                                       IIe

                              tandlard

                                 i!           earer


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:
          The Thanksgiving Acceptable To The Lord

       Editorial:
          The Erring Views of Dr. H.M. Kuitert (7)

        The Right of -Dissent (see The Strength of Youth)

        A Progress Report




                                                   Volume XL V/Number 4/Nov. 15, 1968


74                                                            THE STANDARD BEARER


                               ,CONTENTS                                                                     THE STANDARD  BEARER
                                                                                        Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July and August.
Meditation  -                                                                            Published by the Reformed Free Publishing Association, Inc.
      The Thanksgiving Acceptable To The Lord . . . . . -74                      Editor-in-Chief:   Prof.  H.  C.  Hoeksema

Editorial -                                                                      Department  Editors:   Mr. John M. Faber, Rev. Cornelius Hanko, Prof.
                                                                                    Herman Hanko, Rev. Robert C. Harbach, Rev. John A. Heys, Rev. Jay
                                                                                    Kortering, Rev. George C. Lubbers, Rev. Marinus  Schipper,  Rev. Gise J.
      The Erring Views of Dr. H.M. Kuitert (7) . . . . . . . .77
                                                                                    Van  Baren, Rev. Herman Veldman, Rev. Bernard Woudenberg

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Meditation


                            The Thanksgiving Acceptable To The Lord
                                                                Rev. Mavinus  Schippev

                                              Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to
                                          another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a
                                          book of remembrance was written before him for them
                                          that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name. "
                                                                                                     Malachi 3: 16.

      Very important is the little word "then" which                              by what precedes. It indicates a contrast  - a contrast
introduces this verse of Holy Writ!                                               between the righteous and the wicked in Israel. It marks
      It shows that what is said in our verse is occasioned                       the difference in reaction between the pious and the


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                     7 5


ungodly to the same condition prevailing in the land .of        It signifies that He is the unchangeable One. And
Canaan. While the ungodly mocked and derided God,             therefore the faithful One. "I Jehovah change not,
then the pious feared and remembered His Name. This           therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed." He is the
little adverb also points up the time in which that which     Ah-Wise God, Who knows the end from the beginning.
the text and context describes took place. It was a time        Jehovah, the Almighty God!
of great need. Israel was suffering under the mighty            To Whom belongs all strength and power in heaven
hand of God and His judgments. It was then that the           and earth. Who holds the valleys in His hands and metes
pious spoke one to another and thought upon God's             out the heavens with a span. Who holds the stars, the
Name.                                                         sun and the moon in their courses, and lays the seas in
  As we gather in our respective places. of worship on        basins that they cannot exceed their bounds. Who gives
the approaching Thanksgiving Day, it will hardly do to        life to all His creatures; and when He withholds His
compare the situation of our time with that of the            hand they die.
people of God in that day. Ours can hardly be said to be        The Righteous and the Holy God! Just and good is
a time marked by devastating famine and dire want. In         He!
the year which has so swiftly gone by the heavens               The central revelation of Whom is Jesus, the Son of
opened to give abundant showers and sunshine to the           God, our Saviour! Through Whom we came to know
planted seed. The harvest has been plentiful. The wheels      Jehovah as our God, and God as Jehovah. Through
of industry have increased their revolutions. Instead of      Whom also God was pleased to reveal, and realizes His
want, most of us have been and will continue to bathe         everlasting covenant. In history He did this on the cross
even in luxury. How different it was in the land of Israel    and in the resurrection of Christ from the dead.
at the time of our text. The heavens were shut. What did      Subjectively He does this through the Spirit of His Son,
not die- on the ear, the grasshopper and the caterpillar      our Lord Jesus Christ, in our heart; the Spirit whereby
devoured. The barns were empty, and man and beast             we cry: Abba, Father.
groaned under the.mighty hand of God. What was once             Remembering that Name!
a land flowing with milk and honey had become an arid           That is, meditating upon it, making much account of
wilderness.                                                   it, to esteem and prize it. That the pious thought upon
  Yet, though the darkness in the land of Israel was of a     Jehovah's Name was no mere abstraction. That is, they
different nature, there is a similarity between the time      did not simply see Jehovah as the cause of the darkness
then and now. 0, it is true, we do not suffer famine and      and of their trouble. Nor did they simply conclude that
want, but the darkness of God's judgments hangs heavy         He was able and powerful enough to change the
over the world of our day as it did then. The horrors of      conditions in which they found themselves if He saw fit.
war and the horrors of famine are alike horsemen of the       It is possible, you know, to think of God that way.
apocalypse bringing death and destruction on earth.           Perhaps we too are often guilty of this. When there is
Riots and disobedience, anarchy and revolution, murder        war and all kinds of trouble we are liable to exclaim:
and stealing and the accompanying devastations so             This, is a judgment of God. Or, we consider objectively
prevalent in our time are not merely the indicators of        that Jehovah sits on. His throne in the heavens ruling
the depravity so characteristic of the world of our day,      over and controlling all things after the counsel of His
but they are the judgments of God, which precede the          will. While all our thoughts of Him are nothing more
final pouring out of His wrath upon the wicked.               than an intellectual, mental observation concerning
  And is not the reaction to these judgments the same         Him. But not so did the pious think upon His Name.
as in the day of Malachi? Do not the wicked proceed in          No, this thinking was and still must be something
their wickedness unabated? Do not the carnal                  much more concrete. That Name of Jehovah is the object
murmurers in the church still say that the proud are          of our love and esteem. We bow before it and worship.
happy and that it does not pay to serve  the-,Lord? And       We acknowledge that in the revelation of that Name
is there not yet the remnant of pious  -~`ones who,.          Jehovah is -good to us, even when we are required to
beholding the same things, speak to one another,              pass under suffering and want.
walking in the fear of God, and who remember His                This is to be done in every circumstance  - in
Name with thanksgiving?                                       prosperity, but also in adversity. In times of prosperity
  Remembering with thanksgiving!                              it is true, we are liable to feel independent and
  Jehovah's Name!                                             self-sufficient, and thus forget that Name. While on the
  That name of God wherewith He so uniquely appears           other hand, in prosperous days it would seem that it
to His people!                                                would not be difficult to rejoice and be thankful. But in
  Jehovah, the I AM THAT I AM! It signifies that He is        times of adversity it is often different. Then it is that we
the eternal One, without beginning and without end. He        feel the need of calling on His Name and remembering
is the self-sufficient One, the independent God. He is        it, while at the same time it seems easier to rebel and
the uncaused Cause. He did not become, but He always          murmur - finding fault with our plight and concluding
was.                                                          that the way of the Lord is not right.


76                                                      THE STANDARD BEARER


      But true thanksgiving is the acknowledgment of                     appear .to be against them. Who can be "thankful" only
Jehovah's Name in all things! It never depends on                        when they revel in the abundance of material wealth.
material abundance. It rather depends on the fear of                     Who seek earthly things only to satisfy their lust.
God. And it seeks to acknowledge that the Name of                           How blessed are they who seek the company of those
Jehovah is good in all our ways.                                         who fear the Lord! How lovely it is to abide with them
      They that thought upon Jehovah's Name feared the                   who think upon Jehovah's Name!
Lord! Not a fear of fright is the fear of the pious. Such                   And the Lord also counts the& blessed!
is rather the fear of the ungodly. When God's judgments                     Their blessedness consists, first of all, in the fact that
are upon them they cower, and will even call to the                      Jehovah also dwells with them. How else could He hear
rocks and mountains to fall on them, that they may be                    their conversation? In their company He pricks up His
annihilated before the face of Him with Whom they                        ears to listen in when they speak to one another. He
have to do. Not so do the godly conduct themselves                       takes note of what they say, and considers their
before the face of God. They tremble, but it is because                  thoughts, the thoughts of their hearts as they flow out
they  stand in awe of Him. They fear, but it is because                  in words - words which have respect to His holy Name,
they love Him.                                                           and which clearly show that His fear is in their hearts.
      That the pious feared the Lord implies that in the day                Indeed, Jehovah dwells with those who fear Him. Far
of trouble they trembled in holy reverence. They                         is He from the godless. He despises their very image. He
walked carefully. They admitted that because Jehovah                     holds thkm in contempt. His  o;ly thought concerning
their God is holy and just in all His ways they deserved                 them is that they may be destroyed forever. But the
to perish as the ungodly because of their sin and                        thoughts and words of the pious are His delight. He
unworthiness. It means that, acknowledging their un-                     dwells so close to them that not one thought or word
worthiness of being called His people, they imp!ored His                 concerning Him will be missed or forgotten. He makes a
grace. It implies that in prosperous times they with                     recording of it.
mee&ness rejoice in thankful acknowledgment of
Jehovah's Name. They did not  lo& for reason of                             A book of remembrance was written before Him!
prosperity in themselves, but saw it all in the light of                    0, how blessed are those who fear l!Iim!
Jehovah's mercy toward them, and in His covenant                            He records their confessions of unworthiness. He
promise to bless them.                                                   takes note of their prayers of repentance. He remembers
      This being the manner in which they sought to                      their expressions of gratitude for all His loving kind-
reinember Jehovah's Name, it can also be easily under-                   nesses over them as they come together to remind one
stood how they sought one another and spake often to                     another of the saving strength of His right arm.
one another.                                                                Make no mistake about it! This is  not simply a
      The pious sought the company of the pious, and in                  figurative description to impress us`with the fact that
their company spoke often to one another as they                         somehow Jehovah takes notice of His people.
thought upon Jehovah's Name. Not just on a certain                          Indeed, He has such a book of remembrance! Not,
day, a Thanksgiving or a Prayer Day, perhaps suggested                   you understand, because He is liable to forget them, or
by the carnal who seek Jehovah's face only for bread, or                 that somehow because their thoughts and words are
who when they are afraid will require a special pray&                    many some of them may get lost. But because He wants
meeting to ask Jehovah to stop the war or cause the                      all to see and hear, the wicked, the devils, the angels,
famine to cease  - not so and for that reason did the                    and all the host of the righteous redeemed, He has a
pious come often together. Nor did the pious gather                      book. Presently He will open this book and read from it.
with the wicked. Rather, because the pious saw the                       Then it shall become plain to all that the Lord loves the
blackness of God's judgments and they feared before                      righteous in whom His fear dwelt, and who out of that
Him, and because  they saw the carnality of the wicked                   fear served Him  - who, even in the days when they
in Israel, they sought the company of the God-fearing                    suffered want under His providential hand, were able to
and spake often one to another.                                          thank and exalt His Name.
      Blessed company of the saints!                                        Then shall He reveal to all that the thanksgiving of
      How different it is to dwell with those who seek the               those who feared Him was acceptable in His holy sight.
Lord only for bread! Who murmur when all things                             And they shall abide with Him eternally!


