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A -   R E F O R M E D   S E M I - M O N T H L Y   M A G A Z I N E





    IN THIS ISSUE:


         Meditation: Christ Entered Into Heaven Itself

         Datestone - Milestone (see: News Feature)

         Covenant Faithfulness and Joy (see: In His  Fear)

         Ecumenism on Good Friday




                                          Volume XLIV/ Number  16/  May 15,1968


362                                                         THESTAND~DBE~ER                                        \


                                                                                                        THE STANDARD BEARER
                          C O N T E N T S
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MEDITATION-

                  Christ Entered Into Heaven  Its&
                                                                   by Rev. J.  Kovteving

                    "FOY   Christ is not  entered into the holy places made with hands which  aye the  figuves
                of the  true; but into heaven itself, now  to  appear  in  the presence of God  fov  us."
                                                                                                                           He brews 9:24
   Heaven!                                                                            The aged gaze upon the setting sun and as the dark-
   Little fingers point upward, it's up there.                                     ness of the night enfolds them their thoughts instinc-
   Profound minds delve into its mystery, how supra-                               tively turn heavenward and they ask, how long?
natural.                                                                              And sometimes on their death beds they tell us


                                                THESTANDARDBEARER                                                   363

 that they see it in the distance. A blade of envy cuts       desire here, namely, that God dwell with us and that
 deeply into our hearts, for when they fall asleep in         we abide with Him, will be given us in the splendor of
 peace they have all the answers.                             heaven.      Freedom from sin and sorrow then will not
   We long for heaven!                                        be an end in itself, it will be a removal of all these ob-
     W h y ?                                                  stacles in order that the purpose of our life may reach
    It's interesting to walk slowly through the corridors     its fulness:       the praise of our ever blessed God.
 of life and stop here and there and ask people, do you              The reality of all of this is impressed upon US in
 anticipate going to heaven? Usually the answer is in         the words of our text, "For Christ is entered...into
 the affirmative.      If we penetrate a little deeper and    heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for
 ask why, the answers are as variegated as the circum-        us."
 stances in life.      The sick, groaning on the brink of            Heaven itself is contrasted to the holy places made
 death, sigh with expectation, for death shall bring          with hands.        You understand that the book of the
 relief from the sufferings of this present time. To the      Hebrews was written with the converted Jew in mind.
 blind and deaf the thought of heaven means sight and         The special emphasis throughout this book is to point
 hearing. The grieving anticipate the day of great re-        out the close relationship between the Old Testament
 union. To the poor brother and sister who struggle to        and New Testament.          Here in our text, we are re-
 stay alive with their meager bread, heaven means             minded that after the resurrection, Jesus did not as-
 the streets of gold and pearly gates. The soldiers in        cend into the holy place of the temple, which was made
 the battlefield who know that death is but one blink of      with hands; rather He went directly into heaven itself,
 the eye away, see heaven as the dwelling place of per-              The Old Testament most holy place, within the
 fect peace.       To the burdened sinner who knows the       temple, was a specific type of heaven. It was there
 meaning of a long-suffering Father, heaven speaks of         that God dwelt in the midst of His people and Israel
 perfection and perfect liberty wherewith Christ has          congregated together with God. Throughout the genera-
 set us free. The church in the midst of the battle of        tions, children and children's children had assembled
 faith anticipates the day of perfect peace where right-      there to worship and meditate and bring their offerings
 eousness shall dwell secure.                                 before the Lord. It was, however, typical. This indi-
     Entrance into heaven is a day of great salvation.        cates that it had limitations. Our text suggests three
    There must be, however, more. There is some-              such limitations. It was made with hands, human hands
 thing wrong with us if we view the present as one long       had constructed this building according to the divine
 road of defeat that ends with the valley of the shadow       plan. The material used was earthly, subject to decay
 of death and is replaced with the splendor of heaven.        and a frequent object of the plundering nations round
 If this is so, then we will inevitably have a sour view      about.      Besides .these, the most holy place was not
 of the present and a sickly attitude toward the future.      open to all Israel. A heavy veil separated it from the
 If this attitude pervades our sojourn here below, we         holy place and the outer courts.
 become dissatisfied with life, we long to die so that               Because Israel enjoyed a typical heaven within the
 our future hope can be realized. We so want to get           temple, it must also be remembered that they enjoyed
 this pain over with, to get rid of this loneliness, to be    a typical ascension day as well. The importance and
 relieved of the cares of this world that we almost           reality of heaven depends upon one's occupying it.
 rebel if God doesn't come soon and take us away.             Having a beautiful place, such as the most holy place
 Death for such is an escape from the harsh realities         certainly was, would mean little if no one could enter
, of the present. And all of this is so selfish, so self-     it.     The thought of God dwelling without His people
i centered, that God is not in our thoughts.                  could bring little joy to Israel.       God instituted the
    If we have no joy in this life, even in the midst         celebration of the Great Day of Atonement in which the
 of trials, we can never expect to rejoice on the other       High Priest would take the blood from the altar of
 side of the grave.                                           burnt offering and take it inside the most holy place
    And what is the joy that the pilgrim experiences          and sprinkle it on the mercy seat of the ark of the
 here below?       In one word it is fellowship with God.     covenant. This was the Old Testament Ascension Day,
 The thought that causes ecstatic praise from the lips        it represented Christ entering into heaven, it pointed
I of the weary pilgrim is that already now through faith      to the day when God and all His people would be gath-
: in our Lord Jesus Christ we have the victory. The           ered together in perfect peace.        The Great Day of
marvelous love of God fills us 10 overflowing, we gaze        Atonement must have been a thrilling feast for Israel.
 upon His cross and our redemption, we meditate upon          The scape goat, burdened with the sins of Israel, was
 His resurrection and our justification, His Holy Spirit      driven out into the wilderness, the people would bow
 guides us .in the way of sanctification. This makes          before the Lord as the High. Priest sprinkled the
 life worth living. Here in the midst of evil, with pain      typical blood of Jesus before the Lord. Justice and
 and sorrow sweeping round about, we have the grace of        mercy kissed each other there.
 God to acknowledge that God is our God and our only                 Into this typical heaven Jesus did not ascend when
 joy in this life is serving Him and dwelling in friend-      He completed His redemptive work. The fact is that
 ship with Him.                                               He was not even allowed within the most holy place of
    For such the thought of heaven is not an escape           Herod's  temple. His priesthood was not according to
 from the present, it is a fulfillment! What we most          Aaron, but Melchisedec. He had come to elevate the


 364                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


priesthood to a higher order, namely, that through His         sounds of victory and praise. When Christ entered into
work as priest He would also become King of Right-             heaven itself He brought about a change, for with His
eousness. Jesus was not determined to get inside that          majestic entrance He also cast out all devils and evil
typical heaven, rather He had come to remove it from           spirits so that the voice of the four beasts and 24
the scene. The rent veil at the time of His majestic           elders could blend perfectly with the 144,000 singing
death cried aloud that former things have passed away,         the praises of God and looking forward to the creation
behold all things have become new.                             of the .new heaven and earth when all creation would
   As our Great High Priest, Jesus did not intend to           once again be restored to perfect harmony.
enter into the Holy Place and offer a sacrifice upon              Into that heaven Christ ascended fov us.
the altar of burnt offering. His altar was without the            Our perfectly righteous High Priest entered into
gate at the top of the hill of the skull. There the High       the presence of the Holy God. Having attained the
Priest of God offered Himself a ransom for many. The           divine verdict that the benefits of His death were im-
time had come for the fulfillment of prophecy and types.       puted to those for whom He died, Christ longed to be
Upon that hill He bore the wrath of God for which the          taken to heaven to once again dwell in the presence of
blood of lambs and goats cried unto God. Life must be          His Father. God drew Him home. The righteous God
given as a payment for death. The blood of the Lamb            place d Him upon His right hand and crowned Him
must be shed as a perfect payment in love for the debt         with all glory and honor. The saints, angels, the rep-
of so great hatred.                                            resentatives of creation sang their welcome song when
   And this He did.                                            He entered into heaven itself.
   Where did He go when the work of the great High                And Jesus did not forget His own that were yet upon
Priest was completed? Into the typical heaven? No,             the earth.      As our great High Priest He prayed the
God rent the veil, for its purpose was completed.              Father for the Comforter whom He might send unto
Since Jesus had gone into the real holy place and of-          His brethren in the world that they might also be
fered Himself upon the real altar of burnt offerings,          where He is.
the cross, there was no more need for a typical most
holy place either, hence God ripped the covering.                 Our Father answered that prayer. He crowned the
   He ,entered  into heaven itself.                            faithful Christ with all the power to direct all things to
   Did not the disciples witness this event? No, they          serve the purpose of the salvation of the entire church
didn't see Him enter into heaven for eye cannot see its        for whom Christ died. He gave Him the Holy Spirit to
wonders. They rather saw Him go into that direction.           draw them unto Himself.
As they walked toward the Mount of Olives, gradually              Fov us He entered into heaven itself.
and deliberately He arose from the earth. With out-               What a precious truth this is for us now.
stretched arms He blessed them, instructing them to               Notice, because this is true we have every reason
go and preach and baptize. God's cloud received Him            to be joyful now. Alldiseases, all suffering, loneliness,
out of their sight. He went into the presence of God,          wars, burdens of sin, pressures of the battle of faith
into heaven itself.                                            are directed our way because our Lord Jesus Christ
   It does us little good to speculate what heaven is          is entered into heaven itself. No one else sends these
like. It is a great mystery, it doesn't fall within the        things to us but He. That too, not to make life miser-
boundries of our human minds. It is a place, Scripture         able for us, rather to draw us above the things of this
is abundantly clear on this. It is a place that is part        world that we become and remain heavenly minded.
of creation, though it is so different from the earthly           Our joy is in God through Jesus Christ already now:
part.    Just as surely as angels and devils are round            And we long for heaven when this joy shall become
about us all the time, so close heavenmay also be. We          even greater. Then all these burdens shall be taken
must not view it as if it is beyond the farthest star; that    away not simply for our sakes, but that we may then
in itself would bring a conflict in our minds, for who         rejoice perfectly in the God of our salvation.
knows the limit of space? Scripture places heaven very            You long for heaven in a good sense of the word?
close to us, for in heaven God manifests His greatness            Christ is already there. He is working.now  in such
and glory in the highest sense. Heavenhas its own his-         a way that we shall certainly arrive there in safety.
tory, its great divide, its wars, its impatient cries, its        Hope in the Lord! Wait patiently for Him!

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                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                     365


     .EDITORIALS-

                   Our Most  Basic Immediate Need
                                                          I2  I
                                                 by  Prof.  H. C. Hoeksema

            SUGGESTIONS TOWARD SOLUTION                            In the first place, we should note that, even though
                                                               the shortage might gradually' be eased in the coming
      In the May 1 issue we called attention to the urgent     years, the problem will be with us to a degree for
   need in our churches of men to servein the work of the      some time to come. Again, of course, I am speaking
   ministry.    We noted that this is a need which very        in terms of what we are wont to call the "normal." It
   basically affects our communion of churches in more         is equally conceivable, of course, that the problem
   than one area of our ecclesiastical life. This last fact    could become more acute, and that too, very suddenly.
   is important to remember. Too often, I think, we view       We do not know the details of the Lord's way for us
   the shortage of ministers only from a very short-range      in the future. Nor need we know them. Nor, - by all
   and very local point of view. Then, of course, vacant       means, let it be emphasized, - must we be anxious
   congregations can rightly say that they feel the short-     about the future. To be anxious is wrong; it is sinful.
   age most keenly: after all, they are entirely without a     And when we consider these needs and the provisions
   pastor of their own and are dependent upon classical        which we may attempt to alleviate those needs, we must
   appointments for pulpit supply and dependent upon           certainly do so in the confidence that the Lord will
   neighboring ministers or upon their elders for various      provide for us even as He always has done in thepast.
   labors in the congregation during the week. And then        He will also provide in  His own way and at His own
   those congregations which must repeatedly loan their        time.         But the Lord uses means, and He uses His
   pastors to sister congregations for a Sunday, and in        church to employ these means and thus to make pro-
   some cases for two or three weeks in succession,            vision for the work of the ministry. As I said last
   also begin to complain, perhaps, that their pastors         time, the Lord does not simply drop ready-made
   are absent too often. All this is understandable. It is     ministers from the sky.           Hence, the churches are
   neither normal nor healthful for a congregation to be       called to consider the means which the Lord provides
   shepherdless, especially not when the vacancy be-           and also to consider the best possible way of employing
   comes lengthy. Moreover, while an occasional absence        whatever means and whatever laborers the Lord does
   for classical appointments is quite bearable, it is         provide at any given time. From this point of view, we
   nevertheless true also in this regard that there can be     may speak of shorter range measures to meet this
   "too much of a good thing." Yet there are, as was           urgent need and of longer range measures. Let us
   pointed out last time, other areas in our ecclesiastical    consider both.
   life which are undoubtedly very seriously affected by
   this shortage of laborers. From this point of view,         THE JAMAICA WORK
   this shortage is indeed a problem for our churches in           What can be done, first of all, with respect to our
c o m m o n . Besides, if we take a longer range point of      labors in Jamaica? on a rather immediate or short-
   view, we face an eventual replacement problem.              range basis? Permit me to suggest a few possibilities
      Summarizing our needs, therefore, it is not diffi-       in this regard and to point out the implications of
   cult to conclude that in the course of the next several     these possibilities, without directly arguing for or
   years, as matters now stand, we will need ten or            against one or another course of action. They are as
   twelve ministers only to meet current needs, that is,       follows:
   to meet our present needs in the home churches and              1) We can continue on our present course of main-
   in our mission work, and to meet the need for re-           taining as much contact as possible by correspondence
   placements which we may normally expect.            This    and by material assistance in the form of funds and
   leaves out of view any need created by possible growth.     clothing and of annually sending a minister and an elder
   It also leaves out of view any possible need caused by      for a period of several weeks. Against this policy it
   unexpected loss of any of our ministers through sick-       may be argued that this method of labor is very in-
   ness or accident. I am speaking only of reasonably          efficient.      No one, I think, will challenge the assertion
   foreseeable needs. Hence, I would classify the figure       that attempting instruction by means of correspon-
   of ten or twelve ministers over the course of the next      dence and tape-recordings is a most laborious method
   several years as a conservative estimate.                   and but a poor substitute for on-the-spot labor. This
      What can be said as to possible solutions of this        is in no way intended as derogatory of the labors
   problem ?                                                   expended by our Mission Board and by the two ministers


