at all! For the sake of peace, we'ought to have gone
          There are not a few parishes in England where the          on worshipping the Virgin, and bowing down to images
    religious teaching is little better than Popery. Ought           and relics to this very day! Away with such trifling!


I 188                                                        THE STANDARD BEARER
           There are times when controversy is not only a duty                  the different premises on which they started to talk
           but a benefit.        Give me that mighty thunderstorm               about the Christian faith. "Underlying the remarks of
           rather than the pestilential malaria. The one walks in               both of my accusers is the premise that faith consists
           darkness and poisons in silence, and we are never                    of the holding of certain beliefs. I do not hold this
           safe.       The other frightens and alarms for a little              premise, and draw a fairly clear distinction between
           season. But it is soon over, and it clears-the air. It               faith and a set of beliefs," he added. "Faith is not
           is a plain Scriptural duty to `contend earnestly for the             primarily what you need in creeds, confessions, and
           faith once delivered to the saints.' (Jude 3.)                       books of theology.    Faith is what exists in people."
                   I am quite aware that the things I have said are ex-         The Westminster Confession of Faith, he added, can
           ceedingly distasteful to many minds. I believe many                  no longer express the faith of the church today in clear
           are content with teaching which is not the whole truth,              and unambiguous terms. Prof. Geering admitted that
           and fancy it will be `all the same' in the end. I am                 many of the things he believes .are at variance with
           sorry for them. I am convinced that nothing but the                  the Confession, as also are some of the deliverances
           whole tmcth.  is likely, as a general rule, to do good to            of the assembly.
           souls.       I am satisfied that those who wilfully put up
           with anything short of the whole truth, will find at last            The accusations against Prof.  Geering were brought
           that their souls have received much damage. Three                 by a layman who also announced that, because of the
           things there are which men never ought to trifle with             decisions of the assembly, he would resign from the
           - a little poison, a little false doctrine, and a little          church.       He predicted that a large number of people
           sin.                                                              would follow his example and leave a church which
              I am quite aware that when a man expresses such                departed so radically from the confession of the truth.
      opinions as those I have just brought forward, there                      The Assembly itself had little problem with this
      are many ready to say, `He is no Churchman.' I hear                    heresy and doubletalk  of the professor. It never really
      such accusations unmoved. The day of judgment will                     argued the substance of his views but rather spent the
      show who were the true friends of the Church of Eng-                   two hours of debate wondering whether the charges
      land and who were not.                I have learned in the last
      thirty-two years that if a clergyman leads a quiet life,               should be dismissed in a short `legal' document or by
      lets alone the unconverted part of the world, and                      means of a longer pastoral letter. Its decision de-
      preaches so as to offend none and edify none, he will                  clared that no doctrinal error had been established.
      be called by many `a good Churchman.' And I have                       It dismissed the charges to applause from thegalleries
      also learned that if a man studies the Articles and                    and ordered the case closed.
      Homilies, labors continually for the conversion of                        Once  again it becomes evident that it is almost
      souls, adheres closely to the great principles of the                  impossible to declare any views a man may hold to be
      Reformation, bears a faithful testimony against Popery,                heretical.
      and preaches as Jewel1 and Latimer used to preach,
      he will probably be thought a firebrand and <troubler                  ONCE AGAIN FEDERAL AID TO SCHOOLS
      of Israel,' and called no Churchman at all! But I can
      see plainly that they are not the best Churchmen who                      The `issue of federal aid to parochial and private
      talk most loudly about Churchmanship. Let men say                      schools  is by no means settled. The United States
      what they will.           They  aye the  tmcest friends                Supreme Court took two, apparently contrary actions
                                                                  of  the
           Church  of  England who  labour   most  for  the  presema-        on the issue recently. On the one hand it decided not
           tion  of  tmth.                                                   to review a lower court decision which favored a
                                                                             Pennsylvania law providing bus transportation to non-
      Although written many years ago and in the fellow-                     public school children. It rejected this case because
   ship of the Church of England, these words are highly                     it found no Constitutional question at issue.
