                                                                                                -..
                                        tatidard

                                                  .earer

A   R E F O R M E D   SEM&MONTHLY  M A G A Z I N E



I N   THfS  I S S U E


                     Meditation:
                       The Joy of the Redeemed

_.                   Editorials:
                       Reunion or Merger?
                       As To Clerical Garb

                     Entering the Seventies
                       (see: All Around Us)

                     A Word To Covenant Youth
                       (see: In His Fear)

       .--

         . .,..A_


         :.-
      .  .,t
       1:  .`-                                    Volume XL VI / Number 8 / January 15, I970
        _`--


170                                                       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.
                                                                                         Second Class Postage Paid at Grand Rapids, Mich.
   The Joy of the Redeemed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .170              Editor-in-Chief: Prof.  H. C. Hoeksema

Editorials  -                                                                Department Editors::.  Mr. Donald Doezema, Rev. Cornelius Hanko, Prof.
                                                                             Herman Hanko, Rev. Robert C.  Harbach,`Rev.  John A. Heys,  Rw. Jay
   A United Reformed Church? (2) . . . . . . . . . . . .173                  Kortering, Rev. George C. Lubbers, Rev. Marinus Schipper, Rev. Gise J.
   AsToClericalGarb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .175           Van  Baren. Rev. Herman Veldman. Rev. Bernard Woudenberg
                                                                             Editorial Office:  Prof. H. C. Hoeksema
All Around Us  -                                                                                1842 Plymouth Terrace,  SE.
                                                                                               Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506
   Entering the Seventies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .176         Church News Editor:       Mr. Donald Doezema
                                                                                                       1904 Plymouth Terrace, S.E.
From Holy Writ  -                                                                                      Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506
   The Book of Hebrews  (10:5,6) . . . . . . . . . . . . .179                Editorial Policy:  Every editor is solely responsible for the contents  df his
                                                                             own articles. Contributions of general interest from our readers and
                                                                             questions for the Question-Box Department are welcome. Contributions
Examining Ecumenicalism  -                                                   will be limited to approximately 300 words and must be neatly written
   "Towards Justice and Peace in                                             or typewritten. Copy deadlines are the first and the fifteenth of the
       International Affairs" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 1    month. All communications relative to the contents should be sent to
                                                                             the editorial office.

In His Fear  -                                                               Business Office:  The Standard Bearer,
                                                                                                Mr. H. Vander Wal, Bus. Mgr.
   A Word To Covenant Youth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .183                                  P.O. Box 6064
                                                                                                Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506

Contending for the Faith  -                                                  Subscription Policy:  Subscription  price,$7.00  per year. Unless a definite
   Protestant Doctrine of Sin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . :  .185          request for discontinuance is received, it is assumed that the subscriber
                                                                             wishes the subscription to continue without the formality of a renewal
                                                                             order and he will be billed for renewal. If you have a change of address,
A Cloud of Witnesses  -                                                      please notify the Business Office as early as possible in order to aviod
   Of Sacrifice and Mercy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .187         the inconvenience of delayed delivery. Include your Zip Code.
                                                                             Advertising Policy:  The  Standard Bearer  does not accept commercial
Greetings from Jamaica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .189          advertising of any kind. Announcements of church and school events,
                                                                             anniversaries, obituaries, and sympathy resolutions will be placed for a
                                                                             $3.00 fee. These should be sent to the Business Office and should, be
Pages from the Past  -                                                       accomp$ed by the $3.00 fee. Deadline for announcements is the- 1st
   Believers and their Seed, Chapter VII . . . . . . . . .190                or the 15th of the month, previous to publication on the 15th or the  1st
                                                                             respectively.

Church News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .192     Bound  Volumes: The Business Officewill accept  standingordersfor  bound
                                                                             copies of the current volume; such orders are filled as soon as possible
                                                                             after completion of a volume. A limited number of past volumes may be
                                                                             obtained through the Business Office.





Meditation

                             The Joy of the Redeemed
                                                               Rev. M. Schipper

                  "Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and
              everlasting joy shall be upon their head; they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and
              mourning shall flee away. "                                                                                 Isaiah 51: I I

   A word of comfort to the abject mourners in the                           times in the immediate context we hear the refrain:
captivity!                                                                   Hearken unto me! Directed, you understand, unto His
   Repeatedly the Lord through the prophet calls at- peculiar people, who follow after righteousness  be-
tention in the context to the approaching state of                           cause they of all people only know wherein that  right-
blessedness which awaits them. No less than three                            eousness  consists. Reminding them of the covenant


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                        171


promise made to Abraham their father and therefore           God Who had been offended on account of their sins,
also to them who constitute the seed of Abraham: the         and Whose justice must be satisfied. Their Redeemer
promise which shall be realized in the new heavens and       must be not only a real righteous man, able to rep-
new earth where righteousness shall dwell.                   resent them; but at the same time very God to be able
   In response to this the prophet calls to the arm of       to endure the divine wrath over against their guilt.
the Lord to awaken!                                          Such is the nature and the power of their redemption.
   "Awake, awake, put on strength, 0 arm of the Lord;           Note: the prophet says: The redeemed of the Lord
awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old.    shall return! But how can the prophet say this when as
Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the yet the  .promised Redeemer had not come? Several
dragon?"                                                     centuries would pass before He would make His ap-
   The arm of Jehovah alone shall bring all this blessed-    pearance in the flesh. The answer is twofold. In the
ness to pass!                                                first place, the redeemed refer to those captives in
   The mourners are reminded of the strength of that         Babylon who would return again after seventy years of
arm which cut Rahab (Egypt) in pieces, and wounded           captivity to Zion in literal Jerusalem; and they are the
the dragon (the devil personified in Pharaoh, king of redeemed, therefore, typically, while they looked in
Egypt). By that arm a way was made through the sea,          hope to the Redeemer Who was to come. In the second
in order that the ransomed might pass over into the          place, the redeemed refer spiritually to all those who
land which floweth with milk and honey. The  abjects         are justified in the blood of Christ and are ultimately
in Babylon had evidently believed that this arm of returned unto Zion which is above, having been justi-
Jehovah had fallen asleep, and that apparently there         fied by faith.
was no deliverer. But as in the time when He made a             And their joy rests in their. redemption! While in
dry path in the deep, a way for His ransomed to pass         captivity all is sorrow and grief. This was true when
over, so He will arise to lift up the bowed mourners, dry    they were in the bondage of Egypt. Then they were
up all their tears, and make their faces to glisten with     depressed with grief and groaned under the cruel
joy when He makes His redeemed to return and come            whip-lashes of Pharaoh and cried for deliverance. This
with singing to Zion.                                        was also true when they were in captivity in Babylon.
   Only the redeemed shall have this joy!                    Then they hanged their harps upon the willows. Then
   Redeemed and ransomed!                                    were they afflicted and drunken but not with wine.
   Both of these terms refer to the freedom they attain      The dregs in the cup of trembling were bitter. Their
through the payment of a price, but with this differ-        wound was sore. And this is true also in the spiritual
ence: the latter looks more at the act of redemption         sense of the word, of all the redeemed who by nature
itself, while the former looks at the completed action.      are bound in the prisonhouse of sin and death. But
The redeemed, therefore, are those who have been cut         from this bondage the redeemed of the Lord shall
loose from the bondage of slavery, are emancipated           return.
and set free; and so completely that no shackles of             With singing they shall come to Zion!
bondage shall ever again enslave them.                          Beauteous Zion! Of  Zion's beauty how often we
   The redeemed of Jehovah!                                  sing:
   Not only do they belong to Him as His possession.                    Zion, founded on the mountains,
That, too, of course. For it is only the people of                      God, thy Maker, loves thee well;
Jehovah that are redeemed; and only the redeemed are                    He has chosen thee, most precious,
His people, His particular inheritance. But the meaning                 He delights in thee to dwell;
is still richer.                                                        God's own city, who can all thy glory tell?
   They are redeemed by Jehovah! In themselves they             As the redeemed captives of Babylon saw it, and the
would still be in bondage: for they had no strength to       psalmist sings of it, it was the temple hill in Jerusalem,
deliver themselves, and they had no price to pay the         where typically God dwelled in the midst of His
ransom. But Jehovah redeems them. He remembers His           people. But the  antitype is in heaven, where all the
covenant, although they broke it and were righteously        redeemed shall ultimately come. And of this they
cast into bondage. Because He remains Jehovah their          begin to sing even now;
faithful God, He remembers His covenant and redeems
them. His covenant friendship may not fail.                             When the Lord shall count the nations,
   He redeems them by a price  - the sacrifice of His                   Sons and daughters He shall see,
Only Begotten Son; Who in the way of His perfect                        Born to endless life in Zion,
obedience must lay down His life, shed the blood of                     And their joyful song shall be,
atonement. Not through the blood of bulls and goats                     "Blessed Zion, all our fountains are in thee."
could the ransom be paid, but by the blood of the Son           0, yes, singing they come to Zion! Their voices are
of God, of which animal blood was only a  prefigure-         vibrant with joy.. But their joy is not complete until
ment. A ransom paid not to the devil, but to the living      they enter Zion.


172                                             THE STANDARD BEARER



  In Zion their joy shall be absolute!                           When we get to heaven by and by, we won't need that
   Sorrow and sighing are fled away! Sorrow, all the Word anymore as we now possess it. But now it must
anguish of the soul that is brought on by affliction, bring us to heaven. And therefore, it speaks so directly
and which results in groaning and sighing, are left to us when the way is dark. Secondly, we must remem-
behind. And in Zion these can no longer be found. ber that it is the Spirit of God in Christ Who applies
There they obtain gladness and joy.                              that Word to the heart of the believer in times of
  Joy that is everlasting!                                       darkness. Word and Spirit are inseparable. Never does
  Now their joy, as they march to Zion, is so often the one operate without the other. The Word alone
interrupted. Though in principle redeemed, they are would have no comfort unless it were applied by the
still in the world. Because of this they rejoice and Holy Spirit to the individual need of the child of God.
mourn  - mourn and rejoice. They rejoice when they                 Such is, indeed, the intention of the Word of God in
pass through the cooling streams of divine grace. They our text!
mourn again when the afflictions of this present time              The comfort of those to whom this word is directed
descend upon them.                                               rests, first of all, in the assurance of complete victory.
  But in Zion everlasting joy is upon their heads!               0, indeed, if they to whom this assurance is given
Their joy shall never cease. Nothing shall interrupt it. would for a moment doubt this, they might be like
No one and nothing shall take it away -from them. As Israel in the wilderness. They doubted the promise of
certain as their salvation is eternal, so shall their joy be.    God to bring them into Canaan, desiring to turn back.
As a crown that joy shall rest upon their heads.                 And with many of them God was highly displeased and
  Particular joy!                                                their carcasses fell on the sand of the desert. That
  There shall in no wise enter into Zion any who love assurance comes to them through the Word of God
and make the lie. All the wicked shall be excluded upon which they lay hold by a true and living faith.
from the place and state of eternal joy. For the wicked When they take God at His Word, they embrace the
there is no peace. This joy is only for the redeemed of promise He gives that the redeemed shall enter Zion,
Jehovah  - beloved and chosen of God  - redeemed in and that they shall have everlasting joy.
and through Christ Jesus  - glorified with heavenly                Their comfort, in the second place, rests on the
glory.                                                           knowledge of the strength of Jehovah's arm, which is
  Blessed comfort!                                               the revelation of His strength to redeem them and
  As we said at the beginning that it is the divine bring them into that everlasting joy. Never can they
intention of this Word of God that it should bring obtain comfort in looking to an arm of flesh to deliver
comfort to the mourners in Babylon, so we must see them. Those who follow the Arminian gospel which
that it is only through the Word of God that this                insists that the redemption and glorification of man is
comfort is given.                                                to be realized through Jehovah with the help of man
  It is the common experience of God's people that have a comfortless gospel, and can never come to the
His Word speaks to their heart more at one time than solid comfort of the one who rests on the arm of
another. In times of distress and darkness it makes a Jehovah alone. That arm of Jehovah which already in
deeper impression on them than in days when their principle has vanquished all our foes, has overcome sin,
way is plain. And how often these days occur in the the devil, and his whole dominion, he understands is
life and experience of the child of God, when unright- able also to finish the work it has begun even unto
eousness seems to have the upper hand, when we suffer perfection.
rebuff and persecution at the hand of the wicked,                  This comfort  will dry up the tears of the captives of
when suffering in body and soul makes our way dark.              Babylon, and it will bring everlasting joy to all the
It is then when the Word of God infrequently shines in redeemed in the church of all ages.
its glorious light for the eye of faith. Although a period
of darkness may precede, when faith appears at a low
ebb and is almost dormant, when the soul mourns and
complains that the way of the Lord is not right. Then
God comes to drive away the darkness. And we hear
His Word as never before. Truths, comforts come up
out of the riches of that Word before our soul's eye
which before we never understood. It is then that that
Word appears to have been written just for you and
me.
  This phenomenon has its own spiritual  - mystical
cause. In the first place, the Word of God is in itself a
light and lamp for our feet. It is your guide, leading
you through the way of suffering to eternal glory:


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                           173



 Editorials

              A United Reformed Church?  (2)
                                       R e u n i o n   o r   IVierger?

