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A  REFORMED  SEMI-MONTHLY  MAGAZINE



IN  iHIS ISSUE

    Meditation:

      Sojournitig in Godly Fear

    Editorial:

      Common Grace Still The Issue?

    All Around Us:

       Did Christ Atone For Sin?
       State Aid To Schools In The Netherlands

    Feature:
       The Christian and War


                                                 Volume XLVII/Number  15 /May 1, 1971


338                                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



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

Meditation  -                                                                      Published by the Reformed Free Publishing Association, Inc.
                                                                                          Second Class Postage Paid at Grand Rapids,  Mich.
   Sojourning in Godly Fear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .338 Editor-in-Chief: Prof.  t-l. C. Hoeksema
                                                                             Department Editors::  Mr.  Donald Doezema, Rev. Cornelius Hanko, Prof.
Editorials  -                                                                Herman Hanko, Rev. Robert C. Harbach, Rev. John A. Heys, Rev. Jay
   Editor's Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .341     Kortering, Rev. George C. Lubbers, Rev. Marinus Schipper,  Rev. Gise J.
                                                                             Van  Baren, Rev. Herman  Veldman. Rev. Bernard Woudenberg
   Common Grace Still The Issue? . . . . . . . . . . . . .341                Editorial Office:  Prof. H. C. Hoeksema
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   Did Christ Atone For Sin? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .343 Church News Editor: Mr. Donald Doezema
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Meditation

                                         Sojourning in Godly Fear
                                                                Rev. M. Schipper

               "And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every
               man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear: Forasmuch as ye know that ye
               were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation
               received by tradition from your fathers: But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb
               without blemish and with spot. "                                                                         I Peter  1:17-19.

  Not finished is the apostle with the admonition                            grace that is to be brought unto them in the revelation
which he began to express in the preceding verses.                            of Jesus Christ. He further exhorted them to be holy in
There he had exhorted his readers to gird up the loins all manner of conversation. Here the admonition which
of their minds, be sober, and hope to the end for the                        is given emphasizes what we are called to be  - holy, as


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  339



God is holy!                                                    are strangers and pilgrims in the world because of their
   In our passage we have essentially the same exhorta- election. They have been chosen of God to be strangers
tion, however, with different modifications and moti- and pilgrims. And generally the terms  stranger and
vations. If in the preceding we are exhorted on the pilgrim   refer to one who is a stranger in a strange land,
basis of what we ought to be; in our text we are ex-            but who is traveling to his fatherland, to the homeland.
horted on the basis of what we are in the judgment of In our text, however, the apostle uses a word for
God as a ransomed people. And this latter must serve            sojourning which literally means "boarder." And a
as a further incentive to a godly walk.                         boarder is one who lives with other people, and in the
   Pass the time of your sojourning in fear!                    same house with them, while he is not really a member
   Godly fear!                                                  of the family which dwells in the house. He lives as a
   It is the fear of God, Who, according to the text, is        stranger in the house. He has nothing to say about the
both Father and Judge. He is the Judge Who does not             affairs in that house; in fact, he must abide under the
accept the persons of any; Who judges according to              rules set by the head of that house. So the Christian
every man's work. This is true, of course, in general,          lives in this world as a boarder. He abides here only on
with respect to the works of all men; and it is also true a temporary basis, while he expects presently to enter
of the works of the members of Christ's church in               into his own house  - Father's house  - which is above.
particular. He does not judge merely the outward                   Until, therefore, he enters Father's house above, he
works, such as a worldly judge can only make judg- is required to pass the time of his sojourn here in this
ment upon; but He judges also the inward motivations world, that is, the time that extends from the moment
"of the heart. Before an earthly judge one has only to          he consciously becomes a child of God and unto the
be concerned that his works meet the demands of the             day of his death, or departure from the world. That
law on the statute books. Before God, however, the              time he is required to pass in Godly fear, always seeing
thoughts of the heart which also motivate our outward to it that he is pleasing to God, Who is both Father and
actions are carefully scrutinized and weighed. And in           Judge.
respect to the whole of the work, both outwardly and               If ye call on the Father . . .
inwardly, righteous judgment is rendered. In judgment              Mark you well, the apostle here does not rest his
He begins not with what you appear to be on the                 admonition to sojourn in Godly fear on the possibility
outside, but He judges first what is within you, in the. that we may or we may not call upon the Father. In
inner recesses of your heart.                                   this manner some no doubt would interpret the Word
  Moreover, this righteous, impartial Judge, according of God here. Nay, he does not address the church here'
to the text, is also our Father. The translation here           as potential candidates for either heaven or hell. He is
really does not do justice to the original text. The            not confronting us with two ways; so that we are re-
apostle really does not say: "And if ye call on the             quired to pass through a crisis to determine precisely
Father" . . . but literally: "And if ye call upon Father" what our status is, whether we are believers or un-
. . . The implication is that the one whom you address believers, strangers or citizens, Christians or worldlings.
is your Father. You call upon God Who is likewise               If this were the case, we would have no gospel truth in
your Father. Simply therefore this awesome Judge                our text.
Who judges precisely as every man's work is, is at the            It is precisely this erroneous presentation which is
same time your Father.                                          given today in the name of gospel  - but which is no
  This makes the fear of which the apostle speaks to gospel at all. You are pleaded with to choose between
be one of love. Not the fear of a slave, does the apostle       going to heaven or to hell. You are told that if you
have in mind, so that you dread to appear before the believe you will be saved, if not, you will be lost  - all
judge Who stands over you waiting for you to do some- depends on you! So it is said concerning our text: if
thing contrary to the law, that he may punish you. But you will call on the Father Who is Judge, you will be
here is the Judge with respect to whom we stand in a walking in Godly fear; if not, the very opposite is true.
love relation. He loves us, and because He first loved us Don't you see, then, that all your hope and- salvation
we respond in love to Him. And as the apostle John rests only on a mighty "IF?" All hangs in a balance
informs us: "There is no fear in love . . . perfect love that is weighted by an "if," a condition which you
casteth out fear"; . . . so it is in our relation to  Judge-    must fulfill. Then you may be, or you may not be a
Father. We are afraid to do anything that would be stranger, pilgrim, sojourner.
displeasing to Him Whom we love. Our fear is one of               Nay, beloved reader, the possibility of our fulfilling
reverence, respect, and love.                                   the admonition to sojourn in Godly fear rests on an
  In that fear we are to conduct our sojourn!                   indubitable fact!
  That the apostle refers to our sojourn, is in complete          We could paraphrase the text, so that you may see
harmony with what he had said before, when in the               its true meaning, and hear the beautiful gospel in it;
address of the epistle he denotes his readers as elect and that paraphrase would be this: "Since ye call upon
strangers. As we have pointed out before, the believers. Father Who judges" . . . God is your Father.  Hei


340                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER



brought you forth by the Spirit of Grace as His chil-                    Surely, there is no hint of a certain common  @ace
dren. He has chosen you and ordained that through the here! Not the slightest suggestion is given that some are
adoption unto sons  an'd daughters you should forever not as depraved as others, or that one generation had
fill the house of His covenant. He is also the unerring more enlightenment than another. But the apostle ex-
and righteous Judge Who has already passed judgment presses by implication that whosoever you are, you
over you in the cross of Christ. He has made you to                   were born in sin and corruption, and that you were
become His righteous children, and the proof of it lies taught to delve into sin, idolatry, immorality, and all
in the fact that His love has been shed abroad in your that comes up with you out of darkness. From genera-
hearts.                                                               tion to generation, beginning at the beginning, death
  This is, indeed, the glorious gospel in our text!                  reigned outside of the redemption that there is in
  You, who were once the children of darkness, are Christ.
now made children of light. You who were once aliens,                    But from that walk you have been delivered, re-
standing in enmity against God; are now brought nigh deemed!
by the blood of Christ, and are able to address God  -                   Redeemed with the precious blood of Christ!
Abba, loving Father! And since you do call Him                           How precious was that blood of God's spotless
Father, Who is also the righteous Judge, you in princi- Lamb! It was without blemish and without fault. It
ple desire also to seek His face, and appear before Him was the blood of One Who was perfectly innocent and
pleasing in His sight. That this is the truth, is borne out without sin. Though He came up out of our genera-
also by the rest of the text.                                        tion, and became of the flesh and blood of the
  For as much as ye know that ye were redeemed with brethren, He was nevertheless personally not contami-
the precious blood of Christ!                                        nated with our sin, nor affected with the vain conversa-
  What an incentive to sojourn in Godly fear!                        tion delivered by tradition from our fathers. He was
  You were redeemed!                                                 born of the Holy Ghost, and became the Holy Child
  0, to be sure, not with corruptible things, such as Jesus. He was the specially prepared Lamb of God.
silver and gold, were you redeemed! Such may be the Only the blood of such an One could redeem and pay
means used to ransom those held in physical bondage. the ransom for our redemption. He Who knew no sin
But these corruptible things  can have no value in real- was made sin for us, that we might be made the right-
izing your redemption. That the apostle even mentions eousness of God in Him.
these things, and by way of contrast mentions them                      The knowledge of this should certainly incite in us
first, is due to the fact that he wishes to emphasize the desire to sojourn in Godly fear.
that your redemption is of an entirely different nature,                For as much as ye know! . . .
and must be therefore realized through entirely differ-                 You know that you have been redeemed! You know
ent means.                                                           that your sins have been blotted out. You know that
  You were redeemed out of your vain conversation you have been reconciled to God. You know that
delivered by tradition. Your walk used to be vain, principally you are holy as He is holy. You know that
without positive, spiritual-moral content. Once you you have been delivered from your former vain conver-
were wicked, perverse, vain, and your life was also idle sation, and are able to address God as your Father, and
and empty from a spiritual-ethical point of view. And know that His judgment over all your works has princi-
you had not simply become this way accidentally. You pally been finished at the cross, where the blood of
had not simply become the victims of circumstances, atonement has been poured out that washed away all
who having been severely tempted had fallen deeply into your guilty stains.
sin and corruption. Rather, you were born that way.                     Since that is true, pass the rest of your time here in
You inherited this vain life and walk, and it was deliv- Godly fear!
ered unto you by your fathers. Whether they were Jew                    Then your sojourn will be so tempered that you will
or Gentile, that made no difference. You were equally desire to do nothing that will displease Him, but it will
children of darkness as the rest, born in sin and cor- be your delight always to say and do only that which
ruption. From father to son you were taught to do can bear away His approval and blessing.
evil, and you grew up liking what you were taught.