   applicable today to the sad situation in our own coun-                       But on the other hand, it agreed to hear a suit filed
   try.                                                                      by six New York residents who claimed that the First
                                                                             Amendment defining a separation between Church and
   HERESY APPROVED IN NEW ZEELAND                                            State was being violated by the 1965 Federal Elemen-
      We were under the impression that there was a                          tary and Secondary Education Act. This Act provides
   strong conservative Church in New Zealand, especially                     for the use of federal funds to finance instruction,
   among the Presbyterians. This impression had to be                        textbooks, and library materials in parochial and
   considerably altered when we read of recent decisions                     private schools.
   of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church                           The argument made in favor of the Act was that
   concerning the heretical teachings of one of their                        there was no violation of the First Amendment in-
   professors, Prof. L. G. Geering.                                          volved since the aid was given to the pupil rather than
      According to the  R.E.S. Newsletter                                    the school.
                                                                               What will be the final decision of the Court on this
              In a 90 minute speech to the Assembly, Prof.                   question remains to be seen. And we shall reserve
      Geering answered the charges brought against him,                      comment on it until that decision is made public.
      which included the denial of personal life after death
      and of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Belief in                     CODDLING CRIMINALS
      personal life after death, he said, was "Neither essen-
      tial doctrine nor Biblical." We have no infallible                        We conclude this article with a brief quotation
      source of knowledge, he claimed. Prof. Geering saw                     under the above heading taken from Christian  Econom-
      the main point between him and his hearers to lie in                   iCS.


                                                       THE STANDARD BEARER-  .-                                                                   189


         Recent      testimony before a  .Senate   com'mittee            of hardened criminals have been set free in our
   charged that 72 confessed felons in the State of Mary-                country, to continue their outrages against the Ameri-
   land alone will not be prosecuted. Law enforcement                    can people.
   officials feel that there is no chance, of conviction un-
   der the so-called "Miranda" decision of the Supreme                     It seems strange indeed that there is- more sympathy
   Court, virtually banning the use of confessions in such               for these criminals than for their victims. The thou-
   cases, and preventing the questioning of suspects un-                 sands' of crimes already committed will be repeated
   less a lawyer is present to represent them.  .The                     over and over unless and until public `opinion demands
   dropped cases include those accused of manslaughter,                  that we give our law enforcement officials the backing
   murder, rape and other major crimes. Seventy-two                      necessary to make them effective against those who
   such cases in one small state indicate that thousands                 would destroy our society.

                       TEACHERS NOTICE
    The Society for Protestant  Reformed  Secondarv                                                    ATTENTION:
Education will- need teachers for the 1968-69 school                  The new Clerk for the Southwest Protestant Reformed
year.      Part-time teachers will also be considered.                Church is Mr. Jay Boone, 1319 Den Hertog  Street,
Address all correspondence to:                                        S.W., Wyoming, Michigan, 49509. Please send all
                   Educational Committee                              bulletin announcements to Mr.  Phillip Lotterman, 2141
                   Dr. D. Monsma, Chairman                            Newport Street, S.W., Wyoming, Michigan 49509. Phone
                   2141 Jefferson Ave., S.E.                          532-6818.
                   Grand Rapids, Michigan 49507


BOOK  REVIEWS-
   Christian Faith in FOCUS                                  Crisis In  Lutbwun Theology                                           .
         Vital Words of the Bible                                   Bishop Pike: Ham, Heretic or Hero
              Under God                                                       Crusadti  H y m n   Sto'rie's  _

                     New. Testament Commentary on
                                                  j                      Ephesiens                        I  lir  The Beginning

CHRISTIAN FAITH IN -FOCUS, by Gor-              errors' in it: e.g., Calvin did not call             `Genesis 3.;. .?`);` -is outspokenly Ar-
don J. Spykman; Baker Book House,               election "the horrible decree" as the                  minian  (". . . while God's grace initi-
1967; 164 pp., $1.95 (paper).                   book asserts. It is of some value as                   ares man's salvation, man must per-
   This little book, written' by a pro-         a. primer in Reformed doctrine, re-                    s@rere in faith and good works.. .");
fessor of Religion and Theology at              membering that it is written from a                  denies the hope. of heaven to the Old
Calvin College is intended to be a              Christian Reformed point of view.                     .`Testament saints; openly repudiates
systematic study- of the' truths `of                                                                   total depravity; and thus shows basic
Scripture for use ingroup discussions                                                                  weaknesses in his theological  com-
or personal study of. the truth. It is' .'             `.                               . .            mitments;      Of very' little value to
well-written:       vividly presenting the      VITAL WORDS OF THE BIBLE, by ministers or laymen..