             And this fellowship of friendship, in which we shall serve God as His friends, will be raised to the highest possible
             degree of perfection in the sphere and on the plane of heavenly glory. It will not be a return to the original state
             of rectitude and bliss in the first paradise, but will be exalted above that state as Christ exalted above the first
             Adam. And it will be everlasting. No tempter shall ever be able to intrude into that house of God, and to destroy
             that state of perfect blessedness, nor shall there be any possibility of falling into sin and death again, for that
             perfect glory is centered in the Son of God in our nature, our Lord Jesus Christ. Such is eternal life!
                                                                                - H. Hoeksema, Y%e Wonder of Grace,"p. 126


                                                      THE STANDARD BEQRER                                                 77


Editorial

                       The Erring Views of Dr. H.M. Kuitert [7)
                                                      Pro5 H. C. Hoeksema


Evaluation of Kuitert's View of Scviptuve  (continued)           out from among all the multitudinous writings of men
  In the November 1 issue I began a discussion of the            this one book, the Bible, and to confess of it, without
crucial issue of organic inspiration as it relates to all the    any reservation or limitation: "This is the Word of God
current discussion of the so-called "human element" or           written!"
"human factor" in Holy Scripture. At the conclusion of             The latter is precisely and emphatically the confes-
my last editorial on this subject I set forth the several        sion of  faith!  That faith does not require a prior
elements of organic inspiration, and I promised to               investigation. It does not insist on comprehending. It
elaborate on these and to point out their significance.          does not first demand an explanation with respect to all
To this task the present editorial is addressed.                 the many questions which may arise in connection with
   In the first place, then, in studying the manner of the       the "how" of inspiration. Faith lays hold on the
inspiration of Scripture we must be deeply aware of the          wonder! It believes! And it investigates and probes into
fact that when we speak of inspiration and of the                the riches of what it believes always within the confines
inspired Scriptures, we stand face to face with a wonder.        of its own nature as faith and always within the limits
And no more than we can fathom any of the divine                 which are set by the very fact that what it believes is the
wonders, no more can we comprehend this wonder of                divine wonder.
inspiration. For the fact of the matter is that when we            This, I say, we must bear in mind when we consider
stand face to face with the wonder, we are confronted            the various questions which arise in connection with the
by the incomprehensible God! He is the God of the                inspiration of Scripture. This does not mean whatsoever
wonder! You can know Him, but always your knowl-                 that questions may not be asked, and that answers may
edge is knowledge of the.' Incomprehensible One,                 not be sought. Nor does it mean that our faith becomes
knowledge of the God Who doeth wonders. When you                 a kind of "easy out," a kind of skirt behind which we
and I are confronted by His works, - also His work of            hide when we are faced by knotty theological problems,
the inscripturated Word,  - we may see those works,              so that we irrationally seek refuge in a simplistic motto
contemplate them, understand what they are, under-               and refuse to seek and to formulate answers to any
stand their meaning and even probe deeply into them              questions. But it does mean:
and discover their riches; but always they remain                  1. That we must be careful lest we begin to base our
beyond us, fathomless, uniquely works of God, incom-             belief of the truth that Scripture is the  Word-of-God-
parable, not works of a mere creature. Always there is           written upon our would-be solutions to OUY problems.
that certain "Thus far, and no farther" about God and            Then we already have the cart before the horse. Then
His works, the boundary beyond which we cannot and               we are already on the road of  rationalism  (not, mind
may not attempt to go. Always the words of the Dutch             you, of rationality; faith is quite rational). And that
versification of Psalm 118 apply to any of the wonders           road of rationalism is the road of unbelief, the road
of God:                                                          which ends inevitably in the denial of the infallibly
           Dit werk is door Gods alvermogen,                     inspired Word of God. For if my faith in this regard
           Door `s Heeren hand alleen geschied;                  depends upon my ability to find a satisfactory answer to
           Het is een wonder in onz' oogen;                      every question and every problem which may be raised
           Wij zien het, maar doorgronden `t niet.               in regard to this truth, and if then I cannot find a
  And a wonder Scripture certainly is. Not only is               solution which in every way satisfies my puny mind,
revelation itself already a wonder. But add to this the          then my faith as to Scripture's being exclusively the
fact that God causes His Word of Self-revelation to be           Word of God falls with my inability to find answers.
communicated through the agency of mere, finite,                   2. That we must be careful in our consideration of
imperfect (though holy) men, and through the medium              the various questions raised in connection with inspira-
of finite, limited, human, earthly language, in such a           tion that by our answers to these questions we do not
way that it is and remains His Word, and then you can            destroy  the problem, and thereby, at the same time,
begin to sense the mystery of this wonder somewhat.              deny the wonder of Scripture's being exclusively the
But the wonder is faith's dearest child! And it requires         Word of God. It is always a rather facile method to solve
exactly a boldness which is peculiar to faith to single          problems by destroying them. This is precisely what is


78                                              THE STANDARD  BEAREd


done when, in seeking answers to these questions about         others were writing and were going to write. In all the
inspiration, we conclude by saying after all that the          production of Scripture there was as little outward and
Bible is the Word of God plus the word of man, or that         mechanical unity as is imaginable. And yet there is the
the Bible is the product of two factors, a divine and a        most beautiful inner harmony and unity and complete-
human. In that case, you have no problem to solve              ness conceivable.
because you have destroyed the problem. But then,                But there is more to this wonder.
paradoxically, you have a worse problem, namely, that            That which belongs to the individuality of these
you have no Word of God any longer. For you have               writers comes to manifestation in Scripture. The sacred
exactly denied the wonder!                                     writers wrote in their own language, Hebrew or Greek,
      3. That all our attempts to explain and to understand    not Holland or French or English. They wrote from the
somewhat the meaning and the manner of inspiration             point of view of their peculiar times and circumstances,
must take place within the framework of the Scriptures         not only in general and as far as the difference between
themselves, must be guided and ruled by the instruction        the old and the new dispensationsis concerned, but also
of the infallible Word itself. And this will mean that         in detail. This is true not only of historical books, but
when we have finished our consideration of problems            even of prophetical writings. The prophecy of Isaiah, for
and questions, we will discover that the more we come          example, could only have been written in the particular
into contact with and probe into the riches of this truth,     setting of time and place and minute circumstances and
the more our faith comes to stand directly before the          historical events in which it was written. This is not
wonder of a sovereign God. The end will be that we             mere speculation; it is Scripture's own testimony, Isaiah
profess, on the one hand, in the language of Psalm 118:        1: 1: "The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he
"We see it, but we fathom it not!" And, on the other           saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of
hand, the end will be that we exclaim: "Thou, 0 God,           Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah."
art the God of the wonder! How great was Thy `special          Isaiah, moreover, could have been written only by an
care' which Thou hadst for us and our salvation when           Isaiah. The same is very obviously evident in many of
Thou didst command Thy servants to commit Thy                  the psalms: their background and setting very obviously
revealed Word to writing!" (Confession of Faith, Article       played a part in their contents. Further, variety is
3)                                                             evident in the styles of the different writers. Paul does
      In the second place, the concept of organic inspira-     not write as does John; and Luke does not write as does
tion takes into full account the fact that the Holy Spirit     Matthew.
employed human instruments in the production of the              It is very evident, therefore, that men spake, men
Scriptures, and that these human instruments were not          wrote, men taught, men sang, men prophesied, men
suppressed.  The latter is a self-evident fact, which no       recorded facts and events, and that too, with all their
one can deny and which no one wants to deny. In fact,          individual peculiarities of character and talents, of time
it is one of the beauties of Scripture and its inspiration     and place, of history and circumstances. This is included
which shines forth from every page of Scripture. Of this       in the wonder of infallible inspiration, and yet so, mind
the child of God does not have to be afraid in his             you, that nevertheless, "this Word of God was not sent:
contemplation of the truth of inspiration. This simply         nor delivered by the will of man, but holy men of God
adds to the wonder and the beauty of the Scriptures.           spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."
      Consider this for a moment.                                One would have to be a blind fool to ignore this facet
      The Holy Spirit employed many different human            of Scripture. And Dr. Kuitert's snide caricature was
instruments in His wonderful work of inspiration. Some         entirely beside the point when he said in the course of
of these men we learn to know rather well from the             his lecture, "Inspiration does not mean that something
pages of Scripture; others we know personally very             drops out of the blue." I do not believe that anyone
little. Some of them we cannot even identify, so far           wants that kind of inspiration, or has taught it, or that
they recede into the background in the writing of              any exegete of note proceeds on the basis that this is the
Scripture. To others we cannot even assign a definite          way Scripture came into being.
date in history. Moreover, the Scriptures were written           But for all this, we are not by any means left with the
over a period of some 1500 years; they were produced           alternative that then Scripture- must be a product of
in lands separated by hundreds and thousands of miles.         combined factors, divine and human, and that it. is a
Among the human instruments there were well-educated           mixture of divine and human elements. This position
men, like Moses and Paul; there were also among them           exactly destroys the wonder of Scripture.
simple Galilean fishermen and farmers and peasants.              The wonder is not that God employed men, after all,
They were inspired to speak and to write when they             without really employing them.
were guiding flocks, when they were in prisons, in               The wonder is not that God employed men so that
palaces, in courts of great world-rulers. The Scriptures       the outcome was a mixture.
were written by men who apparently had no knowledge              The wonder is that God caused His own Word, the
of one another and who had no knowledge of what                exclusively divine and true and infallible Word, to be


                                                  TH,E STANDARD BEARER                                                 79


committed to writing  through  men; yet in such a-way           His Word; to. men. By the same Spirit He continued to
that it remained exclusively His Word.                          realize His own counsel, inspiring, moving, bearing,
  In the third plaee, the only way in which we can              illumining, guiding these human instruments to write
understand.this at all is in the light of the old, tried and    infallibly what would be exclusively His Word.
true, Reformed, Scriptural principle of sovereign pre-            Hence, it is all of God, none of man!
destination and sovereign grace. When one loses sight of          And who is to say that this is impossible, that God
this principle or wilfully discards it, he is at loose ends     cannot do this, that these human instruments in relation
as far as every aspect of the truth is concerned. This is       to the Sovereign Potter were not so much clay which He
true also of the truth of inspiration.                          molded according to His own good pleasure? Who is to
  Must we conceive of inspiration as meaning that the           say that as the alone Sovereign One He is not able by
Holy Spirit somehow simply  discovered  men, ready-             His Holy Spirit so to use and to move holy men to speak
made men, who could properly serve as the instruments           and to write His own Word, and yet to do so in such a
of inspiration? Not at all. Then, surely, the Spirit was        way that they speak and write quite in harmony with
limited by men and their fitness. Then, surely, the             their own, God-given, individual natures and characters
product of inspiration would have been partly divine            and times and circumstances? Is He not God?
and partly human.                                                 We may, in this connection, draw a parallel between
  Must we conceive of inspiration as meaning that the           the work of salvation and the work of inspiration.
Holy Spirit merely  used  men? Not at all! For, in the            We confess that God's grace is irresistible, or effica-
first place, when you apply the predicate  used  to the         cious, and that all of the work of salvation is from
Holy Spirit, that can never be understood in the same           beginning to end the work of sovereign, irresistible
sense as when you apply the predicate used to any man.          grace. What does this mean? When the Almighty
There is a vast difference, the difference between              regenerates, calls justifies, sanctifies, preserves, and
Creator and creature! And, in the second place, when            glorifies one of His elect, can it ever happen that such a
the Holy Spirit "uses" anyone, the Spirit is in no sense        man is not regenerated, called, justified, sanctified,
limited by him whom He uses.                                    preserved, and glorified? That would be absolutely
  We must understand, instead, that Scripture is alto-          impossible! But does that work of grace ignore and
gether a divine work.                                           suppress the fact that the elect saint is a man, arational
  This means, in the first place, that we begin with            and moral creature? Does it make of him a stock and
God's counsel,  and that too, in connection with His            block, a puppet, an automaton? Not at all! What then?
sovereign purpose of salvation with respect to His              Must we say that salvation is a cooperative venture of
people in Christ Jesus. That "special care which He has         God and man? Not at all; it is solely the work of God's
for us and our salvation," mentioned in Article 3 of the        sovereign grace, not at all the work of man. When all the
Be&c Confession, proceeds, remember from His eternal            saints have been redeemed and glorified, then in the
good pleasure. And all that is involved in that special         grand song of the redeemed which shall echo through
care likewise proceeds from that same eternal good              the ages of eternity there will be not a single note
pleasure. This applies to Scripture itself: God sover-          ascribing anything of the work of salvation to man. That
eignly and from eternity conceived of the whole of              song will sing the praises of God alone. Why? Because
Scripture. It also applies to the  writing  of the Scrip-       the work of salvation was the work of the sovereign God
tures: God sovereignly and from eternity conceived of           alone. 0 yes, God saves men; and when He does so, He
and determined upon the special organs of Christ's              deals with them in harmony with their nature as men.
body, organs of inspiration; and He ordained all the            He does not treat them as trees or animals or stones, but
details of their personality, character, talents, education,    as  men.  He never intervenes essentially between their
mode of thinking, style of writing, personal experiences,       nature and their actions. But in the work of sovereign
place in history, etc., in such a way that each one would       grace He with absolute sovereignty operates upon and in
be fit to serve his individual place in the writing of          the heart and mind and will of elect men and accom-
Scripture, and that too, in such a way that when he             plishes His purpose and His work in such a way that it is
wrote, what he wrote would be God's Word infallible.            exclusively  His  work and in such a way that all the
  Secondly, God realizes His own counsel. What He               credit, all the praise, must be exclusively His.
purposes He also executes. Hence, the Holy Spirit does            Thus it is, principally, with Scripture also, as I have
not  find  writers of Scripture; He calls and forms these       outlined in the preceding.
divinely ordained organs of inspiration in time. An               Is this mysterious? Indeed! Is it ineffable? By all
Isaiah was born and grew up and was formed, both                means! And exactly at the point where the Spirit of
naturally and spiritually, down to the very minutest            God touches the heart and mind and will of holy men in
detail, in order that he might fulfill his peculiar task in     such a way that they infallibly write God's Word, and
the production of the prophecy of Isaiah. The same was          yet write it as men, we come face to face'with this
true of all the human instruments.                              ineffable mystery. How does that operation take place?
  Thirdly, even then God did not leave the writing of           What exactly takes place? Can you describe that work as


80                                             THE STANDARD BEARER


such and explain its possibility? No, I cannot; and there      principle in the entire structure of the truth.
is no need of this. All I need do is believe, and then           And I believe that in the final analysis the reason for
stand in awe before the wondrous works of God.                 all the problems and all the lack of solutions with  re-
      But once more it becomes plain how important is the      spect to Scripture with which the church is plagued
principle of sovereign predestination,  - not as a dry,        today lies in the fact that the church has largely  for-
staid, isolated truth, but as a fundamental  working-          saken this principle of sovereign predestination.