                                                ProJ: H.C. Hoeksema

  As reported in our December 15, 1969 issue, there is        he (and I quote him from the article by Dr. L. H.
considerable discussion of closer relations between the       Benes which was reprinted in The Banner, Aug. 29,
Reformed Church in America and the Christian Re-              1969):
formed Church. Supposedly, the ideal realization of                     We were organically one for some years more than
such closer relations would be a United Reformed                  a century ago. One wonders how much each Church
                                                                  has lost in the losing of the other. The Ninth Street
Church, as The  Banner's  Editor Vander Ploeg sug-                Christian Reformed Church in Holland, Michigan,
gested.                                                           stands as an abiding symbol both of a unity that has
  There are, of course, many questions involved in this           .been broken and of a unity that ought to be restored.
discussion. It seems to me that the most basic ques-              We are brothers - brothers as sharing a common
tion, one which underlies or ought to underly all                 Reformed tradition, brothers as sharing a common
thinking on this question, is the question which is the           Dutch ancestry, and brothers as sharing a common
crucial one in every ecumenical effort, namely: what is           Dutch-American history. Brothers, too, in so many
the character and worth of that which is to be united,            localities in terms of close geographic proximity.
and what, therefore, will be the product of the union?          This already suggests the idea of reunion, that is, of
Here the question is concretely: is the RCA a Re-             a return of the CRC to the RCA. For  ye-union  can be
formed church? And is the CRC a Reformed church?              accomplished only where there once has been organic
And will the result of a union of the two, therefore, be      unity.
a Reformed church? Certainly, if one is Reformed and            Besides, Dr. Boer suggests that the CRC has broad-
the other is not Reformed, the result cannot be a             ened its outlook, so that it has become like the RCA,
Reformed church. And if neither the one nor the other         and therefore is in a position to be one with the RCA
is Reformed, the result might conceivably be a United         again. I quote:
Church, but could not possibly be a United Reformed                     When the Reformed Church observer of the Chris-
Church. Any discussion of this matter, therefore, if it           tian Reformed Church scene pays more attention to
is to be truly fruitful for the cause of the church of            fundamental ecclesiastical decisions than to the de-
Jesus Christ in the world, must face this most basic              bates that precede them, he cannot fail to be im-
                                                                  pressed by the fact that there is developing in the
question, first of all. And thus far, apart from a little         Christian Reformed Church  an openness to other
skirmishing in  Torch and Trumpet,  I have not seen               than traditional viewpoints which augurs well for
much inclination to face this basic question in the               fruitful dialogue and fellowship, first between the
various journals which have expressed themselves                  two churches and later hopefully within the united
about the subject of RCA-CRC union.                               Church.
  But there are other questions involved. Some of               In other words, while the CRC can have some appar-
these questions are very closely related to the funda-        ently fierce debates about doctrinal issues, the out-
mental question stated above. Others have to do with          come of those debates (as in the Dekker Case, for
the historical background of this whole question, and         example) is that the heterodox views are not con-
thus also with the history of the two denominations           demned. The CRC has become doctrinally  broad-
involved. One such question,  - a question which surely       minded, liberal; and it can therefore just as well be
must be faced,  - is this: what is the aim of these           reunited with the RCA, which preceded the CRC in
discussions,  reunion  OY  merger? It seems to this writer    broadmindedness and lack of doctrinal discipline.
that there is at this point no.great degree of clarity on       But Dr. Boer literally speaks of reunion (not merger)
this question. Some have spoken only of reunion.              also, in the following question:
Others have spoken of reunion simply in terms of                        Can we not with good reason, and should we. not
union. Others, among them  Torch and Trumpet,                     under the pressure of scriptural and historical ur-
almost seem to confuse reunion and merger, using the              gency, entertain the hope that what was severed in
terms apparently interchangeably.                                  1857 will be reunited well before the second century
  Thus, Dr. Harry Boer, who, I believe, was the first to          of separation shall have run its course?
write about the whole subject, in  The Reformed Jour-           In the case of Dr. Boer, therefore, the aim is defin-
nal,  appears definitely to have in mind  reunion.  Writes    itely reunion, it would appear. And the reunion, it also


174                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER



appears, has become possible and advisable not because ation." And Editor Vander Ploeg also does not make it
the RCA has improved since 1857, but because the                 clear whether he has reunion or merger in view; at
CRC has moved in the direction of the RCA, so that least, he does not choose between the two. For while
reasons  f0r.a separate existence  - if they ever existed, he mentions both past and present differences between
in Boer's opinion  - are now non-existent to any signif- the two denominations, he concludes with the sen-
icant degree.                                                    tence, "Only then dare we believe that  union  or  Tee-
  Dr. Benes is not as clear on this point as Boer union  will be the leading of the Lord" (emphasis
appears to be. Occasionally in his article he speaks added).
merely of "union," although this might be understood               As I already mentioned,  Torch and  Tr'umpet  does
simply as a neutral term which does not necessarily not choose its language very carefully, although my
exclude the possibility that this "union" should take general impression from the three articles in that mag-
place by way of reunion, a return of the CRC to and a            azine is that they think more about merger. Yet, while
being received into the RCA. At the same time there in the title of their symposium they ask, "What About
are indications that Benes also thinks in terms of CRC-RCA Merger?" in the introductory paragraph to
reunion. For he emphasizes that "If we are to move in this symposium they speak about reunion.
the direction of union with other denominations, we                Now it ought to be evident that there is a great
should certainly, it seems to us, give serious consider- difference between reunion and merger. Reunion pre-
ation to beginning at the place  where past division has supposes past union; merger does not. Reunion presup-
taken place" (emphasis added). He refers to the CRC as           poses estrangement; merger does not. Reunion implies
"the one church with which we are in a clearly ruptured a return to a previous relationship, which in this case
relationship." And again, he writes that "The Christian would mean that the CRC, which left the RCA in the
Reformed Church is the only other denomination with mid-1800's, would now cease to be a separate denom-
which we were once  one,  and there is  surely's  primary ination, but be again a part of the RCA. Merger implies
biblical sanction resting upon us to do what we can to           that two movements or groups come together upon a
heal this breach." And once more, he writes:                     commonly agreed basis, whether new or old, and form
         If we as a Reformed Church are really concerned         a united group, a new group, usually with a new name
       about unity in the body of Christ, is not the first       also,  - perhaps in this case with the suggested name of
       biblical, natural, and logical step an approach to the    United Reformed Church.
       Christian Reformed Church? It is an interesting and         And this difference between reunion and merger
       also a very disturbing fact, however, that we have        also implies differences in approach to the whole ques-
       initiated efforts toward merger with a number of          tion of closer relationships between the two denomin-
       other denominations in the course of our history, but     ations. In the case of reunion, examination would
       never with this denomination with whom we were            surely have to be made as to the nature of the former
       once one. However we may rationalize and excuse
       this avoidance, we must confess before God that we        union, the reasons for the breaking of that organic
       have not so much as made any real efforts to enter        unity, and the question whether those differences are
       into serious conversations with this sister denomin-      still present, whether they are still important, and
       ation, and thus to heal the one breach that is the        whether they can be resolved if they are still present.
       most obvious denial of the unity which should be          And it seems to me that some of those who are
       evident in the body of Christ.                            suggesting reunion are also assuming that those past
  Dr. Benes also recognizes that there are differences           differences are now non-existent for the most part, and
in viewpoint and in practice between the two denomin- that therefore formal reunion can be accomplished
ations, and that these need to be talked about honestly          with little difficulty. Not only is this a begging of the
and openly. At the same time, he also suggests that              question, but it also ignores another possibility,
"the events of' history are taking care of' some of namely, that in the interim since estrangement new
these differences. And he urges that the two churches            differences may have arisen which might make reunion
should look at each other again "in the light of the             both impossible and inadvisable. Merger, on the other
oneness we already have, not as we were a hundred or hand, can really ignore the past. It can say, "We will be
even fifty years ago, but as we are today." All this,            neither RCA nor CRC, but something new." It can
paired with the fact that he quotes Boer extensively,            examine the question whether  at present  there are
appears to suggest that he, like Boer, thinks that the           sufficient similarities in doctrine, polity, and practice
CRC has changed and has moved in the direction of between the two denominations to make such merger
the RCA, so that reunion, or at least serious discussion         possible. It can examine the question whether or not
of reunion, is a viable option.                                  there are at present any significant obstacles in the
  The Rev. Arnold Brink does not express himself                 path of such merger. It can examine- the question
very  clearly in his brief article, "The Lord Has Watched        whether the two groups have enough common interests
Between Us," although he does speak of the possibility           to make merger beneficial. And it can examine the
that the RCA and the CRC "reunite into one denomin-              question whether there are any practical benefits to be


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 175



  derived from such an organic union as might be formed plished. But the main question is whether it is right
  by the coming together of the two groups. And then if before the face of God. For if today such merger
  the two favor such a union, they can agree on a new should be possible, then it follows that in the past one
  and acceptable basis of unity and a new name and new or both of the two groups erred grievously; and the
  ecclesiastical machinery. And the question of merger blessing of God could not rest on a merger premised on
  involves both parties necessarily in the ethics of ignor- unconfessed sin.
  ing the past in the case of the two denominations               All of this does not mean that reunion is necessarily
  which were formerly one. In other words, if in the past right, however. That question must be decided on its
  there were differences serious enough to produce sep- own merits. Nor does reunion in this case by any
  aration, would it be right before the face of God to means guarantee a Reformed product. That is a far
  ignore that past and to arrive at some kind of union more basic question, and one which surely would have
  today which simply acts as though the past has not to be discussed in the light of the first two items which
  happened? It is a question, indeed, whether such  ignor- I mentioned in the December 15 issue.
ing of the past could ever successfully be accom-



                                 As To Clerical Garb
                                                  Pvof H. C. Hoeksema


    It is not unlikely that in the near future one or more      churches, both here and in Europe. This has been true
  of our ministers will appear some Sunday in a robe, or in our own churches, as well as in others. In years past
  toga. And lest this be misunderstood as either a move         our ministers all wore the long, black "Prince Albert"
  toward clericalism or even toward "modernism," or             coat, black trousers, and usually the uncomfortable
  lest it be too great a shock to some, a couple of the         square-pointed collar which forced  them to hold their
  brethren suggested that a few words of explanation            chins high. Most of us probably are unacquainted with
  might be helpful.                                             that style, except from pictures. Later, when styles
    And then I would point out, in the first place, that        .changed, the cutaway, wing-collar, and striped trousers
  the matter of one's particular style of clothing in the       came into fashion. But that, too, has had its day; and
  pulpit belongs in the sphere of the adiaphora, or  so-        at present it is seldom seen any more, probably mostly
  called indifferent things. Reformed churches have             for reasons of style. In many churches the robe has
  never legislated about this subject. There is no law          come into style today; or perhaps I should say that it
  requiring that ministers have a certain garb peculiar to      has come back into style. For actually the robe is the
  their office; neither is there any law forbidding a           oldest type of pulpit-wear of those that I have men-
  certain garb. This is simply a matter in which no             tioned. It dates back to the times of the Reformation.
  principle is involved as such. In other words, within the     And as might be expected of Reformation times, the
  limits of propriety, neatness, and good taste, it is          wearing of the robe certainly was not a left-over from
  simply a matter of individual choice. By the same             the Roman Catholic custom of priestly garments: for
  token, the fact that a minister wears a special, or           such thoughts were anathema to the reformers. The
  formal, garb does not mean that he associates his office      fact of the matter is that the robe was simply the
  with the idea of a priestly function in the Roman             formal garb of academic people, of those who held
  Catholic sense of the word. The latter is an altogether       positions among the educated and among educators.
  different notion. Each part of a priest's clothing (and       Thus, for example, pictures of Calvin show him
  that, too, at the various levels of the hierarchy) has its    clothed in such a toga.
  own liturgical and symbolical significance, just as the         What, then, might be the reasons for a minister to
  clothing of the priests in the old dispensation did; and      wear formal garb of any kind in -the pulpit?
  it belongs to the office of the priest that he be clothed       As I indicated, it is a matter of no principle.
  in his priestly garments, so that to function without         Whether it be a Prince Albert, a cutaway, a plain, dark
  them at the mass would be sin. This, of course, is not        business suit, or a robe that he wears cannot be de-
  and never has been the idea when Reformed ministers,          cided as a matter of principle.
  our own included, wore distinctive clothing in the              But there are, chiefly, the dictates of propriety,
  pulpit.                                                       dignity, and formality.
    In the second place, distinctive clothing in the pulpit       That one's dress should be appropriate to the occa-
  is not something new, but very old in Reformed                sion, I think, no one will deny. One does not go to the