           but how do we know that God speaks to us personally? The answer is: He speaks to us by His Spirit and thus
           applies the Word of the gospel to us personally, calling us evermore out of darkness to His marvellous light, and
           witnessing with our spirit that we are the sons of God. Rom. 8: 16.
                                                                            - H. Hoeksema, "The Wonder of Grace, "p. 120


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                                   341


Editoria Is
                                    Editor%  .Notes
  Publication  News. The second volume of the  three- the fact that the Larger and Shorter Catechisms are not
volume reprint of  The Triple Knowledge, An Exposi- part of the subordinate standards of the Reformed
tion of the Heidelberg Catechism,  is in the process of Church of New Zealand.
being printed. This volume will include the original                                *****
Volumes 4, 5, 6, and 7. This means that two of the           Reminder to  Staft  All articles which would nor-
original volumes which have long been out of print         mally be due on June 1 should be in the editor's mail
(Volume 6, on Baptism, and Volume 7, on the Lord's no later than May 28. This early deadline is necessary
Supper) will again be available. This second volume of due to the meeting of our Synod in Edgerton, Minn.
our reprint should be on the market some time during Which reminds me to remind you that our annual staff
the month of May, according to present plans. The meeting will also be held during the week of Synod's
price will be $8.95. Send your orders to: Reformed meetings. Start thinking about plans for the new
Free Publishing Association, P.O. Box 2006, Grand volume-year!
Rapids, Michigan 49501.                                                             *****
                       *****                                 Do you  know  that our R.F.P.A. Board has  estab-
  Correction.  In one of my early editorials about the lished several overseas contacts for our  Standard Bearer
doctrinal tensions in Australasia, I made the statement and has also arranged for foreign distribution centers?
that the subordinate standards of the Reformed To some of these centers bundles of each issue are
Church of New Zealand include the Westminster already being mailed, so that copies may be sent to
Larger and Shorter Catechisms as well as the West- various. individuals from those centers. In a future issue
minster Confession. This is incorrect. A reader who        we hope to report in detail on this expansion of our
was at one time a minister there called my attention to    printed witness.



                       Common Grace Still The Issue?
                                              Prot H. C. Hoeksema

  Several months ago-in the course of a conversation       common grace."
concerning the need and the possibility of a reforma-        Obviously, the meaning of that rather vivid figure of
tion in the Christian Reformed denomination the            speech is that to testify against the errors of common
above question arose. It arose not in my mind: for to grace and the Three Points of 1924 is futile and fruit-
me this has never been a  question.  But it arose when I less. It is like running in a treadmill. One can expend a
and a colleague insisted to a non-Protestant Reformed great deal of energy, but it is all in vain. When your car
brother that a basic requisite of reformation in the       is stuck in a snowbank or mired down in the mud or in
Christian Reformed Church would be the repudiation beach-sand, you can floor the accelerator and apply
of the common grace doctrine of the Three Points of full power; but it will all be in vain. All that will be ac-
1924. My colleague and I insisted that without a ref- complished is that you become more deeply mired
ormation with respect to the Three Points, there           down.
could be no real reformation in the Christian Re-            And the intent of our conferee, let me hasten to
formed denomination, but only a temporary turning          add, was not to express that it was futile to testify
back of the clock with respect to certain liberal tend- concerning common grace because we would get no
encies and a beginning anew of the cycle of deforma-       hearing or would not be understood. The intent was to
tion. You see, it had been emphasized to us that we        emphasize that the Three Points of 1924 and their
Protestant Reformed had a calling and an opportunity       doctrine(s) are not the real issue, and that to talk
to call the Christian Reformed constituency to refor-      about them is to talk  beside  the issue, to ignore the
mation. When we agreed to this and then insisted that      real issue(s). He meant to emphasize that we ought to
this call to reformation would necessarily be a call to    "get with it," to realize what are the real issues and the
repudiate the Three Points of 1924 and to return to real problems and not futilely and vainly keep on testi-
the doctrine of sovereign, particular grace, the reaction fying about some thing which is not an issue and which
was: "You fellows are spinning your wheels about           is not at all related to the issues of the day.


342                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



  Now at the time of the conversation referred to, my          natural. man is enabled to do true good in the sight of
colleague and I stood our ground. We insisted that any God.
attempt at reformation in the Christian Reformed                 In the second place, I must point out that the issue
denomination  - and I am assuming for the moment is not merely  negative.  This is never the case. It has
that such reformation is indeed necessary  - would             sometimes been asserted that the Protestant Reformed
necessarily flounder and miscarry, unless it would go Churches are built on negatives, that is, merely on the
back to the basic problem and the basic departure denial of common grace and the Three Points. Nothing
from the line of the Reformed faith which took place could be farther from the truth. It is indeed true, of
officially in 1924. It is no secret that this has long been    course, that there is always a negative side to reforma-
my position, and not mine only, but  OLUS. We do not tion and to the need for reformation. But always in-
call merely in general for reformation, and even for volved in the negative is the positive. And always
reformation by way of separation; but we call posi- involved in reformation is both the repudiation and
tively for such reformation as involves standing  wlzeve turning away from error and the return to the truth.
we stand  as Protestant Reformed Churches. And this, And if you ask what, in brief, is the issue from a posi-
in turn, involves, negatively, the repudiation of the tive point of view, my answer is: the truth of sovereign
error(s) of common grace, and, positively, the accept- particular grace.
ance of the truth of God's sovereign, particular grace.          In the third place, I want to call special attention to
  And this is still my position.                               the fact that my question is: is common grace still  the
  The question posed at the head of this editorial does issue? I am not asking whether it is  an  issue. I am not
not intend to say that I am personally questioning this asking whether it is one issue among many. I am asking
and in doubt about it. Nothing could be farther from whether it is  the  under@ing  issue.  One could undoubt-
the truth. In fact, the more I observe and the more I edly mention several items which are at issue, both
read, the more I become convinced, both with respect within the Christian Reformed Church and between us
to the Christian Reformed Church in this country and and them. One could mention more than one doctrinal
the  Gereformeerde Kerken  in the Netherlands, that the issue and also more than one practical issue. The
theory of common grace has probably had a much Standard Bearer  is certainly not alone in claiming that
more far-reaching and much more insidious and much there are issues which need clearing up and which are
more devastating effect than either its original pro- causing dissension and dissatisfaction. But my question
ponents or its original opponents ever dreamed  - is: is common grace (the Three Points)  the issue  which
though, I hasten to add, those original opponents had is at the root of all the other issues which may be
some prophetic insights when years ago they predicted mentioned? My answer to that specific question is
the results, predictions which are being fulfilled in our affirmative. Perhaps the  Standard Bearer  stands alone
times.                                                         when the question is thus formulated; but whether it
  No, I pose this question for the sake of discussion stands alone is not the issue.
and elucidation. And it is my intention to demonstrate           In the fourth place, I want to call attention to the
by argument and evidence that the answer to the ques- fact that the question is not whether common grace is
tion is indeed a Yes-answer.                                   still the issue in the same way and in the same form as
  About this, a few words of introduction are in               in 1924 and the years immediately thereafter. I do not
order.                                                         believe it would be realistic to hold that it is. Funda-
  First of all, when I speak of "common grace," I am mentally, of course, the issue of the doctrine, or
referring to the doctrines set forth in the Three Points theory, is the same. But neither the Christian Re-
of 1924. I am referring not only to what has come to formed Church nor the Protestant Reformed Churches
be called the doctrine of the general well-meant offer have stood still. No one ever stands still. There has
of salvation, set forth by the First Point. This was the been development. There has been progress along our
partly unintentional teaching of the First Point, the respective doctrinal and ecclesiastical paths. And this is
Arminian aspect of it, which turned out to be the              to be expected. And so at least part of the question is
sharp point of the First Point. But I am referring also, also this:  in what way  is common grace the issue, and
and especially, to what has sometimes been referred to how  and  in how  far  has the Christian Reformed
as "Kuyperian" common grace, that is, that God is denomination followed the path chosen in  1924?
gracious in this present time and in the things of this          In the fifth place, I also wish to call attention to the
present time to all men, with a non-saving grace. I am fact that the question is an objective one. It is not
referring, in the second place, to the theory of a re- whether some, or many, or few, or none  realize  or
straint of sin, that is, to an operation of the Holy admit  that it is the issue. I have no doubt that there are
Spirit, non-saving, non-regenerating, in the sinner, many who do not realize it whatsoever. In fact, I have
whereby the power of sin is restrained in human life.          no doubt that there are not a few who do not even
And I am referring, in the third place, to the theory know what common grace is, and who certainly do not
that as a result of this operation of common grace, the know what the Three Points are. On the other hand,


                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER                                                          343



there are certainly those who do know and admit it For I am mindful of our history and of our separation.
and who freely appeal in their thinking to the doctrine And I am also mindful of the fact that there is some
of common grace.  But this is not. the question. I want           discussion  witlzirz  the Christian Reformed denomina-
to face the question objectively and adduce objective             tion of the need of reformation; I may mention both
evidence also.                                                    the Association of Christian Reformed Laymen and
  Finally, I call attention to the fact that I have more          the  Christian Reformed Outlook  (formerly  Torch and
than one party in view in this discussion. I have our             Trumpet)  in this connection. I have also in view the
own Protestant Reformed Churches and people in view               position of the Rev. Vincent Licatesi and the Christian
- particularly, let me say, our youth. I have, in gen- Reformed Church: for this is indeed an issue for them
eral, the Christian Reformed denomination in view.                also, whether they like it or not.


