                                tandard

                                              earer

~
  A   R E F 'O R M E D   S E M I - M O N T H L Y   M A G A Z I N E



     IN THIS ISSUE


        Meditation:
          The Repentance of the Immutable

        Editorial:
          More About ACT

        News from Church Assemblies
          (see: All Around Us)

        Begin&-q An Explanation of I John 2: l-3
        (see: From Holy Writ)

        Solomon's Ascension to.;the Throne
          (see: A Cloud of Witnesses)'
                                                      Volume XL VI / Number 19 / August 1, 1970


434                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER



                           CONTENTS:                                                              THE STANDARD BEARER
                                                                               Semi-monthly; except monthly during June, July and August.

                                                                               Published by the Reformed Free Publishing Association, Inc.
Meditation  -                                                                         Second Class Postage Paid at Grand Rapids, Mich.
   The Repentance of the Immutable . . . . . . . . . . .434 Editor-in-Chief: Prof.  H. C. Hoeksema
                                                                          Departmen?  Editors::.  Mr. Donald Doezema, Rev. Cornelius Hanko, Prof.
Editorial -                                                               Herman Hanko, Rev. Robert C. Harbach. Rev. John A. Heys, Rev. Jay
   More About ACT - A Contemporary                                        Kortering, Rev. George  .C. Lubbers, Rev. Marinus Schipper, Rev.  Gise J.
                                                                          Van  Baren. Rev. Herman Veldman. Rev. Bernard Woudenberg
   Translation of the Bible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .436 Editorial Office:  Prof. H. C. Hoeksema
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Meditation

            The  Repentance  of  the  Immutable
                                                            Rev. M. Schipper

                "And God saw that the wickedness  of  man was great in the earth, and that every
            imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord
            that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will
            destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the
            creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. "
                                                                                                                    Genesis 6:5-7

  The Immutable repents!                                                  only evil continually, it repented Him that He had
  When He saw that the wickedness of man was great,                       made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at His'
and the imagination of the thought of his heart was                       heart. And He determined to destroy him and every


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 435



living thing from off the face of the earth. Such is the against the wicked and show us how that holy passion
plain teaching of this portion of the Word of God.           in God to maintain Himself and His purpose began to
   But does not this present a plain contradiction?          take on action. This does not mean that there was
  When we say that God is immutable, do we not actual change in God. In the light of the texts men-
confess that He is forever unchangeable? And when we tioned immediately above this could never be. But
say that He repents, does this not precisely deny His repentance and grief have to do with the carrying out
immutability? How shall we understand this apparent of His counsel in time, and  .that, too, in agreement
contradiction?                                               with the nature and condition of the creature. In His
  That the Lord is immutable is the testimony of all counsel He wills the nature and condition of the crea-
Scripture. Listen to the Lord speaking through the ture, in this case the development of the sin and car- ,_,_
prophet Malachi  (3:6): "For I am the Lord, I change mption of the fallen race. In that same counsel He
not, therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed." Or, wills His own disposition in respect to that condition
listen to the psalmist when he declares  (102325-27): as it manifests itself in time. This means that in His
 `They (the heavens and the earth) shall be changed:         counsel God from everlasting determined to destroy
but thou art the same, and thy years shall have no the world with a flood only after that world had filled
end." This same truth is repeated by the writer to the the measure of its iniquity. And when God repents and
Hebrews (1: 11, 12). Or, listen to James when he writes is grieved in His heart, it means that that world has
in his Epistle (1: 17): "Every good gift and every per- reached its measure of iniquity in time, and now His
fect gift is from above, and  cometh down from the counsel to destroy that world must be carried out.
Father of lights with whom is no variableness neither While in us repentance and grief signify a change, in
shadow of turning." With clarity, indeed, the Scrip- God it signifies no actual change, but points to the
tures teach this unchangeableness of God.                    manner in which He is going to react over against the
   And this truth is implied in the text itself. This is to world's wickedness. This idea of repentance in God
be observed in the Name which God ascribes to Him- you can apply in the same way to all the other in-
self. The term "Lord" is literally "Jehovah." And stances mentioned in Scripture which speak of His
Jehovah, as He Himself explains in Exodus 3, means:          repentance. The Lord repented that He had made Saul
THE I AM THAT I AM. This not only sets Him off as            to be king over Israel (I Samuel 15: 11). God did repent
the eternal One Who never became, but also as the of the evil He said He would send upon Nineveh
Immutable God, Who is not subject to change.                 (Jonah 3 : 10). The Lord did not carry out the threat-
  God's immutability is that virtue of God whereby ened death of Hezekiah when he prayed to be spared.
He is both in His Being and Works, the eternally per- In Jeremiah  18:7, 8 we read: "At what instant I shall
fect One; and Who, therefore, remains continually the speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom,
same, and above all change. Nothing can ever be added to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; If
to Him, nor can anything be subtracted from Him. that nation, against whom I have pronounced  turn
Perfection is the state of being beyond change. What from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought
He is, He was, and ever shall be  - eternally the un- to do unto them." In all these and more passages of
changeable God. That He creates, adds nothing to Him.        Holy Writ where God is said to repent, we are not to
That He destroys, subtracts nothing from Him. And as conclude an actual change in God, but repentance is
 erfect and unchangeable as God is in Himself, so is He His holy reaction over against the creature as that crea-
Iilso in all His works; which are unchangeably decreed ture in time fulfills the good pleasure of His eternal
in His counsel, and in time they are realized exactly as counsel. Most important, it is therefore, to keep in
He eternally decreed them.                                   mind that what God says of His counsel is true,
  Yet the text tells us that He repents and grieves!         namely, "My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my
  What can this mean? And how can we understand pleasure."(Isaiah 46: 10).
.these expressions in the light of other Scriptures which      God's repentance was evoked when He saw that the
declare : "The Strength of Israel will not lie or repent:    wickedness of man. was great in the earth and it meas-
for He is not a man, that He should repent?" (I ured up to the amount that He had already deter-
Samuel 15 :29). And again, "God is not a man that He mined in His unchangeable counsel.
should lie; neither the son of man, that He should             And how great the wickedness!
repent?" (Numbers 23 : 19).                                    The earth was filled with violence! All flesh had
  The terms "repentance" and "grief" are called an- corrupted itself. The world became a boiling pot of
thropomorphic expressions, that is, human character- iniquity. In those days there were giants in sin. Along
istics are ascribed to God. And the relation between with the capacity to perform great worldly feats, in
the terms is what may be called a Hebrew parallelism; industry, in science, and invention, there were also
that is, the term grief is a further explanation of the great minds to do evil. And when the church began to
term repentance. Together these terms, speaking of mix with the world, the wickedness developed all the
God in human terms, reveal His holy reaction over faster. The sons of Seth married the daughters of Cain.


436                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



The result was - not a betterment of the world - but guage we can understand, He is, and forever remains,
a still greater capacity to do evil.                         God! Who is unchangeable in His love toward His
  There was not, as some would maintain, a certain people in Christ; and Who is unchangeable in His holy
restraint and checking of sin. Nor was it so, as some wrath over against the wicked who go on in their wick-
would interpret verse 3 of this chapter, that the Spirit edness until their cup of iniquity is full, and He must
of the Lord was striving with man with a view to re- destroy them. Indeed when the Immutable repents, the
straining the sin of his heart and thus to improve him. wicked are consumed!
Those who hold to this view must admit in the light of         A preview of the judgment to come!
our text that then man was stronger than God, and the          These things were written for our admonition upon
Lord failed miserably. 0, indeed, the Lord's Spirit whom the ends of the world are come. Does not the
strove with man in -that He judged him and testified Lord Jesus remind us of this when He delivered His
against him through the preaching of the antediluvian prophetic testimony concerning the last days? Listen
patriarchs,  Enoch, Noah, etc. But also here as always to Him declare!
the Word was a savor of life as well as a savor of death.      "But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the
It saved God's people, while it hardened the wicked. coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that
And this it did until God's eternal purpose is realized were before the flood they were eating and drinking,
in time, when Noah would find grace in the eyes of the marrying and given in marriage, until the day that
Lord and with his family would be saved by a flood; Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the
and when the wicked would only increase in their flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the
wickedness until the measure of their iniquity, deter- coming of the Son of man be . . ."
mined also in God's counsel, would be full, and He             As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the
would repent and destroy them. Such was the awful day when the Son of man shall be revealed.
state of things in time, determined in the divine              Awful prediction!
counsel from eternity, that moved God in holy wrath            Once more the Immutable shall repent!
to bring upon the wicked His destroying flood.                 When wickedness shall abound, and the ungodly
  Nor should we interpret this holy reaction in the shall have filled their measure of iniquity according to
Immutable as indicating that He felt sorry that He had the counsel of the Most High, then shall the Immu-
made man. As though God was frustrated in His crea- table, as He is revealed in the Lord of glory, appear,
tional purpose. For how could this ever be true of and in His wrath shall He destroy them.
God? Did He perhaps make man without knowing                   But also then, as it was in the day of Noah, when
what was in man? Did He perhaps make man and set this saint found grace in the eyes of the Lord; so shall
him on the earth to see whether or not he would con- it be with the righteous who are looking for His
tinue to serve God? And after man fell, did He perhaps appearance.
wait to see if man would improve under the sweet              They shall experience by His grace their final and
influences of the preaching of His Word? In answer to perfect deliverance, and in the judgment shall be
all these questions, we reply: God forbid! Should your acquitted and through the judgment shall be ushered
answer be in the affirmative, you make yourself guilty into a new creation wherein righteousness shall dwell.
of denying His omniscience, and you drag God down             Then shall the Immutable be seen in the glory of all
from His eternal immutability to the level of the crea- His perfections and receive the praises of all His
ture who is subject always to change. Though God redeemed!
speaks of Himself to us in human terms, the only lan-




                   More About ACT - A Contemporary
                                   Translation of the Bible
                                               PYoJ: H. C. Hoeksema

  At the close of the July editorial on this subject, of the Bible being prepared under the auspices of the
mention was made of three items for discussion in con- New York Bible Society: 1) The matter of textual
nection with ACT, the new Contemporary Translation criticism; 2) The question whether the language has


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                                437