176                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



beach or to the golf course in his dress clothes; nor         out of a fear of empty form, we tend to throw  out.&
does he attend church in a bathing suit or in his greasy form and dignity, even when the occasion calls for
work clothes. Why not? Simply because it is inappro-          dignity and solemnity. Well, this holds true also, and
priate; it doesn't fit. So also, one does not expect a        especially, for the minister of the Word. The point is
minister to ascend the pulpit garbed in a flamboyant          not that he is anything special in himself. But he is an
sport coat, a flashy sport shirt, and a loud tie. Nor does    ambassador, an ambassador of the Lord. He functions
he expect the minister to appear with muddy shoes             in a high office, in the name of a high and holy Sender.
which are sorely in need of a polishing and a suit which      And he brings the message of his Sender, God's holy
looks at though he slept in it; but he expects him to         Word. And he appears before a very special people, the
appear neat, clean, well-groomed, and soberly dressed.        church of God. And all that belongs to the form of
Why? Simply because this is in keeping with the occa-         that occasion should bespeak the solemnity and the
sion.                                                         dignity of that occasion. To that form belongs his
   Similarly, the occasion of the meeting for public          appearance and his garb. I well remember that in our
worship demands a dignity and formality which is              old Dutch Homiletics notes in seminary there was
appropriate to its nature. That occasion is the occasion      sounded the caution that "the minister must not be
of the assembling together of God's people, His               too quick to take off his dress coat." And I agree. And
church. It is the occasion when God meets with His            while there may be room for difference of opinion and
people, particularly through the means of the preach-         of taste as to the particular form which the minister's
ing of the Word and the sacraments. It is a sacred and        appropriate and dignified and formal garb should take
solemn occasion. It is an occasion of solemnity and           (and styles and tastes differ and change), because
dignity, not an occasion of frivolity and commonness.         within limits these things are relative, the toga cer-
It is something special, very special. And at that occa- tainly qualifies on these counts. Besides, it is comfort-
sion the form also must be appropriate to the occasion.       able and practical, far more comfortable than the old
The reason is not that form and formality amount to           Prince Albert or the cutaway.
anything in themselves; on the contrary, taken only in          That it would represent a change in the direction of
themselves they are utterly empty, and as empty form          modernism is, of course, nonsense. Modernism is not in
are an abomination to the Lord. All of this does not          the clothes, but in the message. Besides, the  modem-
mean, however, that form and formality which give             istic tendency is more and more in the direction of the
expression  to. one's inner attitude and to the essence       informal, not the formal. Besides that, as I indicated
and idea of the occasion must be discarded. On the            above, a toga in the pulpit is no more modem than
contrary, they are appropriate. I sometimes feel that         John Calvin.
there is a tendency in this regard to throw out the             so . . . if you see your minister in a robe one of
baby with the bath, so to speak; out of a spirit of           these days, don't be too surprised!
debunking formality and a desire to be informal, or


All Around Us
                              Entering the Seventies
                                                  Pro-f H. Hanko

  It was but ten short years ago that we entered a new        behind and entered into a new era of hope.
decade. We were about to leave the "fifties" behind             Really, the sixties began with the inauguration of
and proceed into the "sixties". The fifties, in their own     John F. Kennedy. He stirred hopes in the hearts of
way, had been bad years. They had begun with the              millions when he eloquently spoke of the fact that the
terrible and bloody Korean War. They were the years           torch is history had passed into the hands of a new
when the Cold War reached its heights and America             generation. People were led to believe, and the news
and Russia stood on the brink of plunging the world           media echoed this faith, that the sixties were to be the
into a nuclear holocaust. The country was just begin-         age when the problems of the times would be solved at
ning to realize the extent of its social problems. Espe-      last. The nation was committed to a solution of its race
cially was the issue of race and racial integration an        problems. People were coming to grips with the social
important  element.in the news that made the fifties. It      ills that plagued the land. We stood on the edge of an
was, now some ten years ago, with an audible sigh of          era of space exploration dedicated to reach the moon
relief that the nation (and the world) left the fifties       by the end of the decade. Peace was sure to come


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                    177



through a resolution of the Cold War and a lessening of       not mean that the Scriptures make prophets who are
tensions through continued detente.                           able to predict the future out of the people of God.
  Now we are at the end of the sixties and how                The Scriptures are not a kind of Jeanne Dixon crystal
embarked on another decade. Have the dreams of men            ball from which one may catch visions of events yet to
materialized? Hardly. Not too strangely the boasts of         take place. It is true that many have tried and many
our leaders are very much muted these days. For the           still try to predict events. But the Scriptures are not
country is in a mess such as the world has seldom, if         interested in enabling us to do this. And we must not
ever, seen. The pages of the history of the sixties were      be tempted into doing it either. As far as specific
written in blood. The eloquent words of John F.               events are concerned, we ought to wait for God and
Kennedy were silenced by the ringing shots of the             not rush ahead of Him. God always has a way of
assassin in the streets of Dallas. His brother died the       surprising us anyway. Psalm 77 expresses it correctly:
same cruel death in California. And violence struck
down the voice of the negroes: Martin Luther King Jr.                 "Thy way was in the sea, 0 God,
                                                                      Through mighty waters, deep and broad;
The racial problems were not solved; they became                      None understood but God alone;
more vexing and terrifying. Racial rioting plagued the                To man Thy footsteps were unknown."
land and integration faded in the wake of racial polar-
ization and the rise of militant black movements. The           But the Scriptures do tell us that Christ is exalted at
hopes, of peace between black and white went up in            God's right hand, and that to Him is given the sov-
the smoke of burning ghettos from Newark to Detroit.          ereign rule over all things that He may execute with
But the violence between the races was a part of              precision and in all its details the counsel of God. And
violence that struck every part of the country. Crime         the Scriptures surely make known to us "the things
increased as law broke down and the criminal became           which must be hereafter" as Christ works all things to
the protected one by the courts while the innocent            accomplish God's purpose and to establish His own
were left to suffer at the hands of the armed robber,         everlasting -kingdom at His coming.
the rapist, the murderer. It was the decade of war on           Thus Scripture gives us the main lines of history in
the campuses; of crime among the youth; of hippies,           order that we may interpret them and see in them the
yippies,  drugs, immorality, obscenity, nudity; in short      sovereign rule of Christ. It is, after all, because of this'
it was the decade of moral anarchy. The Korean War            that we see in the unfolding of history the signs of
which began and ended in the fifties was replaced with        Christ's coming.
the bloodier and hated war in Viet Nam. And still, as           It is well that we pause to review the main events of
we drag our weary feet into the seventies, the war goes       the sixties momentarily to be reminded of all this.
on.                                                             One remarkable development of the sixties has been,
  The fault of the  crime and anarchy which has all but       no doubt, the lessening of the cold war. Russia and the
brought this country to its knees does not lie alone          United States are able to get along in many respects
with those who violate the law. The fault lies  iyith         and have toned down their belligerence. They are sit-
those who are called  tq make the law and enforce it.         ting in comparative harmony in Helsinki discussing
The root of the trouble lies in the fact that the law of      arms-limitations. They are able to cooperate in trying
God was ignored and despised. And here the churches           to find a solution to the troubles which plague the
led the way. A "situation ethics" was preached from           Mid-East. They are increasing their cultural and ec-
the pulpits of the land. And it is a situation ethics         onomic ties. They are exploring the possibilities of
which destroyed the standard of God's will for men.           cooperation in various areas of scientific investigation.
The result was that the courts (especially the Supreme        To this belongs the growing international conscious-
Court) destroyed the possibility of enforcing the law         ness of Europe and the continued desire to form a
and curbing the excesses of crime.                            United States of Europe with ties to the satellites on
  It is in this situation that we stand at the beginning      the Eastern  sidq of the iron curtain. All these things
of the seventies. Few dare to speak of a new age of           point to the gradual development of a one-world king-
hope.  Newsweek  spoke for most when it said: "We . . .       dom. It will not do  to shout with the men of the
have set too much in motion, have disturbed our               right-wing that Communism is about to inundate the
institutions and ourselves too greatly to have any very       world. We cannot tell. But this is not the point. What-
clear ideas about how things will  tuti out. It has           ever precise form a one-world government takes, it
become chic to say that the decade began in great hope        makes no essential difference. Such a one-world gov-
and ended in deep despair."                                   ernment will certainly emerge. But it will be the king-
  The fact that the sixties did  tiot live up to the great    dom of Anti-Christ which lives in bitter opposition to
hopes of those who spoke so glowingly of a new age            Christ and to His Church. Surely the seventies will
did not surprise the people of God. It was evident then       bring this goal much nearer than it is now.
as it is evident now that the Word of God holds out no          The rise of lawlessness to staggering proportions is in
such vain dreams for the children of men. This does           itself a sign of Christ's return. The Lord makes this


178                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



clear in His discourse on Mount Olivet recorded in             and the conservatives make every effort to preserve the
Matthew 24. But it is, I think, important to remember historic Christian faith, the mighty guns of liberal
that lawlessness breeds lawlessness, and that the end is churchmen are trained against them and they are the
anarchy. The solution to anarchy is martial law  - the objects even of persecution. A world-wide religion is
suspension of all civil liberties. And martial law is but a indeed tolerant. But there is to be no toleration of the
step away from a dictatorship. This is precisely the           truth of Scripture. There is no room for the true
way Hitler came to power. It is not difficult to see all       church of God.
this as an aid to the dictatorship of Antichrist himself.        This kind of church is intent on joining hands with
  Already. the government has unbelievable powers.             the secular government. Through the liberal church
Stored away in its computers is a mass of material pour millions of dollars of government funds. To the
concerning every citizen of this country which gives government the liberal church speaks with a voice of
the government information concerning some of the politics, of earthly concern, of social solutions to social
most personal and intimate details of our life. I some- problems. The voice of the gospel is silenced as the
times think the government knows as much about us as           church addresses herself to matters assigned by God to
we do ourselves. The census questionaires which will the sphere of those who  .exercise authority in the state.
have to be filled in this year will add to this informa- It ought not to surprise us then that the false church
tion. It all gives the government the wherewithal to joins with the government in this aim of achieving a
interfere in the personal lives of its citizens. There is a    one-world government. No wonder that the W.C.C. and
benevolent face of the government as it doles out its          the N.C.C. are intent on doing just this.
millions through welfare and social security. But even           The key to success is always the indoctrination of
this kindly face of the government is hiding the grim          the youth. So the government has taken over educa-
power of government control. If the government holds tion in this country. The public school system is fast
its hands on our purse-strings, the government holds its becoming the organ for the propagation of atheism and
hands on our life.                                             evolution. The school is the pulpit for the govem-
  There is a fierce and impersonal face of the govem- ment's program. Shall the Christian Schools become a
ment. which is heartless and cruel, immune to human            part of this? It seems as if this shall happen. If aid to
suffering. The government has within its power (and            private schools becomes a reality in the Seventies, then
makes use of this power through its vast bureaucracy)          surely the private schools will also become agents to
to seize under certain conditions all the assets of its        promote the government's goals. Govenment aid, it is
citizens, to confine to mental institutions, to close          demonstrated in every area of life, means government
down businesses  - all without any kind of trial. With         control. Perhaps it can be argued convincingly that at
every form of electronic eavesdropping the government          this moment the government has no intentions con-
can tune in on the lives of anyone. All this, too, shall       sciously to take over the Christian schools. Maybe no
increase the power of government in the years ahead.           concrete plans have been laid to do this. Maybe those
  The church has played a major role in all this. Not          who' will presently dole out aid to the Christian and
only were the sixties the years of the continued growth        Parochial schools are not consciously intending to im-
of false and evil ecumensim, but the movement to-              pose the government on these schools. But this does
wards a world-wide church, embracing every religion,           not mean that Satan is not intent on doing this. He is
grew mightily. There was one striking feature of all           the implacable foe of the cause of Christ. He will do
this. Nothing characterized the church so much as that         anything to destroy the witness and testimony of the
much-abused word "tolerance". Everyone is tolerant.            people of God. And if the schools succumb now to this
Every religion is asked to be tolerant of every other          subtle temptation, they have opened the door to gov-
religion. We are all, so it is said, on the road to the        ernment control and they shall never be able to shut it
same heaven, though the road we may be travelling is           again.
somewhat different from that of our brother. The goal            Is there a bright light shining in the darkness of the
is religion so broad and so tolerant that it embraces not      sixties? Some will say that this bright light is the
only the different faiths within Protestantism, nor even       fantastic achievements of science. We have entered a
merely the differences between Protestantism and Ro-           new age of technology. The boast to reach the moon in
man Catholicism, but also the differences which sepa-          the sixties has been realized. Science has brought re-
rate "Christianity" from pagan religions. All must be          lease from suffering in bold advances in medicine.
brought into a general brotherhood of man. There is,           Science has opened the doors to a new age of affluence
however, one important exception to this general spirit        and freedom from  then drudgery of work. Perhaps it is
of tolerance: there is no tolerance for the truth. With-       science that will lead us into a new age  - into a heaven
out those churches where the battle rages between              on earth.
liberals and conservatives, the conservatives must con-          But this same science has denied the Scriptures and
stantly listen to the contradictory appeals of the lib-        has the avowed goal of making man into God. Science
erals: tolerate us. But when the liberals are in power         has dedicated itself to all that is opposed to the will of