All  Aromd Us

                                        Did Christ Atone For Sin?
                          State Aid To Schools In The Netherlands

                                                           Prof: H. Hanko

DID CHRIST ATONE FOR SIN?                                             that the new book touches the heart of the matter
  One has come to expect almost anything in the way                   which the church must believe and teach. "The
of doctrinal deviation from the Netherlands. Another                  church  - and not alone the Reformed churches  - has
                                                                      through the ages held a reconciliation through satis-
example of this is to be found in the February 23 issue               faction." Mr. Kwast claimed that far more is at stake
of  the  R.E.S. Newsletter  under the title "Doctoral  Dis-           in this issue than was the case a few years ago when a
ser  t a'cion On Reconciliation Arouses Concern In                    gravamen was brought against certain passages in the
Netherlands." We quote it here in full.                               Canons of Dordt. "That which has been considered
      On January 15 the Rev. Herman Wiersinga, student                theologically and confessionally in the Reformed
    pastor of the Reformed Church in Amsterdam, was                   churches up till now, as well as that which cost the
    granted his Doctor's degree in theology at the Free               Synod of Sneek much time and trouble last year, has
    University of Amsterdam. His printed dissertation is              all been put in the shadow by Dr. Wiersinga's contri-
    entitled, "Reconciliation in Theological Discussion"              bution," he said.
    (De verzoening in de theologische discussie).                        Prof. J. H. Velema wrote in Koers that in his view
      The contention of the book is that the Bible                    also Dr. Wiersinga's view touches the heart of the
    teaches that Jesus' sacrifice was not directed to God             Gospel. "This dissertation is actually an attack upon
    but to man. In the author's view the sacrifice of                 the reformational doctrine of reconciliation. Here the
    Christ is not a gift to God that makes God gracious or            heart of the Gospel is cut out. . .  _ This dissertation
    provides satisfaction but rather God's great gift of              offers the theological foundation to the idea of
    salvation to man by which he reconciles, delivers and             human solidarity; the  onesided struggle against dis-
    converts man. The blood of Jesus Christ speaks of our             crimination; the politics of appeasement toward Com-
    liberation from a `blood-shedding existence'. The                 munism; disarmament, and the refusal to bear arms."
    blood of Christ was not offered to God but was a                     Prof. Herman Ridderbos reflected in Centraal
    saving, cleansing, and renewing gift of God to man.               Weekblad upon the significance of the `serious objec-
      Several reactions to the dissertation and its depar-            tions' of Dr. Wiersinga to the traditional teaching on
    ture from the generally held view of the atonement                the atonement for the church. He disagreed with
    have appeared in Dutch periodicals. Prof. J. van den              Prof. van den Berg that the complexicity (sic) of the
    Berg said in Centraal Weekblad that he could not                  entire doctrine made a gravamen unnecessary for that
    escape the impression that the traditional doctrine of            is `unrealistic'. Bringing the dissertation into connec-
    reconciliation has much more Biblical content than                tion with the change in the Basis article of the Free
    Dr. Wiersinga allows for. Only as a  complement  to the           University, Prof. Ridderbos asked, "Does this mean
    teaching of the confessions, but not as a substitute              that from now on in the faculty (of theology) also
    for it, can he accept the new view. Prof. van den Berg            that can be defended which directly contradicts the
    stated also that in his opinion the entire idea is too            Reformed confessions?" Ridderbos saw in the issue
    complicated to warrant a protest (gravamen) against               far-going implications for the relation of church and
    the creeds.                                                       theology. All staff members of the theological faculty
      The Rev. L. H. Kwast wrote two articles on the                  at the Free University are ordained in the Reformed
    dissertation in de Friese Kerkbode. His reaction was              Churches. "Therefore they carry not only a scientific


I    344                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER



            but also a churchly responsibility. The same applies        maintain the Reformed faith are prompted to engage
            to a minister who writes a doctoral dissertation. He        in serious Church reformation, the result would still be
            does not write as an office bearer but he cannot split      worthwhile.
            himself in two and attack in theology what he
            promises to defend in the church."                          STATE AID TO SCHOOLS IN THE NETHERLANDS
              Ridderbos took serious exception to the "noiseless          Those who favor state aid to private, and parochial
            revolution" that he sees occurring in the churches, for     education in this country shrug off objections that
            that is in conflict with the veracity of the church. "I     state aid means state control with the airy remark that
            am of the opinion that we have reached the point in         the danger is a bogey-man of which no one ought to be
            our church life where more clarity must be found.           afraid. In support of this position reference is often
            Many sense that we are entering a fog . . . The book        made to the Netherlands where state aid is a customary
            (of Dr. Wiersinga) is a kind of test case for what we in    thing and where the state has never interfered with
            the future intend to do in regard to what we will or        .education in any way.
            will not maintain."                                           A  recent article  in Liberty  magazine contradicts this.
       It is not our intention to comment at length about The author of the article, Watford Reed, himself  trav-
     the views of Dr. Wiersinga as outlined in his doctoral elled to Netherlands and there studied the situation
     thesis; partly because they are only sketchily presented first hand. He found that the aid of the,government
     in this news release.  But it seems clear  from the brief had had a profound effect upon schools in that coun-
     resume given and from the criticisms which have been try and that many educators are so deeply concerned
     levelled against the book (particularly those of Prof. that they would like very much to get away from such
     Ridderbos) that the views of Dr. Wiersinga are in- aid if at all possible. The fight for state support to
     tended to be a theological foundation for a social gos- religious schools began in 1848, but did not pass the
     pel.  By denying that the atonement of Christ was legislature until 1917. It was then part of a political
     directed to God, Wiersinga indeed denies the satis- deal: the liberals yielded on financial aid to religious
     faction of God's justice which was accomplished on schools in exchange for support of a voting law which
     the cross and denies the vicarious nature of Christ's gave the vote to everyone over twenty-three years old.
     suffering and death. It was not made, according to this What has been the result of over fifty years of govern-
     view, to accomplish redemption through satisfaction, ment aid to religious schools?
     but was made as a gift to man. This sounds like the old              In the first place, the proportion of public schools
     shop-worn theory of the atonement first proposed by to religious schools has decreased. In 1850 there were
     the Arminians of the 16th Century which defined                    2,446 public primary schools and 831 private  Zhools,
     Christ's death as an example of what God could do to mostly Catholic. At present there are 2,475 public pri-
     man if He chose, and of what God will still do to man mary schools, 2,341 Protestant schools, 2,884 Roman
     if man does not repent of sin and accept Christ. True, Catholic schools and 15 1 others. This is partly due to
     the view is clothed in some new terminology, but the the  fact that the religious schools get more money than
     idea still seems to be there, lurking in the background. the public schools because parents who send their
     But the chief idea is certainly that the cross is some children to religious schools pay fees on top of govern-
     kind of power of universal reconciliation, not between ment support. Hence, the religious schools have better
     the elect and God, but between men and men. And facilities, better paid staffs and a lower teacher-pupil
     this is precisely what has been proposed as the Chris- ratio. The fact is, of course, that many children from
     tian basis for a social gospel. It is some such view as non-religious homes attend religious schools for there
     this which is supposed to give the Church the calling to can be no control of the enrollment. "Many public
     seek solutions to the pressing social problems of the school buildings are fifty to one hundred years old, but
     world. It is, no doubt, because of this that Prof.                 many religious school buildings are new." But in both
     Ridderbos, in connection with his criticism of these public and religious schools there are extremely
     views, speaking of his dissatisfaction with the "noise- crowded conditions and the teaching staffs are badly
     less revolution" which is taking place in the church.              overworked.
       Prof. Ridderbos thinks that the point has finally                  In the second place, the school aid budget of the
     been reached with this book when the Church  will Dutch government is higher than any other part of the
     have to make up its mind whether it wants to remain budget. 26% of the budget or 7.2% of the national
     Reformed and Scriptural or whether it wants to go the income goes for education.
     whole way towards liberalism. It seems to us however,                But, in the third place, and more important than
     that the Church has reached this point at an earlier anything else, there is mass confusion over the nature
     date, has decided to abandon the Reformed faith, and of the religious instruction to be given. We quote  from
     therefore will find itself powerless to deal with this the article.
     latest heresy. It would be reason for gratitude to be                    Higher costs are not the only tariff imposed by the
     proved wrong; but even if the issues are so forced by                  Dutch system. Bewilderment ouer religious teaching is
     this book that those in the Church who still want to                   another. When the church and the school teach differ-