been improved and brought up to date. 3) The ques- for the Committee's sample offering) is, in our opin-
tion whether the translation is faithful to the original. ion, because of its simplicity of language both in the
  The first of these questions we will discuss in greater Greek and in the King James Version, not a very well-
detail in a separate editorial in connection with the chosen sample. It seems to this writer that of all the
Eye Opener Tract about the King James Version and books of Holy Scripture the Gospel according to John
the  Textus Receptus (also mentioned in the July is so very simply phrased in the King James Version
issue). Since, however, the Committee on Bible Trans- that no one could have any grave difficulty in under-
lation makes mention in the Preface quoted in the July standing its language. 4) While space does not permit
issue of `recent papyri discoveries" and the "new the reproduction of our pages of ACT's version of
light" shed on the text of the Greek New Testament John, I will make a few general remarks about my
by "intensive textual study during the present  cen- impressions, based on my repeated reading through of
tLw>" it is not amiss to make a few remarks in this the entire book. In the first place, the committee has
connection: 1) The science of textual criticism involves made unnecessary changes. Even apart from the ques-
much more than a comparison of various manuscripts tion of accuracy of translation, for example, is there any
of parts of the New Testament. In fact, though this reason under the sun to change the word "guile" to the
aspect of textual criticism is not to be minimized, it is word "false"in  John 1:47, "Behold an Israelite indeed,
a mistake to think of it as an extremely exact science; in whom there is no guile. [Here is a true Israelite, in
and, moreover, it is a mistake to attach too much value whom there is nothing false. I " As far as I am able to de-
to this aspect, in preference to what is called "internal tect, the reason for this change cannot be one of a more
evidence." 2) While the mention of "recent papyri (a accurate translation: for the word "guile" is a far
certain kind of manuscript) discoveries" may impress more accurate rendering than the more general "false."
the ordinary reader, who is unacquainted with the One must come to the conclusion, then, that the trans-
mysteries of textual criticism, it ought to be stated lators considered "false" to be clearer and more up-to-
that there have been no  major  discoveries of recent date. But, pray, has the understanding of the English
date  - certainly none of earth-shaking significance. language fallen to such a low estate that the clear and
3) The same should be remarked concerning the al- expressive word "guile" is beyond the grasp of the
leged "new light" shed by "intensive textual study dur- average Bible reader? And even if such is the case, must
ing the present century." In the first place, one, must we cater to this and substitute the word "false" at the
be very careful about "new light." Sometimes what is obvious expense of accuracy? There are many such
new is not actually light, you see. In the second place, changes throughout the sample translation; and in
we venture to say that also in this respect there has many instances the changes appear to be so unneces-
been nothing earth-shaking in its significance. In the sary that one can only come to the conclusion that
third place, to this writer it is, to say the least, highly change is introduced for the sake merely of being dif-
doubtful whether the general calibre of the scholarship ferent. Perhaps this may sound like a rather harsh judg-.
in this alleged "intensive textual study during the pres- ment; but I am stating my impressions frankly. 5) In
ent century" measures up to that of past scholars, as general, the translation as a whole does not leave the
well as highly doubtful in some instances whether it impression of being smooth-flowing, but rather of be-
has been  believing  scholarship. And, in the fourth ing stilted, stiff, and choppy. Perhaps I am too accus-
place, we would have to see a great deal of evidence tomed to the majestic and dynamic simplicity of the
before being convinced that recent discoveries and tex- King James Version; but - again, after several readings
tual study warrant an entirely new translation. While - I must state frankly that I am unimpressed, but left
we would grant that it would be preferable to have a with a strange and cold feeling. 6) There are far too
translation by  "`evangelicals" rather than by unbeliev- many instances where accuracy of translation has ap-
ing liberals  - all other things being equal  - we are parently been sacrificed in the interest of trying to
nevertheless unconvinced of the basic necessity of any achieve twentieth century English, the Committee evi-
new translation whatsoever.                               dently thinking that the English of the King James
  With respect to the attempt to clothe Scripture in Version in these instances was difficult to understand.
contemporary language, we remark the following:           Now once again, let it be stated that these difficulties
1) We have already stated our opinion as to the need with King James English are, in our opinion, much
and the utility of such an effort in the July editorial on overplayed as any kind of serious stumblingblock in
this subject. A thorough and repeated reading of the the understanding and reception of Scripture. But
sample published by the Committee, far from changing surely, no one has the right to play fast and loose with
that opinion, has rather convinced us more firmly that the accuracy of the translation for any reason whatso-
the disadvantages of a new translation far outweigh the ever; and the latter is what ACT has done in more
advantages. 2) We believe that the Committee has suc- than one instance. This, however, brings us to the third
ceeded, generally, in its goal of achieving contempo- - and most important - item of our discussion.
rary language. 3) The Gospel According to John (used        Is ACT an accurate rendering of the Gospel accord-


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER



ing to John? And: is it, in fact, more accurate than the incorrect. This should be sufficient reason to condemn
King James Version, both textually and in its ACT's translation of these verses, especially since there
translation?                                                is no difficulty in finding a proper translation of the
  The answer has to be an emphatic "NO!"                    term involved. Sometimes the latter is true, and it can
  We cannot take the time or space to make a total be difficult to  find an English word which expresses
verse-by-verse comparison. Let us, for the present, take the idea of the Greek without doubt; but this is the
note of a few items.                                        case here.
  We call your attention, in the first place, to a change 2) We may ask the question: was this change neces-
in the use of the term "only begotten." For this pur- sary, perhaps, in the interest of a  contemporary
pose we quote three passages, in each instance citing translation? This question is not really proper, since
the King James Version and ACT:                             accuracy should surely not be sacrificed for contempo-
KJV, John 1: 14, And the Word was made flesh, and raneity. But let us explore the question nevertheless.
dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory,the. glory as My answer is that this suggestion is absurd. Is only be-
of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and gotten  such an old-fashioned and Elizabethan word
truth.                                                      that twentieth century Americans with at least a slight
ACT, John 1: 14, The Word became flesh and lived for degree of intelligence and knowledge of English cannot
a while among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of understand it? Not to my knowledge! In fact, is not
the only son of the Father, full of grace and truth. John 3 : 16 as rendered by the KJV so well-known, even
[Note: "lived for a while" is certainly a loose render- to people who have very little additional knowledge of
ing of the Greek  eskeenoosen,  "tented, tabernacled," Scripture, that it almost makes one stumble to leave
and surely no better than the KJV's "dwelt." HCH]                         rd "begotten" in reciting this text?
KJV, John 1: 18, No man hath seen God at any time:                        may ask: is this change of such great impor-
the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the                       it deserves all this criticism? The answer is
Father, he hath declared him.                               an emphatic YES! In the first place, again, simply be-
                                                            cause of the inaccuracy of translation. Do the transla-
ACT, John 1: 18, No one has ever seen God, but God tors of ACT have so little faith in the verbal inspiration
the only Son, who is at the Father's side, has made him of Holy Scripture that they are willing to change its
known. [Note: There is a textual question involved words? My position is that if the Holy Spirit had
here; and there is rather good ground for the version wanted "only" here, He would have seen to it that
which ACT adopts and then proceeds to mistranslate, "only" was written. But He did not! He saw to it that
namely, ". . . the only begotten God, who is in the "only begotten" was written; and all translators had
bosom of the Father. . ." HCH]                              better respect that! In the second place, this is a matter
KJV John 3: 16, For God so loved the world, that he of great importance as far as the meaning is concerned.
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth Negatively, it is simply not true that Christ is the
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.        "only" Son of God; believers are also sons of God.
ACT, John 3 : 16, "For God so loved the world that he Now even from the point of view of the uninitiated, in
gave his only Son, that whosoever believes in him shall whose language ACT is supposed to speak, what con-
not perish but have everlasting life." [Note: ACT adds fusion this must create. Christ is the only Son of God,
quotation marks here. HCHI                                  but there are also other sons of God? And, positively,
  We should notice, in the first piace, that ACT is at it is a simple fact that the Scriptures reserve this term
least consistent in its substitution of "only" for "only "only begotten" for the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is the
begotten."                                                  Second Person of the Trinity. This is the term which
  But the question is: is ACT                               expresses the truth of eternal generation. Never do the
                                  correct?
  The answer is negative. And in this connection we         Scriptures speak of believers as being the "only be-
ought to notice the following:                              gotten" of the Father. They are adopted; and they are
                                                            begotten of God. But Christ is the "only begotten" of
1) As far as the linguistic question is concerned, the the Father. In the third place, this change of language
translators of ACT were all very well aware of the fact is not confessionally correct. The use of the term
that their translation "only" was not the correct ren- "only begotten" dates not only to the time of our
dering of the Greek term. This is plain from the fact Heidelberg Catechism (which very definitely calls at-
that in the footnotes they offer the rendering "only
begotten" in all three instances. But let this be plain:    tention to the distinction between our  sonship  and
as a matter of simple Greek, the term which the origi- Christ's precisely in connection with this term "only
nal uses can by no stretch of the imagination be begotten") and our Belgic Confession, but all the way
rendered by  `conly." In all three instances the Greek back to the Nicene Creed. It only creates confusion -
uses a form of the word  monogenees [mono-  =  only; besides being inaccurate - to make this change which
genees = begotten]. Hence, linguistically this is plainly involves this important doctrine.


                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER                                                          439



  There are other questions of translation in these            2) Why the change from "should not perish" to "shall
same passages which we may briefly note:                      not perish" in John 3 : 16? Is the force of this change
1) Is there any real reason to change "in the bosom of this, that purpose is changed to result? Has the use of
the Father" to "at the Father's side"? The word                "should" also become archaic? In the opinion of this
"bosom" is totally accurate in this instance, and the         writer, "should not perish" more clearly expresses the
text definitely does not say "at the Father's side." meaning of Greek purpose clause (kina + the subjunc-
Besides, there is no apparent difficulty in understand- tive form of the verb).
ing the word "bosom" for anyone. Why this inaccurate             We will interrupt our discussion at this point, until
and unnecessary change?                                       the next issue.


Contending for the Faith

                                 `The Doctrine of Atonement
                                              FIRST PERIOD  - 80-254 A.D.

                                                      Rev. H. Veldman

  Returning to one of the Apostolic Fathers, in con-               He gave the impulse to true morality, the hope of
nection with the doctrine of the atonement, we would               immortality. Although this is made dependent upon
quote (briefly from Polycarp. Polycarp was instructed              His sufferings and death, we fail to find any `distinc-
by the apostles, and was brought into contact with                 tive conception, or original religious apprehension, of
many who had seen Christ. We have this information                 the latter. The death of Christ arouses and moves
from Irenaeus, a disciple of Polycarp. In his epistle to           religious feeling, but it is not understood nor pursued
                                                                   to its consequences. Our authors miss entirely that
the Philippians, its authenticity being unquestioned,              interpretation of The Old Testament premises which
Polycarp writes as follows:                                        is so prominent in the canonical Scriptures. (6) The
       I have greatly rejoiced with you in our Lord Jesus          salvation which Christ has obtained and brought to
    Christ, because ye have followed the example of true           men is quite differently described: (a) Forgiveness of
    love (as displayed by God), and have accompanied, as           sins through baptism, new creation. In Hermas and 2
    became you, those who were bound in chains, the                Clement, only the sins of the past are included. There
    fitting ornaments of saints, and which are indeed the          is a great lack of clearness in conception; it is par-
    diadems of the true elect of God and our Lord; and             ticularly noticeable that the significance of the for-
    because the strong root of your faith, spoken of in            giveness of sins for the whole subsequent Christian
    days long gone by,  endureth  even until. now, and             life is greatly obscured. "Righteousness" is always
    bringeth forth fruit to our Lord Jesus Christ, Who for         merely an active, actual righteousness. Paul is not un-
    our sins suffered even unto death, but "Whom God               derstood, but even the influence of his specific doctri-
    raised from the dead, having loosed the bands of the           nal ideas falls noticeably into the background. The
    grave. In Whom, though now ye see Him not, ye                  type of doctrine which is followed corresponds gen-
    believe, and believing, rejoice with joy unspeakable           erally  - though in a cruder form  - with that of the
    and full of glory;" into which joy many desire to              catholic epistles of the New Testament. (b) Commu-
    enter, knowing that "by grace ye are saved, not of             nion with God,  .the indwelling of the Father, or
    works," but  by the will of God through Jesus                  Christ, or the Spirit. in the heart  (Ignatius, Hermas).
    Christ . . . . Wherefore, girding up your loins, serve         (c) Knowledge of God as the One God, the Creator,
    the Lord in fear and truth, as those who have for-             Lord, Father, etc. (d) The new law. (e) Eternal life as
    saken the vain, empty talk and error of the multitude,         the reward of moral living.
    and believed in Him Who raised up our Lord Jesus             The Apologists were Christian writers who defended
    Christ from the dead, and gave Him glory, and a            the teachings of the Word of God against heathen at-
    throne at His right hand.
  In his general estimate of the writings of the Apos-         tacks upon the truths of Scripture. The foremost of
tolic Fathers, Reinhold  Seeberg writes the following          these Apologists was Justin Martyr, whom we have al-
(Book I, 78):                                                  ready quoted in previous articles. Concerning the de-
       (5) Jesus Christ is the Redeemer. He revealed the       velopment of the doctrine of the atonement in this
    Father and taught the new moral law; but, above all,       period of the Apologists, who followed the Apostolic
    He by His passion and death freed mankind from sin         Fathers, Reinhold Seeberg writes the following, (Book
    and death. He brought to men a new life, forgiveness       I, 116):
    of sins, knowledge of  God and confidence in Him:                 Although it does not appear from such  presenta-