All Around Us


                   A Comfort in Times Like These

                          The Supreme Court and Church Cases
                                 The Gereformeerde Kerk Goes Its Own Way

                                                    PvoJ: H. Hanko

A COMFORT IN TIMES LIKE THESE                                  which beset us.
      I write these words on the eve of the national              It seems almost certain therefore that no matter who
election. I do not know who will be the next president.        is elected, the country is in for some very bad times
By the time you read this piece a president will               indeed. It seems almost inevitable that things will get
probably be chosen  - although there remains the               worse instead of better, regardless of who is leading the
possibility that no present nominee will command an            nation.
electoral majority, that the election will be given to the        What are these problems? They are well-known to all.
House of Representatives, and that the next president          It is only their magnitude which is not, perhaps,
will not be known till next January.                           generally known.
      Why anyone would actively seek the office of                There is the nagging and festering sore of the Vietnam
president in these troubled times remains, to me,              conflict. At this writing there seems to be hope that
something difficult to understand. The desire for power,       peace will finally come and that we are on the
for possible fame (which seemingly are the only motives        threshhold of a cease-fire. Perhaps by the time these
driving one to pursue this office) must be strong indeed.      words appear in print the war will be over. But there
Every columnist in the newspapers or in the news               remains the general and unsolved problem of war in our
magazines, as well as every commentator on the radio,          times. Other hot spots in the world do not snatch the
insists that it will be exceedingly difficult, if not          headlines while peace in Vietnam is in the air. But the
impossible, for any man to solve the problems which            threat of conflict between Russia and the U.S. remains.
this country faces in one term of four years. The              And other wars take their daily toll. It seems as if our
opinion is all but unanimous that the next president           boys will be serving in the armed forces for a consider-
runs a greater risk of going down, four years from now,        able time to come regardless of what happens in far-off
in ignominy and defeat than any other president before         Asia. The world has not solved (and cannot solve) the
him.                                                           tension of the nations.
      The complexity of the problems the nation is facing         There is the bitter problem of racial unrest. This is a
is great indeed. While every nominee, as a matter of           big issue in the present campaign. It is almost the entire
political necessity, assures the crowds he harangues that      justification for the presence of a third party candidate.
he has the solutions to the grave difficulties we face,        Those who realize the immensity of the problem know
each is notoriously vague on what these solutions are.         hardly where to turn for a solution. No solution seems
While every nominee fills the air with cries that he is the    adequate. Even half solutions seem hopelessly unattain-
one needed to avert the overwhelming crisis into which         able. There is a certain despair which hangs as a pall over
we have entered, he is hopelessly general about the            the country, a despair created by the fury of black vs.
means to be  employed~ to stave off this crisis. Quite         white.
obviously, and not surprisingly, the nominees them-               Law and order. Perhaps this more than anything else
selves simply do not know how to handle the problems           has attracted the attention of people as they weigh. the


                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER                                                   81
                                                                   .-


respective positions of the candidates for the presi-           solutions (if indeed there are any at all) to these
dency. This year's figures on crime, released by J. Edgar       problems, no wonder the nation looks in despair to the
Hoover, are frightening. Murder was up 11% in 1967              future.
over 1966. Rape climbed 7% above the last figure.                 But one who knows and loves the Word of God need
Robbery an unbelievable 27%. There were 3.8 million             not be alarmed or dismayed. Basically it makes no
serious crimes last year, including 494,500 crimes of           difference who wins the next election. The supreme
violence and 3.3 million property offenses. All this            comfort of the child of God is a peace and serenity of
means that two out of every one hundred Americans               heart which comes from knowing that Christ rules
will fall victim to a serious crime from robbery to             sovereignly over all. Nothing can happen without His
murder some time this year. In the three worst cities           will. Nothing can take place except He, in the name of
(Los Angeles, New York and Miami), the figure is one            the Father, order it. And all which Christ, with
out of twenty-five. To set these figures off in yet             sovereign disposition, does must and will serve the final
sharper contrast, murder is up 22% per 100,000                  realization of the kingdom which presently we shall
population over 1960. Rape is up 7 1%. Robbery is up            inherit. There is no comfort greater than this.
70%. These are cold statistics. But they convey the
frightening fact that crime rages through the streets of        THE SUPREME COURT AND CHURCH CASES
the country like a roaring lion.                                  The Supreme Court in its new session will have many
  But the Supreme Court must bear a large part of the           cases to decide upon which are, in one way or another,
responsibility for this. For the Supreme Court is intent        involved with the affairs of the Church.
on protecting the rights of criminals to absurd extremes          One item which will be closely watched especially by
and ruling as if those against whom crime is committed          ecumenical leaders is a case involving two Georgia
have no rights at all. On the flimsiest of grounds the          congregations which were at one time affiliated with the
highest court has turned loose on society a flood of            Presbyterian Church US (Southern). These congrega-
confessed murders, thieves, rapists, and hardened con-          tions left the parent denomination and claimed the right
victs to prey on the populace.                                  to their church property. The case was first treated in a
  The use of narcotics is spreading so rapidly that it          county court which ruled that the congregations could
seems to be almost out of control. Criminals are the            retain their property. This decision. was unanimously
peddlers and dealers in heroin and marijuana. But the           upheld by the Georgia Supreme Court. The reason for
Supreme Court considers the rights of these evil men to         awarding the property to the. dissident congregations
be more sacred than the rights of the.victims.                  was that the parent denomination had departed substan-
  The life of a policeman today is one of constant              tially from the doctrinal and church political basis upon
danger. One of every eleven police officers is assaulted        which it was founded. The importance of this case is to
every year. In five years' time 278 policemen have been         be found in the fact that, if the Supreme Court should
killed violently. But the Supreme Court has tied the            uphold the lower court rulings, any congregation which
hands of law enforcement agencies and created a climate         can prove that a denomination has departed from the
in which the respect of the populace for law officers is        historic basis of the church can leave without being
almost nil.                                                     penalized by the loss of property. This would be a blow
  Respect for the law. This is what is gone from the            to ecumenists because it would encourage other congre-
land. Students take over universities and dictate their         gations who are inclined to go along with unsuitable and
demands. Teachers walk out of classrooms on strike.             controversial mergers for fear of losing property to leave
Youth, garbed in filth and totally irresponsible, do as         and to establish independent churches.
they please with no one to challenge their chaotic                "Friend of the court" briefs have been filed in this
expression of "the right to dissent."                           case siding with the denomination which is appealing
  Pornography is an increasing evil. A flood of the vilest      the decision. The United Presbyterian Church USA, the
and most obscene material imaginable inundates the              Reformed Church of America, the Cumberland Pres-
country. Pornography is a multi-billion dollar business.        byterian Church and the Episcopal Church have all filed
And much of it is aimed at and sent into the hands of           such briefs. A lay organization known as Concerned
the youth of the nation. But the Supreme Court                  Presbyterians, has also filed a brief defending the rights
condones much of it in pictures, magazines, and films           of lay members in Southern Presbyterian congregations.
because, so they say, in this sky-high mass of revolting          According to the  Presbyterian Journal two  cases
and repulsive filth it is possible, perhaps, to find a grain    involving teaching in the schools are also coming to the
of material of some social value. Sodom and Gomorrah            Court. One involves a teacher in Arkansas who is
will presently look like rather good cities in comparison       challenging a state law which makes it unlawful to teach
with America if these trends continue.                          the theory of evolution in any tax-supported school.
  These are some of the problems alarming the nation.           She claims that this law limits her freedom of speech
This is the situation in this land of ours on the eve of        and religion. From the opposite side comes an appeal
another election. When all agree that there are no, easy        from two congregations of the Bible Presbyterian


82                                                      THE STANDARD BEARER


Church in the Northwest part of the country which-are                     instead of informing the congregations to proceed.
asking the court to rule out courses of study in the                          The Reformed Ecumenical Synod, contrary to the
University of Washington in which secular and sectarian                   recommendations of its study committee, declared
instruction in a Bible course is given. Their complaint is                that it is the clear and obvious teaching of Scripture
that the Bible course under attack is taught from a                       that women are excluded from the teaching and ruling
liberal and modern viewpoint  and- ought  not to be                       offices of the church.
                                                                              The committee of the Reformed Churches has now
taught in this fashion in a tax-supported University.                     reported to the local congregations that the RES gave
      Another case involves an appeal of a minister con-                  no grounds for its declaration, that in the discussion
victed under anti-littering laws in Chicago for distribut-                no grounds were considered and that there was no
ing parts of Scripture in a park.                                         occasion to change the advice which the General
      If nothing else, these cases give ample evidence of                 Synod had given.    '
how difficult has become the problem of the relation of                 What this means as far as the structure of the RES is
and separation between church and state.                              concerned we do not know. It is, I think, possible for a
                                                                      denomination, though a member of the RES, to go its
THE GEREFORMEERDE KERK GOES ITS OWN                                   own way if it disagrees with the decisions of the RES.
WAY                                                                   But the fact remains that the decision of several
      The last meeting of the Reformed Ecumenical Synod               congregations in the  Gereformeerde  Kirken   to proceed
decided that it was clear and obvious from Scripture                  at the word of a  Synodical appointed committee in spite
that women are excluded from the teaching and ruling                  of what the RES has said leaves the impression that the
offices in the Church.                                                committee at least had already really decided to do this
      The  Gereformeerde Kerken  are in disagreement with             before the question was discussed and decided upon by
this position and have decided to permit women                       the RES. Especially  the grounds offered by the corn-'
officebearers in spite of this decision. We quote from               mittee seem to indicate this. However that may be, this
the RES Newsletter:                                                  is certainly not proper procedure. At the very least the
        According to an Informatieclienst bulletin, a large          committee and the congregations should have given
        number of congregations of the Reformed Churches in          close attention to the decision before acting  - some-
        the Netherlands are now installing women into the            thing there was no time to do. And it would have been
        office of deacon and elder. The present action stems         far more in keeping with the nature of the RES to bring
        from a decision of the, General Synod earlier this year       Scriptural and Confessional objections to the decision of
        to permit women elders and deacons but to wait with
        implementing the decision until after. the meeting of        the RES at the next meeting before going contrary to
        the Reformed Ecumenical Synod. The Synod in-                 these decisions. The Synod of the  Gereformeerde
        structed a committee to consider whether additional          Kerken  at least must have had something like this in
        reasons would arise in the deliberations of the RES          mind.
        why in principle women should not serve in these                The action that has been taken reduces the RES to an
        offices and then to report to the next General Synod         open debating society.