truths of God's Word in `an `easy to            J. M. Furness; Wm. B. Eerdmans                                                          Prof. H. Hanko
read fashion. Doctrinally, it canprob-          Publishing' Company, 1966;  128 pp.,
ably be characterized `as  cbnserva;            $2.25 `(paper).                                ..                    .;-_     _
                                                                             .:.        .>.
tively Christian Reformed! ,,.It leaves                                                               UNDER' GOD (A ~government  textbook
room for a dynamic. view of `creation;           The `author of this short book treats               . for junior high.schools),  by William C.
i.e., some sort of theistic `evolution;         about. fifty `New Testament words by                  Hendricks; Published by the National
it makes predestination `a .decree of           making brief referen  e to. their use                - Union `of Christian Schools & Wm. B.
providence although it discusses eleo-          in. classical Greek, their equivalents ..             Eerdmans Publishing Compnay,  1966;
tion in another connection. : Its weak          in the Old Testament and their use in.               232  pp;, `$4.95'. .
                                                                                                               .
points are probably that .it -does  .not        the New; While not purporting to be                                    ..'
emphasize the important truths of sal-          exhaustive, the book is nevertheless. ' `This  .textbook is currently being
vation  (discussing only briefly justifi-       too short to be of any great use: `Fur- -             used in at  `least'. some of our own
cation by faith and sanctification) and " `ther;' it' omits important words in the '                  Protestant     Refor'med              Christian
of the covenant. The former especially New  `Testament  and treats less im- :' Scho.ols;  In many respects I find this
is a serious fault; Regeneration is'not         portant  ones; and the words it does                 a good book and a relatively success-
spoken of at all; -and it`becomes  evi-       . `treat  `are-' not dealt with  tiorrectly. ful attempt to produce a distinctively
dent that a failure to emphasize re-          " Vital  '  -,meanings of Scripture  are.               Christian text in the `field of Civics.
generation inevitably leads to'krmin-           omitted. The author has higher criti- " From a formal point of view the book
ianism.     It has a couple of serious          cal views of Scripture (The myth of                   gives adequate instruction in the var- 1


I 190. :                                                                                                                  THESTAND@DB&%3ER
                                                                                                                                            * /
                                                                                                                                                          .._ .    . .    i                ._._      .~ . .           .`.           ..-.      .-  *  -_-I
      ,  .  ..i:-c-TF   s..   :.    .TL     .-...                 _?_~.   ,      _.      _      _     n-      ;     .          .      .            ..-

                                           ious  types  of government found  i.n,,                                                                                             NEW TESTAMENT, COMMENTARY ON
                                           h&-&j.  ;&,h  `;;1 tJ.& ' +,orld &day. :i* 1~s.'                                                                                    EPI-IESIANS,  by William Hendriksen;
                                           strong~`point  is;' no doubt, `excellent                                                                                            Baker Book House; 1967;.  29b' pp.`,
                                           ins&&f($   in  the  "f+&&--mtion   of  our                                                                                          $6.95..         ;,
                                           own country.                            It is well-written "and
                                           interesting. It is reasonably through                                                                                                 It happens many times that people, in
                                           and well-suited tdJunior High students.                                                                                             `search  of, a commentary for -society
                                           It -is ' up~`to  date. and `contains excellent '                                                                                    use ,`and general Bible study, ask their
                                           sun-&$&~                                 sec~io~$.~'                                                    i                           ministers for advice. At times mini-
                                                     ..-.;  :  r                 ".. :;' . . . . ",                       .
                                                      From .,:, a doctrinal point of view, ,i                                                                                  sters are somewhat hard put to rec-
                                           the book is aserious attempt to explain.                                                                                            ommend a commentary .because some
                                           the ,Christian's  relationship to govern:                                                                                           are not very helpful, some are not
                                           ment from , Scriptural perspectives..                                                                                               faithful to Scripture, and some (usualiy
                                           And,-.quite naturally, it is at this point                                                                                          the' better ones), are ioo technical to be.