440                                                      THE STANDARD BEARER



       .tions of the subject why the sufferings and death of            question did not exist as yet in that time and could
       Christ were necessary (except as in fulfillment of Old          not arise in that time, inasmuch as they accepted a
       Testament prophecy), yet the Apologists very posi-               foreknowledge as far as God is concerned, and, as far
       tively testify that the belief in the significance of            as the side of man is concerned, laid the emphasis
       these experiences of the Lord formed an essential                upon man's freedom of the will, although weakened
       part of the common Christian faith. The sufferings of           by sin. In the Pelagian controversy this question
       Christ deliver men because He thereby took upon                  could not be subdued; and Augustine was the first
       Himself the curse which rested upon them; they bring            who clearly taught the doctrine of particular atone-
       forgiveness of sins and set free from death and the             ment.
       devil. He who now believes in the Crucified is purified        We  need not quote from Bavinck beyond this. We
       from his past sins, the Spirit of God stands by his side     may undoubtedly have opportunity in subsequent ar-
       to help in all assaults of the devil, and Christ will        ticles to quote him again, but we arenowcalling atten-
       deliver him from all trouble and receive him to His          tion to the doctrine of the atonement as presented in
       kingdom if he will but keep His commandments. The
       wood of the cross, the water of baptism, faith, and          the years, 80-254.
       repentance are the means by which to escape from               Tertullian was a prominent church father. Of his
       condemnation on the day of judgment. There was no            conception of the atonement Hagenback writes as fol-
       attempt to enlarge upon these ideas in the contro-           lows, and we may include also other general remarks:
       versial writings of the period; but there can be no                 The incarnation of the God-Man, in and of itself,
       doubt that they held the same place in moulding the              had a redeeming and reconciling efficacy, by breaking
       life of the church at large as in the post-apostolic age.        the power of evil, and restoring the harmony of hu-
  Also Dr.  H.  Bavinck calls attention to the historical               man nature, through the life-awakening and  life-
development of the doctrine of the atonement in his                     imparting influences which proceeded from this mani-
"Gereformeerde Dogmatiek,"' Vol. III,  450-45   1, and                  festation of deity. But from the very beginning, in the
we quote (we translate):                                                basis of apostolic Christianity, the redeeming element
          Intensively the word of Christ is of infinite value,          was put chiefly in the sufferings and death of Christ.
       but also extensively it broadens out to include the              The first teachers of the church regarded this death as
       entire world. Even as the world was the object of the            a sacrifice and ransom (lutron), and therefore
       love of God, John  3:16,  so also Christ came, not to            ascribed to the blood of Jesus the power of cleansing
       condemn that world, but to save it, John  3:17,4:42,             from sin and guilt, and attached a high importance,
       6:33,   5 1,  12:47; in Him God has reconciled the               sometimes even a magical efficacy, to the sign of the
       world, all things in heaven and upon the earth, unto             cross (the undersigned wishes to state that this ten-
       Himself, John  1:29, 2 Cor.  5:19, Col.  1:20, and               dency to attach a magical efficacy to the sign of the
       gathers them in this dispensation to be one,                     cross need not surprise us, inasmuch as the fathers
       Eph. 1 :lO; the world, created by the Son, is also des-          were certainly characterized by this tendency in gen-
       tined for the Son as its heir, Col.  1:16, Heb.  1:2,            eral during this early period of the Church in the New
       Rev. 11:  15. Origen concluded from this that Christ             Dispensation, H.V.). They did not, however, rest sat-
       has redeemed the entire world by His suffering and               isfied with such vague ideas, but, in connection with
       death, not only all people but also all other rational           the prevailing views of the age, they further devel-
       creature, namely the fallen angels and also all crea-            oped the above doctrine, and saw in the death of
       tures. It is true that He dies only once, in the end of          Christ the actual victory over the devil, the restora-
       the ages, Heb.  9:26,  but the power of His death is             tion of the divine image, and the source and condi-
       sufficient unto redemption, not only for the present             tion of all happiness. But, however decidedly and
       world, but also for that world, which existed for-               victoriously this enthusiastic faith in the power of the
       merly but which also shall exist later, and not only             Redeemer's death manifested itself in the writings
       for the people, but also for the heavenly spirits. This          and lives of the Christian fathers, as well as in the
       universalism,  however, has been unanimously rejected            death of martyrs; yet this faith had not yet been
       by all Christian churches, and, as a matter of fact,             developed into the form of a strict theory of satisfac-
       these churches were always particular in their view-             tion, in the sense that the sufferings of Christ were a
       point to that extent that they limit the "all things" in         punishment, necessarily inflicted by divine justice,
       Col.  1:20 and did not broaden this term out to in-              and assumed in the place of the sinner, whereby the
       clude the fallen angels. Nevertheless the conclusion            justice of God was strictly  satisfied.  At least several
       was drawn from these and other passages, where the               intermediate links were wanting, ere the doctrine
       word "world" or "all" is brought in connection with              could assume this shape. The term  "satisfactio"  oc-
       the sacrifice of Christ, Is.  53:6, Rom.  5:18,  8:32,           curs, indeed, first in the writings of  Tertullian,   but in
       1 Cor.  15:22, 2 Cor.  5:15, Heb.  2:9, 1  Tim.2:4,  6,          a sense essentially different from, and even opposed
       2 Pet. 3:9, 1 John 2:2, that Christ had satisfied for all        to, the idea of a  vicarious  satisfaction. Nor was the
       men, head for head, and that therefore the vicarious             death of Christ, as a reconciling power, considered as
       satisfaction must be interpreted as universal.                   an isolated truth, dissevered from other aspects of it.
          The church fathers, before Augustine, speak gen-              The same  Origen,  who, on the one hand, along with
       erally very universalistically concerning God's will of          the notion that the devil had been outwitted in this
       salvation and the atonement of Christ, but the actual            matter, likewise developed the idea of sacrifice as  ap-


                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER                                                          441



     plicable  to it on the basis of the Old Testament               one  single  moment of time, but which occurred in
     typology, on the other hand, spoke just as definitely           heaven as well as on earth, embraces all ages, and is in
     in favor of the moral interpretation of Christ's death,         its consequences of infinite importance even for the
     which he did not hesitate to compare with the heroic            other worlds.
    death of other great men of primitive times. He also
     ascribed a purifying power to the blood of martyrs, as        The Lord willing, we will continue with this in our
     Clement  had done before him. And, besides, he un-          following article, calling attention to what these
     derstood the death of Jesus in a mystic and idealistic      church fathers have to say on this doctrine of the
     sense,  as an event not limited to this world, nor to       atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ.




                               Come Ye Apart...  .And Rest A  ,While

                                                          Rev. C. Hanko

Dear Philip,                                                     Priest, and our Glorious King. Christ exercises that
  Thanks for your response to my recent letter. It was threefold office in the church institute through the
good to hear from you, and especially to know that               ministers who function in the prophetic office,
the calling and work of the  deacons has been also your          through the elders who rule the flock, and through the
concern. Maybe together we can look for some proper deacons who minister mercy in His name.
solution.                                                          That is exactly the point that must always be main-
  I could hardly help but wonder' what a minister                tained: Christ fulfills His office in the church through
might think, if he were called to a certain church, ar-          the duly called office bearers. Christ calls whom He
rived there in eager anticipation of taking up his duties,       will to that office, and He does so through the consis-
only to discover that he had nothing to do. Suppose,             tory and the congregation. No one may intrude  into
for example, that he was making plans to preach, and             that office by his own appointment. No church can
that he was informed by the consistory that this was             call apart from Christ. And on the other hand, Christ
not necessary, since seminarians and visiting ministers          never calls apart from the church institute.
would supply the pulpit. Suppose he was arranging ma-            (Rom. 10: 14, 15; Acts 13:2). Theseare principles that
terial for the catechism classes, only to have the con-          may never be ignored. Often we lose sight of them,
sistory tell him that the children received all the Bibli-       because we are accustomed to see a nomination for
cal instruction that they could absorb right in the              elders and deacons on the bulletin, and after a few
Christian School, where the teachers were very capable           weeks the congregation meets and chooses from that
of handling these things. And when he was thinking of nomination. After the meeting the question is asked:
family visitation or sick visitation he was told that the Who were chosen? Or, who were voted in? Actually we
consistory had always taken care of that work and                should ask, since we know that this is true: Whom did
would continue to do so. He certainly would wonder               Christ  call? Those whom Christ calls He also qualifies
why the congregation called him. He would wonder                 by His Spirit. True, the consistory places men on nomi-
still more whether there actually was room for the               nation whom they regard fit for the office, according
office of the ministry of the Word in the church. And            to the directions of I Timothy and elsewhere in Scrip-
did Christ actually call him?                                    ture. But a man's qualifications mean nothing unless
  Many deacons probably feel the same way. We have               Christ will use them and carry out His work through
always maintained, and correctly so, that there is a             him.
threefold office in the church, that of ministers, elders          We may well remind ourselves that when a minister
and deacons. (Maybe at this point you reach out for preaches, he is not giving a dissertation on some popu-
your Red Book to check whether or not the Church lar subject, as for example, the generation gap, the Viet
Order speaks of a fourfold office rather than a three-           Nam war, the race problem. Nor is he giving a speech
fold office. And right you are. Article 2 speaks of four         or a lecture. He is preaching the Word, expounding the
kinds of offices in the church, and includes the office          Scriptures. He comes in the name and on the authority
of professors of theology. If we ever decide to revise           of Christ and says: "So saith the Lord." That is His
our present Church Order, we might change that article           mandate. And that Word alone is effective, powerful as
to include the professors of theology under the minis-           a two-edged sword, because CHRIST makes it effective
ters of the Word.) There are in Scripture three offices,         and powerful. When a minister teaches catechism he is
that of prophet, priest and king. These three are one in         officially ministering the Word to the covenant youth
Christ, Who is our eternal Prophet, our exalted High             of the church. When the minister and elder call on us


442                                          THE. STANDARD BEARER



for family visitation, we must receive them as we             Yet, is it true that we have no needy? I attended
would receive Christ. If the young people of our day synod a few weeks ago, and there discovered anew that
were a bit more aware of all this, they would not dare      our churches do have various funds for benevolent pur-
to commit the sacrilege of playing church in their "un- poses. We have, for example, a needy churches fund.
derground church," for they are playing with holy We have also a needy student fund. We also have a
things. As to the elders, to them are entrusted the keys Jamaican Poor Fund, and there is a fund for students
of the kingdom of heaven, to declare within and out- who desire to prepare for the ministry in Jamaica. So
side of the kingdom in Christ's name. Therefore when we do have needy, there is no question about that.
they discipline members of the congregation, these And there may even be people in the churches who
members do not run away to a. less strict church, but would rather seek benevolent aid from the government
they submit to the authority of Christ as vested in the than to "go to the deacons."
elders, even as they promise when they make confes-           This, it appears to me, points out at least one possi-
sion of their faith.                                        ble solution to our problem. The Jamaican Poor Fund
  Now let us apply that to the office of deacons. And has been placed under the supervision of one particular
what do we get? It is obvious that the office of deacon diaconate. But could not something like that be
is no less important than the other two offices. The worked out on a broader scale? For example, could
three are one in Christ, and therefore of equal impor- not some diaconate of one of our churches assume the
tance. Christ fulfills His Highpriestly office in the responsibility of one of the students in the seminary?
church institute through the deacons,  ministering Could that not be arranged with the approval of the
mercy to the saints. This is the one calling and duty of congregation? And could that student not keep in
the deacons, according to Scripture and also the Form close contact with the deacons of a local church, who
for Ordination. They are called to collect and distrib- would provide for his needs as long as he is in the
ute alms for the poor. This does not mean that the seminary? And if the burden became too great for one
individual person may not visit the poor or extend a church, could they not call in the aid of some other
helping hand to those in need. But we must still be         congregation?
careful that we do not infringe on the office of the          I realize that the objection could readily be  raised
deacons.  Christ has instituted that office so that we that our seminary, even as our ministers, is the pro-
may give expression to our love and thankfulness to perty of all the churches. And that, therefore, the re-
God by aiding the needy and the distressed. Freely we sponsibility of the seminary and its students is the
have received, and therefore freely we can give. And responsibility of all of our churches. But do not synod-
we do this through the deacons who carry out their ical funds remove the needy too far from our local
calling with prayer and words of comfort in Christ's diaconates? Or should the churches each in turn take
name. (Matthew 25:40)                                       this responsibility upon themselves?
  But what has happened? The deacons have become              You realize that I am groping for a solution. Maybe
the business men in the church to care for the finances.    you can come up with something. I am eagerly await-
Most churches have no needy, it would seem. And ing your reply,
therefore, apart from an occasional visit to some                                         fraternally,
widow or orphan, the deacons find themselves without                                                           C.H.
an opportunity to fulfill their calling.