  366                                          THE  STAND&D   BEARER


who have done so much work in the preparation of                embark on this course unless it was deemed wise and
  these correspondence courses: under the circum-               necessary and feasible, unless Synod really intended
  stances, it was felt that this was the best we could do.      that some minister should seriously consider leaving
  But not only is the method of correspondence ineffi-          his home church to take up-the  Jamaican labors.
  cient, The method of sending emissaries to the Jamai-            3) A third possibility lies somewhere between the
  can churches on a short-term basis is also, it should         first two, namely, that one of our ministers be given a
  be remembered, an inefficient method. Labors must             lengthy leave of absence, as long as half year or even
  be divided over a considerable territory and among            a year, and that he, accompanied by an elder, would
  several churches in a relatively short period of time.        then labor for an extended period. This would have the
  The result must needs be that with every visit time           advantage of affording a considerable period of time
  must be spent anew by our men to get their bearings,          for some continued and intensive on the spot labors;
  to survey the specific needs, to begin the labors anew.       and this advantage is not to be discounted. The big
  They must find a place' of lodging. For their classes         question, again, is whether this is feasible atthis time,
  of instruction they must determine upon a meeting-            and, of course, whether any congregation is willing to
  place; they must make contacts with the ministers             be deprived of its pastor for such an extended period.
  there. And to no little extent, when the work is nicely       The only possibility of this which I can see would be in
  progressing, and when an idea is obtained of what must        the Michigan area, where our churches are close to-
  be done and how much must be done and could be done,          gether and where it would be possible for the sister
  the time to return to the States is almost at hand.           churches to help the congregation which sacrifices its
  Besides, the continuity of the labors is broken, the          pastor. Pulpit supply is readily available in this area;
  more so if the personnel for these visits is changed.         and neighboring ministers could render assistance with
  It all comes down to this: we have been making visits         various congregational labors. And I would emphasize
  to Jamaica rather than engaging in continued and ex-          that the only fair conditions under which this could be
  tended labors. And it is the latter that is sorely needed,    worked out, in my opinion, would be under a promise
  judging from the reports furnished us.         This says      from the sister churches that the temporarily vacant
  nothing yet about the inefficiency of these visits from a     congregation would have ample help. I would also
 financial point of view. Travel expense is a repeated          suggest that the ideal way to accomplish this would not
  item under this method; and even lodging expense              be for the Mission Board to "put the finger" on some
 must needs be greater on a short-term than on a long term      consistory, but for some consistory to volunteer the
  basis. Let me add, however, that this financial aspect        services of its minister.
  should not be a preponderant consideration: if this is           4) Another possibility which has been suggested is
 the only method we are able to follow at present, then         the sending of elder emissaries only. Now there is no
  we will and can also meet the expenses. In favor of           doubt that the elders who have previously gone to
 this method, of course, is the argument that under the         Jamaica have done valuable work; nor is there any
  circumstances this is the best we can do. We cannot           doubt about the fact that even should a minister be sent
  afford, in view of our shortage of ministers, to miss         on a long-term basis, the presence and assistance of
  a minister on the home front on any long-term basis.          an elder would be helpful. The great drawback, how-
  Whether or not this is actually true, of course, is a         ever, lies in the fact that much of the work which needs
 matter of the judgment of the churches. Perhaps the            doing in Jamaica is work that belongs to the office of
  question should be phrased as follows: Does the Lord          minister of the Word; and unless the distinction be-
  call us as churches in the present situationto sacrifice      tween the offices is ignored, this work cannot properly
  one of our ministers, and does He call one specific           be performed by elders, no matter how capable such
  congregation and one specific minister to make this           elders may be. In the past Synod has frowned on the
  sacrifice, in order that the Jamaican field may be            idea, exactly because of this soundly Reformed dis-
 provided with a permanent laborer?                             tinction between the offices; and I believe that it is a
     2) In the above I have already suggested the op-           matter of principle that Synod should continue to
  posite extreme, namely, that our Synod appoint a call-        frown on any proposal to assign the labors of the
  ing church to call a missionary specifically for the          minister of the Word to elders. And if this principle
  Jamaican labors. This would solve many, if not all,           is to be observed, then the sending of elder emissaries
  of the difficulties already mentioned. But this would         only would not be an adequate solution to the Jamaica
 mean, as was suggested above, that our shortage at             problem.
  home would become just a little more severe. Per-                5) Occasionally the suggestion has been made that
  sonally, I would not hesitate to advise this course of        perhaps some capable member of our churches (not
  action, were it not for our shortage: for I am surely         necessarily an elder or deacon), a man with a combin-
  convinced that there is a field of labor for us in            ation of business acumen and a knowledge of the
  Jamaica. But under the circumstances, this is indeed          building trades, could profitably be sent to assist the
  a question of very careful judgment.         Even should      Jamaicans with respect to some of their material
  Synod decide upon this course of action, eventually           problems, as, for example, the problems concerning
  some congregation and some minister would face the            their church buildings.      Perhaps this suggestion is
 problem perhaps much more concretely than Synod can            worthy of consideration; I do not know. It seems clear
 face it. But I take it that Synod should not and would not     from reports given last year that there are consider-


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                    367

able problems in this area. From that point of view,           at this particular time we can spare a man from the
such a capable man, possibly even a volunteer, would           home front, that is, from our established congrega-
be able to accomplish something. Whether the amount            tions . As is well known, efforts to call a home mis-
and nature of the work would justify such a step, I am         sionary from time to time have in recent years met
not in a position to say; undoubtedly our Mission              with repeated declines. It even appears that the ef-
Board could furnish helpful information on this score.         forts to call become increasingly sporadic. Apparent-
I would sound a word of caution in this connection,            ly, some argue, it is not the Lord's will that we have a
however: it is that if there is any suggestion of going        home missionary at present, and therefore we could
in the direction of so-called lay-missionaries, then           better wait with calling until our shortage of ministers
this is not the direction in which our churches must           is alleviated. Perhaps this is correct reasoning. But
go.      The idea of lay-missionaries is foreign to our        I hasten to add that I would underscore the word pev-
Reformed view, popular though it has become in recent          haps.     And I would add to this the suggestion that here
years.                                                         also our churches should give very serious considera-
       6) ,Finally, I may mention a possibility which has      tion to the question whether or not it is the Lord's will
sometimes been mentioned, that of a  missionary-               that we sacrifice the presence of a minister in one of
minister under Article 8 of the Church Order. This             our congregations in order to have a home missionary.
I consider a very remote possibility.          In the first    That this would involve sacrifice, I do not doubt. That
place, the initiative in the ordaining of such a minister      we can reach a point where the home churches are so
under Article 8 can hardly come from the churches:             weakened that it is indiscreet to give up yet another
it must come from such a man with exceptional gifts            minister, I also do not doubt. I am not one of those who
himself. But there are other weighty considerations.           feels that our mission needs override all other con-
Is the need of our churches such that we must go in            siderations. Nevertheless, I would call attention to two
this direction? The ordaining of such ministers is by          items.     In the first place, there is the reality of the
far the exception, not the rule, especially today.             dismaying and rapidly increasing apostasy everywhere
Moreover, it must be remembered that legally such a            evident in today's ecclesiastical scene. To me, while
minister under Article 8 is eligible to be a minister          it may be true that there are not evident at present
anywhere in the denomination; he could not very well           many actual fields in the sense of localities in which
be limited to the Jamaica work, even though he might           we could immediately perform home mission work, the
be called for this work originally. Hence, the churches        very fact of this increasing apostasy points to a home
must be cautious about a move of this nature.                  mission calling for us. Besides, in this same connec-
       These, then, are some of the possibilities. Perhaps     tion, we must remember that things go hand in hand
other suggestions or a combination of some of these            in this regard. It is not inconceivable that if we once
suggestions will be considered by the coming Synod.            had a home missionary, a field would be opened to him
       It ought to be obvious, however, that the real solu-    or that through the instrumentality of his labors a field
tion to this problem on a long-range basis would be            of labor would be uncovered. .And, in the second place,
that our churches would have sufficient ministers that         it seems to me that it is a patent fact that we must not
we could freely call a minister-missionary for the             pessimistically stagnate and that we may not say, as
Jamaica work.         In fact, it might be good if a young     long as the Lord tarries, that we have no mission call-
prospective minister,  - should the Lord send us more          ing at home. Moreover, from a practical point of view
students for the ministry,  - would be trained and pre-        we should also bear in mind that it is a fact of ecclesi-
pared specifically for this work. Such a student, if he        astical life that where there is growth and where there
were committed in advance to this work, could even             is need of more ministers, there will also be young
receive on-the-scene training if he could accompany            men who present themselves for the ministry in order
one of our ministers to Jamaica in the summer months.          to meet the need.
                                                                  But as long as we can have no full-time missionary
OUR MISSIONS AT HOME                                           in the field, what must be done?
       Meanwhile, we must not forget our mission calling          The answer is not that we must sit back and wait.
here at home. There is possibly an inclination to do           It is rather that we do what can be done with the means
this simply out of pre-occupation with Jamaica. Be-            and the men available., And there are several things
sides, perhaps this work seems less attractive at              that can be done.       There is, in the first place, the
present for lack of great results and by reason of the         church extension activities of the local consistories
very difficulty of the work. It is to be hoped, however,       and congregations. These must continue; and ways and
that our churches do not neglect this aspect of our            means of improving these activities must ever be
calling, either within or outside of the so-called' Re-        sought. In the busy internal life of our congregations
formed community. Nor must our Mission Board allow             this work must not be overlooked and shunted aside
itself to become so busy with the Jamaican work that           until that elusive less busy time comes. In the second
they neglect supervision of and efforts toward activity        place, there is our radio work. In the nature of the
in our home mission work, even with our present                case, it is frequently difficult to determine exactly
limitations.                                                   how effective this work is and how many are reached
       But what can be done?                                   by our Reformed Witness Hour. But that our radio
       Again, our churches confront the question whether       voice is heard, and sometimes by more listeners than