                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  345


    ent versions of the faith, whom does a boy or girl           longer be controlled and determined by the parents.
    believe?                                                       Many educators think the only solution to the prob-
       The solution seems obvious. The church can re-            lems of government aid is to return to privately  ti-
    place the teacher with one who is orthodox. But this         nanced religious schools. But they frankly admit that
    cannot be done in the Netherlands.                           this is almost impossible. As one former member of the
       When a Roman Catholic school teaches the                  Dutch parliament expressed it to the author of the
    Catholic faith in a way the bishop does not approve,
    he can either keep still or complain. He cannot force        article: "We learned from America too late."
    the school to be orthodox.                                     This ought to be a stern lesson to promoters of
       When a Protestant school teaches religion in a way        government aid to private and parochial schools that
    the minister or sponsoring denomination does not             they cannot receive government aid without endanger-
    like, the minister is out of luck. He can only teach his     ing the religious character of the schools. And it ought
    version from the pulpit or to his membership training        to be warning to us that the temptation to receive such
    class.                                                       aid must be resisted at all costs.
       Why are church authorities helpless? Because the                                   *****
    salaries of teachers and the cost of buildings come            A reader of the  Standard  Bearer has graciously sent
    from the public till.                                        me some newspaper clippings of the latest develop-
  The article cites an interview with one principal of a ments in parochiaid in the state of Colorado. There
Roman Catholic school whose views differed from recently the latest parochiaid bill was voted down by
those of the church. He told the interviewer quite the House Committee of the Legislature. The result has
frankly that no one could do anything about his teach- been that the bishop of the diocese which includes
ing because the school was run by a board.                       Pueblo has decided to close all twelve schools in his
  The result of this has been that fathers and mothers district for lack of funds. And now the issue has be-
who do not approve of the education which their chil- come a state-wide issue because other Catholic schools
dren receive can only `take their children out of school are threatening to close and the state is wondering
and find another school which is more in harmony where to get the additional funds necessary to absorb
with their own views. This has repeatedly happened these students into the public school system. Many
with the result that, as the enrollment drops, aid to the fear that this is a power-play on the part of the Romish
school is lowered, and, in some cases, schools have had Church to force the state legislature to reconsider the
to close entirely.                                               issue and, hopefully, to pass some form of parochiaid.
  The point of all this is precisely that government aid The same drama is being enacted in various other states
to schools has amounted to some form of government about the country.
control; and the religion taught in a school can no


Feature

                              The Christian and War
                                                         Rev. 6% Veldman

  Tonight I call your attention to the Christian and his the wars that were fought by Israel, as especially under
proper attitude toward war. I have taken it upon my- David. This also applies to the New Dispensation, ex-
self to shorten the subject as it was originally assigned        cept that in the New Testament these wars occurred
to me. We were taught in our theological school to               and occur upon a grander and more fearful scale. Sev-
have our themes as short as possible. The late Rev.              eral years ago I heard a radio sermon by the late Rev.
Hoeksema had a strong dislike for lengthy themes. I,             P. Eldersveld, then the radio voice of the Christian
therefore, took it upon myself to shorten the subject            Reformed Church, and in that sermon he gave a re-
assigned to me, and I believe that I give expression to it       sume of all the wars that were fought in the New
in the words: The Christian and War.                             Dispensation in Europe. I do not recall the details, but
  War is a fearful reality. This was true throughout the         I do remember that it was a most appalling list. Think
Old Dispensation. Think of all the wars that were                of all the wars that have been fought by our own coun-
fought among the heathen nations as they strove for              try. The fact is that we have had a war for every gener-
world supremacy, leading to world empires such as                ation, and it is also a fact that since the outbreak of
Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, the Medes and Persians,                 World War II the world has been continuously in a
Greek-Macedonia and Rome. And then there were all                state of war, whether you call it a hot war or a cold


346                                              THE STANDARD BEARER



war. In 1776 we had our Revolutionary War, and this pelagianism, revolution and anarchy.
war was immediately preceded by the French-Indian                 This position is certainly impossible. First, it is
wars, which wars were but a "side-show" of the war surely impossible and untenable to maintain that if
that was being waged for supremacy in Europe be- anyone have any doubts as to the justifiableness of a
tween the nations of England and France. In 1812 we war he should obey his government's call to arms. We
had our war with England that is called the War for read in Romans  14:23 : "And he that doubteth is
Commercial Independence; in this war our country               damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for
fought for independence upon the high seas. In 1845            whatsoever is not of faith is sin." If it be true that he
we had the Mexican war, and this war is famous,                that doubteth is damned when he eats, and therefore
among other things, for the battle cry: "Remember the          sins (to be damned when he eats surely means that he
Alamo" ; in this war we are reminded of such men as is condemned, and therefore sins), then it is surely true
Davy Crockett, Sam Bowie and Sam Houston. In 1861              that he who doubts whether a war is justifiable, but
we had our own Civil War and in 1898 our country was nevertheless goes to war, also sins. Fundamentally
engaged in a war with Spain. In 19 14 the first World there is no difference between Romans  4:23 and a man
War broke out and the second World War began in                who doubtingly obeys his governments call to action
1939. In the late 1949's we had the Korean war and             and goes to war. It is true, of course, that war is ter-
now we are engaged in a war in Viet Nam. Isn't this a rible and is fought today on a grand and awesome
sober thought, that we have had a war for every scale; it is surely an awful thing to be responsible for
generation?                                                    the deaths and murders of millions of people. How-
  And, of course, these wars must be. They must oc- ever, if we doubt, we do not know whether an action is
cur because Christ predicted them. They must also oc- good or bad; hence, if we doubt whether we are doing
cur because man is a child of war. He  is  that. That          good, then the solution is not to do it, but not to do it;
constitutes his very being. He is filled with hatred and we may be doing wrong and we should take no
enmity, toward God and also toward his fellowman. chances. How wonderful it would be, also and partic-
He is a warmonger. So, also for this reason wars must ularly for our young people, if they were to follow this
come. And, thirdly, a world at peace would be far principle! How wonderful it would be if we all would
worse than a world characterized by war. That would follow this principle! How wonderful it would be if,
indeed be catastrophic. To this thought we will return not sure whether a certain action we contemplate is
in due time.                                                   good, we would refrain from taking such action. And
  Assigned this subject of the Christian and War, your we should surely understand that something is not
committee confronted me with certain questions. What good or bad because we determine something to be
should be the Christian's attitude toward war? Then, good or evil. This would be subjectivism. Something is
what must be said about conscientious objectors? And, not good or evil because we deem it good or bad.
finally, should covenant parents discourage their sons Something is good or evil in itself, regardless of my
from volunteering for military service? I now call your subjective opinion. In this, we have a sure guide, the
attention to:                                                  infallible and unerring law and Word of God. That
           THE CHRISTIAN AND WAR                               Word of the Lord is reliable, and it alone.
                I. An Impossible Position                        However, to take the position that every individual
               I I. Its Fundamental Principle                  must determine for himself whether a war is justifiable
           I I I. Its Wonderful Comfort                        or unjustifiable and then refuse to be inducted into the
                                                               armed forces or go to war when concluding that a war
                I. An Impossible Position                      is unjustifiable is also an impossible position. This is
  When I call your attention to an impossible position, generally true. It is our belief, then, that a certain war
I refer to what a certain seminary professor once ad- is unjustifiable and that we may therefore not engage
vocated many years ago. According to him, every in- in it. We state our objections to the government, and
dividual must determine for himself whether a war is the government may not agree with us but maintain
justifiable or unjustifiable; should a war be unjustifi- that the war is just. But, we maintain our position and
able and he has lodged his protest against it, then he is therefore refuse to take part in it. The result will be
free to refuse induction into the military service; that anybody may have objections, and this would
should he be convinced of the unjustifiableness of a mean that the government's power to declare and wage
war, and he does nothing about it, then he is person- war would be hopelessly crippled. Who, then, would
ally responsible for all those killed in the war. In a war,    not have an objection? Besides, what must a govern-
we all understand, murder is committed upon an awe- ment do under such circumstances? Should it conduct
some scale. Secondly, however, if anyone have any              a national survey, a "Gallup poll," go from house to
doubts as to the justifiableness of a war, then he             house and determine how many people have objections
should obey his government's call to arms and go to to the war before it declares'war? This would render
war. This, we say without hesitation, is individualism,        the waging of any war by the government utterly


                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                                         347