In His Fear

                   Coming Down: A Section of the Wall
                                                   (Concluded)

                                               Rev. John A. Heys

  Last time we began to quote from the report we            Faith; and we continue now to show what has been
gave to the Mission Committee of our churches con-          accomplished by God's grace among these of His chil-
cerning  the labours spent on the island of Jamaica and dren who differ from us, in race, color, and
in our `mission field there the months of February temperament.
through April of this year. We began to point out how         "AS to the schooling with the ministers, I took along
these children of God have received the Reformed complete sets of the mimeographed outlines which I


                                             THE  STAN,DARD BEARER                                                 443



use at home in my class on Heidelberg Catechism for of a junior college education and not simply high
Juniors; and we went through the first eight lessons, school. And educational standards in Jamaica are high,
school being held every other Tuesday because of the the final examination and test papers being marked not
expenses and travel difficulties. Before leaving for by the local teacher but in England. Kenneth has
home I drew up a set of 29 questions and answers on         signed a contract with us in the presence of Rev.
the instruction I had given; and when the `students' Frame and myself and I am attaching a copy of
pleaded for more copies and enough for each of those it for the Mission Committee to keep in its files.
in their consistories that could read, I. had 50 copies I am including one also for Synod's files. But
mimeographed at the cost of $3.20. One Sunday morn- Kenneth needs more than the $18 (Jamaican money,
ing we were gladdened to hear Rev. Ruddock drilling which roughly is $22 U.S. money) per semester,
his people at Mt. Lebanon in Sunday School on these of which there are three a year. He needs room
questions and answers as we arrived at church. The re- and board and  encouragement,  for he is a mem-
marks of Elder Johnson of Lucea's Congregation at the ber of a divided family, being the only one belonging
`farewell' sermon April 19 were to the effect that Rev. to the Protestant Reformed Church at Shrewsbury.
Lubbers and I can be sure that what we taught the And at school as well he stands alone.
ministers in school at the missionary home in Coral            "I also earnestly request our committee to consider
Gardens, they in turn do bring to the congregations; advising Synod to release the building fund collections
and he thanked us for our labours. This work also must so that those churches which declare themselves willing
by all means be continued.                                  to form the association of churches that will be incor-
   "The two highlights of the work during these twelve porated as the Protestant Reformed Churches in Ja-
weeks came during those 21 days when the                    maica, and have placed or promise to place their
Meulenbergs were with us. We spent an enjoyable week        properties in the name of the congregation can receive
with the six of us from January 27 through February         from this fund at once. The reasons are three in num-
4. Then Rev. and Mrs. Lubbers left for Grand Rapids,        ber: (1) This incorporation may take a year to be real-
and Mr. and Mrs. Meulenberg left for Florida. We then ized, (2) some of the churches need to buy land which
stayed alone for a month, and the Meulenbergs re- is now available and may not be a year from now, and
turned March 4 to remain with us till March 23. We (3) some churches are badly in need of repairs and
were then alone again for a month until we left for cannot hold services when it rains. (This matter has
home on April 22. But during those three weeks when         been taken care of, and while we were labouring in
the Meulenbergs were with us the conference was held        Jamaica and missed the committee meetings an ar-
at Reading, a district of West Lacovia, and Kenneth rangement was accepted whereby some help can be
Brown was enrolled in Heralds High School to begin          given at once from this fund to the churches in need,
his training for the ministry of the Word of God in the and more help can be given after they have become
Protestant Reformed Churches in Jamaica.                    organized.)
   "I understand that the Mission Committee is already        "Finally, since this is the report and opinion of one, I
busy with the report of this conference, having been        strongly recommend to the Mission Committee that
supplied with details by Mr. Meulenberg, so I will give     Mr. Meulenberg be asked to submit a brief report of his
no further report on this matter than to state that the     findings and opinion of the progress or lack of it in this
churches are in the process of deliberating on this         field for Synod's benefit and information. Elder
move. Several have already signed the agreement. (We Meulenberg was one of the first emissaries to the
have signed agreements from four of Rev. Ruddock's island. He has laboured there with Rev. C. Hanko, Rev.
five churches in our possession.) One or two have indi- G. Lubbers, and with myself and witnessed first hand
cated that they are not ready to sign. One probably         the work and the reaction to the work. He has observed
will not do so at all. We urged them to move slowly         the field closely for some seven, eight years, and has
and to be sure of what they are doing. A man in the         just returned from it after seeing a concentrated effort
field while they come to their decisions would be very      of six consecutive months of labour. He is in a position
beneficial.                                                 to give the committee and Synod a valued evaluation
   "Kenneth Brown has now completed some- five              of what has been'done or needs to be done.
weeks of school, and I was furnished with a report            "On my own part, after four visits to the field from
from the principal of the school - at my request - of       1965 till the present, and after four periods of labour
his progress and abilities for study. The report is quite in the field I have found two significant elements
favourable. Her concluding remarks are, `I trust that at    which give hope for the future. Through these few
the end of this term when his report sheet is sent to       brethren and sisters with whom we have been working
you, there will be plenty of reason for you to be proud     a new sound is being heard on the island; and those
of the efforts you are expending on him.' Incidentally,     around about them are beginning to become awareaof
the name of the school is misleading; and upon finisln-     such a sound that is so different from the Arminian
ing his studies there Kenneth will have the equivalent messages that are so universally proclaimed today. In


444                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



the `farewell' sermon we pointed out to them what a truth. Kenneth Brown told us of an argument which he
blessing and privilege they have to be the only group had with a young man at school. This young man in-
on the island that knows this truth of the Reformed sisted that God loves everybody and that therefore all
Faith and the Five Points of Calvinism. And we urged children who die in infancy go to heaven, because they
them to beware lest they fall from their steadfastness did not sin: Kenneth answered with a pointed ques-
in that truth. We may be thankful to our God that tion: What about those infants that died at the flood
through us the truth that shines so brightly in our under that terrible wrath of God? Avoiding the point
midst now is reflected and sent forth also here in Ja- the young man responded that this was in the Old
maica by these brethren and sisters of a different color, Testament dispensation and that today God deals dif-
race, and temperament. The truth IS being sounded ferently. Kenneth again countered with a question:
forth by them. And the other element is that being              Does God, of Whom the Bible says that He is the same
attacked they fight back with the instruction which we yesterday, today and forever, change?
gave them. This is indeed a blessing for- them. For               "Indeed, it does one good to hear others defend the
nothing strengthens the muscles of faith like a prayer- truth and to speak that which glorifies God rather than
ful use of them in rnaintaining the truth. May our cove- denies Him some of His glory. And it does one good
nant God keep them in this faith and watch over them especially to see this in those of another race, and
that they remain steadfast in that truth."                      color and temperament WHERE WE HAD NOT SEEN
  To this report was added the following which was THIS BEFORE. To see a section of the wall come
not possible when it was drawn up on April 29, down and to see the hand of God lifting out of the
1970: "P.S. In verification of the last paragraph above Arminian man-exalting and God-debasing philosophies
I received a letter today, May 4, 1970, from Rev. to place upon the solid ground of the truth that "Sal-
Frame in which, referring to the blackboard instruction vation is of the Lord," as Jonah stated it, and that God
sessions which we had for the Lucea congregation in is the alpha and omega of our salvation as well as of
Middlesex, he writes, `The people outside of the our creation, and that in Him we live and move and
church (who came in goodly numbers to these ses- have all our spiritual as well as our physical being, is
sions) believe this truth, and as they talk with me they indeed a joy. To see and hear men with black skin
decide to add (join) the church at Middlesex, Praise the stand beside us with white skin and give God ALL the
Lord.' The Lucea congregation is moving to Middlesex glory is a thrill we would like to have all of you
where most members of the congregation live.                    experience.
  "Of course all this does not mean that all or that any          "In a day and age when so many drift from the truth
understand this truth fully and can answer every argu- into Arminianism and Pelagianism and from them into
ment that is brought against the truth. But they know modernism, it is like rain upon the dry ground to wit-
the principles. They know and believe that man by ness a turning to this truth of the Reformation and to
nature is spiritually dead and not simply weak or sick. see the fulfillment of the words, "The ends of all the
They know and believe that God chose a people not earth shall hear And turn unto the Lord in fear;  All
because these dead people did something or would do kindreds of the earth shall own And worship Him as
something, but because it pleased Him to choose them. God alone."
They know and believe that we are chosen UNTO faith
and good works and not because of faith and good
works. They know and believe that Christ died only
for these elect, that God hates the sinner as well as his
sin, and that He loves the elect sinner because He sees
him in Christ. They know and believe that God calls to
repentance and does not offer, invite, and plead with
dead people to let Him save them; that we must be born
again (and thus have the process of salvation begun in
us) before we can even want salvation; and that God
by an irresistible grace does all this, making His elect the
`whosoever wills.' They know and believe that the
Almighty and Unchangeable God, having begun a good
work in us, will perform the work of salvation until the
day of Christ and cause each and every elect to per-
severe to the end.
  "And with the truth and instruction which we gave
them (and by `we' I mean Rev. C. Hanko, whom they
still remember very keenly, and Rev. G. Lubbers, as
well as myself) they do strive to defend this glorious


                                                      THE STANDARD BEARER                                                445



All Around Us

                                        News from Church Assemblies
                                                 An Interesting Quote

                                                            PvoJ: H. Hanko

NEWS FROM CHURCH ASSEMBLIES                                           - Dealing with the subject of special gifts of the
   Spring and early summer is the time for the broadest            Holy Spirit such as tongue speaking, healings, etc., the
assemblies of the various denominations to meet. The Assembly decided that, on the one hand, these gifts
decisions which these assemblies take makes for sad should not be despised or forbidden; but, on the other
reading. The decisions are the measure of the trouble, hand, they should not be considered as the norm for
unrest, and spiritual weakness of the church  world Christian living.
today.                                                                - Addressing itself to the burning issue today of the
   To turn, first of all, to the 182nd  General Assembly           offices in the Church, the Assembly rejected the his-
of the United Presbyterian Church, probably the deci- toric Calvinistic position that the offices are important.
sion which created the biggest stir had to do with a They abandoned all ideas of an ordained clergy and
report adopted by the Assembly entitled "Sexuality                 spoke of a call of God which is to all the people of the
and the Human Community." This report, prepared by                 earth. This, quite naturally, leads to the participation
a part of the Council on Church and Society, was the               of laymen in the preaching, the administration of the
clearest definition yet of what precisely the church               sacraments, and other work which has been limited to
means by "situation ethics." The report overtly denied             the ordained clergy.
that the Bible can serve as ethical and moral guidelines              - Approval was given to baptized children to attend
for our time.                                                      the Lord's Supper. This must still be approved by the
   After this basic and all-important decision, the rest presbyteries.
was comparatively easy and to be predicted. It de-                    - Once again spoke out against the war in Viet Nam
clared that present laws condemning homosexuality                  and called for an immediate end to the fighting of U.S.
were not morally defensible. It urged that contracep- troops in Southeast Asia.
tive devices be made available to all. It urged that laws             - Decided to broaden the present merger talks with
against abortion be dropped. It vacillated on the ques-            the Southern Presbyterians to include the United
tion of premarital and extra-marital sexual intercourse.           Church of Christ, the Cumberland Presbyterian
But really this was condoned. This part of the report              Church, and other North American churches affiliated
reads:                                                             with the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. This is
          If couples have taken a responsible decision to en-      still subject to the approval of the Southern Presby-
     gage in premarital intercourse, the church should not         terians. These other churches include the Reformed
     convey to them the impression that their decision is          Church of America.
     in conflict with their status as members of the body                                    ***
     of Christ.                                                      To turn now to the Reformed Churches of Aus-
   The report was adopted by a vote of 485 to 259.                 tralia, we find that these churches also were forced to
   There was irony here and a bit of silliness. An at-             deal with the question of special gifts of the Holy
tachment to the report was later passed by a margin of Spirit. A certain Dr. A. Schep had taught a baptism of
nine votes. The vote was 356 to 347. This attachment               the Holy Spirit apart from the preaching of the Word
"reaffirmed its `adherence to the moral law of God as              and special gifts imparted to select individuals by this
revealed in `the Old and New Testaments' and acknowl- baptism.
edged that lust, adultery, prostitution, fornication, and            The Synod rejected this position and insisted that
the practice of homosexuality are sin." (Quoted from               the work of the Spirit takes place through the preach-
Christianity Today.) Present laws condemning homo-                 ing of the gospel and the administration of the
sexuality are not desirable, but homosexuality is sin.             sacraments.
Couples engaging in premarital intercourse are sinning,              Dr. Schep resigned from the ministry and member-
but their conduct is not incompatible with member-                 ship in the church before Synod met.
ship in the church of Christ. These kinds of decisions               This matter of special gifts of the Spirit is increas-
are silly.                                                         ingly attracting the attention of the church. Appar-
   The UPUSA Church decided on many other matters.                 ently the whole idea of tongue speaking, gifts of heal-
Among the more interesting and important:                          ing, exorcism, etc. is spreading. It is not our intention