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                   179



God. Science has, if anything at all, held before the          reached that segment of his development in sin where
minds of sinful man the prospect of sinning as much as         he will sell his soul for financial security and make
man pleases while escaping the awful consequences of himself a servant of Satan to gain to himself the things
sin's destructive power. Science destroys the very             his wicked heart craves. How easy for one who is
planet that it wants to make a heaven. Science pollutes        Antichrist to gain the world to himself and gather the
the atmosphere, the oceans, lakes and streams. Science         loyalty of all men to his foul image. All he needs do is
litters space with junk and makes the moon a dump.             satisfy man's lust for security and pleasure.
Science, with all its powers, is pretty much capable of          The sixties brought us far in this direction. The
doing little else than destroying everything with which        seventies shall bring us farther yet. Of this we may be
it comes into contact. And if technology makes free-           sure. How close to the end do we live? We cannot tell.
dom from work a distinct possibility, it only gives man        God only knows. But embarking on a new decade the
more time to indulge in all the lusts of the flesh. This is    child of God has this firm assurance: Christ rules over
the age of entertainment and pleasure. In his leisure          all. Nothing can happen without His will. And He will
man must be entertained. And his entertainment, to             rule till all His enemies are put under His feet and until
tickle his sensibilities, must become ever more brutal,        the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of
ever more obscene, ever more violent. Man becomes              our God and of His Christ. Lift up your heads; your
sated with pleasure and weary of life.                         redemption draweth nigh.
  But the point  - the awful point  - is that man has


From Holy Writ
                    THE BOOK OF HEBREWS
                                                   Rev. G. Lubbers

THE ALL-DETERMINING WILL OF GOD CON- those who came to offer continued to do so. They  did
CERNING THE ACCEPTABLE SACRIFICE (Hebrews so because they had conscience of sin and guilt which
10:5,  61                                                      was not removed. They are the transgressions of the
   The laws of the ceremonial shadows of the Old               "first covenant" which must be removed by the blood
Testament were really profitless as far as actually re- of the New Covenant. (Heb. 9: 15)
moving our sins and cleansing our conscience from sin.           In view of all this weakness and imperfection of the
The law could never make perfect the entire class of law and the shadows Christ stands here with His Word,
worshippers, throughout the entire Old Testament dis- He stands, he is coming into the world, and he casts his
pensation. When the great day of atonement was ended shadow of good things to come. He is the High Priest
and the feast was concluded, the only thing that Israel of good things to come.
could look forward to, under these shadows, was                  Yes, when all of the shadows and all that man can
another typical day `of atonement. Had it been possible do has proven its utter worthlessness and desperate
to remove sin, to cleanse the conscience from guilt by helplessness  - then the Arm of the Lord is revealed to
these sacrifices, these sacrifices would have ceased by save in grace and mercy. Then we see the truth that
their inherent power and virtue. They would have "herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He
accomplished very really what they obsignated and loved us and sent His son a propitiation for our sins."
portrayed. The term in the Greek text is  "epausanto,  " (I John 4: 10) Such is the force of the "Wherefore" in
which is middle voice, aorist tense. The aorist is point verse 5. The Greek  "dio  " means: on account of
action. It is action completed once and for all. The which. On account of the weakness of the law the
middle voice really says "they would have  ceased Christ Himself comes into the world to seek and to
themselves."  They would have done so by their own save that which is lost. This coming into the world is
inherent virtue and operation. No one else would have very significant. He who comes is the Son in these last
stopped it. The divine justice would have been satis- days. God spoke in sundry times and divers manners
fied, the law fulfilled and grace would have been pro- unto the fathers through the prophets. But, finally,
cured. We would then have had the "very image of the the time came known as the fulness of times. Then
things themselves." But now they were a shadow, a Christ was born from a woman and under law. (He-
faint promissory outline of things to come.                    brews 1: 1; Galatians  4:4, 5.) It was then that God sent
   It all availed nothing to the sinner!                       forth his Son to do His will. For this is the beloved
   Besides, this all was not well-pleasing to God. Yes, and elected Son in whom is all His good pleasure.


180                                              THE STANDARD BEARER



Hence, his coming into the world refers centrally to              "To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices
His incarnation. The Word was made flesh and  awelt            unto me? saith the Lord: I am  full of the burnt
among us (John 1: 14). And of His fulness we all               offerings  of  rams and  of  the fat  of  fed beasts; and I
receive, even grace for grace!  (Idem 16) These are not        delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs or of
simply some isolated texts, but they are the pillars of        great he goats. . . Bring no more oblations; incense is
truth,-representative of all the great lines of teaching of    an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths,
all the Scriptures. Wherefore Jesus could instruct the         the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with it; it is
travelers to  Emmaus in the things concerning Himself,         iniquity,    even the solemn meeting. . .  " (Isaiah
beginning with Moses, passing on through the Psalms            l:ll-15).
and culminating in all the prophets. And the sum of it            We must not think that God ever desired a goat to
all was: must not the Christ suffer all these things and       expiate the guilt of His people. God forbid! God
thus enter into His glory (Luke  24:27)?                       would only have the perfect sacrifice of obedience to
  The writer to the Hebrews introduces the Messiah as          His will by man himself. And that no flesh can do; no
coming into the world. He comes into the  "Kosmos.  "          flesh is justified by works of law. Hence, we need a
He does not merely come to this earth. He truly comes          Mediator, a Messiah, who wholly recognizes the imper-
into the inhabited world of men and angels, but he is          fection of the  law  as well as the imperfection and
exalted above both (Hebrews 1). For God never said             sinfulness of His people. Such a high priest became us
to the angels: Sit on my right hand. But he the Christ         who is holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from
who centrally comes into the World, born from Mary.            sinners.
However, he was coming by His Spirit in the prophets              In Psalm 40 we see this truth of the cleansing of the
before this. Before Abraham was, I am, he says to the          conscience by a better sacrifice set forth in bold relief.
unbelieving Jews in John 8. And, therefore, he was             We do well to take a careful look at this Psalm. A brief
coming into the world under the shadows and types.             .analysis of this Psalm indicates that we are here dealing
Dimly in the promissory shadows walked the Messiah             with what Leslie S.  M'Caw in the "New Bible Com-
between the candlesticks in the glory of the Old Testa-        mentary" calls, "The Liturgy Of A Full Heart." The
ment shadows, and the pillar of cloud. And He has              keynote of this Psalm is of joyful thanksgiving that the
now passed through the heavens.                                Lord has given the Psalmist deliverance from the hor-
  However, here the text indicates that this coming            rible pit and from the miry clay. Now he is standing on
into the world refers to Christ coming to suffer and           the firm ground, upon the solid rock of completed
die. He is the  obedient  Servant who has dealt pru-           redemption from sin and guilt. How different is this
dently. To make this clear the writer here cites from          Psalm from the experience of one who has nothing but
Psalm  40:1-9.  The text is as follows:                        a "shadow of good things" without the corresponding
   "Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a            "image of the things themselves." The Psalmist is
body hast thou prepared (fitted) me; In burnt offerings        come into possession of this great salvation. The Lord
and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then         has heard his prayer; it was well-pleasing to Him; The
said  1,  Lo,  I  come  (in the volume of the book it is       Lord accepted it. It is now a new song of one who is
written of me) to do thy will, 0 God, . . . "                  thankful that the Lord has redeemed him from so great
                                                               a death by redemption blood. It was not the blood of
  How the Old Testament saint must have often felt             goats, but the blood of the Son of God, the Messiah
that the Lord was not really pleased with sacrifice and        who entered the Most Holy place through His own
offerings! They must have felt this particularly on the        blood, in perfect obedience.
great day of atonement. On this day it was really the            That is the "key of knowledge" (Luke  11:59). The
yearly purification of all things, priesthood, temple,         "key" to unlock this Mystery of godliness is here given
altar. The difficulty was that even on this best day,          in Psalm  40:1-9. Sacrifices did not bring about peace
when the victim was wholly burnt as a freewill offering        of heart and mind, it is true. However, that was never
to the Lord, and that, too, outside of the camp  -             the way of the Mystery of godliness that is great. Such
everything was cleansed except the conscience. The             were never the "thoughts" of God for our redemp-
worshipper knew that this was all but a parable of             tion. God's thoughts are His eternal plans and pur-
good things to come.                                           poses in Christ Jesus. Of this the Psalmist speaks in
  Such it was at its best!                                     Psalm 40. They are "thy thoughts to  usward." The
  But there were times too when it was so emphat-              Psalmist breaks forth into joyful praise, with a full and
ically clear that God did "not desire" these sacrifices,       humble confession which is at once also divine revela-
but when Israel simply brought sacrifice and did not           tion, as.follows:
shew mercy, did not serve the Lord in spirit and in               "Many, 0 Lord my God, are thy wonderful works
truth, then the Lord tells Israel through Isaiah, the          which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to
prophet, that they are nothing but a spiritual Sodom,          usward; they cannot be reckoned up in order unto
when we read,                                                  thee; if I would declare and speak of them, they are


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                               181



more than can be numbered, " Verse 5.                          angels stooped with earnest desire to look into these
  It is in the midst of these wonderful works that we          !mysteries. That is the mystery of the singing of the
find Christ standing in the focal point. All these works /angels in Bethlehem-Ephratha. Only here the Spirit
are summed up in His sacrificial obedience. There is imakes Christ so prominent in Psalm  40:6-8, that David
no numbering of the works of God possible except we            iis enshrouded in the light of the glory of the Messiah
are able to read the "volume of the book," the Holy            iHimself. It is the obedient answer of the Servant of
Scriptures. There is no Alpha and there can be no /God, the Son in our human nature, to the  will  of God.
Omega  - without the Messiah coming into the world               This  will  is the all-determining will of God. It is the
and saying: Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not,          Divine delight of God in His own glorious perfections
but the body hast thou prepared me! That is the                to be manifested and maintained in our salvation!
"key" to understanding the works of God" (the  Mag-            Christ is come to perform that determinate counsel
nalia Dei) of Acts 2: 11 here in Psalm 40:5.                   and foreknowledge of  God.~ Here we see what Isaiah
  When viewed in this light it makes very little or no         writes concerning the "thoughts" of God. Writes he
difference whether David says this in Psalm 40 of the          "For as the heavens are higher than the earth,, so are
writer of the Hebrews in our Scripture passage under           my ways higher than your ways,  andmy thoughts than
discussion. For David speaks by the Spirit of Christ,          your thoughts." Yea, now the mountains and the hills
which was in him, and which did testify of the suffer-         shall break forth before you into singing, and all the
ings to come upon the Christ and the glory to follow           trees of the field shall clap their hands for joy!
(I Peter  l:lO, 11). And we may add that the very                Behold, I am come to do thy will, 0 God!