 368                                       THE STANDARD BEARER


we imagine, is an established fact. This work also          complaint is' voiced that it is hardly fair to expect the
must continue, be improved, and, if possible, be            minister of a larger congregation to leave in the midst
judiciously expanded. I would also like to suggest in       of the busy season in order to help a much smaller
this connection that some of the efforts toward ex-         congregation.         This. is not a good sound. We must
pansion and the investigation of possible new outlets       bear one another's burdens in this regard. We must
and replacement of old outlets could be followed through    also keep in mind that the Lord has indeed abundantly
more consistently.    As an example, I may mention          provided for us, and that, all things considered, our
recent investigations of a possible eastern outlet and      churches are being rather well cared for as far as
a southern outlet which have never been followed            supply of their pulpits is concerned, In view of the
through: at least, to date we have no such outlets. It      shortage. We ought not to be loathe to share our minis-
is not my purpose in this connection to assess blame.       ters with our vacant churches, and. I mean generously.
It is my purpose to urge action. In the third place, as     This holds true for the East, where pulpit supply is
far as actual in-the-field mission work is concerned,       usually readily available from the seminary; but it
this can only be conducted (as it was also in our early     also holds true for the West, where distances are
history) by releasing a minister from his congregation      greater and where most of our vacant churches are at
for several weeks at a time in order that he may labor      present.    We all, churches and ministers, must be
outside the pale of our churches. Also this requires a      willing to be spread a little thinly for the sake of our
degree of sacrifice and cooperation on the part of con-     sister churches  a
gregations who have ministers. But this is the least           It also means that we must continue in prayer to
that can be done, and we should be willing to do it. In     the Lord, "Lord, send us men!" And not only must
this connection, I believe a suggestion is in order that    we pray, but we must as consistories and pastors and
if at all possible a more consistent effort be put forth    also as parents continue to hold this need before our
to implement some of the plans drawn up a few years         young men for their earnest consideration. The need
ago and approved by synod. I am afraid that we some-        is there, and to all appearances that need will continue
times do too much planning and not enough acting. And       to be with us for some years to come.
even though we are beset by the problems accompany-            Meanwhile, let me call attention to the fact, in con-
ing a shortage of ministers, and though our available       clusion, that the outlook at present is brighter than it
man-power must sometimes be spread rather thinly,           has been for some years as far as students for our
I would urge nevertheless that we put forth a more con-     seminary are concerned. True, it will at best be a few
certed effort to get our testimony out and to let our       years before we see these young men as seminary
voice be heard to the utmost of our ability and energy      graduates, the Lord willing. But there are several
outside the pale of our churches. If we indeed appreci-     young men who are engaged in their pre-seminary
ate the heritage which the Lord has given us and in         studies and who within a few years hope to be busily
which He has preserved us hitherto, then we should          engaged in their seminary studies. Moreover, our
also be genuinely concerned about reaching others with      Theological School Committee is at present making a
the message of that heritage, and that too, with un-        thorough study of possible ways and means of hasten-
flagging zeal.                                              ing the preparation of these young men without harm-
   But again, the long-range answer to our home mis-        ing their education. Perhaps by the time our Synod
sion need is a greater supply of ministers. I am not by     convenes the committee will have something definite
any means saying that we must wait with calling a           to report. But this, I believe, is surely a step in the
missionary until all the home churches have been sup-       right direction and a hopeful sign.
plied. But undoubtedly if the shortage were somewhat           All of which does not mean that we are by any
eased, it would be and should be easier to obtain a         means in danger of having an over-supply of students.
man to take up this task. And when that time comes,         The fact that we have expectations of a few new stu-
our churches must not be slothful in their efforts to       dents must not deter us from prayer and from con-
put a man or men in the field.                              secrated efforts to obtain more students. The need is
                                                            great!
OUR HOME CHURCHES
   Finally, of course, the shortage of ministers is in
a concrete way felt most acutely right at home, and                      RESOL UTION OF SYMPATHY
not only by pastorless churches but also by the                The Martha Society of  Doon Protestant Reformed
churches whose ministers must frequently be absent          Church extends Christian sympathy to Mrs. James J.
for classical appointments.                                 Blankespoor in the recent passing of her father:
   What does this entail?                                                          HENRYALTENA
   It certainly means that we must not accept our           at the age of 75 years. May those who sorrow be com-
present lot with grumbling and complaining, nor with        forted in the truth of I Cor. 15:55: ("0 death, wbere
pessimism and discouragement. The basic reason for          is thy sting? 0 grave, where is thy victory?")
this is that our lot is from .the Lord - the Lord Who                                Rev. Robert D. Decker, President
makes no mistake in caring for His church. And I
mean this reference to grumbling in a very concrete                                  Mrs. Henry Bleyenberg, Secretary
sense.    Sometimes sounds of it are heard, and the


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                                       369


           The Church,

                              the Christian,

                                            and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

                                             by  Pvof. H. C.  Hoi2ksema

   The purpose of this editorial is not to justify mur-     in the events surrounding the assassination of Dr.
der. The murder of Dr. Martin Luther King was just          Martin Luther King.
exactly that: murder. And murder is contrary to the             And this editorial is intended as a solemn warning
law of God. But let it be added at once: what else do       and a protest and a call tb reformation.
you expect of the world than murder? Can a depraved
world walk in love toward the neighbor and seek his         THE SPECTACLE OF A PROSTITUTED CHURCH
well-being? Let it be added, too, that a judgment of God        It was neither surprising nor disturbing to see all
was executed in this event, the judgment' that is em-       kinds of churches and religious leaders of modernist
bodied in the words, "All they that take the sword shall    ilk worship at the feet of one of their idols, extol the
perish with the sword." For do not forget: Dr. King         praises of one of their own kind, pay homage at the
took the sword, just as really as if he had gone up and     casket of one of their slain comrades, andmemorialize
down our country with a sword of steel in his hand.         one of their great leaders with numerous exhortations
And he perished by the sword. All of which does not         to be faithful to his philosophy and especially to his
justify his assassin, who also took the sword and must      principle of non-violence. This sort of thing one has
needs perish by the sword.                                  come to expect from those who have long ago forsaken
   Nor is the purpose of this editorial to justify so-      the truth of God's Word andwhoformany years already
called racist tenets. For the purposes of this article      have co-labored with liberals of every brand in the
it makes absolutely no difference whether Dr. King          cause of a social gospel and of social revolution.
was black or white, red or yellow. It makes a world of          What is surprising and disturbing is to behold the
difference, however, whether he and the things for which    spectacle of churches and leaders who are still sup-
he stood were Christian or anti-Christian, of Christ or     posed to represent: the church of Jesus Christ pros-
of Belial, according to Scripture or opposed to Scrip-      tituting themselves in this cause of a God-defying,
ture.                                                       Christ-denying social gospel. What is surprising and
   Nor is the purpose of this editorial to plead either     disturbing is to behold the spectre of such spiritual
for segregation or desegregation. From a Christian          prostitution raising its ugly head among those who name
viewpoint, one can only conclude that no real problems      themselves by the name of Reformed Christians, even
will be solved by either policy. From that same view-       as historically close to us as the Christian Reformed
point, one can at best expect that any policy which is      denomination.
adopted and followed by this world in an attempt to            I do not know very much about reactions elsewhere
solve its incalculably great problems can only be in        among those of Reformed background. But here in
the nature of an accommodation and a temporizing as         "Jerusalem," in the fair city of Grand Rapids, we
the world rushes toward the ultimate manifestation of       have witnessed some strange, some sad, some hair-
ihe Antichrist, and by the same token rushes madly          raising, some spine-chilling phenomena.
and wilfully toward its own destruction.                       We have witnessed the depressing spectacle of a
   This editorial is not concerned with the world and       college bearing John Calvin's name holding memorial
its problems. "Let the dead bury their dead: but go         services on both campuses in memory of Martin Luther
thou and preach the kingdom of God." Apart from that        King, Jr. We have witnessed the spectacle of a very
gospel of the kingdom, of the kingdom, mark you, which      religious-sounding     "Open Letter to the People of
stands antithetically over against the kingdom of this      Grand Rapids" signed by the "Student Body of Calvin
world, there is no solution for any problem. And that       Thedlogical  Seminary" being published in the Grand
gospel of the kingdom cuts across, cuts through, cuts       Rapids Press,  a letter in which there is not so much
to pieces any and every gospel and philosophy of man,       as a breath of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the gospel
whether that be a philosophy of racism or of desegre-       of sin and of grace, the gospel of the antithesis. Here
gation, whether it be a philosophy of so-called non-        is the text of that letter:
violent resistance or of violent resistance. What we
should be concerned about, therefore, in this present              We have often heard the voice of Dr. Martin Luther
situation is the church .and her stance and the child of        I<ing calling us to cut the cancer of prejudice from our
                                                                souls and from our land. But we have never heard his
God and his attitude in the midst of and over against           voice so eloquently as in his death. We have never
all the social upheaval and turmoil of our times,               heard his voice so eloquently as in our grief at his
particularly as the latter were brought into sharp focus        assassination.


370         -                                  THE STANDARD BEARER


        We have witnessed oppression, exploitation, cor-        gave ample testimony of this by going to Atlanta to
   ruption and have not spoken or done God's Word. Our          pay their respects at his funeral.
   hate, our prejudice, our indifference, our silence must      That he had been catapulted into prominence and
   bear the responsibility for this tragic event. Our prej-     fame through his activities as head of an influential
   udice and indifference demands shame, and shame
   demands action. The death of Dr.. Martin Luther King         civil rights movement, everyone will have to acknowl-
   cries for us to speak the word of justice, to speak the      edge.      Somehow he even seemed to have achieved
   word of love, to speak the word of righteousness, and        greater fame than that other victim of an assassin's
   then to do that word. To do that word is to achieve          bullet, President Kennedy.
   the right of every man to be a man. Let us all, there-          That he was an eloquent demagogue, who knew the
   fore, fight hate with love, prejudice with brotherhood,      power of rhetoric and who knew even how to employ
   and indifference with concrete action. That concrete         Scriptural language and Scriptural references as his
   action must be expressed in low-cost housing, equality       tools, to this the almost electric response to his
   of job opportunities, equality of educational opportuni-     speeches gave testimony.
   ties.    "Let justice roll down like waters, and right-
   eousness like an ever-rolling stream."                          But who was he really? That is, what did he stand
                                                                for? What were his principles?
   We have witnessed the spectacle  of all the Christian           It is not my purpose to rehearse the personal his-
Schools (that is, the Christian Reformed Christian              tory and philosophy of this man in detail. But permit
schools) in this city closing in observance'of the funeral      me to mention a few telling facts. Some of these I
of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.                                  learned from an NBC documentary on the radio; some
   More tragic yet, we have witnessed the spectacle             of these I read in various publications.
of a sabbath-desecrating memorial march from Franklin              King was a man who once said: "I happen to believe
Park (just across the street from our First Protestant          that God reveals Himself in all the great religions of
Reformed Church) to the Grand Rapids City Hall,                 the world." He was a man who claimed to have gained
reportedly participated in by some 4,000 people and             his inspiration for non-violent resistance from Jesus
climaxed by a memorial service, on the Sunday after-            of Nazareth, and the technique from Mahatma Gandhi.
noon following King's assassinationp         Who was it ini-    I heard him say this in a tape-recorded interview
tiated by? By two Christian Reformed ministers and              broadcast after his death. In his last address he boldly
a Calvin College professor, among others. Who acted             said, in defiance of the God-ordained powers that be:
as parade marshals?         Many (more than 50) Calvin          "We aren't going to let any injunction turn us around,"
seminary students.        Who  lent moral and material          - referring to the proposed march in Memphis in which
support? Calvin College, by furnishing transportation           he never took part.
from City Hall for the marchers.  Whowere associated               He was a man who was captivated by Henry David
in this march? Liberal ministers of the area Council            Thoreau's writings on "Civil Disobedience." And who
of Churches and various civil rights leaders of this            was Thoreau? An unbelieving, transcendentalist, in-
city, Grace Christian Reformed Church (Rev. Peter               dividualist, early American philosopher-author, who in
Huiner) and First Christian Reformed Church (Rev.               applying his philosophy to the concept of government
Marvin  Beelen)  and, "in effect, Calvin College and            wrote among other things, "There will never be a
Seminary," according to the Grand Rapids Press. What            really free and enlightened State until the State comes
kind of things were done and said at the memorial               to recognize the individual as a higher and independent
service? They prayed together and together sang "We             power, from which all its own power and authority are
Shall Overcome." The Rev. Peter Huiner drew the                 derived, and treats him accordingly." Or this: "The
applause of the crowd for the following `reported re-           authority of government, even such as I am willing to
marks in tribute to the slain civil rights leader:              submit to, - for I will cheerfully obey those who know
        This has been called a day of defeat. There are         and can do better than I, and in many things even those
   those who despair.      But Martin Luther King did not       who neither know nor can do so well, - is still an
   despair. And it is us who must turn this day of defeat       impure one: to be strictly just, it must have the sanc-
   into a day of victory. Let this be the beginning of a        tion and consent of the governed. It can have no pure
   resurrection movement in Grand Rapids.                       right over my person and property but what I concede
   Yes, it was a sad time in Grand Rapids, - sad not            to it."
because of King's death, but sad because many who                  King was a man who rejected the truth of original
were supposed to represent the church, and, more                sin. He taught that Jesus was divine inthe sense that
specifically, the Reformed faith, made a public spec-           "he was one with God in purpose. He so submitted his
tacle of themselves and of the church, a caricature of          will to God's will that God revealed his divine plan to
the church of Jesus Christ, seemingly taking complete           man through Jesus." He rejected the virgin birth as
leave of their senses in their haste to pay tribute to          a mythological story.
this false prophet, Martin Luther King, Jr.                        King's great tenet was so-called non-violent re-
                                                                sistance and civil disobedience.      I will pass by the
WHO WAS DR. KING ?                                              practical fact that physical violence followed almost
   For who was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.?                     everywhere he went; and I will pass by the fact that by
   That he had become a great man in this world, no             his constant reference to the possibility that violence
one will deny. The great and prominent of this world            might arise if his demands were not met he virtually