446                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER



to discuss this matter. here; we have discussed some                  cry their conservatism and regret their bad image.
aspects of it in an earlier column in our paper. Suffice                 Previously the two pastors had limited their speak-
it, for the present, to note that, when the church be-                ing to church assemblies. With the issuing of their call
comes doctrinally weak and unsound, when unfaithful-                  for a consultation, however, they have made an ap-
ness to the  Sciiptures is the order of the day, then                 peal to the `great crowd of people who are neither
                                                                      left nor right and can scarcely make themselves
there are these strong and irresistible tendencies to-                heard.'
wards this type of mysticism. These things are not                       The two hold that the church confessions faith-
signs of renewal in the church; nor are they signs of a               fully reflect the teaching of Scripture and should be
strong and healthy church; they are signs of a critical               maintained. Although they see the need for improve-
weakness and terminal illness.                                        ment in the confessions, these should be observed in a
                                ***                                   juridical sense. Desiring to stress the positive side of
  To refer again to a comment made above concerning                   their plan, they appeal to the church to confess and
merger proposals set forth by the UPUSA, we quote                     live its faith in the world of today.
                                                                         The pastors have reacted negatively however to
from the RES Newsletter.                                              what they see as
          (Grand Rapids, Michigan) Monday Morning, a                     - an activism that would make man's works an
       fortnightly magazine for United Presbyterian minis-            `extra' above the redemptive work of Jesus Christ.
       ters, reported that "a proposal to merge the Synods               - the .thought that the Kingdom of God will come
       of New Jersey of the United Presbyterian Church and            in its perfection by man's works in the world, not in
       the Reformed Church in America will be voted on by             the return in Jesus Christ.
       the two bodies in May. If approved, the union would               - the idea that the Gospels are the deposit of the
       create the largest Protestant church in New Jersey -           faith of the early congregation, but not a true presen-
       550 congregations and more than 250,000 communi-               tation of what actually happened;
       cant members. The merger plan requires ratification               - the error that authority is valid only when it is
       by the General Assembly of the UPUSA and the Gen-              recognized as such;
       eral Synod of the RCA." For the plan to go into                   -the tendency to make the church a political
       effect, it will need the approval not only of the              pressure group.
       RCA's General Synod but also the subsequent ratifi-               The announcement of the new movement has
       cation of two thirds of the classes. This proposal fol-        aroused a variety of reactions. The Rev. D. van
       lows upon the defeat in June 1969 of a plan for                Swigchem, editor of the  Amsterdams Kerkbode,
       union of the Reformed Church in America and the                wrote that the. effect of the new movement would be
       Presbyterian Church in the US (Southern).                      to exclude -those who are accused. "In spite of the
                                ***                                   good intentions, this is not the way toward a healthy
  While this is not, strictly speaking, a news item con-              church society."
cerning decisions of an ecclesiastical assembly, we                 This whole matter is of considerable interest to us.
quote from the  RES Newsletter  concerning a recent               In the light of all the departures from the truth which
development in the Gereformeerde Kerken in the                    characterize so much of the Reformed Church world, a
Netherlands:                                                      Consultation of Confessional Reformed Christians is a
          (Grand Rapids, Michigan) Two pastors of the Re-         very desirable thing. This would be especially true if
       formed Churches in the Netherlands have called for         the purpose would be to discuss, on the basis of Scrip-
       the formation of a Consultation of Confessional Re-        ture and the Confessions, what is our calling today to
       formed Christians. The Rev. Messrs. M. P. van Dijk         maintain the Reformed heritage. This question would
       and J. Vlaardingerbroek, who are deeply concerned          have to be discussed in the light of the departure of so
       that the church not polarize more than it has into a       many denominations from. this Reformed faith.
       left and a right group recently issued the call. In an
       interview with Kerknieuws they stated that many              But it seems as if this is not what the two pastors
       people are at a loss what to think of the new views        have in mind. They speak of the fact that they do not
       that are propounded in the churches. The consulta-         want the consultation to become a new modality in
       tion should not, however, become a new modality in         the church. Presumably this means that they do not
       the church, the two organizers hold. On the basis of       want the consultation to become a permanent organi-
       the Holy Scriptures as the Word of God, the two            zation and they do not want to face the prospect that
       preachers stated, we are forced to take a stance           church  r\efomration  may be the order of the day; even
       against the various forms of horizontalism which have      church reformation by secession. They deplore what
       crept into the Reformed Churches. Against those who        they  c'&ll the right wing; they want to appeal to the
       stress the need for a renewal for the structures of
       society at the cost of neglecting personal salvation,      "middle-of-the-roaders"; they decry the "bad image"
       they maintain that the Christian's only comfort, that      of the conservatives.
       he is not his own but belongs in life and death to           It is, in the light of this, a masterly stroke on the
       Jesus Christ, may not be pushed into a corner of the       part of Rev. D. van Swigchem to write that such a
       Christian life. The two pastors are largely in sympathy    movement as  this would result in the exclusion of
       with the `concerned"people in the churches, but de-        those who are accused. Apparently, these two men,


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                         447


calling for this consultation, do not want that. But is      `Heterodoxy or Realignment - Part II."
there any other way to preserve the heritage of the                 I don't wish to follow the example of the bear
confessions and the Reformed faith?                            hunter who, after a long and tiresome hunt, finally
  We hope that such a consultation will be held. We              cornered a bear. When the hunter raised his rifle to
hope that it will, ultimately, include all Reformed be-          shoot, the bear raised one paw and said, "Don't
lievers. We hope that the plea is earnestly and sincerely        shoot! Let's sit down and talk this over. After all,
made - to preserve the Reformed faith in these times             what you want is a fur coat and all I want is a full
                                                                 stomach, so let's sit  doivn and negotiate." So the
of apostasy.                                                     hunter, being one of these reasonable, middle-of-the
                                                                 road, fence-straddling Lutherans, put his gun down
AN INTERESTING QUOTE                                             and sat down to discuss the problem . . . and, the
  In a recent issue of  Lutherans Alert  we read the             hunter got a fur coat and the bear got a full stomach.
following interesting "fable" in an article entitled           This is, indeed, the usual result of "dialogue."


A Cloud of Witnesses

                   Solomon's Ascension To Israel's Throne
                                                   B. Woudenberg

                Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son,
          saying,
                Igo the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and show thyself a man;
                And keep the charge of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and
          his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of
          Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou  does& and whithersoever thou  turnest
          thyself
                That the LORD may continue his Word, which he spake concerning me, saying, If thy
          children take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all
          their soul, there shall not fail thee (said he) a man on the throne of Israel.
                                                                                                 I Kings 2: l-4

  Solomon was now king.                                      aroused in David a quick and strong response such as
  He was still young, very young, and the circum-            none had thought possible any longer. He ordered that
stances of his coronation were such as demanded the          without delay Solomon should be taken and made king
utmost of discretion.                                        with his royal approval. And it worked. The aged and
  Chief was the problem of Adonijah. Here was a mat-         weak king still held the love and respect of the people,
ter to challenge the discernment of the most experi-         and they received the successor he designated with en-
enced of men.                                                thusiasm.
  Adonijah, the eldest of David's living sons, had tried       For Adonijah the whole situation was suddenly a
to intercept Solomon's succession to the throne and to       crisis. It was in the midst of the merriment of his ban-
take it for himself. And his effort had been cleverly        quet as he was preparing to announce his intentions to
devised. He had obtained the backing of Joab, the cap-       take over the kingdom that suddenly a great noise
tain of the army, and of Abiathar the priest, two of the     seemed to fill the city. Hardly had they had time to
most influential men in the whole nation. Already the        inquire as to its meaning before Jonathan the son of
meeting had been gathered, with all of the royal sons        Abiathar entered with the announcement, "Verily our
except Solomon present, for the purpose of announc-          lord king David hath made Solomon king. And the
ing Adonijah's succession to the throne of Israel. But       king hath sent with him Zadok the priest, and Nathan
two things Adonijah had overlooked, the will of              the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the
Jehovah Israel's God and the natural resilience of Cherethites, and the Pelethites, and they have caused
David the king.                                              him to ride upon the king's mule: and Zadok the priest
  Thus in the last crucial hours, Nathan the prophet         and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king in
exposed the purpose of Adonijah to the old king in his       Gihon: and they are come up from thence rejoicing, so
sick chamber. Immediately it had had its effect. It          that the city rang again. This is the noise that ye have


448                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



heard. And also Solomon sitteth on the throne of the       die." Moreover, Solomon sent and had Adonijah
kingdom. And moreover the king's servants came to          brought into his presence so that the promise and the
bless our lord king David, saying, God make the name warning might be repeated in his own ears. And with
of Solomon better than thy name, and make his throne       that he dismissed him saying, "Go to thine house."
greater than thy throne. And the king bowed himself          To all appearances, Solomon's position upon the
upon the bed. And also `thus said the king, Blessed be throne of Israel was securely established. In fact, it was
the LORD God of Israel, which hath given one to sit not long before David his father passed away too, but
on my throne this day, mine eyes even seeing it."          not without first calling Solomon to him and saying; "I
  There was no need for any explanation of the news go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore,
brought by Jonathan. For a moment all of the merri- and show thyself a man; and keep the charge of the
ment was over and the grip of cold fear held the whole LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his stat-
hall in paralysis; but then it was over. As a man the utes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and
whole crowd rose to their feet and fled without a back- his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses,
ward look from the hall. Only Adonijah was left,           that thou mayest prosper in all that  thou doest, and
alone, completely deserted by all of those which he whithersoever thou turnest thyself: that the LORD may
had counted to be the friends who would put him            continue his word which he spake concerning me, say-
upon the throne of the kingdom.                            ing, If thy children take heed to their way, to walk
  But even Adonijah could not afford to stay and re- before me in truth with all their heart and with all
flect upon this sudden and unexpected reversal in his      their soul, there shall not fail thee (said he) a man on
fortune. He who had but minutes before appeared to the throne of Israel."
be the man of the hour was now the chief enemy  of.          The promise was extremely beautiful. A more fitting
the king and his people. He was a traitor caught red-      thought could hardly be passed on by a departing
handed in his treachery. It was no wonder that every- father to his son and royal successor. It was essentially
one had fled him. No one's life could be more              the covenant promise, the promise of the son who
worthless than his for the moment.                         some day would come to sit upon the throne of Israel
  ,But Adonijah's mind was quick, and he saw one forever. Nevertheless, the words of David also con-
possibility of saving himself. He knew that Solomon tained a warning. Solomon must be careful to live in
was a religious young man who took the service of obedience to God and according to the precepts of His
Jehovah seriously. The last thing with which Solomon law. Only in this way would God be with him and
would want to begin his reign was with anything that would he remain in the covenant line.
might be taken as a desecration of the worship of            But Solomon's troubles were not over, not even
Jehovah.                                                   with Adonijah. The dream of grandeur does not die
  As quickly as he could, therefore, Adonijah too left easily once it has found root within the human breast.
the hall of banqueting and made his way to the taber- Once Adonijah had nearly succeeded in supplanting
nacle. There he threw himself upon the altar of burnt Solomon, and in an amazingly short time he was ready
offerings and clung to its horns with all of the strength to try again. His plan centered in Abishag the Shunam-
that was in him. Publicly it was an admission of guilt mite, David's last concubine.
and a plea for mercy to God and in His name. But at          It was the custom in that day that a new king arising
the same time it was a challenge to the ruling king. He    to the throne would inherit the harem of his prede-
could not exert punishment upon Adonijah without cessor, as David had done with Saul's (II Samuel 12:8),
introducing violence and the shedding of blood into        and Absalom had done briefly with David's (II
the very tabernacle of God where such ought not to Samuel 16:22). It was one of the most emphatic indi-
be. Accordingly also he informed any who inquired of cations of one's authority in office.
him, "Let king Solomon swear unto me to day that he          Now Adonijah knew as a member of the royal fam-
will not slay his servant with the sword."                 ily, and he knew that Solomon knew, that David had
  It was soon, of course, that the word about never actually been united to Abishag. Thus he
Adonijah was passed on to Solomon, for already the thought it might well be possible that he might be able
young king found himself surrounded by fawning to talk Solomon into letting him take Abishag to him-
people who thought that they could please him by self as wife. It was a clever move. To the members of
passing on information concerning his enemy. But the royal family who knew the true situation it might
Solomon indeed had no desire to begin his reign with appear quite innocent, but to the nation as a whole it
the shedding of blood. Neither did he feel either fear would appear that Adonijah still had certain royal pre-
of or hatred for Adonijah. His only concern was to rogatives within the nation. Thus he could slowly begin
secure the well-being of his kingdom. Thus, the answer to establish himself anew within the eyes of the
he gave back was -this,  :`If he will show himself a people.
worthy man, there shall not an hair of him fall to the       Moreover, Adonijah did not go himself to Solomon.
earth: but if wickedness shall be found in him, he shall He was much more careful than that. He went first to