impossible. However, this is not all. This also applies, surely He Who controls and directs the red horse of
specifically, to the fighting of any particular battle. Rev. 6.
This means that if one believes a certain battle to be              That war is not necessarily wrong is also taught in
wrong; he may remain in his barracks and refuse to               the New Testament. Is it not a striking thing that the
f i g h t .   W h a t   m u s t   a   g e n e r a l   d o   u n d e r   s u c h centurions mentioned in the New Testament leave a
circumstances? Should he take a poll of the soldiers very favorable impression? There we read of the centu-
under his command, try to convince them of the right- rion whose servant was healed, of the centurion at the
eousness of the battle about to be fought? What an cross, of Cornelius in Acts  10, and also of Julius in
impossible situation!                                            Acts 27. Besides, very pertinent is the question asked
  To this something else must be added. How will it of John the Baptist by the Roman soldiers in Luke
be determined whether a war is just or not? This can 3: 14: "And the soldiers likewise demanded of him,
often be a very difficult and complicated question. To saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them,
determine the justness of a war may not be as easy as it Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and
may sound. The government, of course, knows the be content with your wages." This passage is surely
facts; they are on the inside and are aware of so many pertinent. Mind you, John the Baptist had preached
things we do not and cannot possibly know. And, of that the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand, and he had
course, they will justify the war. This lies in the very called upon the people to repent. This question of the
nature of the case. And it will be by no means easy for soldiers, therefore, must be understood as: What must
an individual to understand just what is going on.               we do, as soldiers, who have repented, in this Kingdom
  Finally, this position is individualism and it must of Heaven? Mind you, they were soldiers of Rome.
lead to revolution and anarchy. This would mean that And it is certainly not true that the wars as waged by
everybody simply takes the law into his own hands.               Rome could all be classified as justifiable. And what is
Let us understand: it is not a question of the govern- the answer of the Baptist to them? Does he tell these
ment exposing to me my error, of overruling my objec- soldiers to leave their military service, to refuse to fight
tions. This position would maintain that an individual underneath the banner of Rome? Does he admonish
may believe what he deems to be true; I have a right to them to determine, before they enter into a certain
my objections and the government must honor them, battle, whether this particular battle is a righteous  bat-
regardless of whether it agrees with me or not. This, tle?.No, he simply tells them to do violence to no man,
however, is individualism, everybody for himself, and to accuse none falsely, and to be content with their
the result can be revolution and anarchy.                        wages.
              I I. Its Fundamental Principle.                       As far as the fundamental principle of this issue is
  In the first place, war is not necessarily wrong. This concerned, the late Rev. H. Hoeksema once expressed
applies, on the one hand, to the Old Dispensation. in relation to this matter as follows: "As long as the
Think of all the wars in which Israel was engaged. magistrate exercises the sword in its Divinely appoint-
David was not permitted to build a temple unto the ed domain, whether within its own boundaries or in
Lord because he had shed much blood, Perhaps some relation to other territories, it is sovereign, and the
may counter with the remark that these wars of Israel refusal to serve is revolution; if, however, it steps out-
in the Old Dispensation were holy wars. Of course, side its own domain, as in the domain of the Church
they were holy wars. But, are not in a certain and very and acts against Christ and His cause, where it can have
real sense of the word all wars holy wars? Of course, no sovereignty, it is no longer magistrate but simply
we realize that when the nations of the earth wage war man, and then this principle is applicable: one must
(Egypt, Assyria, Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar, obey God rather than men."
Cyrus the Great, Alexander the Great, Hannibal of                   What does this imply? On the one hand, outside of
Carthage, Caesar of Rome, Napoleon of France), they its sphere the magistrate has no sovereignty, has no
were not prompted by the same motive as was Israel in authority to act. We read in Acts  5:29: "Then Peter
the Old Testament. And it is also true that the Chris- and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to
tian may not assume a merely passive attitude over obey God rather than men." This history we know.
against unrighteous wars, unrighteous from the subjec- Peter and the apostles had been arraigned before the
tive aspect of the wicked rulers who engage in them.             Jewish Sanhedrin, and they had been commanded by
Nevertheless, it is also true that, ultimately and in a the Jewish authorities to remain silent with respect to
very real and fearful sense of the word, the red horse Jesus of Nazareth. Now we should notice that Peter
of war of Rev. 6 is sent out by Christ, Who alone is the calls them merely "men." They are merely men; they
Lord of lords and the King of kings, that He wages have no authority or sovereignty in this matter; they
them, and that, as He wages them, they are, from His have no right to demand of them silence with respect
viewpoint, holy wars. It is surely the Lord Who raised to Jesus Christ of Nazareth; this is not their domain.
up men such as Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus and Alexander They have stepped out of their sphere or domain; they
the Great, Hannibal and Caesar and Napoleon. It is have intruded into the domain of the Church, would


348                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



act against Christ and His cause, where it cannot  ,pos-     toward war? And, thirdly, should covenant parents dis-
sibly have any sovereignty. So, they are no longer           courage their sons volunteering? We have already noted
magistrates but simply men, and then this principle is that the military service is not necessarily wrong in
applicable: one must obey God rather than men. It itself. However, it is very difficult for me to under-
requires courage to say this, but this the church and stand how covenant parents can do anything else but
the child of God must always declare and maintain. discourage their sons from volunteering for military
This, however, does not constitute our subject for to- service, not only because of all the temptations and
night.                                                       evils to which they will be exposed while serving
  In its own sphere the government is sovereign. The underneath the colors, but also because of what  ithey
government certainly has the authority to declare war. leave behind in their homes and in the church.
They have the sword power. The sword power in Scrip-
ture is the legal right to use force. This sword power                     I I I. Its Wonderful Comfort.
has not been given to the individual; we may distin-           What must we say about our modern day pacifism,
guish between using the sword and taking it up. To all the hue and cry of our present day against war? We
use the sword means that one has the right and author- heard a certain radio speaker say on a Sunday after-
ity to use it; to take it up, however, means to use it noon broadcast that if only the nations of the world
when one does not have the right. He who takes it up will    would gather around the peace table with Jesus of
perish by the same. The sword power has been given to Nazareth, peace would come to our troubled world. Of
the magistrate. This implies that he has the authority course, war is a terrible reality. And this is true, not
to declare war. He alone has that authority. People or only because of all the dead and maimed in battles, but
individuals do not declare war. Of course not! This also because of all the misery that wars leave in their
would be impossible. Only the government may and wake, such as ruin, desolation, pestilence and disease.
does declare war. This is clearly taught in the Word of Surely, this modern day pacifism, also as voiced by the
God. We- read in Romans 13 : l-4: "Let every soul be         church, is nothing else than humanitarian concern for
subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power that which is below. It is not concerned about God or
but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. His Christ or His coming again. It seeks the end of war
Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the because it wants peace, not the peace of Calvary, but
ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to the peace of this world, the carnal enjoyment of that
themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to which is below. If they were interested in the peace
good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be that is from above, the peace of the Kingdom of
afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou Heaven, then they would also be interested in the signs
shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of of the coming of the Prince of Peace. That the wicked
God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, die upon many battlefields,  - is that such a terrible
be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he thing? What would all the news media of our present
is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath day do if, in one night, one hundred eighty five thou-
upon him that doeth evil." This passage is very clear sand communists were to be killed in one night? Yet,
and speaks for itself. There is no power or authority when the angel of the Lord destroys one hundred
but of God, and the powers that be are the ones or- eighty five thousand Assyrians in one night, but one
dained of God. And notice, please, that we read in verse is devoted to this event in the Word of God: 2
verse 4 that he beareth the sword not in vain. This Kings  19:35.  Is it such a terrible thing when dead
means that he bears the sword. All the people do not people die? But it is surely something else when a dead
bear the sword; only the magistrate bears that sword. man is made alive! And so an entire chapter, John 11,
And from this it also follows that the government has is devoted to the Scriptural story of the resurrection of
also the power to wage war. He not only has the au- Lazarus from the dead and out of the tomb. And when
thority to declare war. But he also has the power to God's people die upon these battlefields, they are re-
execute this authority.                                      ceived up into glory!                          ._
  From this we may conclude the following. First, no           In our third point we call your attention to a
Christian has the right to refuse to serve. To be sure, he wonderful comfort. Imagine a world without war! And
may protest against his government's waging of a war picture to yourself, if you please, the church as it
when convinced that it is unjustifiable. But he may not shares this concern for the peace of this world and is
refuse to serve his country's summons to the colors. busily engaged with the world in the pursuit of it! A
The responsibility for the waging of a war is not his world without war? Then Christ would never come.
but his government's, and what a fearful responsibility And the church of God should strive and pray for this?
this is, namely to wage a war that is unjustifiable! So, Wars and  rumours of war are terrible. Indeed! But,
we do not agree with the conscientious objector. Sec- they are also signs of the coming of our Lord Jesus
ondly, I believe that I have said enough in answer to Christ. And let us understand: Christ can come no
the question: what must be the Christian's attitude other- way. Christ does not stand in a relation of love


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                    349



towards the world, but in a relation of wrath and holy       death unto death. And, finally, His coming will mean
indignation. Christ always means ruin and disaster for       the everlasting ruin and destruction of the world. But
the world. His coming can never mean anything else           it will also signal the heavenly and immortal salvation of
than such ruin and disaster for the world. So, His           the Church of the living God. So, the victory is certain
coming throughout the ages produces wars and  ru-            and the crown is sure. May we look forward to this
mours of wars. All the signs of His coming are signs of      coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
judgment and disaster, also the sign of the preaching of       (Note: speech delivered at an  Officebearevs' Con-
the gospel, which is to the  reprpbate  wicked a savor of    ference in OUY Hudsonville Church, April 6, 19 71.)


In His Fear

                         A Time For Spiritual Inventory
                                                Rev. John A. Heys

   When it comes to our physical wellbeing, we are             But let us not be behind in our concern for our
quite careful and concerned.                                 spiritual wellbeing! There is a time to be concerned
   We brush our teeth every day and see our dentist about it. And that time is right now! That time is here
twice a year. Once a year we undergo a physical exami-       with every tick of the clock, with each movement of
nation by our family physician, and perhaps in some          the second hand on your watch, with every breath of
instances seek more frequent blood tests and electro- life and every heartbeat.
cardiograms. Our optician sees us regularly, varying ac-       We do have set times when there are special occa-
cording to our age and condition, so that our precious sions for concern about the matters of our spiritual
eyesight may be preserved, and so  ihat we miss nothing life. Those to which we refer are the moments when
of what is ordinarily to be seen round about us. If we       we partake of the sacraments. Yes, both of them re-
are women, we are ever on the alert for those signs of quire a self-examination. We are all aware of the fact
what might be a malignant tumor. If we are men and that Paul writes to the church at Corinth, "But let a
have passed more than half of the three score years and man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread
ten, our blood pressure becomes a matter that con-           and drink of that cup." I Corinthians  11:28 The ur-
cerns us, and we like to have it checked, especially if gency of this is expressed by Paul in the next verse,
we do get that dragged down feeling, and do not feel         "For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth
quite as spirited as we used to be.                          and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the
   When something does develop that looks somewhat           Lord's body." Indeed, we take spiritual inventory be-
serious, we do not delay to seek help or at least con-       fore we eat and drink at the table. But the same thing
sultation.                                                   is true when we present ourselves or our children for
   We are concerned about this life. We are interested baptism. The parents are asked some very pointed and
in staying here as long as we can, and in enjoying it as     important questions. The adult who seeks baptism is
fully as we can while we are here. We seek physical          also asked to search his soul and take careful inventory
wellbeing, comfort and pleasure. Life is sweet; and we       before he is given the sign and seal of holy baptism.
want to keep it that way. All too well do we have            And all this is Scripture's plain teaching as far as bap-
before our minds the words of Solomon, who, in the           tism is concerned,  as surely as it is for Holy Com-
wisdom God gave him, taught us that the days will munion. John the Baptist insisted that those who came
come wherein we will have to say sincerely, and will         to him repent. When he saw a group of Pharisees com-
say without prompting, that we have no pleasure in           ing to him seeking baptism he sent them away with the
them.                                                        words, "Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repent-
   Now all this in itself need not at all be evil on our     ance." Matthew 3  :8. And when the Ethiopian eunuch
part. We have entrusted to our care an amazing  body.        desired baptism, Philip asked him to search his heart
With the psalmist we can surely say, "I will praise          and see whether he believed with all his heart.
Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made:  mar-         Acts  8:37.
vellous are Thy works, and that my soul knoweth right          But above and beyond these there is the calling con-
well." Psalm 139: 14. We are  called upon to take good       stantly to take spiritual inventory. Doing so we will
care of that body. We may not risk our lives unneces- have far less difficulty when these special occasions for
sarily, nor may we ruin them by careless, indifferent        soul-searching are required. And the Word of God
living.                                                      speaks of this and even warns us in regard to it. It was