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                    371

fomented violence and rioting. I will pass these by in        who defies the powers that be in little things like
order to emphasize that this non-violent resistance is        parade permits and the man who defies the powers that
a contradiction in terms. There is other violence, you        be in big things like assassin's bullets and looting and
know, than physical violence.       The latter  I<ing re-     firebombing. Both, principally, are anarchists, rebels,
putedly rejected, in order to resort to a coercion that       revolutionaries  O
frequently proved to be more effectual than the violence         It is in this light that I can only conclude that those
of the gun and the firebomb.        The principle of that     who paid homage to King paid homage to a false prophet,
violence was that he exalted the individual above the         to a social gospeller of the most radical kind, to an
law. The principle of it was lawlessness. The prin-           enemy of the cause of Christ, to aman who in his basic
ciple of it was that the individual has the moral right       philosophy stands condemned by the Word of God, to a
to flout the law if that law does not please him and          man who neither knew nor preached the gospel of sin
coincide with his individual conscience. The principle        and of grace, to a man who in his own eyes and the
of it was that Martin Luther King did not acknowledge         eyes of the world posed as a Messiah, whose death
the Word of God: "Let every soul be subject unto the          even would have "redemptive value," to  aman to whom
higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the          the "promised land" and "the coming of the Lord"
powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore       were identical with the achievement of civil rights and
resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God..."       economic equality.
Romans 13:1, ff. Remember, please, that these words              It is in this light that I can only characterize such
were penned in the days of the persecuting Roman em-          homage on the part of those who call themselves
perors, when there were no "civil rights" except for          Reformed Christians as spiritual prostitution, homage
Roman citizens and when the government used its vast          to the great whore !
powers to persecute the people of God. Even then the             It is in this light that I must raise my voice in
church was admonished, "Wherefore ye must needs be            solemn warning and protest, and cry, "For shame!
subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience          For shame that such things go on and are allowed to
sake."                                                        go on unrequited in the church of Christ!"
    What Martin Luther I<ing refused to recognize was            It is in this light that I must needs call, "Come ye
that there is no principial  difference between the man       out from among them, and be ye separate!"


A L L   A R O U N D   US-

                      The End of the Institute

                                        The Haves and the Have-Nots

                                                                   Ecumenism

                                                  by Prof. H. Hanko

   Those who, in our day, favor a social gospel are           congregations with preaching and sacraments; mem-
becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the church            bership rolls; ecclesiastical assemblies on a local,
institute.    To the extent that they see the church's        regional and national level; etc. They are advocating
calling in terms of social action, they plead that            that the church be restructured so that its life is
the institute be abandoned.      This is easily under-        moved from the pulpit to the streets, from the church
standable.    It is not enough, quite obviously, to preach    edifices to the market places, from the smoke-filled
social reform from the pulpits of the churches. Words         committee rooms to the ghettos.           They envision
without deeds mean very little. In fact, the preaching        organizations working together for social justice in-
of social action from the pulpit can do very little else      stead of congregations established to meet Sunday after
but continue to insulate the lives of church members          Sunday.    They prefer small bands of people united
from the world about them and keep them safely                to meet the real problems of poverty, race troubles,
protected within the walls of the established church          crime, etc. rather than, in their opinion, the tradi-
far removed from the hurly-burly of life. And so,             tional meeting of people to hear an orator address
to accomplish the ends of social action, the leaders          himself on various subjects to half-filled churches.
in the church world are more openly advocating a              To turn church buildings into headquarters for dem-
complete. and -radical change in the structure of the         onstrations is their aim.       To break up isolated and
church.       They are advocating that the church no          insulated congregations into squads and action groups
longer have the institutional form which it now takes:        is their goal.        All the hallowed structures of the
                                                                          `i


372                                          THE STANDARD BEARER


church must make room for real action on the social           all those who plead for more social emphasis by the
level.      A Christian is such only to the extent that he    church.
bends his time and energies to solving this world's              The ascended and glorified Christ has been exalted
problems.                                                     in heaven for the purpose of gathering His Church so
   We are not, at this point, interested in the pros and      that He may take His elect to Himself in everlasting
cons of the social calling of the church. We are in-          glory.       He has ordained the institute of the church
terested particularly in the implications all this has        for that very purpose - to accomplish that end. He
for the institute of the church. It is really not sur-        has decreed that these people of His shall be saved
prising that modern liberalism has gone in this direc-        from darkness and brought into light, shall be pre-
tion. It has no gospel to preach any longer. It has no        served in the midst of the world as His people, shall
sacraments to administer. It has forgotten the rudi-          be prepared for their place in glory, through the
ments of Christian discipline. All this is true because       preaching of the gospel. This preaching of the gospel
it has no Word of God to bring in the preaching of the        is the very heart of the institute. The church in its
gospel, for it has been sacrificed on the altar of uni-       organizational form - whether in consistory, in the
versalism.       Perhaps it is better that it ceases its      office of believers, in broader assemblies of the
sham and gets on with whatever it considers so im-            church - has no other purpose than to engage in this
portant.                                                      work. The church must therefore set her eyes on this
    But the fact of the matter is that this distrust of       one objective: the goal of bringing God's people into
the institute is more wide-spread than we often imag-         the fellowship of Christ. The church must busy her-
ine.      It is becoming increasingly clear that, among       self with no other work than to nourish and feed God's
some conservatives in the church world, there is              people while they continue their pilgrimage.         The
also this deep-seated distrust of the institute. It ap-       church must be the means whereby the saints are kept
pears on occasion especially among those who argue            in this present time until they are prepared for their
that the Christian's calling is to be defined in terms        place in heaven.
of separate Christian organizations.        The argument         It is, no doubt, true that the end of our present
is somewhat different.        Perhaps the distrust of the     dispensation shall be marked by a disappearance of
church institute arises out of some disillusionment           the institute of the church - i.e., of the true institute
with the state of the institute in our day. However           of the church of Jesus Christ. But Scripture teaches
that may be, the idea is that the institute of the church     in this connection that this shall come about under the
has become hopelessly apostate and is, in fact, beyond        pressures of persecution and the great tribulation of
the possibility of reformation. This is explained in          the era of Antichrist rather than the mere fact that
terms of the institute having lost its real reason for        the institute has become useless in the light of the
existence.      The times demand more than the institute      church's calling to speak a Christian word in the
of the church can accomplish. The times demand a              various spheres of life.
distinctive witness of the church in every sphere of             The preservation of the institute is above all im-
life. This witness must be clear and vocal. It must           portant to the end that the church may be continuously
set forth the principles of Scripture as these principles     gathered.      If the time comes when, under the pres-
bear on all life's problems. With this latter we have,        sures of persecution, the institute ceases to exist, it
of course, no quarrel. But accompanying it in some            can only mean that the church has fulfilled her calling,
instances is a desire to abandon the institute and            that Christ has saved His people, and that the coming
reform the church along the lines of separate organi-         of Christ is imminent. For the rest, we must put our
zations which can speak in every area from education          trust in the preaching and believe, though all the
to politics.                                                  evidence that comes to us seems to speak a contrary
   I am afraid of this growing distrust of the institute.     language, that Christ will still accomplish His pur-
I am afraid of the tendency to substitute for the insti-      pose in the preaching of the gospel.
tute various forms of "Christian" action and forsake
the official preaching of the gospel and the adminis-         THE HAVES AND THE HAVE-NOTS
tration of the sacraments for making one's voice
heard in life's arena.                                           It is generally agreed that the black horse of
   It seems apparent that all movements of this type          Revelation 6 speaks of the great difference between
have at least this much in common that they have              the "haves" and the "have-nets" in this world with
substituted some kind of emphasis on action in the            respect to material things.       In fact, this important
world for the church's calling to be busily engaged in        difference - that some are rich and some are poor -
preaching the gospel of Christ. Whether that social           is one of the signs of the coming of Christ and is one
action becomes the crass social gospel of modern              of the factors in many other signs which arise to
liberalism or whether it be some kind of "Reformed"           point the church to Christ's return.
emphasis on the Christian's calling in the social                An interesting article recently appeared in News-
sphere, it shows its distrust of the power of the             week  which dealt with this problem. It pointed out in
gospel to save God's elect.        The institute has out-     the first place, that there has always been this great
lived its usefulness.                                         difference between the haves and the have-nots. But
   It is at this juncture that we must take issue with        it pointed out with many figures and graphs that the


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                      373


difference is steadily becoming greater.         The rich     accepted, will give England a united church by 1980.
are becoming richer, and the poor are becoming                   Newsweek,  in commenting on this, showed somewhat
poorer. The article was discussing this on a. national       the compromises `which characterize many merger
level.     It was demonstrating that, for the most part,     movements.
the rich nations live in the northern half of the globe               The abstinence-minded Methodists, for instance,
while the poor nations live in the southern half. In the         will not insist that Anglicans use grape juice at their
northern half, a computer-age technology has allowed             services,  norwill Anglicans demand that Methodists use
the United States' Soviet- Russia, Western Europe and            wine. Unlike the Church of England, where the appoint-
the industrialized northern hemisphere to grow rapidly           ment of bishops comes within the crown's prerogative,
in wealth. But in the countries of Latin America, Asia           Methodist leaders would be chosen by conference and
and Africa, while the population increases at afrighten-         then consecrated as bishops by their Anglican col-
ing rate, the economic lot of these people rather than           leagues. The ceremony will contain a "deliberate am-
improving is getting steadily worse.                             biguity":      Episcopal bishops and Methodist Church
   The article made mention of the fact that various             officials will solemnly lay hands upon each other in a
                                                                 "ceremony of reconciliation," and it will be left to the
efforts have been made to reverse this trend and bal-            participants themselves to find great or little theolog-
ance the wealth of the world somewhat. But all these             ical significance in the ritual.
efforts have thus far ended in almost complete failure.
   In viewing the future, one noted student of the               It was almost two centuries ago that Methodism
problem made the gloomy prediction:                          separated/from  the State Church of England in the
          If we do not succeed in effective and vigorous     Wesleyan revivals D
   economic development, the alternatives are clear.                                      `k,* *
   The deteriorating situation in the have-not countries         Episcopal Bishop C. Kilmer Myers of California
   will demonstrate that the extremists are right. Black     suggested a broader ecumenical movement. He sug-
   power - now merely a U.S. phenomenon - will be-           gested that this summer's  Lambeth  Conference of
    come brown, yellow and black power on a global scale.    Anglican bishops in London and the World Council of
   This prediction also bears out what Scripture has         Churches meeting in Uppsala, Sweden, be reconvened
to say about those~  things which shall be hereafter         in Rome in union with the world's Roman Catholic
before our Lord comes back.                                  bishops under the leadership of Pope Paul VI.
                                                                 He proposed that the meeting take place under the
ECUMENISM                                                    leadership of Pope Paul by acknowledging the pope
                                                                 "first among equals of the Christian church on
   Ecumenical activity in Great Britain is increasing        ::rth."          But even this was not sufficient to satisfy
once again. For some time there has been talk among          him. He also proposed a "World Congress of the Great
the Anglicans and the Methodists in that island about the    Religions of Man". This Congress would include every
desirability of merging. Now concrete work is being          religion on the earth including humanism and would
done to realize this goal. Commissions from both             give the whole population of the world an opportunity to
churches approved a blueprint for reunion, which, if         speak for "human dignity and worth."