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                449



Bathsheba, Solomon's mother. Not only was she a                Naively Bathsheba went immediately into the pres-
simple and kindly woman in whom sympathy was eas-            ence of Solomon. After the usual formalities in which
ily aroused, but she was dearly loved by Solomon so          a special seat was set for Bathsheba and during which
that he would not easily deny her anything. In this          Solomon promised, "Ask on, my mother: for I will not
way Adonijah was quite sure that he would be able to         say thee nay," Bathsheba went on to repeat Adonijah's
take advantage of Solomon's yduth and the tenderness         request, "Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to
of his feelings.                                             Adonijah thy brother to wife."
  Bathsheba was indeed quite surprised by Adonijah's           Solomon at that time may well have been young and
approach  to her so that her first inquiry was,  "Com- inexperienced, but he was not naive or foolish. He saw
est thou peaceably?" To which he answered, "Peace-           immediately through the plan and retorted with anger,
ably," and then went on to say, "Thou knowest that           "And why dost thou ask Abishag the Shunammite for
the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel set their Adonijah? ask for him the kingdom also; for he is mine
faces on me, that I should reign: howbeit the kingdom        elder brother; even for him, and for Abiathar the
is turned about, and is become my brother's: for it was      priest, and for Joab the son of Zen&h . . . God do so
his from the LORD. And now I ask one petition of to me, and more also, if Adonijah have not spoken this
thee,. deny me not . . . Speak, I pray thee, unto            word against his own life. Now therefore. as the Lord
Solomon the king, (for he will not say thee nay,) that       liveth which hath established me, and  set me on the
he give me Abishag the Shunammite to wife." It was a         throne of David my father, and who hath made me an
daring approach to use his own failure to take over the      house, as he promised, Adonijah shall be put to death
kingdom as a means of gaining sympathy with the this day." So Solomon ended the first great threat to
king's mother; but with Bathsheba it worked. She sus-        his throne and his life.
petted nothing.


From Holy Writ

                    Explanation  of...-..! John 2  :  l-3
                                                  Rev. G. Lubbers

              "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we
           have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for
           our sins: and not for ours only, but also for (the sins, sin) of the whole world. And hereby
           we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. . . . "


  We ought to notice, that, in the  KJV of the Scrip-          We do well to give close heed to the message which
tures here in verse 2, the translators have inserted the     he heard directly from God, and which he here
words "the Sins" of the whole world. The Holland             preaches and writes as a herald and Ambassador of
translation inserted the singular "sin" of the whole         God in Christ.
world. This should make every teacher of a "Christ
dying for all men" sit up and take notice, and not THESE THINGS WRITE I UNTO YOU (I John 211)
jump to the hasty conclusion that the text teaches             John writes with a very definite purpose in mind.
universal and general atonement, a general grace for all!    His aim is not to write purely polemically. He will not
  The implication of the aforementioned paragraph merely use the sword, but he will employ the trowel
we trust will become evident in our positive exegesis of and build the saints in the faith in Christ. He will in-
this very well-known, yet little understood passage          struct them not merely in doctrine but also in Chris-
from Holy Writ. We may state here and now that what-         tian  ethics,  whereas these two are inseparably
ever this text teaches in this phrase "for the sin of the    connected in the covenant of God, the New Testament
whole world," it does not teach and cannot teach on          of the fellowship which we have with the Father and
its own merits and intent a Christ for all, for every man    with His Son.
head for head in the entire human race that came forth         The basic and all controlling truth is "God is light
from the loins of Adam!                                      and there is no darkness in Him at all" (I John 1:5).
  John writes a very general letter to all churches, in      This is not a mere philosophic premise of man's inven-
all times of this New Testament era.                         tion, but this is "the message." It is something which


450                                             THE STANDARD BEARER



John must proclaim as the very Word of God in the philosophical teachers on metaphysics and ethics. It is
Church.                                                       written as the Word of God. It is God's Word inscriptu-
  In the first place, let it be noticed that this is a rated. No, it is not God's Word in the Bible. It is: the
message which John  heard from God!  John did not Bible is the Word of God!
simply hear someone else say that God is light. On the-          It is the rule of life and faith for the "little chil-
contrary John heard this message from the mouth of dren." It is the rule of faith for the little children with
God Himself!! John heard this so very really as did all their sins and weaknesses in their battle against sin
Moses hear God speak on the holy mount of Sinai in and unbelief.. It is the pure milk of the word by which
the Wilderness of Paran. This is the message which we to grow. Thus only will we keep our feet on the
have heard of him. (ap ' au tou) John heard it without straight paths of the Word and will we not build our
the intermediate agency of another. He heard it di- house upon the sands of men's philosophy, but upon
rectly from God Himself.                                      the solid rock of ages, Christ!
  In the second place, we must observe closely that THAT YE SIN NOT (I John 2: 1)
the verb  " and  declare  unto you" is a term in the             The term "sin" is very important, and is equally
Greek which is used for authorized, official announce- prevalent in this epistle of John. A survey will show
ments and pronouncements. John has heard this mes- that the noun "sir? occurs fourteen times, and that in
sage from God, and he is told to hide it not. He must the  following.passages:  I John  1:7, 8, 9;  2:2, 12;  3:4,
speak this word from the house-top, declare it far and 5, 8, 9; 4:lO; 5:16, 17. Theverb "to sin" occurs some
wide: God is light!                                           nine times, and as follows: I John 1: 10; 2:l; 3:6, 8,9;
  In the third place, the implication of the truth that 5: 16, 18. John does not count the sins, he weighs sin
God is "light" and that there is no "darkness" in Him in the balance of the light-life of God. All unrighteous-
ought to be observed. This writer feels that this is here ness is sin. Unrighteousness is "adikia"; it is the nega-
a necessary emphasis on the part of John not only for tion of what is just, right. That is true of unrighteous-
doctrine but also for ethics, Christian ethics. This truth ness. It is not as the relativist would have it. According
is just as basic as is the "Hear, Israel the Lord our God to the latter, the figure of a string will explain. This
is one Lord." That is the doctrinal part! The ethics is, string is white on one end and it is dark on the other
Thou shalt love the. Lord thy God with all thy heart, end. Now, the one end is not absolutely "white" and
with all thy soul, with all thy mind, with all thy the other end is not absolutely "dark." The light end is
strength." (Deuteronomy 6 : 5 ; Matthew 22 :3 7) Two less dark then the dark end, and conversely the dark
things here joined: doctrine and ethics!                      end is less light than the light end. That is the way with
  We see this demonstrated in the verses 6-10. Five ethi`cs too, so these unbelievers teach. That is the
different conditional sentences bring out this truth of teaching today of the yes-no teaching called existen-
the relationship between sound doctrine and Godly tialism. That must even be true in the "god!" of whom
ethics. Wherefore John can write "If we say that we they speak, now as "dead" and then as "alive," but
have fellowship with God (who is light!! G.L.) and who is not the living God of the Bible! Even in their
walk in the darkness, we lie and do not the truth."           idol-god they posit two poles, the good and the evil,
       Yes, that is it. Doctrine and ethics. And the absolute and these are necessary. For evil is a counterpart of the
statement of John concerning it. If God is light (and good! But John says: God is light and there is no dark-
that is the unifying principle between what He is and ness in him at all!.
does) then also this light-life must be the unifying prin-       I write you that ye sin not. I write you that ye miss
ciple in the children of the light. Only those who walk not the mark. I write you, not ungodly world, which
in the light have fellowship with God and do the truth passeth away; but I write you, my little children. And
2nd not the lie. It is not simply what we say that that makes a difference. For John does not refer here
counts but what we do as the fi-uit of the Spirit. And to the sins of the world, the sins of those who walk in
by the .fruits we shall be known. For he that walks in the entire circumference of their life in the darkness.
the light as God is the light, he has fellowship with He is not addressing those who in whom the truth is
God, and the blood of Christ cleanses him from all not. Nay, he is addressing those who basically walk in
sins. He is wholly clean: heart, mind, will and power! the light, who have been born from above and who are
In him is the love of God perfected, the great truly "my little children!"
"Shamah" on which all the law and the prophets                   These little children have a peculiar mark which
depend!                                                       they must not miss. They must walk in the light even
  This Great Commandment is placed once more in as God is in the light. And when they stumble in many
writing. It is the writing of the "old commandment" and sometimes through weakness fall into sin, they
which is at once also the "new commandment!" We miss the mark. They sin. Now the entire writing of
are dealing with the same God who is light in both John is "that ye sin not." The aim of this writing is
Testaments. This message is placed in writing. It must even our sanctification; that the love of God be per-
not be lost as a mere statement would be of one of the fected in our hearts.


                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER                                                451



       This sin of missing the mark of the upward calling in faith and conversion, should they sin, have an advo-
     Christ Jesus is an ever besetting sin with us. God is cate! Race and color, nationality and culture, sex and
     light and therefore `if one sins. against one command- age, all standing in life, king or servant, if any of these
     ment he sins against all of them. When John says "If are the "little children," they have an advocate with
     any sin" he is not really saying "if any man sin" in all the Father  - if they sin! However, no one outside of
     the world. Rather he says: if any of you little children the "little children" has such an advocate as we hope
     sin, we the little children have an advocate with the to show when we come to "he is the propitiation for
     Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous.                         the. . . of the whole world." (Verse 2)
       Now, I write you in order. that ye sin not, but press         If any of the little children sin, they have a need of
     on in sanctification and holiness of life!                   having their consciences cleansed from the guilt of sin.
     IF ANY ONE SIN WE HAVE AN ADVOCATE WITH What a need this is for every David! Wash me,. make me
     THE FATHER. (I John 2:l)                                     pure within, cleanse, 0, cleanse me from my sin.
       "If any one sin." This is a conditional sentence. This        0, then we stand in need of forgiveness, of confess-
     presents this matter of sinning not as permissible, nor ing our sins before the face of the Lord. To be cleansed
     admirable, but rather as sin which is transgression. The with the blood of Jesus Christ, and to know that God
     possibility  of our sinning is that God has not com- is faithful and just. That He does not require payment
     pletely sanctified us yet. We still have an old man, a twice. Yes, we have an advocate with the Father, who
     sinful nature against which we have to battle all our intercedes for us. He ever lives to intercede for us, and
     life-long. It is the battle to fight against sin with a free therefore can save us to the uttermost. (Roman 8:27,
     and good conscience. To so stand in the battle that our 34; Hebrews 7:23 ; Romans 8:26) He has entered for us
     consciences are not defiled by dead works and sinful once and for all into the holy place through His own
     works, but that we serve the living God, Who is light blood, which speaketh better things than does Abel.
     and in Whom there is no darkness at all!                     He is our peace with God! And, therefore, if any of the
       Yes, and then it does not make any difference which "little children" have sinned, we have such an advocate
     member in the church sins. There is here, too, no re- which becomes us: holy, harmless, undefiled, separate
     spect of persons with God. All who are called to the from sinners and made higher than the heavens!