                                                                                                                                                                               of help to people unable to work with
                                           that  I have my most serious objections                                                                                             the original languages of" Script&e.
                                           against the book. However, it ought to                                                                                              WiBiam`Hendriksen"s  commentaries on
                                           be understood, that the.objections  ratised                                                                                         the New Testament could-very well .fill
                                           are, .a@r'$.ll,,-. against .points which are                                                                                        this need. `Especially helpful in this,
                                           common :teachings:  in the `Christian `.                                                                                            commentary on Ephesians  is the fact
                                           Reformed Church and in the  schocls                                                                                                 that the' technical discussions are. left
                                           affiliated with that denomination. The                                                                                              to the footnotes, while the main body of
                                           book, is, -heavily influenced ,by common                                                                                            the text gives a short,. clear, ,b~ut com-
                                           grace. This is evident from the fact
                                                      .           ,       ;                                                                                                paratively comprehensive explanation
                                           that there  1s a  misconcept.ion  of, the                                                                                       of the text. Further, at the'end,  of the
                                           image &God  in `man contamed  in the
                                              -. .                                                                                                                         discussion of each chapter is a good
                                           book: `IWe recognize-this desire and                                                                                            summary `of the entire discussion.
                                           nee'd  `for' "freedom to `be reflection "of
                                           the image. of God `in mani Mankind was                                                                                                On` the whole, the commentary `is
                                           created`*&   ruie.  the'earth;,   ,,M,ari was
                                                           ."I                                                                                                             Reformed. Dr. Hendriksen is a con-
                                           given the, ability to choose the right .~                                                                                       servative  exegktb  who tries to be faith-
                                           from the' wrong.. Though this image :                                                                                          ful to the Word of God'and  to interpret
                                           .bearer,-`of!f:`God  fell  i&o sin;  Ithere` is'                                                                               Scripture.-within the context of the Re-
                                           still a trace of that.image, and it g&s                                                                                        formed tradition.  .This is especially
                                           man--the' desire,  to be free.!`, (p. 21)" It                                                                                  evident in this commentary on Ephe-'
                                           repeats `throughout thk'theme that there                                                                                       sians in which Paul writesso beauti-'
                                           is'a special'blessing%f  God which has,                                                                                        fully on salvation- by grace alone'
                                           from. fhe"begihning  of the his&r y,of this                                                                                    rooted in eternal and sovereign  eiec-
                                           count??;  rested  upon' `America. It                                                                                           tion. For example, Hendriksen argues
                                           contains some strange applications  .of                                                                                        convincingly that the words "and that
                                           Scriptural `passages.! `We read,, for
                                                            ., .                                                                                                          not of yourselves; it is'the gift of God"
                                           example, on p. `83: "Cur Declaration                                                                                           in Eph. 2:8 refer`to-faith  in the'first
                                           of  ~`Zndepehdtnce   stat.es that all men                                                                                      part of -the versei. "By grace are ye
                                           are" c&at&d  .equal.' `.,-When our Consti-                                                                                     saved through faith."
                                           tution forbids the granting of titles,                                                                                                He has a long introduction of some
                                           such as baron, sir, knight, duke;lord,                                                                                         66 pages in which he defends the
                                           or:' `earl, it "proves ' that we believe                                                                                       Pauline authorship of the epistle and
                                           people: are of equal: rank. If a foreigner.                                                                                    explains its contents. He  also argues
                                           who'has  a'title'of nobility wants to be-                                                                                      in favor of the'position that this epistle
                                           come Tan- American ' citizen,' he must                                                                                         was indeed written~  -to' the church at
                                           give' .up his' title. a God's ,Word .teaches                                                                                   Ephesus, a position denied. by many
                                           us to be humble'. It says, ".`..and'who-                                                                                       among whom are to be found  con:
                                           ever  would'be  first among you; shall                                                                                         servative  scholars:..
                                           be servant of ~all'.".(Mark lOf44, A;S.V.;-)                                                                                         Hendriksen' uses a mnemonic device
                                           We may be happy that our nation under                                                                                          in connection with the word "blessing"
                                           God- : does;. not ' give tities of nobility                                                                                    to formulates a&outline- of the epistle.