Examining Ecumenicalism

"Towards Justice and Peace in International Affairs"
                                                  Rev. G. Van Buren

   The fourth report adopted by the World Council of point out how this is true.
Churches in its meeting at Uppsala in 1968 is given the          First, the paper speaks, by way of introduction, .of
title which is placed above this article. The title itself certain "Christian Insights." These "insights," how-
suggests again a concern with a "social" gospel  - ever, are "Christian" in name only. Among other
especially in distinction from the gospel of Scripture.        things, it is stated,
   Now it is true that the church of Jesus Christ  can,be,             The Word of God testifies to the unity of creation,
nay, should be, interested in justice and peace. For                and to the unity of all men in Christ. . . . This calls us
God is called the God of peace (I Thess.  5:23). Peace              to action oriented to the brotherhood of all men. . . .
is of God and surpasseth understanding (Phil.  4:7).                   The Word of God bears witness to Christ who
Peace must be preached (Eph. 2: 17). But peace is                   sacrificed himself for his brethren. . . . By this we are
specifically identified in Scripture as the fruit of the            challenged not only to ask sacrifices of others, but to
work of atonement, which is enjoyed by the individual               make them ourselves. . . .
ONLY in the way of regeneration (Eph. 2: 14-l 7).                      The Word of God testifies that in Jesus Christ,
                                                                    God makes the world new. . . . We are called at the
   God is likewise the God of justice (I John  1:9). He             same time to critical examination and to unhesitating
is the God Who does not justify man as he is born in                involvement. . . .
Adam, for in His sight shall no man living be justified             ~ The Word of God testifies that the reconciling
(Ps.  143:2).  But God justifies His elect (Rom.  8:33). It         work of God makes an end to all division and en-
is this justification through the blood of the Lamb                 mity. . . . This drives us to seek to open and to keep
which is the basis of true peace (Rom. 5: 1). The truly             open the lines of communication between races,  age-
just are those who live by faith (Rom. 1: 17). And                  groups, nations and blocs, in order to bring about
these. justified ones walk in justice towards others                reconciliation. . . .
(James 2 and other passages).                                    Though of necessity I quote only part of the "Chris-
   Therefore, it is striking that when the paper adopted       tian Insights," it should be obvious that these "in-
by the W.C.C. speaks of justice and peace, it speaks of sights" suggest a certain "Universalism." The work of
a justice and peace which Scripture does not know, nor Christ is applied to all men on this earth  - these all are
does it really seek to relate its own idea of justice and      beneficiaries of it. Secondly, these "insights" suggest
peace with that justice and peace accomplished by              that the purpose of Christ's work was to establish a
Christ` on the cross of atonement. I would like to             certain Utopia on this earth  - that Christ's work brings


                                                       THE STANDARD BEARER



the elect to glory is not even mentioned. `Thirdly,                   development . . . .
these "insights" speak of  reconcili@ion  - not in the                      Express in their own life the truth that all men are
sense of reconciliation of God with the sinner, but                   created equal in God's sight, and share a common
only in the sense of reconciliation of the sinner  .with              humanity . . . .
the sinner. These "Christian Insights," therefore, rep-                     . . . They should also stress that economic justice
resent pure, unadulterated modernism  - insights to                   cannot be achieved without sacrifice and support the
                                                                      establishment of an international development tax. . . .
which no true child of God could subscribe. Yet these                       Give greater priority and more money to ministries
"insights" are the basis for the judgments and conclu-                of  reconcili&on-  and service on an international
sions which follow in the position paper.                             scale, and especially where the most explosive forms
  Several problems are presented and briefly discussed                of injustice are to be found . _ . .
in this paper. First, there is a brief summary of the               There is presented finally a very revealing discussion
problem of peace and war. Simply stated,  Qne could              of "international structures." This section shows how
say: the W.C.C. is against war.  The W.C.C. does not             that the majority within the W.C.C. are striving for a
recognize war as the fruit of sin; nor will they admit           united world community. One can compare what is
that the only possible way of removal of war is                  stated~ with  what Scripture  reveals in  Revelation 13  -
through the atonement of Christ and regeneration by              and he must be struck by the similarity. The W.C.C.
His Spirit. No; they are rather opposed to war because           states:
it is the "gravest affront to the conscience of man;"                       But today the national unity has become too
the "encouragement of wars by proxy" is an "inter-                    small, particularly among the weaker nations. Both
national scandal which governments must no longer                     the need for self-protection against economic dom-
tolerate or permit." Their position towards war and                   ination by more powerful nations and the mutual
peace must be hardly different from that of many                      assistance in development afforded by economic
non-Christian sects that presently exist.                             cooperation  suggest.the desirability of regional organ-
  The article continues by emphasizing the need of                    izations. These can contribute to peace both intern-
"protection of individuals and groups in the political                ally as an instrument of reconciliation between their
world." The section is divided into parts: one treating               members, and externally as a form of cooperative
the subject of human rights, the next speaks of major-                security. They offer a practical intermediate step
ities and minorities, then follows a section on race                  towards the goal of one world community . . .
                                                                            It is imperative that the churches support the
relations, and finally the question of refugees and                   building of strong agencies of regional cooperation
displaced persons is covered. All of these subjects are               and concern themselves closely with political devel-
treated only briefly. Striking it is here too, that im-               opments at the regional level. The churches also
provement is suggested along lines which have nothing                 should cooperate together regionally . . . .
to do with the gospel, nothing to do with the idea of                       Christians should urge their governments to accept
sin and grace. Men are encouraged, and the church                     the rulings of the International Court of Justice with-
must actively encourage, to establish an earthly king-                out reservation. Christians should also give unrelent-
dom without injustice. Among other statements, are                    ing support to the development of an international
found these:                                                          ethos. We are convinced that there is a moral sense in
                                                                      all men to which appeal can be made, but which still
       Churches should strive to make their congregations             needs to be publicly articulated. The UN is essential
    feel that in the modern world-wide community the                  to the pursuit of justice and peace in the world . . . .
    rights of the individual are inevitably bound up with                   The overcoming of the present inadequacies of the
    the struggle for a better standard of living for the              UN depends chiefly on the extent to which men will
    underpriviledged of all nations . . . .                           accord to the essential authority. We therefore re-
       . . . Protection of conscience demands that the                affirm the strong support of it stated by the preced-
    churches should give spiritual care and support not               ing assemblies of the World Council of Churches.
    only to those serving in armed forces but also those
    who, especially in the light of the nature of modern           It ought to be evident that this document advocates
    warfare, object to participation in particular wars          the establishment of peace and justice through a  one-
    they feel bound in conscience to oppose . . . .              world community which has gained the support of a
       The churches must be actively concerned for the           united church. The peace and justice sought will
    economic and political wellbeing of exploited groups         doubtlessly then be the peace and justice of the king-
    so that their statements and actions may be relevant.        dom of the antichrist. This peace and justice does not
  Then follows a division treating "economic justice             proceed out of the cross. It is not based upon atone-
and world order." There are presented several sugges-            ment. It follows rather out of a willingness of all men
tions to accomplish this:                                        to cooperate.
       The full development and use of a wide variety of           The position of this paper is summarized in its
    national, regional and world instruments, with the           conclusion. Notice again how the emphasis is upon the
    United Nations acting to review and correlate them           possibility of working together  - not only working
    in an overall strategy of world economic and social          together with other churches, but working together


                                                       THE STANDARD BEARER                                                          183


 with those of other "religions and all men of good-                    grounds, political systems and styles of action pre-
 will" everywhere. The W.C.C. works for a united                        sent substantial obstacles to cooperation, these possi-
 church and a united world; it actively works for the                   bilities must be fully explored. More serious efforts at
 establishment of the kingdom, of the antichrist. They                  dialogue with the adherents of other religions and all
 conclude by stating:                                                   men of good-will provide a potential resource on a
                                                                        wider scale. At the same time, responsive Christian
        The growing dimensions of the ecumenical move-                  witness to the world of nations should be expressed
      ment offer new possibilities for concerted contribu-              at the parish level.  There is no parish so small or
      tions to international relations. There is an increasing          isolated that it should feel free of involvement in this
      demand for common action by all Christians in the                 common responsibility through prayer, education,
      international field, and new possibilities in many                consultation with the Christians of the nations con-
      sectors of the international situation for joint or               cerned and through ecumenical service and action at
      parallel action by Christians. Even if differences in             local level.
      historical ecclesiastical structures, cultural back-            But there is no room for Christ!



I n   H i s   F e a r

                          A WORD TO COVENANT YOUTH
                                                          Rev. John A. Heys

    At the moment, Covenant Youth, you are strong.                  Days there will be when aches and pains instead of
    And life is so sweet.                                          pleasure will be your experience. You may even speak
    The years of preparation and of growing up are                  then of "the good old days."
  behind you. Physically you are now fully developed.                 Listen once to what Solomon wrote, and what God
  You have arrived at full strength of body. And now the            moved Him to pen down for you, "Remember now
  world, the whole world, with all that which it contains           thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil
  is ahead of you. What if offers and what opportunities            days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou
  are in it far exceeds anything that any former genera- shalt say, I have no pleasure in them." Ecclesiastes
  tion knew. The little things are behind you. Big things           12: 1 And he knew what he was talking about. He was
  are ahead. Childish things are no more the lot of your telling it as it is. In fact, in very beautiful language he
  life. You have arrived!                                           points out to you what is going to happen in your life.
    In the enjoyment of your new freedom and powers IHe tells you to remember your Creator "While the sun,
  you are often too busy to stop and consider that, even [or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not  dark-
  as you gradually came from these little things and lened, nor the clouds return after the rain." By this he
  weaknesses of childhood to your present strength and /points out to you that sicknesses, sorrows and miseries
  freedom, so all this will wear off, and, as Solomon said          are before you in spite of the strength you now feel
  in his wisdom, "Man goeth to his long home." The                  and the health that you now enjoy. Dark days are
  strength you now have seems to be so durable. Within              coming. Days when the shadow of death will be very
  you, you have no conscious experience to tell you that            evident to you. The light will become dim, because the
  all this could end, and that there will also be a slide           sun, the moon, the stars are darkened for you. The sun
  downhill as there was this steady climb uphill.                   may shine brightly in the sky for your children, who
    But you are covenant youth. And there is a measure              now have arrived at your present age; but for you it is
  of spiritual growth within you as well as physical and            grief upon grief, disappointment after disappointment,
  mental development. Therefore these lines are written             one sickness and ailment upon another, and, perhaps,
  by one interested in your spiritual well-being with the           recovery from one type of surgery only to have to
  assurance that you can and will receive it. May these             submit to the knife for another. That is what Solomon
  lines serve to assist you in your spiritual growth so that        means when he says that the clouds return after the
  in it you are not behind the physical  .and mental                rain.  You expect a few years of sunshine now because
  growth.                                                           you are beginning to recover from an ailment. But, no,
    Consider, then, that although life is sweet today and           the clouds return to pour out more rain and trouble.
  your strength is great, the days will come wherein you              He continues, "In the days when the keepers of the
  will say, "I have no pleasure in them." That is right.            house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow
  Days lie ahead which will produce no pleasure for you.            themselves, and the grinders cease because they are