     Pages  from the Past

                                    Believers and Their Seed
                                             THE ORGANIC IDEA IN SCRIPTURE
                                                   (contintiation of Chapter IX)

I                                                    Rev.  Hermun Hoeksema

       Thus, finally, we also understand the fact that the         and encouraged with various promises, but also threat-
     apostles repeatedly address the congregations as the          ened with various punishments and judgments; but it is
     church of Christ. A congregation may appear to be             always one and the same congregation, and as such it is
     never so bad, but the Apostle Paul addresses it as the       repeatedly addressed. Even in the case of the very con-
     church of Christ, as beloved in the Lord, as brethren in gregation which is threatened by the Lord that He will
     Him. That congregation may be divided by party-strife; spew her out of His mouth, He nevertheless stands at
     it  may  be guilty of drunkenness and adultery; it            the door, and knocks, so that they may hear His voice
     may even deny or doubt the truth of the resurrection         and He may sup with them. One congregation, with
     of the dead; it continues to be the church of Christ the same name, the same labor bestowed, the same
     to which the apostle writes. It may even be necessary        covenant, the same calling of God in the world; but in
     at the end of his epistle for the apostle to pen             that one congregation always and' again the elect kernel,
     the dreadful words, "If any man love not the Lord which can never go lost, in the reprobate shell.
     Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha." Yet he           ,If we have understood this truth somewhat, then
     writes to that congregation as the one organism of the what otherwise remains a riddle to us in Holy Scripture
     body of Christ. Thus we can also understand the letters      or with which we would tend to go in an Arminian or
     which the Lord Himself addresses to the seven churches Pelagian direction will also be much clearer to us.
     of Asia Minor through the Apostle John. Those congre-           Thus, in recent times, appeal has been made once
     gations are praised and are reproved; they are comforted again to Psalm 81 in defense of a general grace of God


452                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



in the preaching of the gospel. Alas, in recent times in on earth with the individual believer. He is one person,
the Christian Reformed Churches appeal is made more a.child of God, called by God's name, baptized in His
and more to texts which also the old Remonstrants name. But there is also still in him the operation of sin;
quoted in order to prove their  Christus pro omnibus, he still carries about with him the body of this death.
(Christ for all) their doctrine of general grace. This lies, If now he acts in harmony with that old nature and
indeed, in the nature of the case. In order to be able to walks for a time in the paths of sin, and the  ILord
maintain a theory of Common Grace, they have de- chastises him then, leads him in ways of adversity and
clared that the preaching of the gospel is grace for all suffering, then it appears as though God is angry with
who hear it. It is but human that when this proposition him, and it appears as though God rejects His own elect
is contested by us, they exert themselves to the utmost child. And this is true, too, if only it be properly un-
in order nevertheless to find proof for it in Scripture.    derstood. For also then the Lord does not reject His
And thus it comes about that they appeal to Psalm 8 1. elect child, but gives him over as he exists histopkally,
After all, it is clear  - thus they reason  - that God in order to save that child. Thus it is also with Israel in
meant it so well, that He indeed intended to be gra- the old Dispensation. That people is one. It has one
cious, to the very people whom He has given over to name. It is called "My people." Thus the Lord also
their own hearts' lust. He laments about it. He cries addresses that people: "Hear, 0 my people, and I will
out, "Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and testify unto thee," (vs. 8). To that people He said:
Israel had walked in my ways!" Don't you see - thus         "There shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt
they cry almost triumphantly  - that God was  well- thou worship any strange god. I am the Lord thy God,
meaning toward Israel, toward reprobate and ungodly which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open
Israel, and that therefore there is a well-meant offer of thy mouth wide, and I will fill it," (vss. 9, 10). But
grace to all? And if then you point out that in this way that one people consisted of an elect kernel and a
they make God's Word speak Arminian language, then reprobate shell. Besides, the sinful nature of that repro-
they quickly add that this is the one line of God's bate shell penetrated even into the elect kernel: for
Word, while the other is that of sovereign election and also the spiritual children of the promise were not per-
sovereign grace. And if then you insist that those two fect.' This is the reason why that people as a unity
completely exclude one another, that God cannot could sometimes apostatize as it did, and could make
well-meaningly offer what He never intends to bestow, its ways more abominable than the ways of the hea-
then they boldly try to get away with the  argument- then. And if then that people revealed itself under the
silencer that this is a mystery and that we must not domination of that wicked shell, then the Lord said of
even want to understand those things. But this is play- that people: "But my people would not hearken to
ing with Scripture and with the  Reformed truth. In my voice; and Israel would none of me." And then the
this way one is Reformed according to a dead confes- Lord gave that people over, according to its wicked
sion, but in actual fact a thoroughbred Arminian. In and reprobate shell, unto the lusts of their own hearts.
this fashion we may as well abandon every attempt to        But that never changed the fact that hidden in that
understand Scripture. Following this course, we can people was always the real people of the promise, the
make Scripture say anything whatsoever, under the elect kernel toward which the heart of Israel's God
pious motto that "the hidden things are for the Lord went out in love. And if then the enemies subjugated
our God."                                                   that people, and Israel was given over into captivity,
  But we surely may not deal thus with Scripture. We        then God lamented over His people: "Oh that my
have indeed the calling to contemplate and study the people had hearkened unto me, and that Israel had
Word of our God until we understand it. And although walked in my ways!" And not only did the Lord la-
we gladly concede that there are mysteries, things ment thus, but thus it also came about again: for the
which for our finite understanding are never to be fath- remnant according to the election of grace was always
omed, because our God is unfathomable,  yet  we preserved. This presentation is surely in harmony with
maintain that in Scripture we have a revelation of God      Scripture in general; it is in accord with Israel's history;
which is adapted to our thinking and our understand- and it is free from all Arminianism.
ing, and which we indeed can understand. We maintain          Thus, to mention but one more passage, what God
that this Scripture does not teach and cannot teach says to Isaiah at the time of his calling to be a prophet
that black is also white, that God will not bestow but in Israel also becomes clear. In connection with this we
also will bestow grace on the same persons, that He read in Isaiah 6:9-13: "And he said, Go, and tell this
offers what He does not will to bestow. Scripture is people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye
not both Reformed and Arminian.                             indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people
  And thus it is also with Psalm 8 1. If only we keep in fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest
mind the organic unity of the people of God in the they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and
midst of the world, then every problem with this pas- understand with their heart, and convert and be
sage disappears. Then you can compare God's people healed. Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered,


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                   453



Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the Instead of this, the matter stands thus, that labor is
houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,          bestowed upon the entire congregation, that to the
And the Lord have removed men far away, and there              entire congregation Christ is proclaimed, and the prom-
be a great forsaking in the midst of the land. But yet in ises of God in Him, that the entire congregation is
it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be         exhorted to walk in the ways of the Lord and as
eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is       friends of God in the midst of the world, but that all
in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed this is never grace, cannot be grace, and cannot be
shall be the substance thereof."                               intended as grace by the Lord, except for the elect
  Those who want to see in the preaching of the gos- kernel, after which the entire congregation is named,
pel a well-meant offer of grace to all who hear cer- while the other branches are cut off. Also in the con-
tainly do not know what to do with this passage of gregation the preaching is a savour of life unto life, but
Scripture, no more than with the similar word of the           also a savour of death unto death.
Savior which is put still more sharply in Mark 4:8-12.           With this conception we stand strong, too, over
If they will be honest, they will have to admit that           against those who want to teach a presupposed regen-
they do not hold to the line of Scripture which is here        eration of all the children of the covenant. For that
presented, but reject it altogether. Notice that the sub- idea we exactly do not teach. Nor can such a presup-
ject here is precisely the preaching of Isaiah, his calling    position ever be maintained in the light of Scripture
as prophet. And he is told from the outset that he and in the light of reality. No, we understand that
must serve as prophet in order to make the heart of there is also carnal seed which nevertheless comes un-
this people fat, and to make their ears heavy, and to          der the very same labor as is bestowed upon the entire
shut their eyes, lest they convert and be healed. And          congregation, and that, too, according to the will of
when the prophet, almost afraid of such a calling, asks,       God. What God's purpose is with this carnal seed in the
"How long must this continue, Lord?" he receives the           church, and what influence is exercised upon that car-
answer that this must continue until all is destroyed.         nal seed because of their affinity with the congrega-
Only he has the promise of a remnant, a remnant tion, this we shall see later. And thus it will also be
which in turn shall also be eaten away, but of which clear that it is exactly not our view that all in the visible
the holy seed shall be the substance. In other words,          church, head for head, are elect, and that there is also
the real object here is that remnant and that holy seed.       room in the preaching to the congregation, according
But precisely for the sake of the salvation of that holy to our conviction, for the proclamation of an everlast-
seed the preaching of Isaiah must serve for the blinding ing woe for those who will not walk according to the
and hardening of the reprobate shell. If now you keep rule of God's covenant.
in mind the organic idea, then you will understand this                               Chapter X
very well. There come times in Israel's history when                    THE REPROBATE IN THE SPHERE
the ungodly segment of the nation gets the power and                            OF THE COVENANT
has the upper hand; times when it becomes well-nigh              By this time it will surely be plain that we exactly
impossible for the elect kernel to exist in the midst of do not believe that the entire actually existing and
that reprobate shell. In such times judgment must visible church in the midst of the world is elect, as we
come upon Israel: Israel must be eaten away, precisely have sometimes very wrongfully been accused of teach-
in .order to save it from the domination of the ungodly.       ing. Neither do we believe that this may be presup-
However, if this is to happen, if a portion of that rep- posed with respect to the visible church on earth, that
robate shell is to fall away, then it must first become is, believers and their seed, and that only on the basis
ripe for judgment. And Isaiah's preaching must serve of such a presupposition can holy baptism be adminis-
exactly to accomplish that ripeness of the reprobate tered to infants, and that only on the basis of the same
shell. Then presently the tenth part shall be preserved, presupposition can we subscribe to the language of our"
and the remnant, of which the holy seed shall be the Baptism Form and make it our own. No, but we be-
substance.                                                     lieve that Scripture instructs us very clearly - and that
  With this organic conception of God's covenant peo- therefore also we may never present matters dif-
ple in the line of generations we are in a strong posi-        ferently than Scripture instructs us  - that among
tion, we have a Scriptural-Reformed point of view. God's covenant people as they, according to His will,
Then we stand strong over against the Baptist position, exist here on earth not all is Israel that is called Israel.
which exactly does not see and know that organic idea, We believe that essentially the covenant of grace per-
and therefore also holds that baptism may only be tains to the elect alone, whom God regenerates in time
administered to persons who are themselves able to and on whom He bestows faith and conversion, accord-
confess that they belong to Christ. Then we also stand ing to His eternal good pleasure. All the elect and only
strong over against Arminianism, also over against that the elect are saved. And they receive that salvation not
form of Arminianism which wants to view the preach- out of works, but out of grace, in order that no one
ing to the congregation as a well-meant offer of grace. may boast. No one regenerates himself, and no one has