                                           which,build  up the pride-of men." This `,'                                                                                    This. is somewhat fak;fetched:  and un- 1
                                           is  .,a `somewhat strange application of a ;                                                                                   convincing; `and it is-also characteristic
                                           Scriptural1 passage not `only, but an                                                                                          of his exegesis in `places-.              '  -  -`.         -
                                           extremely' curious logic. And this is:                                                                                               As with all. commentaries; this one -1
                                           not'an`ex~&ption.   -  :  ;  "                                                            `T-                                  too must .be used as a: help, ' not &`a
                                              I Nevertheless;: I' think thisis by far                                                                                     substitute Xforf&ful study of the text
                                           the be&book  available for,our schools, -                                                                                      of  Scriptiire   .its'elf;   j:.  .  _  I  _           ..`I-  `i
                                           However, tin .,its use+teachers  should ,."                                                                                          Commentaries by Hendriksen "are'
                                           (and undoubtedly cdo)`; put forth every                                                                                        availablej.on  John, Philippians, C&s--  '
                                           effort to' correct the serious,mistakes7                                                                                       siaiis  - Philemon,U I  &-Ii Thess'aiomBhs~
                                           in the book Xwhen teaching1  Protestant .i                                                                                     and I-& II Timothy - Titus, besides the :
                                           Reformed children.,  .~  `.  ,.  2  `,-  I                                                                                     pregent  voluties  :I:  ~_. -  ~.  i  _`.'
                                             k.`.                         ;I.                         Prof. H. Hanko                                                                                        Prof. H. Ha&o


                                                                                                                                            : L.'
                                              TilE STANDARD BEARER                                                                          iSl
                                                                                                                                    _     _~_.
L  .'                   _
                                                                                                            .:
         IN THE BEGINNING, A Study Of Crea-                  BISHCP  PIKE: HAM,  `HER&TIC   ok.
         tion Versus Evolution For Young Peo-                HERO, by Frederick Morris; Wm,B..
         ple, by Rita Rhodes Ward; Baker Book                Eer,$-nans  Publishing Co., 1967; 32pp.,
         House, 1965; 110 pages, $1.25 (paper).              8%                   (paper).                 ..:.-.

           `This book, written by a public school             .A  ~fellow  prelate in the Episcopal
         teacher in El Paso, Texas, is intended              Church comes to the conclusion. that
         to be a study book for use in school                Pike is a fascinating  combinatiqn~  of
         or other study groups. It has twelve                all three:            ham, heretic and hero.
         lessons with questions and projects at             Trying to uphold  tiuch of what -Pike
         the end of each lesson. The author                 believes and does,-,  the. author casti-
         lists the following objectives:                    gates him for his methodology.. Not
           "1. To learn something of what                   worth the steep price of 85C. ' '                                  :
         scripture does and does not teach                                                        Prof. H; -Hank0
         regarding the creation and the flood.
           "2. To learn the basic principles
         of evolutionary theory.                            CRISIS IN LUTHERAN THEOLOGY,
           "3. To learn some of the scientific              by John Warwick Montgomery; `Baker
         weaknesses in these principles.                    Book House, .Grand,  Rapids, Michigan;
           "4. To learn how to distinguish be-              133 pp., $1.50 (paper).                                      7'
         tween evolutionary theory and fact.
           "5. To acquire a basic philosophy.                  John Warwick Montgomery  is'swiftly
         which will stabilize one's faith re-               becoming the outstanding. spokesman
         gardless of what theories may be,                  for the conservative position' `in ,the
         taught."                                           Missouri Synod .Lutheran  Church. He
           The author accepts creation days                 is scholarly, erudite and articulate. He
         of 24 hours but allows for the possi-              is at present professor and chairman
         bility of other theories; believes in              of the division of church history, biblib-
         a universal flood; maintains strictly              graphic consultant to the library at
         the creation narrative; and shows                  Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and.
         clearly the untenable basis for evolu-             director of the School's European pro-
         tionary theory. The weakness of the                gram at the University of Strasbourg,
         book is to be found in the fact that               France. He studied at CornellUniver-
         theistic evolution is not as strongly              sity, University of California, Witten-
         condemned as it ought to be.                       berg University, University of Chicago,
           Yet the book is highly recommended               and the University of Strasbourg,
         as an interesting and clear defense                   This book is the ]first of two-which
         of creation over against evolution.  _             deal with the same. subject.                             It `is
         It could be used with profit, in the               divided into two parts, ~the first part
         high schools. It is however, marred                with two chapters on "Inspiration and
         by some bad typographical mistakes.,               Inerrancy: A New  Departure':-`and..