F R O M   H O L Y   WRIT-

                            The Book Of Hebrews
                                                  by Rev. G.  Lubbers


ENLIGHTENED  - YET FALL AWAY (Hebrews  6:4-6)   1            from the grace in Christ into utter and everlasting
(continued)                                                  destruction;
   There are a couple of aspects of this term "fall              First of all, we ought to notice the fact that the
away" which we ought to notice carefully, lest we fall       term in the Greek for to fall away, "parapiptein," does
into error.       Surely the text here does not teach a      not occur elsewhere in the New Testament. The idea
falling away of saints, or even the possibility of the       of the verb is seen in the noun "paraptooma." It is a
elect to perish.      That is, of course, quite certain.     noun referring to transgression.          The idea is of a
Such is our dogmatical and confessional bias. How- falling aside from the right path, as the idea of
ever, we ought to notice the text and demonstrate            "hamartanein" is that of missing the mark, (See West-
exegetically that we have here no such a figment as          cott in loco).      Here, however, contextually the falling
                                                                ._                                                    _  -
the falling away of the saints - an utter falling away       aside is not the sin of common weaknesses of the


                                     0
  374                                          THE STANDARD BEARER


  saints, but is a falling away from the instruction given      a place above the angels. He is appointed heir of all
  and the influences tasted in the church. They did not         things a    In the decree God said: "Thou art my Son,
  fall out of grace of justification.. They never stood in      this day have I begotten thee." (Hebrews 1:2, 5, 8) It
  it. They simply fell by the wayside. Thus we read in          is exactly as the Son that Christ is greater than Moses
  I John 2:19, "They went out from us, but they were not        in the house of God. He is the Builder and not merely
  of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt        a faithful, human servant. (Hebrews 3:6) It is as the
  have continued with us: but they went out, that they          Son of God that Jesus passed through the heavens and
  might be made manifest that they were not all of us."         sits down at the right hand of God. This one is the
  No, the elect cannot be deceived to deny the Christ,          same Son who learned obedience from that which He
  the Son of God. All the gates of hell cannot prevail          suffered. (Hebrews 4:14; 5:s) It is exactly as the Son
  against the church (Matt. 24:24). No one can pluck the        of God that Jesus can have a priesthood that abides
  elect sheep out of the hand of the Father. He is greater      forever, in contrast with the priesthood of Aaron,
  than all (John 10:28).                                        (Hebrews 7:3) And the word of oath can only pertain
     Secondly, we ought to notice that the tense here is        to Christ, since he is a Son forever, the eternal and
  such that it indicates complete action in the past. The       only begotten Son of God. And he who denies the gos-
 fall has occured irrevocably. They have been enlight-          pel, therefore, treads under foot and desecrates the
  ened and they have fallen away. It is the stark reality       Son of God. (Hebrews 10:29) Let us not overlook this
  of wilful rejection of the chief cornerstone of the faith.    great and pivotal matter that these unbelievers crucify
  They hate God; they hate His Son. They hate God as            the Son of God!
  He comes to stand before them in the Christ, His Son              No, they cannot really crucify Christ, the Son of
in the flesh. They will not that Immanuel rule over             God. They cannot do so literally. The Son of God is
  them. They count the blood of Christ a common thing.          at the right hand of the Majesty of God. He lives for-
  They want man and not God. God is not in all their            ever more! But unbelief does to Christ what unbelief
  thoughts, except to reject Him.                               did at the Cross of Christ.         They rejected Christ.
     0, to be sure, this is no mere sinning in the weak-        "His blood be upon us and upon our children," un-
  nesses of the flesh, which sins we daily confess before       belief cried and shouted! Crucify him, crucify him!
  the Lord. This is the sin not even of grieving the Holy       Let Him be anathema! And in thus rejecting Him they
  Spirit by our sins and lovelessness (Ephesians 4:30)          crucify him once more in relation to themselves. They
  No, here is the sin of unbelief. The sin of unbelief          reject the Christ and oppose themselves. They stand
  may reveal itself in many forms. It will deny the in-         in their own way, wilfully. This is a terribly reality.
  fallibility of the Scriptures; it will deny certain cardi-        It is wiiful disobedience !
  nal truths. But nowhere is unbelief so pronounced and             Wilful disobedience to the Son of God. Upon such
  standing in bold relief as it is in those who reject the      the wrath of God abides - in intensified form and
  Son of God. He that does this is not only unbelieving.        degree!
  He is antichrist. There are many of such in our day.              For such openly reject the Christ in all the world.
  Such is all modernism, all preachers of the utopia of         In their lives, their words, as well as in books and
  the so-called "social-gospel"! These do not preach            periodicals, in novels and essays they can only put
  Christ.     They preach another gospel, which is not          Christ to an open shame. Such is the very opposite
  another.     And all false preachers and those having         of confessing his name in all the earth, and that, too,
  itching ears to hear them are those who deny the              in our lives, words, deeds, in the written page, in
  faith. These are unbelievers, who wilfully and knowing-       preaching, in song and litany! There is no greater
  ly reject the Son of God. And the sects which fall into       hatred that can be manifested than to go out of one's
  this category are legion!                                     way to make an open shame of one. This Joseph re-
     For when such have fallen away, they are not neu-          fused to do in his love for the Virgin to whom he was
  tral, nor are they silent. In their heart they hate God;      betrothed!
  they "learned" to hate God at the very place where the
  saints learned to love him. Where the saints were             THE SPEECH FROM GOOD AND EVIL SOIL
  received in their worship, there these were rejected          (Hebrews  6:7, 8)
  as was Cain who slew Abel. And in their hatred for                There is a speech of God in nature. The kingdom
  God and His Son they are ever busy doing two things.          of heaven happens in parables. Everywhere in all the
     These two things are mentioned in the text.                world this truth of the twofold attitude of faith and un-
     The text speaks of such as "crucifying to them-            belief, and the appended blessing and curse is
  selves the Son of God afresh." Let it be observed             exemplified.       This we see also in the parable of the
  that it is emphatically the "Son of God" who is at-           sower in Matthew 13, which perhaps could better be
  tacked.     That is the point of denial. This is the all-     called the parable of the bad and good ground.
  important matter. Our faith is not in the man Jesus,              There is a part of the earth which receives bless-
  but in God, the Son. This is the great matter here in         ing. This is the part which yields abundant fruits to
 Hebrews. That is what makes the Priesthood after the           him that tilleth the soil. Here the wheat is gathered
  order of Melchizedek what it is. Such is the key-note         into the garner. Yes, here the rain is often drunk by
  of the book of Hebrews. God has spoken unto us in             the earth. And the good earth thus brings forth much
  these last days in His Son. The Son is made to have           fruit. Thus is he who receives the word and in whose


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER`                                                375

life there is abundance of faith, hope, and patience. He     of "better things." These better things are connected
that endures to the end shall be saved. For this is the      with Christ.     He  is better! A simple survey of the
infallible proof of true faith.                              entire book of Hebrews shows that the term is used
   There is also the part of the earth which is cursed.      some thirteen times; and each time it is used to
The entire earth is cursed for man's sake. But there         designate the superiority of the heavenly realities over
is also a relative difference between the good ground        the temporal typical shadows of the Old Testament in
now and the bad. And this bad brings forth weeds and         one way or another.
thorns and thistles.      One thinks here of the desert         Thus we read in Hebrews 1:4, ". . . being made so
lands D Much rain, but to no avail. And all that grows       much better than the angels, as he hath y inheritance
on the same is useless. It is fit to be burned. It is        obtained a more excellent name than they." Here the
nigh unto a curse.        Thus it is with those who have     KJV characterizes the term "kreissoon" not by the
tasted the good word of God and have fallen away.            term "better" but by the phrase "more excellent." The
They deny the Son of God, crucify him to themselves,         kingship and glory of the Son is "better," that is: more
and put him to an open shame, and thus are cursed            excellent than that of the angels. God never said to the
forever.    Nothing can refresh them. One cannot even        angels :     "Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten
bring them back to their natural enthusiasm. No              thee." Here we see that the basic usage of the term
amount  of mission work is of any avail.                     "better" in the book of Hebrews is, to say the least,
   Did it ever occur to you that that is the reason why      very noteworthy.
missionaries sent to the land of Mohammed have no                Let us then pursue this further.
positive fruits upon their labors? Those who swear by           In Hebrews 7:7 we read of Melchizedec blessing
Allah have crucified to themselves the Sonof God. "Lat       Abraham when the latter returned from the battle with
Christ is God is the one thing which a Mohammedan            the nations, and when he had rescued Lot. At this time
will not accept.       That is the barrenness too of all     Melchizedec blessed Abraham. He did this as a priest
Modernism and humanism.            It leaves man reaching    of the Most High God. He was "better" than Abraham.
out and searching beyond the sea in his lostness since       He was greater in power and in Majesty. His dignity
he does not believe that God has come to man, God-           was greater.       Hence, the writer can write here in
with-us, Immanuel!                                           Hebrews 7:7, "And without all contradiction the less
   What a horrible end of unbelief over against the          is blessed of the better." This shows that the term
gospel of Christ!                                            better here too is not a mere comparison on an earthly
                                                             level, but that it comprises the comparison of heavenly
Hebrews 6:9-12 (yead  from own Bible)                        verities in the order of majesty and greatness. It is
BETTER THINGS  CIMRACTERIZING`THE  HEBREWS                   connected with the better things which the Son has
(He brews 6:Ol                                               brought with His coming, and through His death and
   The term "better"                                         resurrection.       Wherefore the writer can say in
                          (lkeissoon)  is a very commonly
used term in the book of Hebrews. In fact, in many           Hebrews 7:19, "For the law made nothing perfect, but
ways, it characterizes the entire book. It is the book       the bringing in of a better hope did; by which we draw
                                                             nigh unto God."


 SPECIAL  FEATURE-


                     Covenant Faithfulness and Joy

                                                 by Rev. J. A. Heys

   Speech delivered at the "date-stone" laying               through the covenant faithfulness of their parents and
   ceremony of Covenant Christian High School,               friends, enter through the doors of Covenant Christian
    April 20, 1968.                                          High to be taught the matters of their natural life by
                                                             covenant teachers, in the light of and from the view-
   This afternoon we are gathered to witness the lay-        point of the  covenant  promises given us, expecting
ing of the stone that will from this day onward record       covenant blessings to be bestowed upon them, through
the date that the first Protestant Reformed Christian        this instruction, by our  covenant  God. The discerning
high school was erected and its doors were opened to         listener will have noted that I used the word covenant
give that distinctive instruction which the Word of God      seven times in the preceding sentence, even as in
demands of us as His covenant people.                        Scripture the number seven is the symbol of God's
    We are gathered here because within six months           covenant.     And, indeed, the word covenant belongs
we hope to see covenant ,young men and young women,          there in each instance, if this high school is truly to


                                              THESTANDARDBEARER


be a Christian high school and worthy of its existence       the way in business life, in every department of life,
amid countless numbers of existing high schools.             from early morning till late at night, in all that which
   Without covenant parents, pupils and teachers this        the child contacts, he must see God, and He must see
school will be a Christian school and acovenant Chris-       Him as God has revealed Himself in His word, and not
tian school only in name.       Without a covenant God       out of the eyes of the unbelieving philosopher and false
giving covenant promises there are no covenant bless-        teacher.
ings; and we might just as well go home and forget              What is more, Deuteronomy 6 shows that rhis is the
about it all, admitting that we foolishly duplicated the     duty of parents and therefore of the extension of the
efforts of others to build schools to perpetuate their       home, the school. And it means that we must provide
philosophies.                                                positive teaching  - which is possible only in a school
   But, since we do, as covenant parents, pupils and         which we control ourselves - and not merely protect
teachers have a covenant God Who promises covenant           our children from these mental, rather than graven,
blessings, I would like to see engraven over the doors       images which plague us and our children today. We
of our high school for pupils and teachers, for parents      must shield them from the perversion of the truth
and board members, yea for all who enter, to read            which denies a total depravity that makes man spirit-
and consider, those beautiful words of Psalm 103:17          ually dead; that, therefore, produces a world and life
and 18 as they are versified in our Psalter number           view that erases the antithesis and has no room for
281, the last stanza. The words are these:                   eternal and unchangeable election of individuals; and
        All the faithful to His covenant                     that proclaims a universal atonement which presents
        Shall behold His (God's) righteousness;              a god who is not able to save all whom he loves.
        He will be their strength and refuge',                  And now that you have begun the work of building
        And their children's children bless.                 and of operating a high school where your children
   We have in these words a wonderful promise,               may receive the positive truth of God as revealed in
whether we hold to the versification or to the literal       His Word, may I congratulate the Society for P. R ~
text in Psalm 103. But let me read to you the text,          Secondary Education as the first graduates of that high
since the versification is rather free, "but the mercy       school? No, not in the sense that you have graduated
of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon          from it but unto it. For years we have had elementary
them that fear Him, and His righteousness to chil-           schools where we could present to our children posi-
dren's children; -To such as keep His covenant, and to       tively the truth concerning God in all the matters of
those that remember His commandments to do them."            their natural life. You have graduated from this stage
   In the light of the teaching of the text and its ver-     to begin a high school in covenant faithfulness. And
sification let me call your attention briefly to three       Covenant Christian High represents another step in
matters concerning our new high school.            Let me    covenant faithfulness before our God.
point out that Covenant Christian High represents               There will be, you may be sure, acovenant blessing
covenant faithfulness; that Covenant Christian High          also in Covenant Christian High. There will be a bless-
holds promise of covenant blessings; and that Covenant       ing upon the children. The graduates from our high
Christian High is possible because of covenant mercy.        school will not become famous and prosperous accord-
   You may be sure that building and maintaining a           ing to worldly standards. They will not become men
Protestant Reformed Christian high school is our             and women to whom the world will go for advice and
covenant calling.    Psalm 103 declares that when it         for their opinions.     Rather we may expect that they
equates keeping God's covenant with remembering tq           will be hated and despised for their belief and for their
do His commandments. Let us remember that keeping            world and life view.      But they shall behold God's
God's commandments is keeping His covenant. And              righteousness in the sense that they shall enjoy that
the commandment is spelled out for you and me more           righteousness.    They shall know that God is righteous.
specifically in Deuteronomy 6:1, 6 and 7, where we           But they shall also know that they themselves are
read, "Now these are the commandments, the statutes,         righteous in Christ. They shall know God's righteous-
and the judgments which the Lord your God commanded          ness in the sense that they shall know that which His
to teach you..  D. and these words, which I command          righteousness has prepared for them: salvation full
thee this day, shall be in thine heart; And thou shalt       and free. And that is what counts. All their knowledge
teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk      of science and of literature, of mathematics and history
of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when           will do them no good on their death beds and before the
thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down and        judgment seat of God and in the new Jerusalem. But
when thou risest upO" Here we have a calling in re-          knowing God's righteousness will give them peace and
gard to our children. And here also we have plainly          comfort and go with them into the new Jerusalem.
enough the law of the ten commandments. The whole            Parents, have their everlasting good in mind, and
idea in this command of Deuteronomy 6 is that which          through Covenant Christian High teach them by the
is expressed in the first two commandments. Our              way and in all their lives to see this righteous God.
children may have no other gods before Jehovah. And          Give them knowledge they can take along into the new
they may have no mental images of Him that corrupt           Jerusalem.
the truth concerning Him. Therefore as far as the               And then the apostle John says it for us all, "I
matters in the house of our natural life, the things by      have no greater joy than to behold that my children