184                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



few, and those that look out of the windows be dark- turn in your driver's license. These young fellows drive
ened." Plainly here we have a picture of old age creep- so fast! It makes you so nervous. How can you ever
ing up  - and at times rushing up  - at us. With the        cross that busy highway; and why do they have to put
weakness of old age the legs tremble and the knees up so many stop signs? You take the old roads and
smite one against the other, often so uncontrollably.       shun the super-super-highways and free-wheeling free-
The arms, which symbolize the strength of man bow ways. You are not so sure of yourself anymore, and it
themselves in weakness, not able to do the work they is a relief when someone else drives. And icy roads
formerly enjoyed. There we sit with arms folded                  777
                                                            . . . . . .
(bowed) instead of reaching out to the work and                Your lawn does not get cut so often and the leaves
flexing with visible power of rippling muscles. The         are not raked up so quickly. The snow stays on your
teeth, or grinders, are few and we resort to soft foods.    sidewalk in the hope that maybe the sun will take care
That steak we pass up; and those nuts and crunchy           of that. The flowers you planted and cared for so
fruits we reluctantly refuse. At the same time the eyes,    faithfully are choked by weeds. Your vegetable garden
those that look out, of the windows, need more and          is the easy prey of insects and bugs. It is either too hot
more light, if we are to read. We try to open them one      or too cold, or you are too tired to be at it and to keep
lens stop  ortwo, and find that they do not print Bibles the yard and garden as it once was. Besides your
and books as clearly as they did when we were your ambition, your force and drive has  .slowed up and
present age.                                                weakened so much that all this does not bother you,
  So it is also that your mouth also slows down, for        even though at one time this all was your pride and
"The doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound joy. As Solomon says, "The almond tree shall flourish
of the grinding is low." Well, your appetite just is not    and the grasshopper shall be a burden and desire shall
what it used to be; and what you eat does not agree         fail."
with you, so you let it go, refuse it, leave it on the         You may, therefore, expect that dark and carefully
plate and you nibble here and there, because you have groomed head of hair to become snow white like the
to cope with a slowed-down digestive system; and            blossoms of the almond tree before they fall to the
perhaps a set of ulcers as well. With the decaying of the ground; or even see that almond tree bare and without
teeth  - and in Solomon's days they did not have the        even as much as one white blossom on it. And around
advantages and marvels of modern dentistry  - come          this time you may be heard saying, "0, my aching
doctor's orders to cut down on those rich foods, on         back!" You will look for a straight hard chair for fear
foods high in cholesterol, on fatty foods, and those        that you will never be able of yourself to get out of
pesky calories. Pretty soon you get almost on a milk that soft, reclining chair which you used to enjoy so
and toast diet, which you eat because it is time to eat much. Or perhaps you want to tell your grandchildren
and not because you are actually hungry and look            about your slipped disc operation upon your back.
forward to eating.                                             And why is all this? Solomon points out correctly
  Deafness sets in and sleep escapes you. You are up that man goeth to his long home. And all around you
with the birds and not because the slightest noise          in house after house the mourners will gather, as those,
.awakens  you. No, although, "He shall rise up at the       who grew up with you will have already gone to their
voice of the bird", Solomon continues, "and the             long, everlasting home. We climb to a point of physical
daughters of music shall be brought low", you shall         strength and development; and then with each year in
rise up at the time when the bird's voice is heard by       gaining momentum we rush down hill to the end! The
others, by your children. You yourself will only faintly Psalmist says in Psalm 90: 10 that "We flu away."
hear  - unless modern electronics has supplied you             It may not seem that way to you now. This may
with an hearing aid which also magnifies the noises you     look like it is for others. But be sure that this is fact
do not want to hear  - your daughter's and grand-           for all of us. "It is appointed unto men once to die".
daughter's singing. You shout and wonder why people Hebrews  9:27. And this text adds, "But after this the
talk so softly.    Is this also due to the "generation judgment.`? Of this Solomon also speaks in the connec-
gap?" You turn the radio way up and cannot  .under-         tion of the verses which we treated above. Not only
stand that others quickly set it so that you cannot hear does he tell you, with a view to the fact that you will
it. They must have it in for the old fogies and do not      appear in judgment before Him at the end of that way,
want them to enjoy these things along with them. That       to remember your Creator in these days of your youth;
new preacher is really no improvement either. He            but in the concluding verses of the preceding chapter
speaks so softly! And that new amplification system         he stated, "Rejoice, 0 young man (and of course also
was not really worth those hundreds of dollars spent.       young woman) in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer
They just do not make things the way they used to do!       thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in all the ways
  But the day will also come when your present brav-        of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes; but know
ery will disappear. You will be "afraid of that which is    thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into
high, and fear shall be in the way." You will probably judgment. Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart,


                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER                                              185



  and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and unlimited and your recuperative powers very great.
  youth are vanity."                                             Now, therefore, is also the time for you to remember
    Solomon said that. And he said it in God's name. your Creator. This is the time when you are so apt to
  He, Solomon, had also been a youth. Having passed push Him out of your mind and life. Yea, now is the
  through childhood and youth and not yet having his time when it seems as though you have little or no
  silver cord loosed, or golden bowl broken, nor his need of Him. Fall not into that error! The old must
  pitcher broken at the fountain or wheel broken at the die, Solomon has pointed out, but  the young can die
  cistern, going toward the dust, but not yet having and often do. Besides, youth is the time that God
  returned to it, Solomon from that vantage point and demands service and love as well as in the declining
  with an accumulated wisdom speaks from the pages of years of life. Remember Him in His fear. And remem-
  Holy Writ to you today. And being interested in your ber that  He remembers  perfectly all your deeds, long
  spiritual well-being, we wish to write a few lines more after you have dismissed them from mind and for-
  about this matter next time, the Lord willing.                 gotten them completely. But, as we said, more of this,
    Now, you are in the prime of your life and still             the Lord willing, next time.
  advancing to more strength. Now your strength seems


 Contending for the Faith

                                      THE DOCTRINE. OF SIN
                                           THE THIRD PERIOD  - 730-l  5 17 A.D.
                                             PROTESTANT DOCTRINE OF SIN
                                                  ACCORDING TO CALVIN

                                                         Rev. H. Veldman

    In chapter 2 of Book II of his Institutes Calvin             power, He has given us freedom of choice; and  .He
  discusses the freedom of the will. He begins this chap-        constrains not the unwilling, but embraces the will-
 ter with the remark:                                            ing." Again : "Oftentimes a bad man, if he will, is
        Since we have seen that the domination of sin,           changed into a good one; and a good one falls into
      from the time of its subjugation of the first man, not     inactivity, and becomes bad; because God has given us
      only extends over +he whole race, but also exclu-          naturally a free will, and imposes no necessity upon us,
      sively possesses every soul, it now remains to be more     but, having provided suitable remedies, permits the
      closely investigated, whether we are despoiled of all      event to depend entirely on the mind of the patient."
      freedom, and, if any particle of it yet remain, how
      far its power extends.                                     Again: "As without the assistance of Divine grace, we
    Of the early ecclesiastical writers he observes that,        can never do any thing  aright,  so unless we bring what
  though there has not been one who would not ac-                is our own, we shall never be able to gain the favour of
  knowledge both that human reason is grievously                 heaven. Again : "Let us bring what is ours; God will
  wounded by sin, and that the will is very much embar-          supply the rest (an expression very familiar with
  rassed by corrupt affections, yet many of them have            Chrysostom)." Agreeably to which Jerome says: "That
  followed the philosophers far beyond what is right.            it. belongs to us to begin, and to God to complete; that
  And the early fathers appear to Calvin to have thus it is ours to offer what we can, but His to supply our
  extolled human power (see II, 2, 4) from fear lest, if         deficiencies."
  they openly confessed its impotence, they might, in              Of these expressions Calvin writes, in the same par-
  the first place, incur the derision of the philosophers,       agraph:
  with whom they were contending, and, in the second               "In these sentences you see they certainly attributed
  place, might administer to the flesh, of itself naturally      to man more than could justly be attributed to him
  too torpid to all that is good, a fresh occasion of            towards the pursuit of virtue; because they supposed it
  slothfulness. And it appears to Calvin that they prin- impossible to awaken our innate torpor, otherwise
  cipally regarded the latter consideration, that they           than by arguing that this alone constitutes our guilt;
' might leave no room for slothfulness. So, the early            but with what great dexterity they did it, we shall see
  fathers were very afraid  togive to the sinner any excuse in the course of our work. That the passages which we
  for continuing in sin. In support of this contention,          have recited are exceedingly erroneous, will be shortly
  Calvin quotes several quotations from Chrysostom:              proved."
    "Since God has placed good and evil things in our              Man, according to Calvin, is not possessed of free


186                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER



will for good works, unless he be assisted by grace, and            which is also found in our Canons of Dordt,  ,111 and IV,
that special grace which is bestowed on the elect alone             Art. IV (II, 2, 12):
in regeneration.  And when the reformer speaks of                          And, indeed, I `much approve of that common
being assisted by Divine grace, we must remember that                   observation which has been borrowed from Augus-
he is opposed to every presentation as if man has of  his               tine, that the natural talents in man have been cor-
own  nature antecedent, though ineffectual, desires                     rupted by sin, but that of the supernatural ones he
after what is good. Calvin states emphatically that the                 has been wholly deprived. For by the latter are
view is offensive to him that man has it in his power                   intended, both the light of faith and righteousness,
either to frustrate the grace of God by rejecting it or to              which would be sufficient for-the attainment of a
confirm it by our obedience to it. Now notice what                      heavenly life and eternal felicity . . . Hence it follows,
                                                                        that he is exiled from the kingdom of God, in such a
Calvin writes in the following passage, II, 2, 7:                       manner, that all the affections relating to the happy
         Then man will be said to possess free will in this             life of the soul, are also extinguished in him, till he
       sense, not that he has an equally free election of               recovers them by the grace of regeneration . . . Again,
       good and evil, but because he does evil voluntarily,             soundness of mind and rectitude of heart were also
       and not by constraint. That, indeed, is very true; but            destroyed; and this is the corruption of the natural
       what end could it answer to decorate a thing so                  talents. For although we retain some portion of
       diminutive with a  title so superb? Egregious (out-  _           understanding and judgment together with the will,
       standing, notable, H.V.) liberty indeed, if man be               yet we cannot say that our mind is perfect and
       not compelled to serve sin, but  3et is such a willing           sound, which is oppressed with debility and im-
       slave, that his will is held in bondage by the fetters of        mersed in profound darkness; and the depravity of
       sin. I really abominate contentions about words,                 our will is sufficiently known.
       which disturb the Church without producing any                 And then, Calvin, although maintaining that man,
       good effect; but I think that we ought religiously to
       avoid words which signify any absurdity, particularly        although not having completely lost his natural talents,
       when they lead to a pernicious error. How few are            did retain them but as corrupted by sin, sets forth very
       there, who, when they hear free will attributed to           clearly the utter corruption of the sinner, II, 2, 12:
       men, do not immediately conceive, that he has the                   Reason, therefore, by which man distinguished
       sovereignty over his own mind and will, and is able              between good and evil, by which he understands and
       by his innate power to incline himself to whatever he            judges, being a natural talent, could not be totally
       pleases. But it will be said, all danger from these              destroyed, but is partly debilitated, partly vitiated, so
       expressions will be removed, if the people are care-             that it exhibits nothing but deformity and ruin. In
       fully apprized of their signification. But, on the con-          this sense John says, that "the light" still "shineth in
       trary, the human mind is naturally so prone to false-            darkness," but that "the darkness comprehendeth it
       hood, that it will sooner imbibe error from one single           not." In this passage both these ideas are clearly
       expression, than truth from a prolix oration; of                 expressed  - that some sparks continue to shine in
       which we have a more certain experiment than could               the nature of man, even in its corrupt and degenerate
       be wished in this very word.                                     state, which prove him to be a rational creature, and
   How true are these words of Calvin. Calvin does not                  different from the brutes, because he is endued with
object, principally, to the use of the expression:  "free-              understanding; and yet that this light is smothered by
`dom of the will." He states very plainly what he means                 so much ignorance, that it cannot act with any de-
                                                                        gree of efficacy. So the will, being inseparable from
with the expression. The freedom of the will does not                   the nature of man, is not annihilated; but it is fet-
mean that man has an equally free election of good                      tered by depraved and inordinate desires, so that it
and evil, but that he does evil voluntarily and not by                  cannot aspire after any thing that is good. This,
constraint. But, this is not meant by many who speak                    indeed, is a complete definition, but requires more
of man's freedom of the will. Besides, why decorate a                   diffuse explication.
thing so diminutive with a title so superb? How few                   And then Calvin proceeds, in this section of his
there are, according to Galvin, who use this expression             Institues, to discuss the mind and the will of man.
properly? This observation of Calvin was also verified              Having set forth what the human mind is able to do,
in the sad history of our churches at the time of 1953.             notice what Calvin has to say about the spiritual ability
Will not all danger be removed, so it is asked, when the            of that mind of the natural mind, II, 2, 19:
people are carefully informed of their significance?                       But because, from our being intoxicated with a
And the answer of Calvin is that the human mind is so                   false opinion of our won perspicacity, we do not
prone to falsehood, that it will sooner imbibe error                    without great difficulty suffer ourselves to be per-
from one single expression than truth from a long,                      suaded, that in Divine things our reason is totally
verbose oration. We may well take this advice of Calvin                 blind and stupid (here Calvin writes that, because we
                                                                        are inflated with a false opinion of what we are able
to heart.                                                               to do, it is very difficult for us to be persuaded that,
  We also do well to call attention to the following of                 in Divine things, our reason is totally blind and
Calvin in which, commenting upon a common obser-                        stupid, H.V.), it will be better, I think, to confirm it
vation borrowed from Augustine, he reiterates that                      by testimonies of Scripture, than to support it by