                                     Prof. H. Hanko          "Lutheran Hermeneutics and Hermen-.
                                                            eutics Today!`.                  This  sectiqn of  the_  _
                                                            book is extremely. technical  .and not
                                                            readily read by. those  who-  have not
                                                            received formal education in Scriptural
         CRUSADE HYMN STORIES, edited by                    studies.           But Part Two deals with
         Cliff Barrows; Hope -Publishing  Corn.-            subjects and is. written. in  a; style-
         pany, Chicago, Illinois, 1967; 160 pp.,            capable of being -read by all, While
         $ 3 . 5 0 .                                        the book certainly deals with the crisis
            Treating about fifty .of the favorite           in Lutheran theology, it. "deals .with.
         hymns used on the  .Billy Graham Cru-              problems touching upon the. concerns
         sades and included in the hymnbook                 of every denomination in, this country;
         "Crusader Hymns," this book treats                 problems of Scripture's inerrancy. and
         some of the histories of these hymns,              inspiration , and interpretation.: Mont-.
         but includes also. brief meditations on            gomery is solidly in the camp-of-the
         their chief themes and personal stories:           conservatives. in. defending:.verbal  in? :
         compiled, by the Crusade  .musicians.              spiration          and the  historico,~gram--.
         The historical  -par+   are-. interesting,         matical method of exegesis. :,Hewrites  -
         but the personal experiences and medi- :-          vividly. and. does-. not hesitate to call
         tations  are filled  .v&h, the Arminian-           heresy by its right name.  -..  This, is
         ism characteristic of Billy Gr&un's                unusual. in our wishy-washy times. ai
         theology.      Its only value lies-in- the> ._     The book,,  is worth- reading . and- will . . ,
         background of some of the  welllkno+n              certainly  ,be instructive and  :helpful to.
         hymns;  ,and the book is' rec,ommended             all who-are -interested  in defending the.
         to those who are interested., in this              truth concerning Scripture., _I .# . :" ,  :'
         subject6
             .          .-                                     _ . ..I. , : _;- -,., - .:         Prof. H. Hanko


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192                                                                              THESTAND~DBE~ER                         :
-__-
                                                       NEWS FROM OUR CHURCHES-                                                       :         1
                                                      .,                  Dec.  25j.1967       Hudsonville's congregation, rejoiced to witness the
        The Christmastime Beacon Lights Hyrnnsing was                                       public confession of faith. of four of their young people
held in First Church Sunday. evening, Dec. 17. Mr.                                          Sunday,. Dee,  17. And we may believe that the angels
Case Lubbers led the big, crowd in some very spirited                                       in Heaven also rejoice when they see God's Plan of
singing.       The auditorium is  - undergoing redecorating                                 Salvation blossorn:and bear fruit of this kind.
and the balconies are. empty of all' their seats, giving                                                              ,***'                         "
a splendid acoustical reverberation which makes sing-                                       Did the annual: "`Christmas `Rush"  crush  your
ing so very much easier.                            Jerry Vander Kolk, of                   Christmas Day for you `that it was hardly enjoyed as
Holland, was the advertised trumpeter who performed                                         a Christian'holy day? "            (_
an intricate variation of the, well `known,"O,"come  all                                                               ,&  Q  *.