350                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



not without good reason that Paul wrote to this same         of knowing the faith. It is a question of being IN the
church at Corinth, in his second epistle, "Examine           faith.
yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own          Now being in the faith means to be living in that
selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be        faith. It means that faith is the sphere wherein we
reprobates." II Corinthians 13  :5. Get that! He says,       move, and that this faith controls all of our thinking
"Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith." So         and willing. These words of Paul were preceded by the
often we seem to be more concerned as to whether             strong warning," I write to them which have sinned,
brother or sister so-and-so is in the faith. And all too     and to all other, that if I come again, I will not spare."
often we are eager to prove that others are not in           And it is in that connection that he speaks of exam-
Christ, rather than to obtain the assurance and joy that     ining ourselves to know whether we be in the faith. It
we ourselves are in Him. We are ready and quick to           is one thing to say that we believe in God the Father
judge the other. We scrupulously avoid the mirror of Almighty, and in Jesus Christ His Son, and in the Holy
the law of God to have a good look at ourselves. We          Spirit; that there is an holy catholic church; the for-
like to give an examination and a test. We do not want       giveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life
to submit ourselves to them. But the command stands          everlasting. The devil himself can say that he is in the
there: Examine yourselves! And that admonition               knowledge of that faith. He has no doubt about the
comes to each and every member of the church of virgin birth and the resurrection and ascension of
Christ.                                                      Christ. Intellectually he knows the faith once delivered
  Another sobering truth that bears consideration is         to the saints. And he knows it in minute detail. But it
found in the words of Jesus in His "sermon on the is another thing to live in that faith so that we worship
mount." He declares, "Not everyone that saith unto           and serve and love this God, and put all of our trust in
me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of              His Son for our salvation; hope for the resurrection
heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which        based upon the forgiveness of sins; and live as members
is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord,         of that holy catholic church, revealing ourselves as
Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy         members of the body of Christ, always in all things
name cast out devils, and in thy name done many              serving and glorifying Christ the Head.
wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I           Unless these are found in us and in our walk of life,
never knew you: depart from me ye that work                  we cannot say that Christ is in us; and we have to
iniquity." Matthew  7:21-23  How urgent then that each       conclude that we could be reprobates; and indeed are
and every one of us examine himself to see whether he        such unless it still pleases God to turn us and implant
be in or out of the faith!                                   within us the life of Christ, and give  us  the evidence by
  No, the words of Jesus here do not mean that the           the fruits mentioned above, as that which characterizes
wicked actually will talk back in the judgment day.          a walk  iu  faith.
These words do not mean that they will boast before             It is not a question of  saying,  Lord, Lord, but a
Him of what they did. It means that now in this life         question of living before Him in such a way that our
this is their false opinion of their works. They did not     every thought, word and deed says that He is our Lord.
examine themselves, but were ready to call others            Patting ourselves on the back and telling ourselves
devils, which they then "cast out." They did not prove       what nice people we are is not going to fill our hearts
themselves to see whether Jesus Christ was IN them;          with that which God demands in them. The proph-
and now they find that they were reprobates, in the          esying we did "in His name" is not going to fulfill in us
same punishment with these "devils," even though all the prophecies of salvation and glory that He has
their lives they posed as and deceived themselves into       promised to those in whom Jesus Christ is by His
thinking that they were Christians.                          Spirit. Casting out "devils" who tormented us in our
  There is so much today that goes under the name of social patterns, made our earthly lives miserable, and
Christianity that actually, as Jesus makes plain here, is made us live in a sphere of poverty and crime, with
antichristianity. And rather than going around trying        fear and insecurity, is not going to keep us from shar-
to find out who these antichristians are, we had better ing their poverty in hell. Claiming to do all this in
examine our own hearts. We had better look into our          Christ's name does not make it a work that pleases
own hearts to see what really is there, and to see what      Him. Remember Jesus' words that many shall be put
is lacking there.                                            out of the synagogues, and many shall be killed by
  It is not a question as to whether you know the            those who claim to be doing God service? John  16:2
faith. The enemy of the faith knows that faith; and          Instead of being in the faith these are killing those who
that is exactly why he can plan his attack against it. He    are in the faith. No wonder that Jesus will say to
is quite willing to learn it thoroughly in order to          them," Depart from Me ye that work iniquity." They
destroy it completely. He will read up on the subject        said, "Lord, Lord," but the devil was their lord and
and view it from every possible angle in order to find a master.
way to take it away from you. No, it is not a question          It is a question of examining our hearts  to see


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                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                    351



whether we find in them the love of God. Yes, these          Paul's word and Jesus' admonition, are written so that
who cry, "Lord, Lord," say that they love God and we may become richer and stronger in our assurance
have done these mighty works in His name and for His         that Christ is in us and that we are not reprobates.
glory. But Jesus says our crying, ""Lord, Lord," must be        A good business man will take inventory to know
accompanied by and proceed from a desire to do God's         what goods to order and what product does not sell. In
will.                                                        His fear the serious-minded child of God wants to
   Is there a difference? There certainly is! There is no know that he is a child of God. He wants to rejoice in
difference between loving God and between doing His          the blessedness of being in the faith and of having
will. But there is a difference between  saying  that we     Christ in Him. He looks forward to the day when he
love God and do this and that in His name, and be-           shall hear Christ say, "Well done, good and faithful
tween  doing  His will. There is a difference between        servant. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." For that
being in the faith and between deluding ourselves into       reason he will examine  himselfi   He will do this for the
thinking that we have Christ in us.                          joy of assurance, not for the sake of discouragement.
  Many of these movements that claim to be in                Because God is his Lord, he will want to be sure that
Christ's name certainly are not at all! But this we will     all his deeds manifest this lordship. And where there is
have to leave until a later date. Meanwhile we wish to       a shortcoming, he will pray for grace to be found faith-
conclude at this time by declaring that these lines, no      ful with the prayer of the Psalmist, "Let the words of
more than those of Paul and of Jesus, are not meant to       my mouth and the meditation of my heart be accept-
frighten, cast doubt and take away from the sincere          able in Thy sight, 0 Lord, my strength and my re-
child of God his joy and comfort. These lines, with          deemer." Psalm 19 : 14


Come Ye Apart . . . And Rest A While

                            Gems From Scripture
                                                   Rev. C. Hanko

  Not far from here is an old abandoned gold mine            to us through the Word by His Spirit in our hearts.
stowed away in the mountains. Its tunnels are col-           After all, it is the Holy Spirit Who testifies with our
lapsed, loose rock lies scattered everywhere, its rugged     spirits of the truth of every word that is written. And
walls stand beaten and battered. Many people go up to        the Holy Spirit applies that truth to our hearts, even
this mine just to do a bit of exploring on their own.        according to the problems that confront us, the spir-
Some carry picks, some small hammers, some wield a           itual burdens that oppress us and the peculiar circum-
sledge' hammer as they beat away at the hard rock.           stances in which we find ourselves at the moment. God
Even experts in the field of rock hunting like to probe      is Mighty. He can do it. That Word is a Lamp before
around, trying to find some rare stone to add to their       our feet, a Light upon our pathway, enlightening even
collection. Some come away with nothing but bits of the heart with the Light of Christ as a sure Guide to
colored rock, some carry a piece of crystal rock, and        eternity.
rarely one will go off with a small speck of gold. But it      A pick and small hammer are considered essential
is interesting just the same, maybe more to satisfy          for exploring an abandoned mine. A Reference Bible
one's curiosity than to find a hidden treasure.              and a Concordance are wonderful aids in the study of
  So often we overlook the fact that we have a much          the Scriptures. They are essential to exploring the un-
more precious gold mine in our homes at arm's reach.         discovered depths of the riches of the wisdom and
This gold mine is filled with a supply of costly gems        knowledge of God as revealed in the Bible. That time
that never is exhausted. Especially today when the in-       which is so obviously wasted at the TV set can far
fallibility of the Scriptures is brought into question,      better be spent in a bit of searching of the Scriptures,
and the verbal inspiration is openly denied as an old        which are able to make us wise unto salvation. II.
fogy notion, this gold mine of God's Word should at-         Tom.  3:15.
tract us more than ever. And I am sure that it does            One more comment: Along with the proper setting
attract many. As you sit and read your Bible, you are        and a few useful tools, let us not forget the importance
suddenly impressed by some truth which you may               of prayer. "Open Thou my eyes, that I may behold
have passed by unnoticed many times before: It de-           wondrous things out of Thy law." Psalm 119: 18.
pends so much upon whether we are in rapport with              One of the gems that I want to mention now is
the Word, receptive to it, so that we hear Christ speak      found in the two names of God most commonly used