                                                      THE STANDARD BEARER                                                       187



     arguments. This is beautifully taught by John, in that            medidate anything that is right in the sight of God?
     passage which I lately cited, where he says that, from            To us, who do not contentedly submit to be stripped
     the beginning, "in God was life, and the life was the             of the acuteness of our reason, which we esteem our
     light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and              most valuable endowment, this appears too harsh;
     the darkness comprehended it not. He indicates, in-               but in the estimation of the Holy Spirit, Who knows
     deed, that the soul of man is irradiated with a beam              that all the thoughts of the wisest of men are vain,
     of Divine light, so that it is never wholly destitute             and who plainly pronounces every imagination of the
     either of some little flame, or at least of a spark of it;        human heart to be only evil, such a representation is
     but he likewise suggests that it cannot comprehend                consistent with the strictest truth.. If whatever our
     God by that illumination. And this because all his                mind conceives, agitates, undertakes, and performs,
     sagacity, as far as respects the knowledge of God, is             be invariably evil, how can we entertain a thought of
     mere blindness. For when the Spirit calls men "dark-              undertaking any thing acceptable to God, by whom
     ness" ,He at once totally despoils them of the faculty            nothing is accepted but holiness and righteousness?
     of spiritual understanding. Wherefore he asserts that             Thus it is evident that the reason of our mind,
     believers, who receive Christ, are "born not of blood,            whithersoever it turns, is unhappily obnoxious to
     nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man,             vanity. David was conscious to himself of this im-
     but of God."                                                      becility, when he prayed that understanding might be
   And please notice this statement of Calvin, II, 2, 25:            . given him, to enable him rightly to learn the com-
       Are all our industry, perspicacity, understanding,              mandments of the Lord.
     and care so depraved, that we cannot conceive or


A  Cioud of Witnesses
                                  Of Sacrifice and Mercy
                                                        Rev. B. Woudenberg

              And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace
           offerings. So the LORD was intreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel.
                                                                                                  II Samuel 24:25

  The angel of the Lord was marching across the land                 Such is the judgment of God, however, that it could
of Israel with the sword of judgment in his hand spread-           not be merely ignored, canceled out, or neglected. Sin
ing pestilence and death wherever it `went. In one day             had been committed and righteousness had decreed
no fewer than 70,000 had died, and there were yet two              that it had to be expiated. For the moment it was
days to go. It was  the,result  of the sins of Israel and of       being held in abeyance, but the angel still continued to
its king: of Israel because it had so often rebelled               hover there between heaven and earth over the crest of
against the anointed of the Lord, and of its king                  Mt. .Moriah with his sword extended over the city, a
because David in his pride had thought to number his               grim warning that satisfaction was yet to be made.
people so that he might boast of his earthly strength.               Actually the place over which the angel of judgment
All across the land the angel proceeded until at last it           hovered was of considerable significance. It was Mt.
stood with its sword extended over the very walls of               Moriah, the very mountain which many ages before,
Jerusalem itself. It was there that David's eyes were              Abraham had climbed with Isaac his son in order to
opened so that he also saw the angel with its sword                offer him as a sacrifice in obedience to the command
extended over the city. Within him the heart of the                of God. Then, too, when the moment of ultimate
king smote him heavily so that he fell to the ground               judgment had seemed to arrive, God had had mercy
with all of the elders of the people about him, and he             upon the children of His covenant and had intervened.
cried out in prayer, "Is it not I that commanded the               He had provided a ram caught in the thicket to take
people to be numbered? even I it is that have sinned               Isaac's place in symbolic atonement. It foreshadowed
and done evil indeed; but as for these sheep, what have            that ultimate atonement which someday would be
they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, 0 LORD my                  made in that same city, when God's own Son would
God, be on me, and on my father's house; but not on                truly take away the guilt of all of His people.
thy people, that they should be plagued." It was the                 Now what was about to take place was another
cry of a faithful shepherd for his sheep, and the Lord             chapter in that same symbolic revelation. To David
heard him. That same hour the plague was stayed.                   God sent His prophet, Gad, to instruct him as to the


188                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



substitution that might be made for the sake of the          sweeping across the land which no one could ignore for
preservation of the people. Mt. Moriah was not yet a         its awful terribleness. But  Ornan  had gone quietly and
part of the royal city. Located just outside of the walls    patiently about his work, nonetheless. And then there
of the city, it was the possession of one of the             came that appearance of the angel of the Lord to
Jebusites that still resided in the district, a man named    stretch out his sword in judgment over the city Jerusa-
Oman. Upon the crest of the hill he had located his          lem. But the terrifying thing was that the angel stood
threshing floor where it could catch the winds that did      between heaven and earth directly over his  threshing-
not blow within the valley. Gad's directions to David        floor. Truly, here was sufficient cause to turn anyone
were that he should go and offer a sacrifice to the Lord     to flee in utter terror as fast as he possibly could. But
there within that threshingfloor.                            not Oman. Although he was a Jebusite, and although
  A more solemn procession than that which made its          he did not dare to presume to claim Israel's God for his
way out of the old city of Jerusalem, down through           own, nevertheless he recognized and reverenced Israel's
the valley and up to the crest of Mt. Moriah can hardly      God sufficiently to realize that there was no fleeing
be imagined. The prime figure in the procession, of from him. In humble patience he merely bowed and
course, was the king himself, but dressed not as a king,     waited to see what the meaning of this might be.
he was clothed in crude sackcloth with the ashes of            It was not long, either, before it became apparent to
mourning upon his head. It was no mere form. There           him just as he had expected. As he looked from his
before their very eyes hovered the angel of the Lord         advantage point on the peak of the hill, he saw the
with that terrible sword of judgment in his hand. It         royal but solemn procession making its way from the
was a terrifying thing even to look upon the angel,          city directly to the place where he was standing. Nei-
much less to actually make one's way closer and closer       ther did the man fail to give proper recognition when
to the place over which it stood. However, there was         the -king himself left the company of people and ap-
nothing else to be done. The survival of the nation          proached him directly. As he bowed the king spoke,
depended upon the courage and faithfulness of the            "Grant me the place of this threshingfloor, that I may
king and his elders. Only they could make the sacrifice      build an altar therein unto the LORD: thou shalt grant
needed to pay for the sins which they had committed.         it me for the full price: that the plague be stayed from
Of this at that moment there could be no serious             the people."
doubt.                                                         The true nature of Oman's spiritual depths came out
  Oman, or Araunah, the Jebusite had been work-              fully in his answer. In response to the king, he an-
ing at his threshingfloor at the time that the angel         swered, "Take it to thee, and let my lord the king do
appeared and began to hover above it. The man himself that which is good in his eyes: lo, I give thee the oxen
is for us an interesting figure. After all, the Jebusites    also for burnt offerings, and the threshing instruments
were one of Israel's most recent enemies. It was from        for wood, and the wheat for the meat offering; I give it
them that David had had to capture Jerusalem at the          all." Not only did the man have no desire whatsoever
beginning of his reign. And yet here was one of the          to make himself rich because of the extremity of the
men of that tribe living and allowed to live upon one        situation, but he proved himself to be a man who had
of the prime peaks overlooking what had become               used his days of living among the Israelites to examine
Israel's capital city. The `indication is that Israel was    and become familiar with the proper worship of
not as completely as closed a society as we might            Israel's God so that he was able to provide for the
think, at least, not when measured by earthly stan-          every requirement of His proper service. This to him
dards. It is true, of course, the Scripture warned the       was the opportunity and privilege of his life. Without a
people of God continually against intermingling with         moment's hesitation he was willing to give to it all that
the heathen nations; and yet there are repeated in-          he possessed, his property, his beasts of burden, the
stances in Scripture of non-Israelites who lived openly      very tools and instruments with which he made his
within the nation and with apparent approval also of living. It mattered not, as long as they could be given
God. The indication is that already in Old Testament         to the worship of the God in whom he believed and it
times the distinction which God wished his people to         would serve the preservation of Jehovah's covenant
make was much more a spiritual distinction than ge-          people. Here was a dedication and love such as surely
neric. One was a heathen not just by reason of his birth     could not have been surpassed by anyone within that
but because of his spiritual life and convictions. Those     nation. In name  Ornan was a heathen, but in heart he
who were of heathen birth but who feared and bowed           was a truest worshipper of Jehovah.
before the God of Israel might freely be received              For David, however, it was quite impossible for him
within the nation.                                           to accept the generosity of Oman. He was the one who
  Surely no one could have conducted himself more            had been commanded to present an offering unto the
properly than did Oman under the most demanding              Lord, and surely he could do no less than to make such
circumstances which suddenly descended upon him: an offering from that which he himself possessed. So
To begin with there was the reality of the pestilence. he explained to Oman, "Nay; but I will verily buy it


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                   189



for the full price: for I will not take that which is thine    time it would be even more wonderfully terrible than
for the LORD, nor offer burnt offerings  ,without cost."       this. Here the judgment was, as it were, postponed to a
  Ornan immediately saw also the propriety of this,            later day; there it' would be finally taken up and paid
and without further debate he set the price of six             for to the finish. In fact, that would be the final           I
hundred shekels of gold, which David  paid-                    fulfillment of that which the burning oxen so dimly.
  Was there ever a more dedicated and concerned                reflected to the eyes of David.
group of worshippers gathered about an altar than                Neither was the true importance of that moment
those who stood there on the threshingfloor of Oman?           lost to the eyes of the repentant king. In fact, it was to
Quickly but properly the altar was built and the oxen          his eyes beyond question the most significant reve-
which so shortly before had been laboring for man in           lation of all his earthly experience. It was not finally
the threshing of wheat now were required to sacrifice          the great and wonderful victories which God had given
even their blood. For those who engaged in the work            him over others; it was not the great size to which his
there could be no question as to its `importance, for          kingdom was extended and the wealth which had been
always before their eyes there was that angel of judg-         brought to him by it. To David the wonder of his  life;
ment holding forth his sword directly over their heads.        was that here, when he and his people deserved toj
The climax came, however, when the sacrifice was               perish, their God Jehovah had had mercy and received;
made fully ready for offering, for then no fire was            the sacrifice on Oman's floor in place of the life of the
needed. It fell by itself directly from heaven con-            nation. To see that truth so amazingly set forth before
suming the sacrifice completely.                               his eyes was the closest that he ever came to beholding
  It remained, however, for the sacrifice to be com-           the true wonder of His God and His glory. From that
pleted, for the most wonderful thing of all to transpire.      day forth David's life was dedicated to but one thing:.
While the eyes of the worshippers watched, the sword           gathering together proper and sufficient materials that
of `the angel was iowered and placed into its sheath           upon that very spot a temple might be raised in recog-
before the appearance of it disappeared, never to be           nition of Jehovah's gracious presence among his
seen again  - not at least until many, many years later        people, if not by his own hands, at least by those of his
when once again judgment should fall on a hill immedi-         children.
ately outside of the walls of that same city. Only that


G r e e t i n g s   f r o m   J a m a i c a

                        OPEN LETTERS OF THANKS
                     Montego Bay, Jamaica, West Indies           Christmas was very different for us this year. It
                     December 28, 1969                         seemed to us as if it came in August. Of course, that is
                                                               not so bad. It is better to think of the reality of the
Dear brethren and sisters in the Lord:                         coining of the Son of God in the flesh than to think of
  The joy we experienced as we received the many               the "red-nosed Rudolph, the reindeer." We did not
letters and greeting cards is difficult to relate to you.      have any church service. However, we drove into the
Mrs. Lubbers and I experienced the love of the saints          mountains in the afternoon to Porters Mountain and
in your letters, in the numerous well-wishes and the `found that Rev. Ruddock had been up at 4 A.M. with
assurances of being remembered in your prayers. For            his family to sing Christmas carols and to read Luke 2
this all we are profoundly thankful to our covenant            and Matthew 1. That afternoon we joined the family
God.                                                           on their high, rocky hill and sat in their little house.
   We would like so very much to sit down and write            Here we sang with them. Rev. Elliott had conducted a
each one of you a personal note of thanks, and also            similar service from 4-6 A.M. on Christmas morning in
relate to each one of you a bit of our experiences here .Cambridge.  The Friday after Christmas we preached in
on the island of Jamaica. That is, however, physically         Shrewsbury. Before the service Rev. Frame led the
impossible for us. We are constantly engaged in the            singing of Christmas carols.
work, have a busy schedule, and when the day is                  Yesterday we witnessed a heart-warming Sunday
ended, there is hardly time nor strength left to sit           School Session. In their ultra simple, yet  heart-
down and write. So we are asking the Editor of the ; warming way they were studying the account in Luke 2
Standard Bearer  to make an exception to the rule and          concerning the birth of Jesus. That was at Latium.
to place this little letter of thanks somewhere in his         The elder here is a very lovable, firm and kind man.
`Lbladvulling".                                                `The children were very orderly and obedient. They


190                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



were told when they could not find an answer to his               Soon the time is coming that we must make a
question to "keep their face in the Bible and they             decision about becoming a missionary here on the
would find the answer in verse 13."                            Island of Jamaica. There are many matters to consider
  I do wish you could all have witnessed that Sunday           here. May you remember me in your prayers, that I
School Class. It was an attentive and quiet audience           make a decision which is to the glory of God, and the
that listened to the sermon on I Corinthians  1:26-3  1.       salvation of God's people.
Here I was impressed with the thought that God had               May we continue to hear from you all?
called and chosen that which is nothing to put to                 Greetings in Christ's Name to you all and may you
shame that which is something, so that no flesh should         experience the blessings of Jehovah in the New Year.
glory in His presence; but that he that glorieth might                           Your brother and sister in the Lord,
glory in the Lord.                                                                        Rev. and Mrs. G. Lubbers