In His Fear

                                        CO.NSISTENT BENDING
                                                            Rev. John A. Heys

      As the twig is bent the tree will grow.                         seems unnecessary that we call attention to it. Yet here
      Our children come into this world bent away from                again, consistent and persistent sounding of that which
the upright position wherein God created man in the                   is in His fear is so essential for writing a department of
beginning.                                                            In His Fear.
      Carefully and continually therefore must we train                 To train up a child in the way that he  should go
them to look up and to face upward in their thinking                  certainly requires of us first of all knowledge of that
and willing to serve the God in heaven as His royal                   way in which he should go, and that we know it better
priesthood.                                                           than he does. The teacher must go ahead of his pupils
      And consistency is the jewel of such covenant twig              and not walk beside them, learning with them and
bending. Consistency is requisite for any kind of                     faltering with them. To teach you have to know your
training. Consistency is so vitally necessary in the                  subject thoroughly. For the child will not learn it
training of the covenant seed. It is so vital that it  almost         beyond the point that his teacher knows it. Whereas


                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER                                                   83



parents are not all born teachers and have neither the           back to its normal position..
time nor ability to teach all the subjects, the parents            This is a serious matter and. a danger that covenant
place their children in the hands of the school teacher.         parents ought to avoid as much as they can. James says
They expect that this teacher knows his subject. They            that a doubleminded man is unstable in all his ways. A
hire him because he claims to have the qualifications;           child torn between two teachings becomes a  double-
and the board has put him on the payroll according to            minded man and is unstable in all his ways instead of
specific requirements of training and learning.                  being a twig bent in the way it ought to grow.
  But what about knowing that subject spiritually?               Inconsistent training will make an inconsistent child.
  When we are dealing with covenant children we may              And the end result of that wavering is that the twig is
not avoid that question. Teaching the mere fact may not          going to assume its original position. Water follows the
be Evolution, but it surely is Atheism. Evolution is but a       line of least resistance. The soul of the child, when
phase of Atheism. And we live in one big atheistic               restraints are removed and the tie used in bending the
world. "God is not in all their thoughts" may be said of         twig is let go by worldly teachers - even when they do
some. But of others we certainly have to say that God is         not openly deny God and man's calling before Him -
in none of their thoughts. Look about you in the                 will droop down with the prevailing winds to be bent
schools and universities of the day. All things are              away from God and His covenant.
explained without God as well as in a denial of God.               Of course patience must be used in training the child.
Evolution is that Atheism that denies the work of God            But using patience is not the same as letting the
in the work of creation; but there are so many fields and        restraining pressure off for a time. It is not letting that
departments of life in which He is also ruled out by             twig snap back to its normal position for a moment to
silence.                                                         give it a breather, a recess, a time to express its own
  In history the God, Whose counsel determines all               wishes and to say in what way it wants to go. Patience
things and plans them in inscrutable wisdom, is not even         in Scripture is endurance. Literally the word means "to
mentioned. The wisdom of the living God is not                   remain under," and the idea is that when the billows
broached in the teaching of the sciences in the amazing          sweep upon us, they sweep over us, but we remain firm
construction of the human body, of the bodies of the             under all those onslaughts. And James tells us that the
animals, of the marvels of the plant world, and of the           trying of our faith works this endurance, that is, it
analysis of the chemicals that form a particular                 hardens us to be able to withstand stronger and stronger
substance. Mathematics is nothing more than a system             attacks of the enemy. The parent, or teacher, who is to
convenient for man and cleverly devised by that speck            train that child and to bend the twig must himself have
of dust, but does not reveal the justice, the holiness and       that patience of endurance. How sad a picture when the
the wisdom of God.                                               parent gives in before the child does and becomes weary
   All this is nothing more than Atheism. It may not be          in welldoing. To be sure, keeping that restraint on the
an open denial that there is a God. It may,not oppose            child does require exertion on our part and produces a
the thought that He is and that all this is His work, but        weariness. Especially is this true when we are already
it surely does not render the praise to Him and robs Him         weary in the physical sense because of the toils of the day
of what is due His name while ascribing that glory to            and after we have reached the prime of our life, and the
an actual creature or a mythical Fate. And it certainly is       aches and pains of approaching old age begin to
not bending the twig and training the child in the way           manifest themselves. The all-wise God of our salvation
his thinking and acting should go. Send your children to         has His good purpose in giving us children in the
the world to be trained, and you send them to atheists.          stronger days of our life. One of the manifestations of
Send them to unbelievers and you give these atheists the         that fact that old age is creeping up upon us is that we
opportunity and right to unbend them from that                   become tired sooner and take longer to recuperate. But
upright position wherein they should stand and wherein           one of the signs also is that because of this physical
the church has been striving to hold them. And really,           weariness we become weary of well doing sooner and
when they should stand upright facing God with all their         more often. That our youngest or younger child is
being, does it make any difference whether they bend             "spoiled" and gets away with what the older children
over to the right or to the left? The question is not, in        could not pull off without impunity is not simply due.
what direction do they bend  away  from the way in               to the fact that it is the last child. Very often it is
which they should go? The question is, In what direction         exactly that we have become weary in well doing and
should they go? And therefore the question also is, And          want a little more time for our own comfort, when the
how can I best serve bending them in that direction?             `burdens of life seem harder to bear. 0, indeed! we need
Refusal to use the name of God and to render Him the             patience in the sense of endurance for the strenuous
praise due to His name is to leave the twig bent in its          task of bringing up our children in His fear.
native position; or if it be a covenant child, it is to untie       The cost of Christian `school tuition is constantly
the cord that the parents and church have tied to train          rising, and, rather than enduring, we are inclined to begin
that twig to grow upright and, it is to let the twig go          to argue with ourselves that it is not so important and


84                                                THE STANDARD BEARER


that because of all the weaknesses and faults in the present       it we are not "swift to speak" and retaliate. We are swift
system, we do better for our children to let the world             to hear what God has to say to us in the situation. And
teach them. Then, so we argue, the lie is so blunt that            here again, as far as bending that "twig" is concerned, as
they will be shocked and not inclined to accept it,                we said, it does not mean that we look the other way
surely not as readily as the subtle departure that leads           when the "twig" begins to droop away from that
by little steps to the same blunt end. And it takes                upright position in which we have been trying to hold it
patience, endurance to resist such arguments of the                by our teachings and discipline. It does not mean that
flesh. For arguments of the flesh they surely are, even            we have pity for that child to see him so tightly laced. It
though we come to them when deeply concerned for                   is a rather dangerous and foolish thing when you see
our children' spiritual wellbeing. Paul says, "Come ye             someone faint to have a "pity" that at once wants to
out from among them." He asks, What fellowship hath                make him stand up on his feet and holds him in an
righteousness with unrighteousness, what communion                 upright position. He must, in order to recover, lie down.
hath light with darkness, what concord Christ with                 It. is dangerous and foolish, when the child is being
Belial, what part he that believeth with an infidel? in II         trained to stand upright in his life facing God with alI
Corinthians 6: 14 and 15. There is a measure of contact            his being, to pity him in such a way that you let him
that we must maintain with departing believers; but the            face the flesh and the world for a time. As the twig is
Word of God demands a complete break with the                      bent, means, surely, as it is kept bent, not as it once in
infidel. For it is plain that he will not at all, at any time,     awhile is held.
to any degree seek to bend your precious "twig" in His               Patience, in this instance, means that we are con-
fear. And although the ten tribes were a departing                 sistent. It means that we do not let go the restraints. But
kingdom, steeped in idolatry, God still sent such mighty           we hold our breath. It means that WE suffer in silence
prophets to them  - in love and grace  - as Elijah and             the anguish which our flesh experiences when we see
Elisha. For in a departing kingdom and departing church            our children's rebellion against the restraints. For their
He still has His elect, stiIl sends His Spirit and blesses the     good, that they may endure and become steadfast in the
truth when it is taught to the child. That Spirit is not at        way in which. they ought to go, we do not open our
all, at any time in the communion of the unbelievers.              mouths to spoil all our work by venting our flesh's
Where Christ is not taught He does not come with His               venom; and we do not beat them with the rod of our
Spirit to apply the teaching. That is exactly why He               fleshly displeasure. It simply comes down again to the
calls OUT of the church at Laodicea His elect people, so           simple fact that to bend them in His fear we must do so
that He may again sup with them. Where Atheism and                 in His fear. It means that we stand upright next to the
Evolutionism are taught, there is nothing for the Spirit           twig which we want to train to stand upright. The vine
to apply and bless to the hearts of the hearers. And               that you want to grow up on an upright post instead of
though a departing church may teach these to a degree,             crawl along the ground requires an upright pole. You
there stilI is that truth which can be and will be blessed.        say, "Of course." We say, "Go and do thou likewise
When the church becomes completely false, we shall                 with those who are to be trained in His fear."
have no fellowship whatsoever but stand outside and                   But do not stop  there1 Do your utmost in your area
call to repentance.                                                to establish a school wherein church, home and `school
      But there is another word in Scripture that is               all agree as to how the twig is to be bent, and agree that
translated as patience. And it means "to be long of                it is to be bent into the. upright position revealed to us
breath." It is our usual word for patience. When we have           in the Word of God.


A Cloud of Witnesses

                                            David and Uriah
                                                     Rev. B. Woudenberg
                                    And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote
                                 a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah.
                                    And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set up Uriah in the
                                 forefront  of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him,
                                 that he may be smitten, and die.
                                                                          II Samuel 11:14,1.5
      With the coming of final success and prosperity,             through the troubled years of his young life while
David's life fell into its most serious spiritual eclipse. All.    enemies threatened on every side, David had remained


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                   85



relatively faithful in his service of God. It was when the    hard to find a man more faithful than he either in the
enemies disappeared and offered him less and less             service of Jehovah or in the strife of the battlefield. He
opposition that David began to slip. It was gradually so,     was by every measure the kind of man that David was
to the point that he himself was hardly aware of it as it     most likely to appreciate, one who had molded his own
happened. It began with nothing more than the decision        life after the example of his captain and king. It all
to find a little relaxation and rest for himself while the    appeared perfectly natural, therefore, that David called
army under the capable leadership of Joab went on to          for Uriah and questioned him concerning the course of
fight his battles without him. Certainly it must not have     the battles in which they had engaged. Uriah was quite
seemed an unreasonable thing, for who, after all of his       capable of giving the most pertinent information, and
hard and difficult years of struggle, deserved a rest more    what he said could be relied upon as perfectly
than he? But it meant that David's attention was now          trustworthy too. It was just that this was not David's
turned to seeking his own satisfaction, and that could        real reason. for calling Uriah, and with that the very
lead to no good in the end.                                   uprightness of Uriah was to interfere.
  The real trouble began rather unexpectedly when in            Having concluded his questioning of Uriah, David
his leisure hours he happened to see from the  ,palace        turned and said, almost nonchalantly, "Go down to thy
roof a beautiful woman washing herself in a neighboring       house, and wash thy feet." In fact, he even sent a
garden, and desired to have her for his own, even when        servant after him with a special gift of food for him and
he learned that the woman was already married to one          his wife. Everything was going according to plan, and it
of his most faithful and valiant soldiers. But his lust       looked as though soon his own reputation would be out
having been aroused, he was in no frame of mind to            of danger completely.
deny himself; and, using his royal authority, he called         Uriah, however, was not only a man of dedicated
,the woman, to him and seduced her. No doubt, no              ffaithfulness to his God and his king, he was faithful too
sooner was  ,it done than he felt the pangs of a guilty       to the men with whom he lived and fought. Even here
conscience and resolved that it would never happen            surrounded by the peace and plenty of their beautiful
again; but at the same time he seemed to find ample           capital city he could not forget that his fellow soldiers
reason to excuse himself. Had he not often seen much          were out in the bitter hardship and danger of the field
more serious faults than this enacted repeatedly by           of battle; and he would not either. His fellow soldiers
conquering armies? Why then should he feel so badly?          were sleeping out on the hard and cold ground; he
And after all was he not king with certain prerogatives       would not go down to his house to sleep in the comfort
denied to others? It took but a few days and he had           of his own bed. The wives of his companions had to go
talked his troubled conscience into comparative sub-          without the joy of their presence; his wife would have
mission.    He thought he felt at ease about the whole        to go without his also. Obedience to authority had
episode.                                                      brought him for the moment out of the reach of enemy
  But sin has a way of refusing to be forgotten; and          danger, but he would not use the opportunity to exploit
particularly in His chosen people God does not readily        his own pleasure. It was the kind of faithfulness such as
allow it to happen. No sooner had it seemed to David          can not often be found or even appreciated. But it was
that he had gotten his conscience squared away than the       the kind of faithfulness which David himself in his
message came from Bathsheba, she was with child. To           better days had taught to his soldiers, such as when he
David it came as more an irritation than anything else,       refused to drink for his own pleasure the water which
for somehow it seemed inconceivable that he, the king,        had been brought to him from the well of Bethlehem
should actually be discovered in such a compromising          but poured it out as an offering to the Lord, saying, II
situation. And yet it was awkward. The fact was that          Sam 23: 17, "Be it far from me, 0 LORD, that I should
Bathsheba's husband Uriah was away with the army and          do this; is not this the blood of the men that went in
had not been home for many months. If things went on          jeopardy of their lives?" Uriah had seen the beauty of
as they were going, the whole thing would surely have         such faithfulness in love as David had shown in his day
to come out in the open. Something had to be done;            and had molded his life after it. Thus when the
and David was quite sure that he knew how to do it. He        opportunity was there, he would not go down to his
would merely summon Uriah home from the battle field          own house but slept at the gate of the palace with the
and provide him with an opportunity to visit his wife..       servants of the king.
In the end, who could be so sure that the child was not         The next morning as a matter of course and just to
born a bit early?                                             get the matter finally out of his mind, David inquired as
  What David was unprepared for, however, was the             to what Uriah had done the night before when he had
kind of man that Uriah was. To be sure, it was not            left the palace. It was then, when he heard that Uriah
surprising that David should have called for Uriah to         had not even gone down to his own house that first the
give to him a report of how things were going in the          cold bite of fear lay hold upon his heart. Could it 'be
battle. Although a Hittite by birth, Uriah had become         that this man Uriah was not going to cooperate with his
an Israelite and in so doing had come all the way. It was     plan so simply and logically laid out? In a state of