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                   377


walk in truth." II John 4. There is a blessing for the        He will give us the strength and will to keep our part
faithful parent as well. And a joy that these parents         of the covenant. He established that covenant with us,
can take with them into death and the grave. There is         and we did not with Him. He moved us by His W.ord
a reward and blessing also for the church. For al-            and Spirit to build Covenant Christian High, and He
though the church instructs the school and the school         will keep us faithful. Otherwise this cause is sure to
is dependent upon the church, the vine bears its fruit        fail.
on the branches;. and the church shall see fruit in the           But you may say, The versification promises this,
school.    Out of Covenant Christian High will come           but does the text? Dare we take man's versification
future ministers, elders, deacons, school teachers,           as a promise of God? Indeed we may in this instance,
covenant fathers and mothers who know God in His              for although the versification is rather free, Psalm
righteousness, will maintain the truth vigorously,            103:17 also declares that the mercy of the Lord is
sacrifice and work for the kingdom.                           from everlasting to everlasting upon those that fear
   But this is no time to boast either of our faithful-       Him, and His righteousness to children's children.
ness in building this school or of what we intend to do       That mercy of God never leaves His covenant people.
in the future through this school.        Boasting is not     They are never without it. And it does not depend upon
keeping God's commandments and is not teaching our            our faithfulness to that covenant, for then it must
children in the home, by the way, from morn till night        surely come to an end. It began in eternity before we
that Jehovah is God. It is denying Him and attempting         knew of the covenant, and it caused us to know it and
to steal His glory.       Once again let us return to the     to begin to be faithful. It will abide on God's people
versification. "All the faithful to His covenant Shall        everlastingly to keep God's church for the day of
behold His righteousness." It is in the way of faithful-      Christ.
ness to His covenant that God blesses us, our children            When the way gets rough, when problems arise and
and our children's children. But let us not overlook          sacrifices are demanded, when the enemy ridicules
the next line, "He will be their strength and refuge,         and even takes away our schools pretty soon, rest in
and their children's children bless." God will bless          that assurance that God is faithful to His covenant prom-
us and our children and children's children with His          ise and that His mercy is upon us to cause us one day
righteousness in the way of a faithfulness which He           to see in the new Jerusalem the fruit of the labours
will work in us. He will be our strength and refuge in        wrought in Covenant Christian High. And if we cannot
the battle and when we seem ready to faint and cannot         have those beautiful words engraven in stone over the
go on in the struggle.      "His saints shall not fail but    door of our school, may God grant that they be written
over the earth their strength shall prevail."                 in that mercy in the hearts and lives of the pupils of
   Because He is a covenant-making and a covenant-            Covenant Christian High by the covenant instruction
keeping God; because He is faithful to all His promises       given unto them.


    TRYING  WE  SPIRITS-


                          The Lordship of Christ

                                                 by Rev. R. C.  Havbach

   The truth before us as a topic is rare. It is by no        the salvation He has purchased for us. As Lord He has
means found everywhere in the theological Bibliothek.         purchased us, soul and body, delivered us from all our
One may scan many volumes before place is found               sins with His own blood, and made us His own property
where the subject is treated, or takenup with more than       (HC, 31, 34). As King He has right over us by crea-
passing notice. Nor where the name Lovd  is explained         tion. As Lord He has right over us by redemption. As
is lordship necessarily elucidated. The subject is to be      I<ing, His office is creative and providential. As Lord
distinguished from the deity of Christ. In His person         it is restorative.    By His lordship He makes peace
He is God of God, true God of true God. But that divine       between God and man:       "preaching peace by Jesus
person took into everlasting union with himself true          Christ; He is Lord of all (Acts 10:36)." He was "ex-
manhood, in which He was invested with the sovereign          alted to be a Prince and Savior, to give repentance
position of absolute, universal sway. The subject is          and remission of sins (5~31)~" As King He lays down
also to be distinguished from the royal office of             His law.     As Lord He writes it in the hearts of His
Christ.    The former is a finer aspect of the latter.        people.
Christ as King governs, defends and preserves us in              Two eminent defenders of the lordship of Christ


378                                          THE STANDARD BEARER


were Geerhardus Vos and J. Gresham Machen, the                but He was also born Lord (Luke 2:ll). All creatures
former. in his  `The Self-Disclosure  of  Jesus,  and the     are subject to Him, some against their wills, as the
latter in his  `The Origin of Paul's Religion.1 Both of       devil, his cohorts and all revolters. They say, "Who
these works make very difficult reading. Neverthe-            is Lord over us? (Ps.  12:4)." Or they claim, "We
less, the following is of interest from  Machen. He           are lords, we will come no more unto Thee (Jer.
points out that the idea of lordship was common among         2:31).`* They live in the spirit of, "we will not have
the heathen. For the title Eovd was current in pagan          this Man to reign over us (Luke 19:14)." When Christ
religion. "But that does not necessarily mean that the        came, men would have Him no more when they learned
title was applied to Jesus in the first place because of      that He was not a bread-king with socialist platform.
the pagan usage.. . Pagan cults were entirely tolerant;       Nevertheless He imposes a ministry and service upon
worship of one Lord did not mean the relinquishment           rebels which they perform, as He appoints, although
of another. But to the Christians there was one Lord          they neither realize they are nor intend they should be
and one only . . .Paul himself refers plainly to the cur-     instruments under His complete control (Isa. 10:7). It
rency of the title. `For though there be,' he says, `that     is as Spurgeon put it. "The world has not gone to con-
are called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, as            fusion; Chance is not God; God is still Master, and let
there are gods many, and lords many; yet to us there          men do what they will, and hate the truth we now prize,
is one God, the Father, of whom are all things; and we        they shall after all do what God wills, and their direst
in Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are          rebellion shall prove but a species of obedience, though
all things, and we throughHim' (I Cor. 8:5,6)...The mere      they know it not." Others are subject to Him willingly.
fact that the Christians used a title whichwas also used      They are His own people. "They gave their ownselves
in the pagan cults does not establish any dependence up-      to the Lord (2 Cor. 8~5)~" The rest, who do not own
on paganism. For the title `Lord' was almost as well          Him, have no part with Him.         "Not every one that
established as a designation of divinity as was the term      saith unto Me, `Lord! Lord!' shall enter into the king-
`God' " (pp. 306, 305, 307). Christ's lordship is there-      dom of heaven, but He that doeth the will of My Father
fore unique, exalted as He is "far above all prin-            (Matt. 7:21)." We willing subjects renounce the devil
cipalities and powers and might and dominion."                and all his works, the world and all its allurements,
   The title L ovd is a covenant term since it has to do      the flesh and all its dictates, which were once our
with the guiding and governing of a family, denoting          lords and, at the same time, our enemies. For "other
headship over wife and children. The Lovd is Master           lords besides Thee have had dominion over us (Isa.
of a family,' and the covenant idea is further brought        26:13)," but they have all been dispossessed, like the
out in the O.T. form of the word, My-Lovd.  Many of           five kings Joshua trapped in the Cave of Makkedah,
the people of God used this form of the name, Adonai,         there to destroy and bury them (Josh. lO:l-27). We
calling Him from the heart, "my Lord." David wrote,           cast down the weapons of our warfare against Him, bow
"Jehovah said unto my Lord.. . " Elisabeth spoke of           under His sceptre, and acknowledge Him as Sovereign
"the mother of my Lord." Mary Magdalene cried,                Lord "to walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing
"they have taken away my Lord." Thomas exclaimed,             (Cal.  l:lO)." It is our desire to follow the injunction,
"my Lord and my God!" Paul coveted "the knowledge             "As ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk
of Christ Jesus my Lord."          The title signifies the    ye in Him (2:6)."
Owner of the entire human family and the One to whom             Jesus, always conscious of His Godhood and Mes-
unrestricted obedience is due. This lordship belonging        siahship, thought and spoke of himself as Lord. He
to Him by nature as the only begotten Son, the second         commanded His church, "Pray ye therefore the Lord
person of the trinity, is absolute and underived. It          of the harvest, that He will send forth laborers into
also belongs to Him by decree as the Mediator, and is         His harvest (Matt. 9:38)." That He here meant not God
delegated and derived. "All authority is given unto           the Father, but himself is plain not only from what He
Me in heaven and earth (Matt. 28:18)." "Thou hast             said but what He did  (9~33;   1O:l).     If Jesus did no
given Him authority over all flesh (John 17:2)." God          miracle, what He said cannot be understood. But Jesus
"hath given Him authority to execute judgment also,           will not be misunderstood. He plainly directed His
because He is. the Son of Man (5:27)." It is not the          apostles to speak of Him as Lord.         "Ye shall say,
inherent, underived lordship of the Son of God, but           `The Lord hath need of them (Matt. 21:3).`" Then He
the delegated lordship of Christ which we now con-            commended `them for owning Him as such. "Ye call
sider. Peter had this in mind.when  he said, "Let all         Me Master and Lord, and ye say well, for so I am
the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made         (John 13:13)."
that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified both Lord                What Jesus did proves Him Lord. He touched and
and Christ (Acts 2:36)."                                      cleansed the lepers; He cursed the fig tree (only the
   Not only does He have title to His lordship, but           Maker and Lord of every creature could justifiably do
right to it, as well.       It is His right by redemption.    so); He made wind and waves cease their raging; cast
"For to this end Christ both died and rose again, and         out demons, dispelled diseases, commanded dead to
revived, that He might be Lord both of the dead and           rise, and where faithful preachers said, "Thus saith
living (Rom. 14~9)~" As Lord the right of worship is          the Lord," He said, `
                                                                                    I say unto you!" Lordship was
due him.     "He is thy Lord, and worship thou Him"           also demonstrated in commissioning His church, hold-
(Ps. 45:ll). Not only was He "born King of the Jews,"         ing the keys of hades and of death, His rule over the
                                                                                                         _     ..__. -__ --..I


                                           THE STANDARD BEARER                                                     379


churches, His opening and shutting of the doors of          serve (Matt. 4:lO). " He must be served enthusiastic-
providence. In the future He will display His lordship      ally: "whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord
in rewarding His saints and destroying His enemies.         (Col.  3:23)." He must be served with all our powers:
   The extent of His lordship is revealed in the teach-     "not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the
ing of His apostles. "He is Lord of all (Acts 10:36),"      Lord (Rom.  12:11)." Anyone who is a true Christian
"Lord over all (Rom.  10:12)." All other lords are          always serves Him and always belongs to Him. "For
subject to Him, for He is the "only Potentate, the King     whether we live, we live `unto the Lord, and whether we
of kings, and Lord of lords (I Tim. 6:15)." Before His      die, we die unto the Lord; whether we live therefore,
birth, while conceived in the womb, He was confessed        or die, we are the Lord's (14:8)." Many of our loved
as Lord (Luke  1~43). All His life He was Lord, and         ones, aged, with long years of knowing and loving the
continues so in heaven to all eternity, for He receives     Sovereign Lord behind them, come to their last and
worship coequally with the Father on the throne (Rev.       dying days with memory gone. With respect to those
5:13).    It is the throne of God and of the Lamb (Rev.     they love best, their mind is often a complete blank.
22:l). The great Spurgeon said, "He is God - know           This sometimes occurs in ministers of the Gospel
that, ye inhabitants of the land - and all things, after    during the last days of their pilgrimage. One aged
all, shall serve His will. I like what Luther says in       minister, dying, suffering this loss of memory, no
his bold hymn, where, notwithstanding all that those        longer recognized loved ones. But when one spoke
who are haters of predestination choose to affirm, he       softly into his ear, "Do you know Jesus Christ?" he
knew and boldly declared, `He everywhere hath sway,         responded in rapturous voice,
and all things serve His might!' "
   What shall we say to these things? Let us by grace,                    "Jesus, my Lord! I know His name;
in faith, from the heart, say, "My Lord, and my God"                         His name is all my trust;
(John 20:28). He must have our worship. "Thou shalt                       Nor will He put my hope to shame,
worship the Lord thy God and Him only shalt thou                             Nor let my soul be lost."