ye faithful"; and although one would hardly. recommend                                         On the `e&&g of a .re.cor&bre,aking  warm (6OO)
the removal of the seats from the .balconies- to.thor-                                      winter day,. Dec. 21; the, Adams St. School children
ougbly enjoy the ringing tones of a trumpet, this fringe                                    gave their Christmas Program in the auditorium of
benefit was enjoyed by the audience.. A male quartette                                      First Church. This program centered all its attention
(not young people) from Southwest Church, and tenor                                         on Christ the King; from the welcoming and the fare-
soloist Gerald  Kuiper.  (a: teacher  -at  Adams  S,chool)                                  well speeches of two of'the kiridefgarteners  the theme
added their v0ice.s to. the pr,aise of the Prmce of Peace                                   of the Kingship of Christ was developed: from the types
who became flesh. to,reconcile the world unto Himself.                                      Adam,. David, and Solomon to, His Second Coming as
Mrs. Lotterman accompanied the: I`quartette  on the                                         King of. Heaven. and.earth.  The school:band,  under the
piano, Mrs. Kuiper accompanied her husband on the                                           direction of Mr. R., Van Sprange rendered three num-
organ, and the so:recently recuperated Kregel sisters                                       bers, one `in which they accompanied.. the audience.
provided the piano-organ accompaniment for the  hymn-                                       The Junior. Choir, under the direction of Mrs. H. C.
sing. Ben Wiggers, of the Beacon Lights `staff, opened                                      Hoeksema, gave .four iiumbers  `in two.  voices with a
the meeting with prayer and Rev. Van Baren -led in                                          clear soaring obligato `heard in one of the songs. The
closing prayer at the end of `a very enjoyable hymn-                                        Senior Choir rendered three  songs"in three voices,
sing.                                                                            :          and in one number were joined by the audience. The
                                         `*&`a                                              kindergarten, first, second, `and third grades appeared
        Do you know ,that` Lynden's FM. Station;lKLYN  car-                                 on the platform as individual classes, each giving a
ries our Reformed Witness  Hou,r weekly broadcast                                           good account of themselves; the balance of the program
at 4 P.M. Sunday afternoons?.                                                               was taken up by the choirs. The-program was entirely
                                  *  *.r;                                                   memorized, and ,their thorough training was probably
        The thanksgiving offering received, at the. Dec. 3                                  most strikingly .revealed in .the work of the speaking
Communion Service, in Lynden's church was -for the                                          choirs 0    Mr. F. Block, the Principal, led in opening
needy Prot. Ref. Churches .in Jamaica. `,                                                   devotions and Rev. Van Baren led in closing prayer.
                                         *.`*  *                   .."                      What a privilege to attend a program of this caliber
        From  Hopeqs School "`Highlights,", we glean the                                    wherein children in ages from 5 to 14 all join in the
astounding information that their recently held, Bazaar                                     praise of the. God of our salvation. Not a mention of
netted the Mothers,' Club  $1,687.30!                                                       jolly elves,. sleighbells, toys. or. gifts. to mar the con-
                     ._      _' i.**                          .,  ,.  `.                    templation of The Gift of God's Son to us, His People !
        In the above mentioned `.`Highlights 1' `there was                                                    `.
found a Memoriam for-Steven Rau who was taken from                                                                      *  *.  *.
this life at the tender age of fifteen through the means                                       A suggestion to the members of the churches which
of a car-bicycle `collision.`. Steven had graduated from                                    never seem to "make the news": ask. your pastor or
Hope School last June;' `The Memoriam `simply quoted                                        clerk if .your bulletins are being sent to us. And a sug-
question and answer ,26, of the. Heidleberg Cate,chism                                      gested' New Year's Resolution for all of you: 1968, a
and the first verse. of.' Psalm 27. On the..same.  page                                     year in which ,to remember to send' in reports of all
was a poem by  t,he late James  ,Jonker  .who lost  his                                     our "happenings'.' so that all of .our people may share
life in a car-truck collision while yet in his-youth.                                       them with us.                             ,-               `
                                                                                                                                                         .
The poem, entitled -"God Gathers?`,, was printed in its                                                             .: *  .*  *.
entirety of three four-line stanzas ending in a couplet                                        Even while we have just recently entered into a new
which summated  the whole; thus:' `,                                                        year we may well heed the %dmonition'found  in I Pet.
         From time's beginning to `its end, God makes.                                      4:7, "But the end. of all things is at hand: be ye there-
         His Church, defends, preserves, `to glory takes.
                                         * *                *.             `:               fore sober, and watch unto prayer." ,: "
                                                                                               .   .   .   ..seeyouinchurchi   `
                                                                                                                                              .'
                                                                                                                                                        '  "    J.M.F.
                                                                                                                                           .  `...