Pages from the Past

                               Believers a,nd Their Seed
                                                      Chapter VII
                                        In The Line Of Continued Generations

                                               Rev. Herman Hoeksema

  That the Lord establishes His covenant with be-              but of the greatest moment. He who does not acknowl-
lievers and their seed in the line of continued genera-        edge it or who belittles it shows thereby at the same
tions, and that therefore the little children of believers,    time that he does not understand the great and basic
as well as the adults, are comprehended in the cove-           idea of God's Word.
nant and church of God and ought to receive the sign             That also infants of believers are comprehended in
of the covenant; that, moreover, this sign of the cove-        the covenant and church of God is taught us, first of
nant under the Old Testament was circumcision, but             all, by the history of that covenant of God as it is
that this sign has been replaced in the new dispensation       recorded for us by the Lord Himself in His Word. For
by that of holy baptism,  - all this is confessed by the       that history demonstrates repeatedly that God caused
Reformed churches and constitutes one of the funda-            His covenant to develop in the line of successive gener-
mentals of the Reformed faith.                                 ations. This holds true with respect to the period of
We may add to this at once that this truth is so               the new dispensation as well as of the old dispensation;
plainiy  reveaied to us in God's Word  that-it is a cause      and in the latter, it is true of the period before
of wonderment that so many are blind for this funda-           Abraham and Israel as well as of the period during
mental thought of God's revelation. And it is then,            which Israel as a nation was God's covenant people.
when men begin to understand less and less of God's            This is simply a fact of history.
Word as an organic whole and become an easy prey of              Those who do not want infant baptism and who
those who quote Scripture at random and seek their             have no eye for this continuity of God's work in
strength in the citation of a few isolated texts, without      generations and who separate the new dispensation
regard to the great controlling idea of Holy Scripture,        from the old like to limit themselves, as far as this
that they also become blind for this truth. For a time         question is concerned, with respect to the entire period
they may still present their little children for baptism       before Christ to Israel alone. It is true, so they will
out of the strength of tradition; but they no longer live      concede, that in the case of Israel (or, taken more
from the covenant idea. And the more serious souls,            broadly, with Abraham's seed) God established His
who find it impossible to live out of dead tradition,          covenant in the line of fleshly generations. That was
but who nevertheless do not understand the rightness           then also a national covenant. Israel was, and still is, a
of infant baptism, then very readily  turn toward all          privileged nation, with whom also in the future the
those movements which acknowledge only the baptism             Lord will again deal in a special manner. But at the
of adults. Those, however, who understand God's                dawn of the new dispensation, such is their presenta-
Word and see the great line of the development of              tion, the historical line of that old covenant was bro-
God's covenant in history as it is drawn for us in that        ken off; and what held true of that covenant with a
Word cannot hesitate for a moment with respect to the          view to the seed of believers now no longer holds true
confession that believers ought to baptize their seed.         in the new dispensation of the church of Christ and her
Infant baptism is not a matter of lesser importance,           seed. Then the rule was that whoever was out of Israel


                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 191



was in God's covenant and had to be circumcised. Now ,takes us back to the very first beginning of the history
the rule is: he that believeth and is baptized shall be      of God's covenant in the world. Israel is not a mere
saved.                                                       drop of oil on the waters of history. The line of God's
   Meanwhile, they forget that the line which they take      covenant in the old dispensation is one. There is  differ-
up out of Scripture at Abraham and Israel nevertheless ence in dispensation because there is progress in God's
did not have its beginning at that point, but goes back work; but it is always the same covenant that God
to Adam. Back of Abraham stands Shem, and back of establishes with His people throughout the old  dispen-
Shem stands Noah, who by way of the line of Seth             sation.                                 (To be continued)

             RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                                          RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
   The Martha Society of the  Doon Protestant Re-               The Ladies' Society of the Hudsonville Protestant
formed Church expresses its sincere sympathy to one          Reformed Church expresses its sincere sympathy to
of its members, Mrs. John Mantel, Jr., in the passing of one of its members, Mrs. Gordon Van  Overloop  in the
h e r   f a t h e r                                          passing of her father,
               MR. JOE HOOGENDOORN.                                            MR. HARM WUSTMAN.
   `He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep          "`For we know that if our earthly house of this
thee in all thy ways. " Psalms 91:ll.                        tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God,
                            Mr. Ed. Van Egdom, Pres.         an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. "
                            Mrs. C. E. Klein,  Secy.         II Cor. 2:I.
                                                                                         Rev. Herman Veldman, Pres.
             RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                                                      Mrs. Gerrit Holstege, Sec'y.
   The Consistory of the Hudsonville Protestant Re-
formed Church expresses its sincere sympathy to Rev.                         RESOLUTION OFSYMPATHY
and Mrs. Herman Veldman and their family in the                 The Mary-Martha Society of the Hope Protestant
passing of Mrs. Veldman's brother                            Reformed Church, Redlands, California, wishes to ex-
                 MR. KENNETH EZINGA.                         press its sympathy to one of its members, Mrs.  Marian
   "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his    Karsemeyer and family, in the loss of her father-in-law,
saints. " Psalms 116:15.    K. Lanning, Vice Pres.                            MR. JOHN KARSEMEYER.
                            H. Kuiper, Sec'y.                   May our covenant God, Whose ways are higher than
                                                             our ways, comfort the bereaved with His Word and
                       NOTICE!!!                             Spirit.
  Covenant Christian High School has a limited num-                                      Rev. C. Hanko, Pres.
ber of their 1969 yearbook, THE HERITAGE, for sale                                       Mrs. Wm. Feenstra, Vice-All.
to the general public. Anyone interested in obtaining a
copy may order from the High School. Please address                                A TTENTION!
your request to: Covenant Christian High, 140 1  Fern-          Effective immediately, the deadline for all announce-
dale Ave., Walker,  Mich. 49504. The price is only           ments will be the 15th of the month (for publication
$2.50 per copy. The book contains the story of our the 1st of the following month) and the 1 st of the
High School's beginning and the activities during the        month (for publication the. 15th of the month). This
first year of operation.    The HERITAGE Staff               change is made necessary in order to conform with
                                                             some new printing arrangements made by the Board.
             RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                          As previously, all announcements should be sent, ac-
   The Men's Society of the Hope Protestant Reformed         companied by the $3.00 fee, to the Business Office.
Church of Redlands, California expresses its sincere
sympathy to one of its members, Mr. Albert  Karse-                                     NOTICE!
meyer, in the loss of his father,                               A public lecture will be held Feb. 6, 1970 at 8:00
                MR. JOHN KARSEMEYER                          P.M. in the Calvin Christian High School Auditorium,
who was taken into the eternal Rest on Friday, No-           located at 3750  Ivanrest Ave., S.W., Grandville,  Mich.
vember 28, 1969.                                             Rev. H. Veldman, Pastor of the Hudsonville Protestant
   "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from          Reformed Church will speak on the topic  "God's Love,
henceforth; Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest Not Common, But Particular.  `? Make your plans now
from their labors; and their works do follow them. "         to attend! Enjoy a profitable evening listening to the
                            Rev. C. Hanko, Pres.             Word of God!                Prot. Ref. Lecture Comm.
                            Mr. J. Jabaay,  Secy.                                        Otto Kamminga, Sec'y.


                                       `\
                                                :                                                           .
                                                     1



192                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



                              News From Our Churches
   We have, to begin with, a news item that's consider-       fully thankful to God for sending Rev. Lubbers and his
ably later than usual. Through an oversight,  we'passed       dear wife to us again to strengthen us with the Gospel
by Oct. 3 1, which was a date of considerable impor-          -.The Reformed faith that is so dear to our hearts."
tance to the congregation of South Holland. That was                                   ****
the date of the installation of  theirnew pastor, Rev. R.       Rev. Lubbers is due back from Jamaica, shortly.
`Decker.  Rev! Kuiper was on hand to read the form,           Rev. Heys intends to replace him, serving in Jamaica
and Prof. Hoeksema preached the sermon. Rev. Decker           from February through April. May we remember him
preached his inaugural sermon the following Sunday,           with our prayers and letters. He asks also that. area
Nov. 2.                                                       church  .groups who have announcements to place in
                         ****                                 Holland's bulletin, send them, for those three months,
   Then, to get into 1970 (but just barely), Hull was         to Mr. J. H. Kortering, 130 East 24th St., Holland,
scheduled to hold a Congregational meeting imme-              Mich. 49423.             ****
diately after the New Year's morning service to call a          Rev. Kuiper has spent a rather eventful last couple
minister from a trio consisting of Revs.  Schipper,  Lub-     of months. While on a two-week classical appointment
bers, and C. Hanko.                                           to Forbes in December, he showed Mr. Meulenberg's
                       /  ****                                slides of Jamaica, and conducted family visitation with
   And from our ever-active Lynden congregation's             the elders in `Forbes. Rev. Kuiper is, as you know,
bulletin, we find this letter from an Alabama.reader: "I      leaving Randolph. He planned to preach his farewell
have just read one of your Studies in Biblical Doctrine,      sermon on Jan.  4., move on the  5th, unpack on the
number 135, `The Covenant Fulfilled'. I enjoyed it            6th, and be installed in Pella on the 8th.
thoroughly and would like to be on your mailing list. I                                *x**
have a small tape  recor.der and would like-to join your        The congregation of Southeast started, as of the first
weekly taped study class."                                    Sunday in January, to hold their evening service at 5
                         ****                                 o'clock. The consistory of First Church of Grand
   Other congregations are busy with a different kind
of work, too. This from Hull's bulletin  - "The  Consis-      Rapids has recently decided against the same plan.
                                                                                       *i;$**
tory, in behalf of our congregation, wishes to express a        The young people's annual Christmas Mass Meeting,
word of thanks to the Building Committee' who made            sponsored this year by First Junior Young People's
all the arrangements for the remodeling of our church         Society, was held on Sunday afternoon, Dec. 28. Prof.
entrance and to all those who volunteered their time or       H. Hanko spoke on "The Manifestation of Christ's
helped in any way. A job well done!" And, we under-           Return in 1969." The young people of Randolph
stand that our Isabel people have erected a small build-      planned a "snow party" as a welcome home for two of
ing  (1O'xlO')  to be used as storage space. Two men of       their servicemen.  `_
the congregation bought an old barn  for. its lumber.                                  ****
                                                                A little. about Christmas programs yet  - Hope
They furnished the lumber, while the rest of the con-         Choral Society presented theirs on Dec. 14. Special
gregation took care of nails, paint, roofing materials,       numbers included a trumpet solo by John Hoekstra
etc. The result, according to Rev. `Moore  - "a nice          and a piano-organ duet by Mrs. I. Veenstra and Mr. C.
storage facility for about $40 expense."
                         *****-                               Kuiper. The choir was accompanied by Mrs. G. Kuiper
   Another congregation engaged in a still different          and directed by Mr. G. Kuiper; who also, incidentally,
type of activity, for which Southwest's seminary stu-         directs Hudsonville's Choral Society.    _
dent was very thankful. We quote,' "Mr. and Mrs.                                        ****
Wayne Bekkering wish to thank all the members of the            On Sunday, Dec. 2 1, there was a Christmas singspir-
congregation for the wonderful show of love extended          ation at First Church of Grand Rapids. This singspir-
to them in the recent grocery-shower. And to those            ation was sponsored jointly by the Young People's
who so generously gave,. surely the Spirit has once           Federation and the Covenant High School choir. Dur-
again shown that it is more blessed to give than to           ing the first half of the program, Randy Meyer directed
receive."                                                     the enthusiastic singing of those in the "audience".
                         ****                                 Then the choir performed, in what their director, Mr.
   These excerpts from a letter to Southwest Church           Roland Petersen, called the first public appearance of
from Rev. C. J. Elliott of Jamaica: "We as sister             the complete choir. The evening was, as Rev. Van
Protestant Reformed Churches of Jamaica are wonder-           Baren mentioned in his remarks at the close of the
fully thankful to our Covenant .God for the clothing          program, "marvelous". This must have been true for all
we received  - that has been sent to us as poor brothers      those, who love to sing the songs of Zion, in antici-
and sisters . . . these boxes so neatly packed, the cloth-    pation of that time when we will sing them in  perfec-
ing is so clean, smells so nice. . . . Next we are wonder-, .tion  .on the other side of the grave.              D.R.D.