86                                              THE STANDARD BEARER


agitated excitement which could hardly be hid,                 was disappointing, but it also aroused in David a feeling
he called for Uriah and demanded authoritatively and           with which he had always been most unfamiliar, a
yet plaintively, "Camest thou not from thy journey?            feeling of angry hatred. If Uriah was so stubborn and
why then didst thou not go down unto thine house?"             uncooperative, it was too bad. He had had his chance
      For Uriah it must have seemed a great mystery why        and now he would suffer the consequences. Back to
one so great and important as the king should be               Joab by Uriah's own hands he sent the instructions,
concerned with such small and personal details of his          "Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and
own life; and yet he had the reason clearly before his         retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die,"
own mind and there was no reason to hide it.                     Joab, the trusted captain of David's army, was a cold,
Innocently he answered, but with a certain beauty of           calculating and clever judge of human nature. He
humble faith, "The ark, and Israel, and Judah, abide in        understood David much better, perhaps, than David did
tents; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord,          himself. He had always been able to gauge with
are encamped in the open fields; shall I then go into          considerable accuracy just how far he could go without
mine house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my            losing David's favor; and he seldomly risked the danger
                                                               of stepping beyond this. It was not that he had not
wife? as thou livest, and as thy soul liveth, I will not do    often wanted to do so. He was an ambitious military
this thing."                                                   tactician whose greatest pleasure in life was to lead his
      David of all men in another day might have appre-        army on to greater and more spectacular victories. But
ciated such a simple and humble expression of dedica-          in this goal he had always been greatly hampered by
tion on the part of one of his soldiers. It was the very       David's primary concern for the safety of his men. Thus,
same dedication which had carried him and his men on           because of the need to retain David's favor, he had often
through many a hardship when all of the world seemed           had to give up some of his most spectacular but most
turned against them. But it was also the same dedication       risky plans of battle.
from which he had also turned, almost unconsciously,              When, therefore, this new order came from David, it
when he had sent Joab out alone with the army while he         was to him like a great break in his own favor. To be
had remained safely home seeking his own leisure. Now          sure, it was amazing. Never before had he known David
to him it was abhorrent, nothing but an instance of            to engage in such a personal vendetta: but that was
bull-headed pride, he may well have thought. Still, how        David's worry, not his. All he knew was that it was
was he going to fight it? And so, vying for time, he           something he could use. For the time being at least, he
dismissed Uriah saying, "Tarry here today also, and            would be able to send out his men on any campaign he
tomorrow I will let `thee depart."                             desired, no matter how dangerous, as long as Uriah was
      Desperately and with a growing sense of fear David       in the front lines of the battle. And so Joab did until at
tried to think of something he could do; but his heated        last Uriah was killed by the enemy.
mind could come up with only one thing he could try.              When at last the time came when a report of his
Calling Uriah to him in the late afternoon, he had a           activities had to be sent to David, Joab felt freer than he
great feast spread before him with a great deal of strong      ever had before. He simply instructed the messenger,
drink. It was not what Uriah desired; but how could he         "When thou hast made an end of telling the matters of
possibly refuse the table of the king. Thus, while the         the war unto the king, and if so be that the king's wrath
king hovered insistently over him, he ate and drank far        arise, and.he say unto thee, wherefore approached ye so
beyond what he ever had before and wanted to now               nigh unto the city when ye did fight? knew ye not that
until he became quite drunk. Then once again David             they would shoot from the wall? Who smote Abimelech
repeated his instructions for Uriah to  gti down to his        the son of Jerubbesheth? did not a woman cast a piece
house. It was an ugly thing to do, to send a man down          of millstone upon him from the wall, that he died in
to his home in that condition, even under ordinary             Thebez? why went ye nigh the wall? then say thou, Thy
circumstances; and now David's motive made it doubly           servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also."
                                                                  As it was, however, Joab had nothing for which to
repulsive. But David was a desperate man, and nothing          worry. For the first time, perhaps, David listened to a
was beyond him.                                                report of battle with no concern for the safety and
      But Uriah was a man in whom his faith and                welfare of his men. All he listened for was the report of
dedication were very deeply implanted. His determina-          Uriah's death, nothing more or less; and when he heard
tion to seek no pleasure for himself while his com-            it, he quickly returned the reply, "Thus shalt thou say
panions were in the dangers of battle was not just the         unto Joab, Let not  this thing displease thee, for the
thought of the moment. Even in his stupefied condition,        sword devoureth one as well as another: make thy battle
it stood out in his mind; and once again he stopped at         more strong against the city, and overthrow it; and
the gate to sleep with the servants.                           encourage thou it."
      The next morning it was much earlier and much more          It appeared that all would come out all right for him.
anxiously that David made his inquiry concerning Uriah.        As soon as decently possible, he merely took Bathsheba
When the answer came back that again Uriah had slept           into his home and made her his wife. Now it seemed, his
with the servants rather than going to his own home, it        sin could be forgotten.


                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER                                               87



Contending for the Faith

                                  THE DOCTRINE 6F SIN
                                     The Second Period- 250-730 A.D.

                                              The Pelagian Controversy

                                                Semi  - Pelagianism

                                                     Rev. H. Veldman


  We concluded our preceding article with the remark          that without prevenient grace, no one can love God,
that the late Rev. H. Hoeksema was of the opinion that,       believe on Him, or do good for God's sake, as he ought
although many historians leave the impression that the        (implying that he may in a certain measure).
Synod of Orange' A.D. 529, represents a last victory for         2. Through the grace of God all may, by the
the Augustinian conception of predestination and sover-       co-operation of God, perform what is necessary for their
eign grace, this synod much rather left the impression        soul's salvation.
that it was afraid of the strict Augustinian principles,         3. It is by no means our faith, that any have been
and that his doctrine was certainly not maintained by         predestinated. by God to sin, but rather: if there are
this synod. Although maintaining, on the one hand, the        people who believe so vile a thing, we condemn them
total incapability of man to do any good, it also denied,     with utter abhorrence.
on the other hand, the infallible and irresistible opera-        4. In every good work the beginning proceeds not
tion of sovereign grace. We  wilI now call attention to       from us, but God inspires in us faith and love to Him
this synod and its decisions.                                 without merit precedent on our part, so that we desire
  On the one hand, the synod of Orange laid down the          baptism, and after baptism can, with His help, fulfil His
following propositions, according to Philip Schaff:           will.
  1. The sin of Adam has not injured the body only,              5. Because this doctrine of the fathers and the synod
but also the soul of man.                                     is also salutary for the laity, the distinguished men of
  2. The sin of Adam has brought sin and death upon           the laity also, who have been present at this solemn
all mankind.                                                  assembly, shall subscribe these acts.
  3. Grace is not merely bestowed when we pray for it,           Rev. H. Hoeksema remarks in his notes on the
but grace itself causes us to pray for it.                    History of Dogma that there is nothing in the decisions
  5. Even the beginning of faith, the disposition to          of this synod of Orange concerning sovereign election
believe, is effected by grace.                                and reprobation. And this is understandable in the light
  9. All good thoughts and works are God's gift.              of these five propositions. The second proposition
   10. Even the regenerate and the saints need continu-        declares that all may, by the co-operation of God,
ally the divine help.                                         perform what is necessary for their soul's salvation.
   12. What God loves in us, is not our merit, but His        Although it is true that this synod maintains the
own gift.                                                     Scriptural doctrine that the natural man cannot perform
   13. The free will weakened in Adam, can only be            any good, we do well to call attention to the second
restored through the grace of baptism.                        proposition. In this proposition the synod declares that
   16. All good that we possess is God's gift, and            it is by no means their faith or belief that any have been
therefore no one should boast.                                predestinated by God to sin and that they condemn
   18. Unmerited grace precedes meritorious works.            with utter abhorrence all those who believe so vile a
   19. Even had man not fallen, he would have needed          thing. This is a denial of the Scriptural truth of
divine grace for salvation.                                   reprobation, as; for example, set forth by the apostle
   23. When man sins, he does his own will; when he           Paul in Romans 9: 1 l-l 3, 17, 21-22: "(For the children
does good, he executed the will of God, yet voluntarily.       being not yet born, neither having done` any good or
   24. The love of God is itself a gift of God.                evil, that the purpose of God according to election
  However, to these propositions or chapters the synod         might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth:) It
also added a Creed of- anthropology and soteriology,           was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. As
which, in opposition to Semi-Pelagianism, contains the         it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated
following five propositions:                                   . . . For the Scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this
   1. Through the fall free will has been so weakened,         same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew


88                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER


my power in thee, and that my name might be.declared                 And the synod of Orange was far from maintaining the
throughout all the earth . . . . Hath not the potter power           positive doctrine of predestination and sovereign grace.
over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto                Finally, concerning this synod of Orange and its
honour, and another unto dishonour? What if God,                     subsequent history Philip  Schaff writes the following,
willing to shew His wrath, and to make His power                     Vol. III, 869-870:
known, endured with much longsuffering (the objects of                      In pursuance of this requisition, besides the bishops,
this longsuffering are not the vessels of wrath, but the                 the Praefectus praetorio Liberius, and seven other
vessels unto honour, H.V.) the vessels of wrath fitted                   illustrious men, signed the Acts. This recognition of
unto destruction."                                                       the lay element, in view of the hierarchical bent of the
      Augustine, in his struggle against Pelagius, was con-              age, is significant, and indicates an inward connection
cerned in the deepest sense of the word about God's                      of evangelical doctrine with the idea of the universal
sovereign predestination. He was very keenly aware of                    priesthood. And they were two laymen, we must
the  connection between the doctrines of man's total                     remember, Prosper and  Hilarius, who first came
depravity and God's sovereign predestination.  And the                   forward in Gaul in energetic opposition to  Semi-
two are, of course, inseparable. The Augustinian doc-                    Pelagianism~ and in advocacy of the sovereignty of
trine of sin and grace met with opposition already                       divine grace.
during Augustine's lifetime, not only in the person of                      The decisions of the council were sent by Caesarius
                                                                         to Rome, and were confiimed by pope Boniface II, in
Pelagius, but also by semi-pelagians, who made the                       530. Boniface, in giving his approval, emphasized the
miserable attempt to effect a compromise between the                     declaration, that even the beginning of a good will and
conception of Augustine and that of Pelagius. It is true,                of faith is a gift of prevenient grace, while  Semi-
as Rev. Hoeksema remarks, that the teaching of Augus-                    Pelagianism left open a way to Christ without grace
tine in regard to sovereign grace and predestination                     from God. And beyond question, the church was fully
found indeed some defenders. But even these defenders                    warranted in affirming the pre-eminence of grace over
assumed a half-hearted position over against the op-                     freedom, and the necessity and importance of the
ponents. This was even the case with Prosper, who was a                  gratis  praeveniens.
disciple of Augustine and had stood in close contact and                    Notwithstanding this rejection of the Semi-Pelagian
fellowship with him for many years. Of his defense of                    teachings (not teachers), they made their way into the
the Augustinian conception the following may be                          church again, and while Augustine was universally
remarked:                                                                honored as a canonized saint and standard teacher,
                                                                         Cassian and Faustus of Rhegium remained in grateful
      1. On the one hand, he wants to maintain completely                remembrance as saints in France. (It was especially
the sovereign predestination of God without com-                         Faustus who was of great influence in maintaining the
promise. There is, according to him, an election and                     doctrine of the Semi-Pelagians. He taught the doctrine
reprobation. And especially in regard to the former, he                  of original sin and the necessity of regeneration.
maintains that it can be explained only out of God's                     However, he also taught that man himself is able to
sovereign good pleasure.                                                 work out the beginning of his salvation. He can
      2. Nevertheless, Prosper also maintains and teaches a              certainly feel his own misery, believe in God, long for
general will unto salvation in God, approximately  in the                Him and seek Him in prayer. He also taught a certain
same sense in which the former Professor Heyns taught                    common grace. And, concerning predestination, it was
such a general will in the Theological School of the                     his teaching that this is based on the divine fore-
                                                                         knowledge of all our acts. Of a sovereign election
Christian Reformed Church for many years. For this                       Faustus must have nothing, and, of course, stili less of
general will unto salvation Prosper appeals to the text                  a sovereign reprobation - H.V.)
that is so often quoted by Pelagius and Semi-Pelagians, I                   At the close of this period Gregory the Great
Tim. 2: 4. God wants prayers to be sent up to the                        represents the moderated Augustinian system, with the
throne of grace for all men, and that, too, on the ground                gratis   pmeveniens,   but without the  gratis  iwesistibilis
that He will have all men to be saved. Here, therefore,                  and without a particularistic  decvetum  absoluzwn.
Prosper teaches very clearly a general  will in God unto                 Through him this milder Augustinianism exerted great
salvation, that is, a will in God unto the salvation of all              influence upon the medieval theology. Yet the strict
men.                                                                     Augustinianism always had its adherents, in such men
      3. `It lies in the nature of the case  that.in the light of        as Bede, Alcuin, and Isidore of Seviile, who taught a
this general  will unto salvation in God, the  dootrlne of               gemina praedestinatio,  an election unto salvation, a
                                                                         reprobation unto death; it became prominent again in
sovereign reprobation could not be maintained. Prosper                   the Gottschalk controversy iu the ninth century, was
teaches that it cannot be said that men are lost because                 repressed by scholasticism and the prevailing legalism;
God wills it. To be saved is indeed a free gift of God's                 was advocated by the precursors of the Reformation,
grace. But that many are lost must be attributed to                      especially by Wiclif and Huss; and in the Reformation
those that are lost themselves. No one is lost because of                of the sixteenth century, it gamed a massive acknowl-
original sin alone. They are reprobated because of their                 edgment and an independent development in Calvin-
actual sins, which are foreknown and foreseen by God.                    ism, which, in fact, partially recast it, and gave it its