   `WHAT OTHERS  THINK-


                            A Presbyterian Review

   In The Pvesbytevian  Jownal  of April 17, 1968 there        The usual loci of theology form the book's outline,
appeared the following review of "Reformed Dogmatics"       while the confessional materials of the Dutch Calvinists
which we quote in full.     For the information of our      influence the development. Presbyterians will miss a
readers, The Pres byte&n  Jouvnal  is a weekly maga-        treatment of the Word of God. Special emphasis is
zine which represents the conservative wing in the          given to the covenant of grace, the Church, the sacra-
Southern Presbyterian Church, a denomination cur-           ments, and the last things.
rently working toward a possible merger with the Re-           An unashamed dogmatician, Hoeksema took strong
formed Church in America. We hereby express our             positions.      His rare stance as a supralapsarian makes
thanks for this review.                                     his treatment of election and related matters inter-
                                                            esting to the student. Little space is devoted to de-
   REFORMED DOGMATICS, by Herman Hoeksema.                  fense.        The Scriptures and Reformed confessional
Reformed Free Publishing Association, Grand Rapids,         statements, extensively quoted, settle matters. Fre-
Mich. 917 pp. $14.95. Reviewed by the Rev. Adrian           quent appeals to the divine sovereignty buttress views.
DeYoung, pastor, First Presbyterian Church, Prattville,        Some peculiar features of this large work may be
Ala.                                                        mentioned. . There are lengthy expositions of the six
   This volume, published posthumously, is the work of      days of creation in Genesis, and of the seven seals in
a controversial figure familiar to Calvinists of the        Revelation.
Dutch tradition, those of the Christian Reformed
Church in particular. In brief, Hoeksema was judged            Contemporary theology is all but ignored, with
to differ from Reformed standards in the area of com-       Barth quoted four times.         Theologians Kuyper and
mon grace.                                                  Bavinck come in for most of the author's attention.
   The dispute, which occurred about forty years ago,          Paragraphs of extreme length, an absence of any
resulted in the formation of the Protestant Reformed        visible outline within the chapters, and a rather heavy
Churches.     Reformed Dogmatics  represents  Hoekse-       style are distractive. There is a frequent eloquence,
ma's lectures to their theological students.                however, that will make the student want to go further.


380                                         THE STANDARD BEARER


 E X A M I N I N G   ECUMENICALISM-


                   Ecumenism on  G.ood Friday

                                                by Rev. G. Van  Baven


   Ecumenism assumes many forms and shapes. The                Church, three from the Reformed Church, one from
subject does not necessarily involve immediate mer-            the Presbyterian Church, one from the Roman Cath-
ger of churches, but "ecumenism" is concerned with             olic Church.
anything which would lead to unity. We may be re-                 Even more striking was another service held at
minded, too, that there can be both a good and bad             the Park Congregational Church during this same
ecumenism.       It is true, as far as our churches are        time span. At this service spake one from the Foun-
concerned, that the ecumenism of our day is for the            tain Street Church, one from the Methodist Church,
most part evil.      Churches are seeking unity not in         one from the Presbyterian Church, one from the
true faith nor properly based upon the work of Christ          Baptist Church, one from the Congregational Church,
on the cross.                                                  one from the Roman Catholic Church, and one from
   On "Good Friday" of this year (and past years)              the Christian Reformed Church. The first speaker,
there was evident also a form of ecumenism. On this            Dr. Duncan Littlefair of the Fountain Street Church,
church holiday, more than on any other, churches and           is not truly Christian at all. He denies the atonement,
ministers find occasion to worship and pray together,          the resurrection, the infallible inspiration of Scripture.
It would appear that the commemoration of the suffer-          He is a "liberal" in the. broadest sense of the term.
ing and death of Christ is one fact upon which most               The fourth instance of "ecumenism" was a "vigil
denominations and churches can agree. Therefore it             for Peace." The article stated:
becomes also the occasion for divergent groups to
meet in a combined commemoration service - a sort                    Seven local ministers . . . will take part in a Good
of foretaste of what complete unity will . -ally be.              Friday peace vigil which will get under way at noon
                                                                  Friday at the Pearl St. entrance of the Federal Build-
GOOD FRIDAY'S ECUMENISM                                           ing.Sponsors will be the Kent County Chapter of the
   This writer can produce at this time certain indi-             Women's International League for Peace and Freedom,
cations of ecumenism on Good Friday only as these                 and the 5th District Chapter of the Michigan Confer-
were evident in the city of Grand Rapids, Mich. Doubt-            ence of Concerned Democrats.
lessly, the reader can himself furnish evidence in his               Each minister will lead the group in a three-
own locality of similar "ecumenism."                              minute prayer at half-hour intervals, beginning at
   The Grand Rapids Press contained various ads on                noon....
Wednesday and Thursday preceding Good Friday in-                  The speakers at the above "Vigil for Peace" in-
viting the public to various commemorative services            cluded three from Methodist churches, two from the
to be held within certain specified church sanctuaries.        Christian Reformed Church, and one from the Roman
An article was also included in the same Press giving          Catholic Church.
information on an interdenominational "peace vigil"
to be held on Good Friday.                                     EVAL UATION
   There were at least three advertised interdenomi-              What must one say of the above "ecumenism"? I
national GoodFriday services. One was heldat the Trinity       would state that I hesitate to draw too many conclusions
Reformed Church with seven speakers from the Re-               on the basis only of advertisements. I was not per-
formed and Christian Reformed churches, each speaker           sonally present at any of the above "services," there-
addressing the audience with an exposition of one              fore I can not judge concerning the content of the
of the seven "cross-words." The service was held               messages presented.       Possibly many of them were
from 1 to 3 p.m. on Good Friday. I have no further             entirely in harmony with God's Word - this I could
comment on this particular service.                            not either deny or verify. I am not certain, either,
   Two others, however, are more worthy of note in             who were the sponsors of the "services" advertised.
this article.    The one was the "Forty-ninth Annual           The location of the services was identified, the church
Good Friday Service" held at Central Reformed                  affiliation of the speakers was identified-- but I do
Church. There were eight speakers presenting medi-             not know if the church where the service was held
tations on the "Seven Words" of the cross.              The    sponsored the affair, or if it were a joint venture of
speakers were: two from the Christian Reformed                 the churches whose ministers spake, or if it  rep-


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                    381

resented a venture sponsored by the ministers who            denominations.       If a Littlefair and an Eppinga  can
spake .                                                      speak from the same pulpit'on Good Friday,, then later
   However, certain points can be noted.         First, I    on some Sunday they can also exchange pulpits. Why
believe that a trend can be observed over the past           not?
years.       Joint Good Friday services were rather             A child of God ought to promote true Scriptural
common for a number of years. But these services             unity.      On the other hand, he ought to oppose that
have come to include more and more diverse de-               which is not the fruit of the  u'nity of which Christ
nominations in recent years.         The advertisements      speaks.       Though the men involved probably agreed
which I quoted above reveal that even a minister             to speak for the united services on Good Friday
from a completely modernistic church can speak               without being delegated or sent by their local church
from the same `pulpit as does a minister from the            or their denomination, yet the local church and the
Christian Reformed Church. A Roman Catholic priest           denomination were identified in connection with the
can speak at the same service with ministers from            introduction of each speaker.            To this a faithful
Reformed churches. One can expect to hear of more            Christian of a denomination so involved, ought to
of this in days to come.                                     object. Why should the public receive in any way the
   Secondly, the ministers and their church affiliation      impression that the actions of a few men within a
are identified by name. Now it is conceivable that a         denomination are representative of that of the entire
minister could have agreed to speak at these "ecu-           denomination?
menical" services without the consent of his consistory         Secondly, one should object particularly when a
and without reflecting any definite position of his          minister  of the gospel is engaged in such united ser-
denomination.      A minister might conceivably claim        vices. Though a man agrees to speak as an individual
that he speaks only as an individual apart from his          rather than as a minister, the fact is that a man and
office or position in a denomination. Nevertheless, it       his office are not so easily divorced.           As long as
is strictly not possible to separate a minister's office     one would remain in the office of minister of the
from his extra-curricular activities. His name and           Word of God, he must remember that his every action
his title are inevitably presented together. And if          reflects upon the office itself. In the minds of others
his church affiliation is not identified in print (though    it is not that &&. So-and-so speaks, but Rev. So-and-so
in the above quoted instances this affiliation WAS           that does.      Certainly one in this office reflects also
identified), a man and his denomination are neverthe-        upon his office when he agrees to speak with others in
less linked together in the minds of the readers.            the commemoration of Christ's death.
Though it may not have been the speaker's intent, his           Finally, a strong warning must be uttered. As the
action affects both his office and his denomination.         rain upon the rocks, as the waves on the seashore, so
   Men, ordained in specific offices, identified with        too ecumenism: there is not sudden transformation
specific denominations, revealed their desire for the        and change, but the change comes little by little. The
unity of the church. Men, participating in these Good        waves erode the seashore little by little. Ecumenism
Friday services, have revealed the type of unity they        also does not suggest that denominations unite to-
seek.      And the unity sought is not good - for this is    morrow, but seeks to introduce their own miscon-
not the unity of which Scripture speaks. The unity           ception of unity a little at a time. When man has
sought is evident in that seven or eight men speak on        become- accustomed to united Good Friday services,
aspects of ONE SUBJECT. That one subject was the             then other united services will be introduced. So
Word of the Cross. How can a Christian Reformed              will the idea of false unity develop and grow. Beware,
minister and a Reformed minister and a Presbyterian          therefore, for ourselves and for our covenant seed.
minister and a Roman Catholic priest and a Modernist         Be aware of the erosion that is in progress. Point
minister speak forth from one pulpit on such a theme?        it out to your children.       Unity must be sought, but
Though each spoke according to his own convictions,          there must be no form of unity with a Littlefair or
there was the attempt to unite light and darkness to-        with the Roman Catholic Church from which we were
gether to sing forth the praises of the Cross. Such is       once rightly separated. Light and darkness may not
wicked unity.                                                unite. Hold fast, then, to the truth.
   The unity was manifest also in that all were in-
vited to hear each of these speakers. Whether the
speaker was Littlefair (modernist) or Beahan (Roman
Catholic) or Eppinga (Christian Reformed), the pro-             Hope Protestant Reformed Christian School is in
gram was commended to all. Whether a speaker had             need of a principal for the  1968-69  school year. If
always denied the atonement of the cross or another          you wish to be considered for this position, please
speaker supposedly had maintained that cross as              contact:
Scripture sets it forth, the community was invited                            Mr. Clare Kuiper
to hear both. That is ecumenism in action.                                     2450 Boulevard Dr., S.W.
   All this is but a foretaste of that unity which can                         Wyoming, Michigan 49509
be had under the direction of ecume.nists.  The idea                           Phone: 534-0098
of speaking together and listening together is being
implanted in the minds of all peoples of all sorts of