352                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER



in the Old Testament. I realize that a bit of study of all between me and thee and thy seed after thee, for an
the names of God can prove to be both interesting and everlasting covenant, to be a God (Elohim, the Al-
instructive. One might explore the name "The Holy mighty) unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. You see
.One" and come up with riches untold. Or one can the gem: I will be  thy  Almighty, thy God, thy only
study the names of God used in particular instances,                 God, the absolute source of all thy life, the fulness of
with the question in mind, why would that particular all thy blessedness forever; and I will even be the Al-
name be employed exactly in that connection?                         mighty of thy covenant seed after thee! Throughout
  But at the moment I am referring to the two famil- thy generations, and even forever I will be the sole
iar names God (Elohim) and LORD (Jehovah). As you                    object of all thy faith and trust!
know, the name Elohim (translated simply as `God' in                    How true this was even in the consciousness of the
our Bibles) means "The Almighty." Its plural form in patriarchs. For example, when Abraham sends his
the Hebrew is a plural of excellence, emphasizing that eldest servant to find a wife for Isaac, he says to him:
God is indeed the Alniighty, to Whom belongs abso- "And I will make thee swear by Jehovah, the Almighty
lute, sovereign authority and power, so that besides of heaven, and the Almighty of the earth. . .  .".
Him there simply is and can be no other mighty one.                  (Gen.  24:3.)
Literally,  all  power belongs to God forever and ever.                 In faith Abraham could say: Jehovah, my Almighty!
  And you need but be reminded that the name                            Still more impressive- are the words of the Lord to
Jehovah is God's covenant name, actually THE Name Jacob at Bethel at the time of the vision: "I am the
of God. He is the I AM, the eternal, self-existing,  self-           LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God
sufficient, unchangeable God Who keeps covenant ac- (Elohim) of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee
cording to His inviolable promises forever. This name is will I give it, and to thy seed." (Gen. 28 : 13).
written in our Bibles in capital letters, as LORD.                      Whereupon Jacob answers in verses 20, 21: "If God
  Turning to the first chapter of the Bible, we see at (Elohim; here the Hebrew has: Jehovah Elohim) will
once that the name God (Elohim) is used throughout                   be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and
the chapter, and even into the first three verses of will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so
chapter two. This, we realize, is entirely proper, since that I come again to my father's house in peace; then
the Almighty called the things that were not as though shall Jehovah be MY ELOHIM."
they were. "Through faith we understand that the                        In Jacob's soul already arose the response of faith:
worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things All that my God does for me only proves that He is my
which are seen were not made of things which do                      God, my Almighty forever. He could say, as father
appear." (Hebrews  11:3).  Thus we confess: "I believe Abraham did: My God!
in  God,  the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and                     And now turn to Genesis  32:9,10:  "And Jacob said,
earth."                                                              0 God (Elohim) of my father Abraham, and God
  But now in Genesis  2:4 we suddenly come upon the (Elohim) of my father Isaac, the LORD (Jehovah)
name LORD God, Jehovah Elohim. Here we are told which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to
that the Almighty God establishes His covenant of thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee: I am not
friendship with His people in Christ. The Almighty,                  worthy of the least of all thy mercies, and of all the
Who created all things, set man as His image bearer in truth (faithfulness), which thou hast  shewed  unto thy
the midst of His earthly creation as His covenant servant!"
friend-servant, thus giving us in paradise an earthly                   There Jacob expresses what he vowed at Bethel,
picture of the heavenly reality in Christ. How impres- breathing in humble adoration: Jehovah, my Elohim,
sive is that LORD God, Almighty Jehovah!                             my God.
  And now we turn to Genesis 17, the well-known                         That turns our attention to Revelation  21:3: "Be-
chapter that tells of God's establishing His covenant hold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will
with Abraham and his seed. We read in the first few dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God
verses that the LORD (Jehovah) appeared to Abraham, himself shall be with them, and THEIR GOD."
and, quite properly, Abraham fell on his face. And                      Now in principle, finally in perfection we whisper in
then in verse 7, "And I will establish my covenant awed reverence: Jehovah, my God!



           The call of the gospel is to believe in the Christ of the Scriptures, Who leaves us nothing but the utterly humil-
           iating confession that we are sinners, damnable and corrupt in ourselves, sinners who must be and only can be
           saved by pure and sovereign grace.


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                     353



Studies in Election

                               Its Confessional Expression
                                                 Rev. Robert C. Harbach

  - Previously- and briefly we considered predestina-            neither is God the author of sin . . . nor is the liberty
tion, election and reprobation as fully declared in the          or contingency of second causes taken away, but
Canons of Dort (which beautifully and -comprehen-                rather established." The meaning is, God ordains also
sively set forth the truth often referred to as The Five         sin, without being responsible for sin. Final causality is
Points of Calvinism). We also put before the reader, in          not responsible causality. The article begins at the be-
full, the third chapter of the Westminster Confession,           ginning, with God's eternal, immutable, wise, holy,
"On the Decrees of God." We will make some remarks               free, first,  final and all-comprehensive will. What God's
on that chapter, but before we do, it is interesting to          will determines as to its details (creation, sin, etc.) is
note that Warfield, in his The Plan of Salvation (a little       not declared beyond the general and all-embracive
book every Christian from 16 to 106 ought to read),              statement of "whatsoever comes to pass." Emphasized
arranges the order of the decrees, as interpreted by the         here are the properties and the extent of God's
various schools of theology, on a descending scale,              decrees.
from the Supralapsarian top, to Infralapsarian, to                 The second article proceeds a little farther in God's
Amyraldian, Lutheran, Wesleyan, Universalistic, down             eternal purpose and foreordination to His eternal fore-
through Anglican, Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox,                knowledge or prescience. (See Lg. Cat., 14). It is made
to the naturalistic bottom of Remonstrant, and finally,          clear here that God's decree is not based on fore-
Pelagian dregs, It is also remarkable that  Warfield says        knowledge, or anything; but that it is based upon His
that "the Heidelberg Catechism" is not a confession              counsel and foreordination. God cannot foreknow,
"clearly implying Infralapsarianism," and that though            without foreordaining. There is nothing to foreknow,
it may seem to "more or less speak out of an under-              except that which He has already eternally purposed.
lying but not expressed Infralapsarian consciousness,            Known unto God are all His works from the beginning
this is, however, a matter of mere tone and manner;              of the world (Acts 15:  18), and He knows all this,
and . . . much too subtle to insist upon." (Studies in           knows what He will do, and what He wills to be done
Theology, 229).                                                  by others, because His knowledge is founded on what
  Now, the Westminster Confession (III, I) teaches               He has eternally decreed, and because He has deter-
that God by His counsel and will did from all eternity           mined all things according to His counsel (Acts  2:23;
ordain whatsoever comes to pass. (See Larger  Catech.,           4:28). In His omniscience, He knows all possible condi-
12). This paragraph puts God in eternity and His will            tions that could ever be supposed by the most  in-
back, the most ultimate, behind all things. His counsel          geniour imagination. Yet no such conditions or presup-
is His will predetermining and foreordaining whatso-             positions influence God's decree. It is absolutely free
ever comes to pass (Acts  4:27, 28, ASV). It is impos-           and sovereign. At this point, no mention is made yet of
sible to go farther back that God's sovereign will,              any rational and moral creatures. However, you can
according to which He foreordains and works all                  already see a trace of the question, What is the first
things. Another term, synonymous with decree,                    thing in God's purpose?
counsel, foreordination and will, is God's good pleas-             The third article sees in God's decree His  rational-
ure. Whatsoever comes to pass, often inscrutable. moral creatures, men and angels, in their destiny and
mystery to us, is to be humbly viewed in the light of,           end. Some are predestinated to everlasting life, while
"Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Thy sight!" others are foreordained to everlasting death. These
Or, the term is  purpose.  God's eternal purpose, which          men and angels are not seen-in the fallen mass. They
He purposed in Christ Jesus, is before all things (Rom.          are seen in the pure, unfallen mass of creatureship,
8  :28  ; Eph. 1: 11; 3 : 11). When you read in this chapter having done neither good nor evil. This, with respect to
that "neither is God the author of  sin,  nor is violence        angels is beyond all question, since the elect angels
offered to the will of the  creature," it is not at all to be    never fell, and could not be so considered. What He
concluded that this chapter views God's decree on the            determined of the life and death of men and angels, He
background of creation, sin and the fall. Creation and           so determined not because of anything He foresaw in
sin are only mentioned at this point to clear from               them as future. Their destiny is therefore determined
Arminian attack the statement that God did "freely               in absolutely sovereign and free election and reproba-
and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass." tion, free of "all supposed conditions," including the
To this it is immediately  added: "yet so as thereby             sin and fall of man. Then A. A. Hodge (Commentary