                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER                                                    89


      most consistent form.                                      in later years. And the Synod of Orange was far from
    This concludes our discussion of the doctrine of sin as      maintaining the positive doctrine of predestination and
 in the years, 250 to 730 A.D. The Scriptural doctrine of        sovereign grace. To the subsequent development of this
 sin and grace, and of God's sovereign predestination,           doctrine of sin in the history of the church we hope to
 was never popular.       Augustine maintained it, but it        call attention in following articles.
 encountered considerable opposition, during his life and


~ Studies in Depth

                                   A Campus Movement (cont.)

                                                   Rev. Robt.  C'.  Havbach

    Campus Crusade for Christ believes it has come up            is nevertheless "continually trying to reach God . .  ."
  with not only a legitimate but a unique way of present-        This flies in the face of the fact of man's fall, which
  ing the biblical truth of the gospel.     Continually and      killed him, leaving him "dead in trespasses and sins," so
  everywhere crusaders are raising the question, "Have           that "there is none that seeketh after God." But further,
  you heard of the Four Spiritual Laws?" Law One says in         "sinful and separated from God" is not explained in
  part, "God loves you . .  ." Law Two states that sinful        terms of the Fall. What happened to man was that he
  and separated from God, no one can know and                    pulled out the plug of the lamp of his spirit from its wall
  experience His love. Law Three: Anyone can know                socket, causing the divine current source to be broken
  God's love through Christ, God's only provision for            and the light of holiness to go out. The truth is man was
  man's sin. Law Four: "We must receive Jesus Christ as          electrocuted by a thunderbolt of divine wrath. He is
  Saviour and Lord by personal invitation." A remark or          dead. It is absurd to suppose that all a man need do is
  two on each of these four "laws" will be in order. First,      put the plug backin the wall socket of his soul, so that
  they are not laws. What is intended by a biblical law is a     the separation is removed and contact restored!
  biblical principle, that is, a settled and determined            In Law Three the Cross is presented not as a real
  doctrine of Scripture which becomes formulated and             atonement which actually saves certain ones and takes
 recognized as a general truth, providing the rule and           away their sin, but as merely a provision for atonement
  ground for straight thinking, valid reasoning and right        offered to anyone who will have it. The Cross is not like
  action. But all we have in these so called spiritual "laws"    a magnet with power to draw men to Christ (Jn. 12:32),
  are mere assertions made, statements advanced, opinions        but like a bridge which "makes it possible for man to
  held, assumptions favored. To illustrate the idea of a         come to Him." It is up to man to cross over. Law Four
  principle, Albert Barnes wrote in Notes OYZ Romans iii,        refers to Christ's "invitation" to open the heart and life
  4, "It is to be held as a fixed, unwavering principle, that    to Him (Rev. 3: 20). This text is supposed to teach that
  God is right and true, whatever consequences it may            Christ stands and knocks at the hearts of unregenerate
  involve." But certainly it is no fixed and unwavering          sinners through the instrumentality of "invitational
  principle that "God loves you," meaning that "God              preaching;" that natural men have a "common grace"
  loves all men." For God did not love Pharaoh. God in           and natural ability to open their hearts to Him, and that
  His sovereignty said He would raise up Pharaoh "that I         this is implied in the standing there and knocking, as He
  may smite thee and thy people . . . from the earth"            who is all-wise would not do so if none were able to
  (Rom. 9: 17 with Ex. 9:  15f). Nor did God love the            open to Him. It is also supposed that the opening of the
  people of Amalek, for He swore He would have war               heart does not occur by an irresistible power, but by the
  with Amalek from generation to generation, to stamp            consent and concurrence of the will of man. This is
  "out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven"              contrary to Ps. 110:3.and Rom. 9: 16. Not an "offer" or
  (17: 14-16). Nowhere do we read that God loved Esau,           an "invitation" is this text; nor a divine call or
  but that He hated him (Rom. 9: 13). Nor can it be said         command, but a promise, the "if' expressing not a
  "God loves all men living." Does He love the workers of        condition awaiting fulfilment, but stating a fact, as in
 iniquity (Ps.  5:5)? Does He love the vessels of wrath          "If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God" (Mt.
  (Rom. 9:22)? Does He love those "who were before of            12:28).
  old ordained to condemnation" (Jude 4)?                          The presentation of Campus Crusade material is
    Law Two seems acceptable enough, but a note                  about as stereotyped as anything one could find.
  appended reveals that it is understood to mean that            Whether it comes packaged in a 16 2/3 rpm record, in a
  although man separated from God cannot know God, he            pocket-size leaflet, in a letter-size pamphlet, a study


90                                               THE STANDARD`BEARER


sheet, a booklet or a magazine form, it is all the same        genuinely!) Christianity must be advertized as an "easy-
old stereotypy. This is evident even in the "testimonies"      faith." There is then the danger that many of the
given by crusade members from all walks of life and            recruits be mere wayside hearers, stony-ground hearers
variant backgrounds. They all use crusade jargon.              or thorny-ground hearers, `since those in command
Testimonials contain such hackneyed expressions as,            declare the "message" and its results to be a gracious
"God loves you," "I accepted Jesus," "an egocentric            work of God. Souls are indeed seeking something, but
life," "exciting life," "life characterized by doubt,          to inform them that what they are seeking is God is
frustration and lack of purpose," "invite Jesus into your      misleading (Rom. 3: 11). To point to the results of many
life" and "shared . . . Christ." Most testimonies are          conversions in the movement as evidenced by such
rather egocentric, especially one like this: "Allowing         things as faith, exceeding joy and changed lives is
Jesus Christ to live His life through mine is the key to       dangerous when no consideration is given to the two
life for me." Egotism abounds as the result of modern          opposite kinds of faith in James  2:19, 20, to the two
"evangelism" because it appeals to man's natural ego.          kinds of joy in Luke 8: 13 and Matt. 13:44, and the two
Men are informed that it is in their power to come to          kinds of changed lives in Matt.  5:20;  7:21-27. A true
Christ, and that if they but make this response, it will       ministry of the Word will prove out well under the
become a means to peace, happiness, fulfihuent and-the         searchlight of such contrasts, and will also examine and
solution or the rising above life's problems. Natural men      prove itself in the light of John  6:37, 39, 44, 60-71;
are attracted to natural advantages. Man is flattered in       8:3Off and  12:36-43. Let every recruit and recruiting
the opinion that he can take the first step to God. The        officer go to the Law and to the Testimony and prove
ministry flattering to the natural man, though drawing         whether the "true light" is in them (Isa. 8':20).
forth a large response, cannot be expected to produce a           It ought also to be pointed out that the texts of
spiritual man. To make things the most attractive to the       Scripture so far indicated reveal that many may be
natural man, he is informed that the promises  of,God          deceived into believing what is in them to be a work of
are to the effect that "we (that is, anybody, any              saving grace (when it is nothing more than the en-
unregenerate men) can cast all our cares on Jesus Christ       ameling of a rotted post), not because of the work of
because He cares for us. How? Easy!" Now note how              false prophets or the deceits of the devil, but by the
easy this is. Just "drop everything and follow Him."           temporary influence of the gospel, and by many
Faith is made an easy thing. "Faith is represented as          spiritual attainments which attend the preaching of the
something to be done in order to salvation; and pains          gospel, but do not accompany salvation. But when any
are taken to show that it is an easy thing. Better far than    come under a ministry where The Gospel is not
this would it be to see to it that those with whom they        presented, but only some frothy, thin, watered-down
deal are truly convinced of sin, and to  labour to set         imitation, it is even more likely there be deceived souls.
forth Christ before them in His glorious completeness as       These sad counterfeits are widely found, even aside
a Saviour. To explain faith to them that they may do it,       from those the devil himself produces. Nevertheless, he
is to set them still to work, though setting an easier task    does come as "an angel of light" and blinds the minds of
before them." (John Kennedy, 1875, quoted in  The              many who judge only on the basis of so called results.
Invitation  System, by Iain Murray, p. 30). Campus             Every promoter and subordinate of a work can be
Crusade puts it this way, "What is faith? It is the            assured it is of God only when they adapt themselves to
confident assurance that something we want is going to         the test of truth (I John 3: 19-21; 4: 1). That must not
happen." But this, so far from being saving faith, is          be credited as a work of God which is bankrupt of the
nothing more than a "faith of miracles." Judas had that        proof of truth. No one is a Christian because he thought
(Mt. 10: 1). Faith is also mere assent to or acceptance of     he was ten years ago. They are not converts to Christ
the truth, as is evident in constant urgings to "accept        merely because a movement acclaims them as such, or
Christ, " "count on God's promises," or "Christ waits          because the world is attracted to their youthful en-
for you to invite Him to the throne of your life. You          thusiasm, or because Christendom has accepted them.
must step down and relinquish it to Him." This is too          Many are thrilled with the novelty of new religious
much like the "faith" of the stony-ground hearer (Mt.          impressions, but it would be tragic to tell them that
13:5, 6). James says that many who have it, have it in         these are evidences of their having been born again. No
common with the devil's household (2: 19). Herod and           gain is it to the church when her fields are sown with
Agrippa also had it (Mk.  6:20; Acts 26: 27). It is not        tares or traitors. Vain to advertise that to be a work of
persevering faith (Lk. 8: 13; Heb. 6:4-6, 9).                  God which none can know to bear His approval. No
  The danger of this superficial, almost vacuous method        credit to the church is it if out of the unbelieving world
is that many think they have savingly believed in Christ.      Mr. Obstinacy gets converted into Mr. Carnal-security.
With joy they profess to have found Him! (In fact, in          Such ecclesiastical accumulations cheat the church with
giving their "testimonies," they are advised, "Smile           chaff and dishonor God with attributions of that which
often! Ask the Lord to give you a happy radiant face."         is not His.
- something only a joyful heart can produce  -


                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  91


The Strength of Youth                           i

                                   The Right of Dissent
                                                      Rev. J. Kortering