I    382                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



              PAGES FROM THE  PAST-

                               Believers and Their Seed

                                                  by Rev. Herman Hoeksema

        Right here we must immediately remark that there          in the way of abiding in the covenant (the same as
     has never been any unanimity about this subject among        abiding in Christ, John 15:4). And if, for example, the
     Reformed people. In fact, it cannot even be said that        Lord could make a personal covenant with Jeroboam
     there is a single covenant conception which has won for      like that of I Kings 11:38  , in spite of what He had
     itself the exclusive name of Reformed in distinction         determined concerning him in His counsel, then cer-
     from all other views. In the first place, there is wide      tainly there can be no objection raised against the
     difference of opinion with respect to the idea of the        zposition  that also those who are not elected have a part
     covenant itself, apart now from the questionconcerning       in the essence, that is, in the promise of the covenant,
     the place of the children of believers in the covenant.      as a promise to the fulfillment of which the Lord has
     First of all, there are those who seek the essence of        formally obligated Himself in the way of abiding in the
     the covenant in the promise of God: "I will be to thee a     covenant.
     God." Thus writes Prof. W. Heyns in his "Essays on               "With regard to the question what this participation
     the Covenant of Grace," (Verhandelingen over het             in the essence of the covenant means, what benefit is
     Genadeverbond, a mimeographed booklet containing a           the portion of the covenant-member  (bondeling), it must
     series of essays which originally appeared in  De            be noted that we must distinguish a two-fold application
     Gevefovmeevde  Amevikaan.  The booklet was published         of  salvation.    Both are mentioned in the prayer of
     in 1914.) On pages 11 and 12 he writes as follows:           thanksgiving in the Form for the Administration of the
        "The essence of the covenant, whereby it is what it       Lord's Supper, as follows: `...that Thou hast of thy
     is  - a covenant of grace, lies herein, that it is the       infinite mercy, given us thine only begotten Son, for a
     promise `to be to thee a God' given in the form of a         Mediator and a sacrifice for our sins, and to be our
     covenant, a contract. Every covenant of God with men         meat and drink unto life eternal, and that Thou givest
     was a promise given in the form of a covenant. The           us lively faith, whereby we are made pavtakevs of such
     covenant of works was a promise, the promise of life         great benefits.' Hence, the `becoming partakers' (or,
     in the way of obedience, given in the form of a covenant.    `being made partakers') takes place through faith and
     The covenant with Noah was a promise, the promise not        is something different than the being `given.' (Trans-
     again to destroy the earth by water, given in the form       lator's note: In the Dutch version of the above quota-
     of a covenant.     When Peter on the day of Pentecost        tion from the Form for the Lord's Supper, the verbs
     admonishes the multitude to be baptized with the words,      are respectively  geschonken hebben  and  deeEach@
     "To you is the promise and to your children,' he means       wooden.)  Similarly in Question 74 (of the Heidelberg
     more particularly the promise as it was interpreted by       Catechism) the two elements of the promise mentioned
     Joel, but then that promise as it formed the essence of      are `the redemption from sins by the blood of Christ'
     the covenant: for only as such could participation in        and `the Holy Spirit, the Author of faith.' The applica-
     that promise furnish the right to the seal of the cove-      tion of salvation must first of all be that of an objective
     nant.    When the Catechism in Question 74 describes         gift  (Dutch:  eene  objectieve  schenkingl,   wherebythere
     what it implies for children that they, as well as the       is given us a divine right to salvation; and this takes
     adults, are comprehended in the covenant of God, then        place in and through the covenant. And, secondly,
     it says that `redemption from sin by the blood of Christ     there must be a subjective being made  pavtakev  (Dutch:
     and the Holy Ghost, the author of faith, is promised  to     een subjectieve  deelachtigmaking), and this takes place
     them no less thanto the adult.' And when it is confessed     through faith, or rather through the Holy Spirit, Who
     in Question 66 that the sacraments are instituted by         works faith.      The first every covenant-member re-
     God `that by the use thereof he may more fully declare       ceives, as covenant-member in the full sense. Baptism
     and seal to us the promise of the gospel,' then it is        is a divine seal, `an undoubted testimony,' of this to
     clear that `gospeE' is here intended as identical with       all who are baptized. What this includes is so pointedly
     covenant, and that `promise of the gospel' must mean         set forth in the Baptism Form when it explains what
     the same as essence  of the covenant.                        it means to be baptized in the name of the Father and
        "To have a part in the essence of the covenant,           in the name of the Son.    As to the second element, the
     therefore, means to have a part in the promise of the        application of salvation by the Holy Spirit, or the sub-
     covenant; when God by baptism seals  -unto us His            jective being made partaker, the situation is the same
     covenant, this means that participation in the promise       for the covenant-member, and yet it is not the same.
     of the covenant is sealed unto us, and that as a promise     It is the same, for even as in the covenant the forgive-
     to the fulfillment of which God has obliguted Himself        ness of sins and everlasting righteousness and salvation       ,


                                              THESTANDARDBEARER.                                                   383


 N E W S   F E A T U R E -
                              Datestone  - Milestone
                                                              the fall of this year, D.V.; and, judging from the
                                                              progress being made, the builders, Newhof Associates,
                                                              should have the building ready in time.
                                                                 The brief ceremony of this datestone-laying was
                                                              held on Saturday, April 20, on a wind-whipped after-
                                                              noon with the threat of showers in the air; but the
                                                              threatening weather did not prevent a goodly audience
                                                              from turning out' for the occasion. The program fea-
                                                              tured a very pertinent address by the Rev. John A.
                                                              Heys, which I will not attempt to summarize here be-
                                                              cause the text of his address appears in full in the
                                                              department IN HIS FEAR, plus some lusty a capella
                                                              singing by the audience.
                                                                 This is indeed a milestone in our efforts toward
                                                              Protestant Reformed education in the Grand Rapids
                                                              area. For in a way the formative years of adolescence
                                                              are even more critical in the process of educating
                                                              covenant youth than the years of their childhood in
                                                              grades one to nine. It was undoubtedly for this reason,
                                                              too, that our school movement in the Grand Rapids area
                                                              began some thirty years ago with a society which
                                                              originally purposed to establish a high school. And
                                                              now the Lord has given us to realize this purpose, and
   The above picture (courtesy of Mr. Charles Westra)         has made it possible to furnish our children with the
features the climactic moment at the datestone-laying         so sorely needed distinctive, covenant education
ceremony of Covenant Christian High School, our pro-          throughout their first twelve years of schooling. This
jected new Protestant Reformed high school in the             is indeed reason -for thanksgiving and rejoicing, and
Grand Rapids area. Featured in the picture are Mr.            renewed dedication.     May this thanksgiving and re-
Harry Zwak, member of our Hudsonville Church and              newed dedication be concretely manifested in the sup-
chairman of the Building Committee, and Dr. Dwight            port of this vital project by our people!
Monsma, member of First Church and president of                  I had hoped to include with this news report a re-
the Board. If you look carefully, perhaps you can make        port of the recent drive for capitalization and opera-
out the date , 1968, on the stone. The school is fast         tional funds, but this was not available as yet. Pre-
going up on a large piece of property situated on Wilson      liminary reports, however, indicate that the goal of
Avenue, just north of our Hope Church and Hope Prot-          some $38,000 will very nearly be reached. This is
estant Reformed Christian School, in the city of Walker.      heartening news.
Plans are to open the school with grades 10 and 11 in                                                          -H.C.H.

            ATTENTION,STAFFMEMBERS!                                               CALL  TOSYNOD
   The Standard Bearer Staff will hold its annual                By decision of the last Synod, the Consistory of the
meeting, D.V., on Wednesday evening, June 12, at              First Protestant Reformed Church of Grand Rapids,
8 o'clock in the Seminary Room. All department edi-           Michigan notifies the churches that the 1968 Synod
tors please take note of this meeting and reserve the         will convene on Wednesday, June 5, 9:00 A.M., in the
evening.                                                      above mentioned church, D.V.
                                  Rev. J. Kortering, Sec'y       The pre-synodical service will be held on Tuesday,
                                                              June 4, at 8:00 PM., at First Church. Rev. C. Hanko
                                                              is scheduled to deliver the sermon.
                                                                 Synodical  delegates are requested to gather with
   The Northwest Iowa Protestant Reformed Christian           the consistory before the service.
School is in need of a teacher for grades one through            Those in need of lodging are asked to contact
four for the 1968-1969 school year. Anyone interested         James .Heys,  1432 Giddings Ave., S.E., Grand Rapids,
in this position,,please  apply to:                           Michigan, 49507, telephone GL 2-5781.
                Mr. Gerald Van Den Top                              Consistory of First Protestant Reformed Church
                R.R. 1  -                                                                 Rev. G. Van Baren, President
                Rock Rapids, Iowa, 51246                                                  James Heys, Clerk


      384                                          THESTANDARDBEARER


                                          N E W S   F R O M   O U R   CHURCHES-
         The Hope Protestant Reformed Christian School ren-         point that they ask the question, "Wherewithal shall a
      dered an excellent Easter ,Program in the auditorium          young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto
      of First Church on the evening of April 11. The pro-               according to thy word," Ps. 119:9. The speaker also
      gram consisted of selections from Scripture and songs         stressed the importance of covenant youth receiving
      chosen for the support of the theme which was, "Re-                catechetical education and their faithful attendance at
      joice, for the Lamb Reigneth." The entire program             Church Services. Rev. Lanting delineated the Word
      was produced by the Principal, Miss A. Lubbers, and                of God to be the only principal guide for covenant
      was one of their finest renditions. The choir music           parents and their youth. Special numbers were pre-
      was faultlessly `rendered and the narration was plain              sented by the societies of Doon, Edgerton and Hull.
      and clearly understood. The evening drew to a moving          The Reformed Witness Hour was the recipient of the
      finale with the choir singing, "The kingdoms of this          offering taken. After the meeting the ladies enjoyed
      world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His          an hour of fellowship while refreshments were served
      Christ, and He shall reign forever," from Handel's            by the host society.
      "Messiah." Mrs. C. Lubbers, at a rentedorgan, play-                                        * *  *
      ed the prelude, the processional, the recessional and         j       Lynden's Radio Station KLYN presented a series
      the postlude. Prof. H. Hanko led in the opening devo-         of Passion Week Meditations Monday through Thurs-
      tions and Rev. Lubbers led in closing prayer.                 day. Rev. B. Woudenberg was in charge of the Wed-
                               * * *                                nesday program.
         "Seminary Day" was held Tuesday, April 16, the                                          * * *
      second of such annual events in the history of our                    Redlands' Sunday School presented a special pro-
      Theological School. Representatives from the Theo-            gram on Resurrection Day. Mr. T. Feenstra led in
      logical School Committee, the area ministers and              the opening devotions and taught the story to the chil-
      prospective students received a special invitation to         dren. A quartet sang, the children sang two numbers,
      attend this morning session. Student Moore preached                and the Misses Shirley Gritters and Donna'Van Uffelen
      a sermon which was then academically criticized by            gave a piano-organ duet. Their pastor, Rev. Hanko,
      Rev. Kortering of the School Committee, and by both           made some closing remarks and led in the prayer of
      of the professors. Three of the area ministers and            thanksgiving.
,.    nine interested young men were in attendance. After                                        * * *
      recess Prof. Hoeksema lectured on Old Testament                       Loveland's Young People's Society sponsored a
      History, specifically that which is recorded in Lev.          Hymnsing April 14 and took an offering towards the
      10; and Prof. Hanko held his New Testament "Iso-              purchase of new pews for their church. In an April
      gogics" class. The young men were invited to visit            7 announcement the consistory, in behalf of the con-
      often, and to try to schedule their college classes to        gregation, thanked the Ladies Circle for the gift of
      include time to share with our student a course of            three tables for the church.
      their choice.    Rev. Lubbers, president of the Com-
      mittee, made a few closing remarks and led in prayer,                                      * * *
      bringing to an end a very pleasurable and inspiring                  The April Beacon Lights Hymnsing was heldin Hope
      session of school. It is to be hoped that the interest        Church April 21 with Harry Langerak leading the
      of those interested nine young men will increase and          spirited singing. Lois Engelsma was at the piano and
      continue until they will also be ready to demonstrate         Mrs. Gerald Kuiper was at the organ. Young Bruce
      a "practice preaching" sermon to other visitors.              Lubbers rendered a saxophone solo featuring some
                               * * *                                very intricate fingering of the keys of his instrument,
         From Mrs. John Hoekstra, member of Hull's                  with his mother accompanying him on the piano. Arnold
      Ladies' Society, we received this report of the meeting       Dykstra sang two solos, again with the result that his
      of the Western Ladies' League held in Hull April 15.          listener's thoughts reached out to the "timeless" time
      Rev. G. Lanting, of Edgerton, Minn. was the scheduled         when we' shall all sing with perfection the praises of
      speaker and his topic was, "Guiding Our Youth," an-           our God. Jim Lanting led in the opening prayer and
      swering the questions, "In What`?, By Whom? and, How?         Rev. Kortering closed the hymnsing with thanksgiving.
      The speaker emphasized the, calling of covenant par-          The theme of the evening was the death and resurrec-
      ents to be that of leading, guiding, disciplining, and in-    tion of Christ as predicted in the Psalms and rejoiced
      structing their youth in the upright way. This duty he        over in many hymns.
      found placed upon them when they made their baptis-                                        *  * *
      mal vows. He said that the youth must be led to the                   0.. See you in church.                       J.M.F.