454                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



faith of and by himself. No one converts himself; no         covenant children with His grace, it is not necessarily
one calm convert himself or even will to be converted.       the only way in which He works. There are those also
The Lord God Himself, through His Word and Spirit,           who first depart from the way of the covenant and
and in His own time, makes all His elect people par-         who only later come to repentance. There are even
takers of the benefits of His covenant and forms His         those who only in their old age begin to bear the fruits
people in order that they should show forth His praise.      of faith and conversion. And to accept the possibility
  Strictly speaking, therefore, no one can maintain          that also those who first come to conversion and to the
that anyone who has been reprobated by God can               consciousness of faith when they are seventy or eighty
really belong to the covenant of grace. God's covenant       years old were nevertheless already regenerated in their
is the living and eternal relation of friendship between     youth creates a separation between regeneration and
Him and His elect people in Christ Jesus. This must          conversion which, in our opinion, does not exist. We
necessarily be maintained because otherwise we simply        may therefore surely assume that there are among be-
find ourselves again in Arminian waters and make             lievers and their seed also those who are unconverted
everything dependent upon%-the free will of man. But         but who are nevertheless elect. However, we do not
he who would deduce from this that we believe or even        have in mind at present these unconverted elect, who
presuppose that the church on earth, believers and           certainly will come to conversion. No, we refer to the
their seed as we know them and can recognize them up         unconverted who never come to conversion because
to a certain point, are also all elect would be seriously    God does not intend to lead them to conversion. We
mistaken. No, but this people of the\covenant reveals        have in mind the reprobate in God's covenant on earth:
itself historically as intertwined with and connected          You must not say that this is an idle question be-
with an evil and reprobate shell, carnal Israel. Indeed,     cause we can never with certainty point out whether
that entire people, according to the will of God, is         anyone is a reprobate. This does not even touch upon
addressed and treated as God's people. As the covenant       the question with which we are now confronted. For
people they are baptized, admonished, comforted,             although we do not know who are reprobate, we know
stirred up to repentance, instructed in the way of the       with certainty that there are also such reprobate un-
covenant. But in all this we may never lose sight of         godly brought by God into the sphere of His covenant.
the fact that, positively speaking, the purpose is the       All Scripture teaches this. The entire history of the
salvation of the elect kernel, and that not all who are      church teaches this. Experience teaches this again and
born in and from the church on earth are saved.              again. It is important, therefore, that we place our-
  This, according to our conviction, is the Scriptural       selves before the question what we are to think of such
presentation and also the presentation of our fathers.in     reprobate in the sphere of the covenant. They come
the Baptism Form, as we have demonstrated in detail.         under God's covenant according to His will and good
  There remain, however, a few questions in connec-          pleasure. The question arises therefore: what is God's
tion with this view of God's covenant in the world.          purpose with this? If nevertheless only the elect are
  In the first place, there is this question: what is the    saved, why are those reprobate temporarily in God's
significance of God's covenant for the ungodly and           covenant on earth? There is also no doubt about it that
reprobate who historically are born in that covenant         in a certain sense they are children of the kingdom:
and who temporarily, or even all their lifetime, live        for Scripture speaks of such children of the kingdom
under that covenant?                                         who are cast out. They are not to be placed on a par
  We have intentionally formulated the question thus.        with the heathen, with those who never come into
For to speak only of "the unconverted" would create          contact with God's covenant. The question arises,
confusion. After all, there may also be unconverted          therefore: what is their relation to Christ and to God's
4ect among believers and their seed. We believe, in-         covenant? Wherein are they distinguished from the
deed, that this is not  according to the rule  of God's      children of the heathen? What is and will be their spir-
covenant. We prefer to believe that the Lord God as a        itual condition? What do they receive by reason of
rule regenerates the elect seed of the church in child-      their relation to the people and the fellowship of the
hood and brings them to repentance and faith gradu-          covenant?
ally. It is also by far the most wonderful when a child        To begin with the last question, it may be observed
of the covenant is endowed with the new life in his          that there certainly can be no doubt whether there is
earliest childhood and then under the influence of in-       indeed a certain influence of God's covenant upon the
struction and preaching gradually grows up in the .grace     children of the kingdom who are cast out. All Scrip-
and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. That this is the     ture reveals this very clearly. Already in the figure of
rule is also the teaching of experience. For by far the      the vine and the branches, used by the Lord Himself
majority of the children of the covenant are brought to      (John  15) there is the idea that also the branches
faith and repentance in that gradual way. But the Lord       which are cast out, which are cut out, nevertheless
God is free and sovereign in His dealings. Though that       stood in a certain connection with the vine and also
gradual way is the usual one in which He endows His elect    drew their life-sap out of that vine. Plainly, the distinc-


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                       455



tion between the branches which abide.in the vine and                      A TTENTION'PRBUAR Y TEACHERS
those other branches which are cut out is not the same            Hope Protestant Reformed Christian School is in
as the difference between living and dead branches.            need of two First Grade Teachers for the 70-7 1 school
The branches which are cut out are not dead branches,          year. Call (453-97 17) or write the school, 1545 Wilson
which stand in no living connection with the vine              Ave., S.W., Grand Rapids,  Mich. 49504, for informa-
whatsoever. No, the distinction is between branches            tion.
which do bear fruit and other branches which do not
bear fruit. Also those non-fruitbearing branches are in
the vine. The Lord Jesus states it as follows: "Every                      ANNIVERSAR Y ANN0 UNCEMENT
branch in me that beareth not fruit . .  ." There is,            God in His sovereign grace and abundant mercy has
therefore, a certain being in God's covenant in Christ         been pleased to.permit our loving parents,
without bringing forth fruits of faith and conversion.            REVEREND AND MRS. GEORGE C. LUBBERS
There is indeed an influence of the vine upon those
unfruitful branches. So also there is an influence of          to be bound in holy matrimony these FORTY
God's covenant upon those who are in it without ever           YEARS.
coming to repentance. This is also clear from the previ-         The words of Moses were used by Rev. G. Vos the
ously cited figure of the vineyard, described by Isaiah.       evening of their marriage August 17, to give them
Everything that could be done has been to that vine-           directives in their life. "If thy presence go not with me,
yard. But under all that labor wild grapes are brought         carry us not up hence." Exodus 33 : 15.
forth.                                    (to be continued1      We pray that God may continue to sustain them
                                                               with His presence as they work in the gathering of the
                                                               Church of God.
                        NOTICE!!                                                          Their loving children,
  All ministers and clerks of our congregations please
note this change of address. Please send all orders for                                                 Miss Agatha Lubbers
                                                                                           Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Newhof, Jr.
catechism books to:      Mr. Seymour Beiboer                                                      Mr. and Mrs. Case Lubbers
                         2193 Clyde Park Ave., S.W.                                             Mr. and Mrs. Lamm Lubbers
                         Wyoming, Mich., 49509                                                         and 10 grandchildren

  Classis West of the Protestant Reformed Churches                       ANNOUNCEMENT AND INVITATION
will meet in Hull, Iowa on September 2, 1970, at 8:30                        LANGUAGE ARTS WORKSHOP
A.M. Rev. G. Lanting will lead in the opening devo-                           August 3-7, 10-14, 17-21, 1970
tions. Material for the Agenda of Classis should be sent                    at: Covenant Christian High School
to the Stated Clerk thirty days before Classis convenes.                             Grand Rapids, Michigan
Delegates in need of lodging are to inform the Clerk of.
the Hull consistory.                                                                sponsored and financed by
                           Rev. David Engelsma, Stated            FEDERATION OF PROTESTANT REFORMED
                                    Clerk of Classis West                            CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS
                                                               General Purpose: This workshop is being conducted to
              WEDDlNG  ANNIVERSAR Y                              improve the instruction of the language arts in the
  On August 2 1, 1970, the Lord willing, our parents,            Protestant Reformed Christian School classroom.
        MR. and MRS. WILBUR G. BRUINSMA SR.                      The workshop will be most concerned with the
will celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary.                   teaching of literature and an associated composition
  We are thankful for the covenant instruction we                program.
receive and for a home where we may know the fear of Participants:
God.                                                             1. Any teacher who is interested in the improvement
  Our prayer is that the Lord may richly bless them                     of the quality of instruction in his classroom and
in His grace in the way that lies ahead, and that in all                school and in the Protestant Reformed Christian
their experiences they may enjoy that blessed peace                     Schools.
which is found in the blood of Christ.                           2. All teachers and ministers and parents are invited
  Their grateful children and grandchildren -                           to attend sessions of this workshop.
                         Mr. and Mrs. John Kalsbeek Jr.        Please contact for details and additional information:
                        Jordana Lynn & Jason Nathaniel                                   Miss Agatha Lubbers, director
                                 Mr. Lewis H. Bruinsma                                    7501 Terrace Lane
                             Mr. Wilbur G. Bruinsma Jr.                                   Jenison, Michigan 49428
                                 Mr. Keith A. Bminsma                                    Telephone: 616475-1372


THE STANDARD BEARER
          P.O. Box 6064
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506





456                                            THE STANDARD BEARER


                                News From Our Churches

               REPORT OF CLASSIS  EAST                         privilege beyond explanation to be able to worship to-
       July 1, 1970             At Holland, Michigan           gether again after having been snowed out the last
  Rev. G. C. Lubbers, chairman of the April  Classis,          three services." Actually, that's not as old as one would
led in the opening devotions, and after the credentials think. It came from the  April  26 bulletin of Rev. R.
were received, declared  Classis properly constituted. Moore's congregation in Isabel, South Dakota.
All the churches were represented by two delegates               Our South Holland Church reports problems of a
each, except Kalamazoo. It was reported that they              different sort. "The Council was informed by the vil-
could not appear because of a death in that congrega- lage of South Holland that we must install a sidewalk
tion, the funeral being held while Classis met.                in front of the parsonage and old church. This involves
  Rev. M. Schipper, following the order of rotation,           some 255  runnilig  feet and a cost of approximately
then presided, while Rev. Lubbers recorded the                 $650.00." That's the kind of unexpected item that
minutes.                                                       makes the preparation of proposed budgets so in-
  This was one of the shortest meetings of Classis on teresting.
record. All the business was finished in one and a half          Most church bulletins have recently made mention
hours.                                                         of the fact that the Mission Committee has appointed
  The Stated Clerk and the Classical Committee ten- the diaconate of Hope Church in Grand Rapids to con-
dered their reports. The Church Visitors reported their duct the next clothing drive for Jamaican Churches.
having found the churches of  Classis East in spiritual        Some bulletins had more lengthy announcements than
prosperity.                                                    did others. Holland's, for example, noted that "sweat-
  Rev. J. Kortering, upon the request of Southwest ers can be included for the cooler nights of the winter
Church was approved moderator during their forth- months." Rev. Heys, no doubt, was speaking from ex-
coming vacancy.                                                perience. The Mission Committee also suggested that
  Classis approved a schedule of appointments to the Western churches should not feel left out because
Southwest Church as follows: Sept. 6 - G. Van Baren,           of the distance involved. "Perhaps clothing could be
Sept. 13 - J. Kortering, Sept. 20 - Open, Sept. 27 -           sent along with someone who might be traveling to
H. Veldman, Oct. 4 - J. Heys, Oct. 11 - M. Schipper.           Grand Rapids sometime during this summer."
  Elders C. Westra and T. Newhof, Sr. served on the              Rev. Lubbers plans to preach his farewell sermon in
Finance Committee, H. C. Lubbers thanked the ladies Southwest on August 30. On September 2 he will be
of Holland for serving lunch, and the Revs. Heys, Van installed in First Church, and will preach his installa-
Baren, and Elder B. Windemuller served on the Clas-            tion sermon there on Sunday, September 6.
sical Appointment Committee.                                     Plans are being made by  .our ministers for another
  Classis decided to choose a member to the Classical          "retreat" this summer. You probably remember that
Committee to fill the unexpired term of Rev. Lubbers           last summer our ministers of the Grand Rapids area
- Rev. J. Kortering was chosen.                                spent two days and ari evening at a small lake. There
  Questions of Art. 41 of the Church Order were                was opportunity for swimming, boating, and fishing, as
asked and answered satisfactorily.                             well as discussions around a campfire. They were able,
  Classis decided to meet next time, D.V., on October according to reports, to fellowship together on a more
7th, in Southeast Church.                                      personal basis than is possible in the formal meetings
  After the chairman made a few closing remarks espe-          of classes and synod. And their wives accompanied
cially directed to Rev. G.- C. Lubbers who is leaving them. They enjoyed it so much that they decided to
soon for Jamaica, to which remarks Rev. Lubbers also           do it again this summer  - for  three  days this time.
responded, the Rev. H. Veldman closed the meeting Their hope is that the ministers of Classis West will be
with thanks to Go-d.                     M. Schippev, S. C.    able to attend also.
                                                                 And the hope of every member of their respective
  We warned you last time that you were in for some' congregations is, certainly, that the experience will be
old news this month. How's this for a start: "It is a          as enjoyable and as profitable as last year's.    D.R.D.