   Dissent!                                                      bills which expostulate one's convictions is still an
  It is as old as the earth.                                    important means of airing one's dissent. All public
   Its form is as variegated as life itself.                    marches do not violate local ordinances and excite
   The whine of a bullet silences an eloquent voice of          public riot.
the civil rights movement. Four young people strip                 In surveying this situation, we often wrestle with a
themselves and dance in the altogether before the                sense of guilt. I'm convinced that many covenant young
United Nations building, a protest. An old man pens a            people wrestle sincerely with the question, where am I
letter to the editor, his palsied script an expression of        supposed to be in all of this? Some ask the question,
disagreement. Justice Douglas, buried beneath an ava-            may we co-operate with others in trying to secure
lanche of mail, the result of the  `.62  Engel v.  Vitale       justice for our fellow citizens? Still others are still more
decision- of the Supreme Court declaring as illegal the          emphatic and pose the question,  must we  not become
sanctioned prayer of the New York State School Board.            involved in these issues which are so pertinent to our
Students mob the Low Memorial Library at Columbia                times? Must we not express  our. dissent to things we
University. Four hundred worshippers exit during Mass            believe are wrong?
at the St. Matthews Cathedral in Washington, dis-                  When these questions are raised, I am heartened.
satisfied with Cardinal  O'Boyle's defense of the Papal          True, not all covenant young people raise them. Some
Encyclical on birth control. Bearded activists hurl rocks        don't even care, some are quite convinced they have the
and 4-letter words at the Chicago police. Young rebels           answer and therefore can't tolerate consideration of any
tear up the American flag in Los Angeles screaming,              other view, others are scared that if they raise the
"Liberty and Justice." H. Rap Brown  entones,  ,"Vio-            question for discussion their "`orthodoxy"  wiIl be
lence is as American as cherry pie." The local 282               questioned. For our serious-minded youth however, the
parades in front of the Bell Telephone office. The phone         question of the right of dissent becomes a burning issue
lines burn with the blistering attack of an irate caller in      of conscience.
the local telethon.                                                This is particularly true for  youth.  One realizes that
  This is in the name of dissent.                                the issue of dissent must properly belong to all of us.
  Young people play a leading role.                              Age doesn't dissolve one of the responsibility to give
  It's time that we make a sane appraisal of all this.           account for his acts. Marriage is not a retreat from the
  In doing so we must be careful to retain a proper              reality of everyday living. Financial success may not be
mental balance. It is so easy for us to become the               a barricade to separate us from our fellow man.
victims of our own stereotypes. We're inclined to throw          Everyone must give account of his whole life in all its
all dissenters into the classification of rebels. The            relationships. This necessitates interest in all issues
temptation to do this arises out of the fact that the            including the right to raise our voices in dissent.
most vocal and outspoken dissenters are indeed rebels.             Still, in a special sense the question is of special
Enflamed and passionate appeals are directed to the              interest to youth, covenant youth as well. The fact that
victims of discrimination, calling them to arise and take        youth are young must go a long way in explaining this.
hold of their civil rights. This tirade of hate is broadcast     There are certain things outstandingly characteristic of
throughout the land. The inevitable consequences  -              youth that accounts for their innate desire to express
riots, arson, murder, looting are in turn made the "front        disagreement.
page" for the day. Bloodied bodies, smoldering ruins,              First, young people are often idealists. Their make-up
pot-bellied looters lugging merchandise under the per-           allows them to form certain judgments, more often than
missive gaze of the troopers all make indelible impres-          not reduced to a very simplistic form. As they diagnose
sions upon our troubled minds. All this is in the name of        the world's ills they latch upon one certain thing that if
dissent.                                                         corrected will certainly evaporate the clouds and allow
  Yet, we know so well there is more to dissent than             the warmth of the sunshine to revitalize our  storm-
this. All dissention is not rebellion. Public debate             swept society. `They envision their ideal within their
between those who take opposite positions on basic               grasp; it's there for the taking. To some young adults it
issues is still a cherished right in our land. The public        only takes a date, suddenly their dark world becomes
forum elicits an opportunity to exchange ideas and to            peachy lovely. To others it takes a certain candidate for
work toward understanding. The handing out of hand-              president; if only he's elected the world will reach its


92                                               THE STANDARD BEARER


utopia. Others firmly believe that if the United States         in our homes, schools, churches, and government.
would only get out of Vietnam the era of human                  Dissent is natural.
brotherhood would surely follow. Youth can be per-                 The question we must ask is what is a correct form of
suaded to follow almost any cause, it just depends on           dissent for covenant youth. That there is a place for
how one goes about getting their support. Their                 dissent goes without saying. We expect our children to
spontaneous and oftentimes superficial judgment brings          grow up and begin to think for themselves. As young
them to criticize the present situation and clamor for          adults they begin to express their ideas, some of which
the perfect world just around the corner.                       are bound to involve a clash, there is a measure of
      Secondly, youth stands at the door of his own             protest in every sphere. This dissent must be expressed
individualism. Nurtured for years within the sphere of          responsibly, as those who must give account before God "
the home, school, church he now becomes a man and               for all we do and say. Even our dissent must be to the
puts away childish things. Suddenly he has to appraise          glory of God or God will turn it against us and it will
all that he was taught, he has to form a judgment on            bring our own destruction.
whether it is true or not. No longer is he satisfied to say        In order that we may consider this somewhat in
this is true because my dad said so or because my               detail, we propose to look at this subject from three
teacher or preacher said so, he must know it to be true         points of view.
for himself. He recognizes his involvement, he is not just         First, what goal are we seeking to achieve? Dissent is
a passive receiver, but a co-participant in the action. He      purely negative. It means that we reject something
knows that maturity demands responsible judgment.               because we object to it. Responsible dissent involves
      Thirdly, with this awareness youth rises up to act. He    more than telling someone he is wrong; he must also be
comes to a conclusion that something is wrong and he            shown the right way. If we are to reject something, a
has the answer. He cannot sit indifferently by, he is           way of life or a certain action, we must become
responsible, he is one of the molders of the world and          convinced that there is a better way of life to replace it.
the controllers of human destiny. In conjunction with              To .narrow this down a bit, we have to ask ourselves
other youth they work together to fulfill their ideals,         what goal do we as covenant youth have. What are we
they must correct the ills and further the cause of             striving to attain here in this world? What is our calling
justice and goodness. There are countless number of             and purpose here in relationship to our neighbors
young people that are conscientiously working on what           around us? In order to see the uniqueness of this
they consider desperately serious. All dissent on the part      position we have to consider it over against the social
of youth must not be swept under the carpet of                  goal of Humanism as well as the perverted goal of the
youthful insolence or attention getting. Many youth are         corrupted church.
                                                                   Secondly, we have to consider the proper means of
marching on a crusade; they're willing to take the front        dissent. This involves an examination of methodology
ranks.                                                          used by the draft card burners, the proponents of
      Finally, youth are innately impatient. They are the       violence as well as the advocates of non-violent demon-
"now" generation. The 4.0% of our population which is           strations. We must ask, to what extent may and must
under 21 years of age are very vocal about this. The            the church become involved in these forms of dissent?
"war babies" are now in the university and their                Must we distinguish between the involvement of the
impatient voices are heard daily. As pioneers of a              church institute (office bearers and ecclesiastical bodies)
"righteous" cause they threaten to plunge our nation            from that of her members who are also citizens of
into anarchy rather than be subjects in a country that          America? We must wrestle with such problems as
does not match their ideal. Unrest, violence, ghastly           whether it is correct that if we consider a law to be
public displays are but the beginnings of change, a             immoral we may use illegal means to overthrow it. Is
change that must come now.                                      there a place for peaceful demonstrations? Should we
      You may say that these are not very nice things to        become more involved in speaking out for what we
say about young people. I'm only too glad that I don't          believe to be the Scriptural answer to man's miseries?
have to confront just any kind of young people. These             Thirdly, we should also consider the question of
are written for covenant young people who have the              co-operation with others in the cause of dissent. To
grace to understand. There is no simplistic ideal in a sin      illustrate the problem, can and should Christians co-
cursed world. Often times we lose sight of the fact that        operate with non-christians in the common cause of
an ideal without the enlightenment of Scripture is              civil-rights and justice for all citizens? Is it not true that
actually foolishness. The idealism of youth must be             any attempt by Christians to eradicate poverty or
sanctified by the Spirit. Even though we recognize that         correct social evils as a separate force will be inconse-
youth born within the covenant are sanctified by grace,         quential and meaningless? Would a joint effort by all
yet their nature is the same. The difference is that            men everywhere no matter what color, race, or creed be
covenant youth  struggle  against sin, also their sinful        a denial of our Christian position?
nature. The 4 things listed above surely apply to                 We have laid bare the issues, we trust that in future
covenant youth as well. This accounts for much tension          articles we will be able to take a close look at them.


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  93


From Our Mission Committee

                                  A  Progrkss  h&port
                                                  Rev. J. Kovteving

  Yes, progress is being made.                               Maria at 8:30 a.m. to pick up Rev. Elliott in Islington
  Encouraging reports have been received from both at        and then drove to Buff Bay. Here we left the highway
home and abroad that indicate that the Word of God is        and pavement to climb up the Blue Mountains. The
being received with gratitude. The white horse of Rev.       whole distance from Port Maria to  Mahoe was only a
6: 13 is riding victoriously, also in our midst. Some of     matter of some 60 miles, but we arrived around 11 A.M.
those who receive the Word are believers who desire to       It was a steep, long and rough climb with the car. But
grow in the truth, others are brought into contact with      the view of the valleys when once we got up to where
the glorious gospel for the first time. Bringing the Word    we had to part was spectacular, beauty no tourists ever
of God to such is indeed progress in the name of Christ      get to see. We still had to walk at least half a mile up
and for the sake of the glory of God through the             and down hills before we descended into a depression
salvation of His people. Such a Word never returns void.     where the bamboo church stood. It was a hot, close,
  Undoubtedly, most of you have heard some details of        sticky, stuffy position and was crude and roughly
the progress in Jamaica. Our emissaries, Rev. and Mrs.       constructed. We enjoyed the Sunday there however."
Heys and Mr. and Mrs. Thys Feenstra, are perhaps the         This particular congregation is considering a new church
best testimony. Their enthusiasm for the work cannot         building, having already purchased land on a higher
help but rub off on the rest of us who are not so            elevation for the price of $40.00.
personally involved. Rev. Heys has already written two         The brethren used Psalm 23 as the basis for informal
articles in the Standard Bearer concerning some aspects      discussions with the members of the churches. This
of the work done in Jamaica this summer. Besides this,       proved highly successful and was repeated on Sunday
he has lectured for the Office Bearers Conference at         afternoons as well as during certain week-night meetings
Hope Church, presenting in clear focus the problems          when they did not have preaching services. It stimulated
and potentials of the Jamaican field. The Mission            congregational involvement, the spiritual lambs of Christ
Committee invited him to prepare a program containing        could also express their faith in the Good Shepherd. It
details of the work being done in Jamaica and to be          has become evident that they need the milk of the Word
presented D.V. on the evening of Thanksgiving Day at         for which there is an earnest spiritual thirsting.
First Church, Grand Rapids. This will consist of colored       That the word was well received became evident time
slides, tape recordings, and narrative of the work.          and again when the people would beg Rev. Heys to stay
Perhaps opportunity will arise for him to present this       longer or make a return visit, but 8 weeks did not allow
program in other congregations throughout the denomi-        many return visits. This was compensated in part by the
nation.                                                      efforts of some of the people to follow Rev. Heys when
  In view of this, one hesitates to take it upon himself     he traveled to the different churches. Reference was
to present details through another article in the Stand-     made to this in the report, "How else shall we explain
ard Bearer. Yet, we feel that since our churches             that here at Porters Mountain where we have no church,
requested that such reports be given periodically this       but Rev. Ruddock lives, his people from Mt. Lebanon
should also be done now. Under the signature of both         appeared for the service? They began to walk up the
emissaries a detailed report was presented to our            mountain from Mt. Lebanon and even from Fort
Committee at the meeting of Oct. 16. This 10 page            William at 4 P.M. and arrived at 7 P.M. a three hour
single spaced report was a thorough account of the work      walk up, which means another 3 hour walk back home
accomplished this past summer. From this material we         after the service! They did not come that night for
will glean a few pertinent facts and share them with         shillings or material goods. The same was true our last
you.                                                         Sunday there on the island. The people from the Hope
  The first deals with progress made in teaching and         Hill congregation came by truck way across the island
preaching. Our emissaries informed the committee that        for the farewell Sunday. We gave them no money for
they were able to attend 32 services, Rev. Heys being        travel, gave no one any money for travel with the
asked to preach at most of them. These were scattered        exception of the ministers when we sent them on an
among some 20 different congregations at different           errand. We gave no money for group travel or to
points on the island. These places were not always           individuals to travel. We gave them the Word."
located at the most convenient spot, as e.g. Buff Bay.         Opportunity also presented itself to reach people who
Rev. Heys describes their experience, "We left Port          were not members of the congregations mentioned


94                                             THE STANDARD BEARER


above. In the first place, this was true in the Sunday       church was located and having been confronted with the
School, often times children from the surrounding hills      Scriptural truth of a woman's place in the church (I
would come out when they heard the singing of the            Tim. 2: 1 l., 12) caused division and made it impossible
Sunday School children. At other times adults would          for the group faithful with Rev. Elliott to meet in that
join the worship services, even after they were in           church. In such instances as this the faith of the infant
progress. In the second place, public programs were          church is tested as if by fire. The need for building
presented during which Rev. Heys showed pictures of          improvement has also increased as the pressure of
Holland and the annual Tulip Time. This served as an         government demands increases with the improvement in'
excellent opportunity to speak of the 5 points of            the general economic conditions of the island. The time
Calvinism each of which begins with a letter of              is not far off when the government will be in a position
T-U-L-I-P. Rev. Heys refers to the program at Islington,     to enforce the law of building standards.
"That night we showed the Islington congregation our           Works of mercy were also performed. Money
pictures in a Baptist church that had electricity. It was    ($1500.00) was deposited in the Barclays Bank D.C.O.
open to the public and several Baptist peoplesaid that       in Lucea to which another $1500.00 was added later on.
they enjoyed the "message." They must have meant the         Some of this was spent on the needy this summer. One
explanation of the Five Points of Calvinism in connec-       woman needed an eye operation and will have to have
tion with the pictures of the tulips." At Reading a          the other eye corrected in about 6 months. This was
public school was used for the public program, but as it     done for the total cost of $25.00 plus medical prescrip-
was reported, "We had a near riot because of this,           tions. In other instances medical examinations were
certain young men molesting by turning the lights on         needed. Also the ministers that travel need more money
during the pictures and off when we gave up and needed       than they can receive from the churches they serve.
light to pack up our equipment. The sermon was before        Because of poverty, they often do not get travel
the pictures, and there was respect and quietness. We        expenses paid and must somehow live off the people.
left to prevent a riot when certain elements became          Recommendations providing for the material needs are
boisterous. The white-man is not well received all over,     being considered by our Jamaica sub-committee in
and we were booed and ridiculed often." Also in              conjunction with the deacons of Hudsonville who have
Jamaica the witness of the gospel  draws's two-fold          been requested to handle this aspect of the work.
response. In the third place, contact was established          The clothing collected by the deacons of our churches
with `other ministers from different churches who            and packed by the deacons of Southeast congrega-
showed interest in becoming affiliated with the Prot.        tion arrived on the island just a week `before our
Ref. Churches of  Ja.maica. The report refers to 3 such      emissaries were to leave for home. Since the shipment
instances. A Rev. Hezekiah Moore of Buff Bay discussed       went to Kingston, it had to be transferred by train to
the possibility of-taking his two churches into the          Montego Bay and then in turn delivered by truck to the
group:. `Rev. Heys preached `in one of his churches and      various congregations. Patience was the rule of the day
left the question of affiliation to be resolved by the       to arrange for all the details. The cost of duty was only
churches concerned. Another Rev. Drummond, who lost          $27.00, and that for 3,015 pounds of clothing. Under
his `congregation through -no fault of his own was placed    the direction of God the clothing was cleared just in
as Pastor of the Northhampton congregation.  This'was        time, for on the very evening that the clothing had been
one of the many congregations served by Rev. Elliott         shipped away by truck a fire destroyed the Customs
who -travels about a great deal. The third minister was      Office building in Montego Bay which contained all the
Rev.  ,-Brown of Kingston; St. Andrews. "Rev. Brown          signed papers.
seemed very sincere. and desirous of affiliating with us.      In view of this heartening report, the committee is
We promised to send him some literature so that he           working on ways to implement the Synodical'decisions
might know more of us`and of our doctrinal stand." All       taken last June. By our next report we may be able to
this indicates that there is much work that must be          give some concrete details on this.
done, not only in building up the present congregations,       Just before the close of our last meeting, Rev. H.
but also in reaching out into new areas.                     Veldman reported on the work he was able to do in
      There is not much more to report concerning the        Pella between Sept. 22 and'oct. 13. Under the direction
construction of church buildings. The problem has been       of our faithful God, Rev. Veldman, a former pastor of
pretty. much narrowed to securing the land on which          Pella was present when the little flock was saddened by
these buildings. are to  .~be constructed. The idea of       the death of Mrs. Vander Molen. His presence served as
consolidating: all the churches into 3 larger congrega-      a means of comfort and strength to carry them through
tions has been abandoned, since it is not practical and      the hour of grief. Lectures were given on the three
would deny the worship services to the children. The         Thursday evenings and dealt with the end of the world
need for securing the property has been pointed out in       and the signs of the times. These were well received by
the case of the church at Islington where one member of      the thirty or forty people in attendance. Visits were
the church owned one third of the land  ,on which the        made during the week and the Sunday services were


                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                                   95


conducted. Appreciation was expressed for the clear            faithfully performed these labors and to the  congrega-
preaching of the Word. Advice was given, and this              tions who have released their ministers so that they
confirmed the former advice of Rev. M. Schipper, that          could further the cause of church extension and
the committee continue to work in Pella and to make            missions. Even in this difficult work the true blessings
some arrangements for regular preaching and  instruc-          are not measured in external success, but in the spiritual
tion. This entire matter was placed in the hands of the        bond of faith between ourselves and those who gladly
New Policy committee to formulate concrete proposals           receive the Word.
that may be considered.                                          May our prayers ascend to God for His continued
  Gratitude must be expressed to the brethren who              blessing upon this work.                                 -.




                                      B O O K R E V I E W S

                                                     ProJ: H. Hanko


THE SECOND EPISTLE OF PETER AND THE                            volume. Some of the hymns are old favorites; some are
EPISTLE OF JUDE. by Michael Green; Wm. B. Eerd-                not very well known. All are hymns written before our
mans Publishing Co., 1968; 192 pp., $3.95.                     present century. The author `treats briefly, where pos-
                                                               sible, the history of a hymn; but he is mainly concerned
  This work is Volume 18 of the Tyndale series of Bible        in giving a commentary on the hymn showing how it is
Commentaries of which R.V.G. Tasker is the general             based on Scripture, demonstrating. why it has found a
editor. It is advertised as a "concise, workable tool for      place in the hymnology of the Church, explaining
laymen, teachers and ministers". In many respects this is      obscure passages in the hymns and attempting to relate
true. Probably the strength of this volume is the rather       the hymns to the confession  and,walk of the believer.
elaborate introduction to each of these two epistles. In       The commentaries are not pedantic and stilted; they are
the introduction the author treats extensively the             written in such a way that the music and flavor of the
questions of date, authorship and dependence. Much of          hymn is communicated through the remarks made. In
the material found in these introductions is of consider-      some respects the commentaries are interesting and
able value to an understanding of the two books.               beautiful.
  As far as the commentary itself is concerned, while it         Such hymns as "My God how wonderful Thou
is written by a conservative scholar, the exegesis is not      art", "0 God, our help in ages past", "Lead, kindly
always sharp and pointed, nor is it based upon the             light", and "The Church's one foundation" are treated.
Greek. The result is some very irrelevant exegesis which       The book would be of special value to those who make
is little help in understanding the epistles. Nevertheless,    a study of hymnology and to those who are looking for
for a short and concise explanation of the two books,          good hymns  to  be used in singing. The commentaries
this commentary has a place in the libraries of Churches,      offered are often helpful in determining~  the meaning of
Schools and homes.                                             the author of a hymn. Sometimes these explanations are
  I cannot agree entirely with the author's insistence         quite different from what we would expect.
that Jude included in his book quotations from Apoc-
ryphal writings such as the Book of Enoch.         And so,                                                             -
this commentary, as is true of all commentaries, must be
used with care and the study of it must not be a
substitute for the study of Scripture itself.                                       ANNOUNCEMENT

                                                                 Do you have a serviceman who would like to listen
                                                               to a Protestant Reformed sermon every. week? We will
                                                               send the sermons if you will purchase a small, cartridge
                                                               tape play or tape recorder. They start as low as $25.00.
HYMNS AND `THE FAITH,  by Erik Routley; Wm. B.                 Write to:
Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1968; 3 11 pp., $4.95.                        Lynden Prot. Ref. Church
                                                                       8541 Depot Road
  Forty-nine hymns of the .Church  are discussed in this               Lynden, Washington 98 264


96                                               THE STANDARD BEARER


                                  News From Our Churches
                                               Ott 31,1968          The Fall Mass Meeting of the Men's Society League
      Our church at South Holland,  111, has named a new         was held in First Church with Rev. M. Schipper giving a
trio which includes the Revs. M. Schipper, H. Veldman            paper on "The Racial Unrest of our Times," in which he
and B. Woudenberg, from which Rev. H. Veldman was                found a manifestation of the Beast of Revelations 13 in
chosen. Hull's congregation received a letter from Rev.          its attempt to heal the deadly wound it suffered at
C. Hanko in which he declined their call to come over            Babel. The speaker warned the men to be alert to the
and help them.              *  *  *                              signs of the times and to evaluate them in the light of
      The Annual Reformation Day Rally was held in First         the Scriptures, that they may be ready for the Day of
Church of Grand Rapids featuring a lecture by Prof.              Anti-Christ when the deadly wound shall be healed for a
H.C. Hoeksema on, "The Heart-beat of the Reforma-                season, introducing a period of extreme persecution for
tion." Rev. G. Lubbers, chairman of the evening, led in          the Church.                *  *  *
opening devotions. Mrs. C. Lubbers, the organist of our
Radio Choir, gave three numbers on the new Wicks                    While on a preaching engagement in Pella, Iowa for
Organ, ably demonstrating the versatility of the instru-         four weeks, Rev. H. Veldman gave a series of Thursday
                                                                 evening lectures in three successive weeks. The topics
ment, and accompanied the singing of the audience. An            were, "The Merger of Churches a Sign of the Times";
offering was received to defray the expenses incurred in         `The Signs of the Times in Our Daily Lives"; and, "Our
this project. The speaker's theme carried the figure of a        Specific Antithetical Calling."
man whose heartbeat was felt thoughout his whole                                            * * *
body, and served to give life and energy to all his vital           Because of the success of the Spring Retreat, the
organs and to the farthest extremities of his body. This         young people of Michigan are planning a Fall Retreat
figure was carried out by the speaker as he likened this         which will feature the theme "Thanksgiving." `The date
throbbing, pulsating beat to the truth of Sovereign              of this event has been set for Nov. 8 and 9.
Election which is the heart-beat of the whole body of                                       *  8  *
truth, giving life and energy to each vital part thereof.
Further, that Divine, Sovereign Predestination is the               Lynden's Annual Congregational Meeting will be held
                                                                 Oct. 28, an early date so that plans for new church
heart-beat that must be felt in all the doctrines of the         furnishings may be considered, beside the usual adop-
church; that if it is absent, there will be clear evidence       tion of the next  year's budget and election, of office
of heart trouble and its accompanying diseases of                bearers.
Universal Atonement, Universal Fatherhood of God and                                        *  * *
Brotherhood of Man, Common Grace, the Well-meant
offer of Salvation, Arminianism, and Post- and  Pre-                The  Redlands Young People `are already busily
                                                                 engaged in making plans for the `69 Convention. They
Millennialism. The lecture was climaxed with the clarion
call to return to the Reformation Truth on a personal            have scheduled a program featuring the  Redlands
basis for every child of the Reformation, with the               Quartette and the showing of slides depicting the Island
attending comforting conviction that when sensing the            of Jamaica to create a Fund for the convention. They
heart-beat of the Reformation we sense the heart  1 of           realize that many more such projects will have to be
God. The presence of a very fine representation of               sponsored in the coming months. In a note from
young people-from grade school to college-was a                  California Rev. Hanko laments that it is difficult for the
healthy sign that the heritage of the Reformation has            church to survive in the atmosphere that pervades in that
been handed down to children's children, delighting the          State of all kinds of isms and heresies-the latest being
                                                                 the prediction, received in a vision by some crack-pot,
older generation which anxiously feels the pulse of their        of an earthquake that will destroy the whole State.
children to be assured of their spiritual well-being. The        Indeed, the "they shall see visions and dream dreams" is
program was brought to a fitting close with the singing          not limited to the children of the church; the children
of the Doxology, and by prayer led by Rev. R.C. Har-             of this world are being used in  t.hat capacity by the
bath of Kalamazoo.                *                              Father of lies, to try to deceive the children of light.
                                                                                            *.*  $
      Other Reformation Da*y chommemorations listed in the
bulletins included  `an  .after-recess presentation by two          We call your attention to an announcement elsewhere
members of Hull's Ladies Society; a Program in their             in this issue suggesting the idea of a worthwhile
church Sunday evening, Oct. 27, with Rev. J.A. Heys as           Christmas present to your serviceman. Rev. Woudenberg
speaker; and a speech by Rev. Engelsma in a visit to             will furnish the taped sermons if you will only furnish
their school in Loveland.                                        the tape recorder. How-about it? Though it may be too
                            8 *  8                               late for a Christmas gift, it is never too late for a
      Rev. Heys was scheduled to give his illustrated lecture    love-gift.
on Jamaica in the Community Hall. in Rock Rapids,
Iowa on Oct. 30, and in Loveland, Colo. Oct. 3 1.                . . . see you in church                           J.M.F.