354                                              THE STANDARD BEARER



on the Confession of Faith,  p. 101)  ii' very far from           Calvin's work is really behind all the great Reformed
correctly explaining these articles.                           confessions. Quotes from Calvin read like the familiar
   The fourth article underscores God's foreordination         sections of these confessions. Take, for example, this
and predestination as immutable, particular and defi-          one, a definition of predestination. "Predestination we
nite. For this reason, the number of angels and men            call the eternal decree of God by which He has deter-
elected and reprobated is so certain "that it cannot be        mined in himself what He would have to become of
either increased or diminished." Neither does this             every individual of mankind. For they are not at all
statement have God's decree made on the basis of any-          created with a similar destiny; but eternal life is fore-
thing (e.g., sin, the fall) but the ultimate design of         ordained for some, and eternal damnation for others.
God. That  desigli and end has been stated, but not yet        Every man, therefore, being created for one or the
the means unto its realization.                                other of these ends, we say he is predestinated either
   The fifth article views mankind as the objects of the       to life or to death." (Inst. of Chr. Relig., Allen Ed., III,
decree. It also views in God's eternal purpose, not all        XXI, V). This certainly is not infra language. Nor is
men, but some as the objects of election. These men            this: "By an eternal and immutable counsel, God has
are chosen in Christ to everlasting glory, and that, in        once for all determined, both whom He would admit
God's eternal purpose, before any consideration was            to salvation, and whom He would condemn to destruc-
given to the foundation of the world. End is primarily         tion. We affirm that this counsel, as far as concerns the
in view (everlasting glory), while means (foundation of        elect, is founded on His gratuitous mercy, totally irre-
the world, faith, good works, perseverance) are denied         spective of human merit, but that to those whom He
as moving causes to God's settling on that end. The            devotes to condemnation, the gate of life is closed by a
glorious end was determined unconditionally, in no             just and irreprehensible, but incomprehensible judg-
wise dependent on anything of the creature.                    ment." (ibid., VII). Then in another place, he says,
  The sixth article views the end of election to glory,        "Now with respect to the reprobate . . . as Jacob, with-
now with the decree of the means, which include the            out any merit yet acquired by good works, is made an
fall, redemption, calling, faith, justification, adoption,     object of grace, so Esau, while yet unpolluted by any
sanctification and preservation. This is the exact  ovdo       crime, is accounted an object of hatred. If we turn our
salutis   we, Protestant Reformed, prefer. The article         attention to works, we insult the apostle . . . he saw
closes with the insistence that all these aspects of salva-    none . . . because he expressly asserts the one to have
tion are applied by the Spirit  to  the elect only. The        been elected and the other rejected while they had not
end of the decree is then not determined out from the          done any good or evil, in order to prove the founda-
fall, but alone out from the "most free purpose of His         tion of divine predestination not to be in works . . .
will." The end is never out from the means, but the            When he raised the objection whether God is unjust, he
means always out from the end.                                 never urges . . . the most absolute and obvious  defence
  The seventh article (L.C. 13) views the decree of            of his justice, that God rewarded Esau according to his
sovereign reprobation according to God's eternal good          wickedness, but contents himself with a different solu-
pleasure. Even this decree sees its objects as "the rest       tion, that the reprobate are raised up for this pur-
of mankind" and "His creatures," not first of all as           pose. . .  ." (III, XXII, XI). Or consider this strong
sinners. They are ordained (reprobated) "to dishonor           supralapsarian language: "As the Lord, by His effectual
(everlasting shame and contempt) and wrath for their           calling of the elect, completes the salvation to which
sin." Note, this is different from saying that God re-         He predestinated them in His eternal counsel, so He
probated them for their sin. That would be an                  has His judgments against the reprobate, by which He
Arminian way of expressing it. God ordained to pass            executes His counsel respecting them. Those, there-
them by with His mercy, witholding it from them, and           fore, whom He has created to a life of shame and a
to ordain them as vessels of wrath, to be eternally            death of destruction, that they might be instruments
punished for their sin, to the glory of His sovereign          of His wrath, and examples of His severity, He causes
power and the praise of His glorious justice.                  to reach their appointed end, sometimes depriving
  The eighth and final paragraph of this chapter is            them of the opportunity of hearing the Word, some-
devoted to the comfort of predestination to life. As-          times, by the preaching of it, increasing their blindness
surance of election is in the way of obedience to the          and stupidity." (III, XXIV, XII). Now on the subject
revealed will of God in the gospel. We leave it to the         of predestination, we have looked at its best expres-
reader whether he agrees that this chapter in the West-        sions in the Reformed confessions.
minster Confession puts forth the highest view of                                   (To be continued)
predestination.

                         Wanted: church members with singleness of heart and singleness of purpose.


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                     355


From Holy Writ
                          Exposition of Hebrews
                                                       Rev. G. Lubben

THE RELIGIOUS CAIN REJECTED WITH HIS it on the altar, presenting it to the Lord! But he is not
OFFERING (Hebrews 11:4)                                        thinking of the merciful, loving-kindness of the Lord as
   The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the        expressed in the "mother-promise" of Genesis 3 : 15.
LORD. God is a spirit and they who worship Him must            He does not need the Lord for the forgiveness of his
worship Him in spirit and in truth! (Proverbs 2  1:27;         sins. He does not come confessing his sins, saying "0
John  4:24) For the eyes of the LORD are upon the              God, be merciful to me, the sinner." He does not even
righteous, and His ear is directed to their cry; but the       conform to the basic rule of God, "The Lord lifteth up
face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut          the lowly, but the proud He resisteth!"
off their remembrance from the earth. (Psalm 34: 16,             Yes, God was not pleased with Cain's offering. He
17) God hates the religion of the wicked, even when it         was not pleased with Cain's offering, because he was
tries to parade as the genuine faith of the saints.            terribly displeased as the Judge of all the earth with both
   One is impressed when he reads the narrative in             Cain's original and actual sins. He does not merely
Genesis 4 with the fact that Cain was a religious man; reject Cain's sacrifice. He rejects Cain! He had no re-
no, he was not sound in doctrine and life. He was not a        spect to Cain, neither to his offering. The word
righteous man, but he was evil, basically and funda-           "respect" in the Hebrew is "shaah" which means: to
mentally evil, dead in trespasses and sins. He was a man look at, to glance at. God would not even give it a first
who did the works of his spiritual father, the Devil! He       look. He would not glance at it as the Judge of all the
is a representation of the seed of the Serpent, whose          earth. Both Cain and his gift were unacceptable. Cain
head shall be crushed by the Seed of the woman. Yet,          himself was rejected. He did not go home justified; he
in spite of this, Cain was a very religious man!               did not taste the goodness of the Lord. God's Spirit
  Cain also proves that no one of the fallen sons of           did not testify with his spirit that he was righteous.
men can bring forth the man of God. That is only              The wrath of God abode on him in his heart and con-
performed by the wonder of God's marvelous grace              science. He did not see in the distant future the realiza-
and love. The flesh profits nothing, but the Spirit           tion of the promise as a glad and blessed prospect. On
giveth life. The Genesis account tells us that Eve hoped      the contrary, he could only feel the wrath of God,
that the birth of her first son might mean that she had       temporally and eternally. And he had no peace, as have
received the promised Seed, the man from Jehovah.             none of the wicked!
For the name Cain is derived from the verb "kanah"               This all manifested itself. What was in Cain's heart
which means: to bring forth, to possess, to obtain. This registered on his face. For the face is the mirror of the
must have been the painful reminder that she would            soul. He was very wroth. His face is fallen in dejection
bring forth children in sorrow! In this son she would and in self-condemnation. There was no health of his
have great sorrow! The Bible does not give us a natural countenance. Then the LORD spoke with Cain. And
biography of Cain. We are told only that the young here the LORD unfolds the deep principle of spiritual
boy became a man, and that at "the end of time" Cain psychology of wrath and a fallen face. He too, inci-
brought a sacrifice to the LORD. And in this offering dentally, shows the deep principles of true psychiatry,
the deepest attitude and thoughts of Cain were laid the healing of the soul, the lifting up of the face. We
bare, yea, his deepest attitude and thoughts toward           see here that there are two triads. Either it is faith,
God Himself and toward those who are the children of hope and love, or otherwise it is doubt, despair, hatred.
the most high God in the midst of this evil world.            And these are really the only two alternatives. And
  Cain is, even in his bringing of the sacrifice, in the Cain falls into the latter category.
gall of iniquity. Yes, he brings of the fruit of the             It is a rather difficult passage which we have here in
ground. Cain was a tiller of the soil. He brings to the       Genesis  4:7. In general it may be said that the Lord
LORD the fruit of  his  labors. He will bring the LORD        God is here placing before Cain the law of life and
a present; He will do something for the LORD. He              death. God lifts up the just and he casts off the
does not come to bring a sacrifice in which he ex- wicked. God is just in so doing. Cain has no right be-
presses either what the LORD will do for him (a  sin-         fore the face of the LORD to feel that the LORD did
offering) nor does he bring an offering in which he           him injustice by rejecting him and his offering. Cain's
expresses his thankfulness to God, for what He has heart was not right with God. The rule is: if anyone
done for him, a thank offering! Yes, he possibly placed       does good, he is lifted up. And if he does evil, sin


356                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



croucheth as an evil and destroying beast at the door.       the slaying of Zacharias in the days of king  Joash.  It is
Sin will then take wholly captive its victim, destroying a note-worthy fact that in the Hebrew Old Testament
him forever. Will he rule over sin, then he must do          Canon the Book of II Chronicles holds the last place.
good, confess his sins, plead for mercy and forgiveness. And what is recorded of the death of Zacharias is
That is the way of life, the only way to be accepted         epochal in significance. It is really the end! For this
and to have the countenance lifted up, whereas we are prophet dies saying "The LORD look upon it and re-
thus lifted out of the miry clay and our feet estab-         quire it." And He did. To shed the blood of a prophet,
lished.                                                      to stop his mouth by killing him in the very temple of
   Cain hates God and despises His Word!                     God, between the altar and the temple, was a most
  He calls Abel out into the field. There he accosts         dastardly act of highest unbelief as a rejection of the
Abel, speaking with him. And Abel must have wit- Word of God. It was from this time on that Judah
nessed of his faith, and spoken and confessed the name       d e c l i n e s , u n t i l   t h e y   a r e   d e p o r t e d   u n d e r
of the Lord, and denied him not. He took, so to speak,       Nebuchadnezzar into Babylon. The land spewed them
the side of the living God in this matter. He does this out! Thus was the case, too, in the days of Jesus. The
in faith. And he is killed.                                  house becomes desolate. And thus it was already in the
  He becomes the first martyr!                               days of Abel: Cain must dwell in the land of desola-
  No, Cain did not hate Abel as a blood-brother. He tion. For Cain shed the blood of a prophet, a just man!
was perhaps his own twin brother. No, he hates Abel Cain slew Abel because he was just in confession
because he cannot find in him a companion to sin. The        (prophecy) and walk (sacrifice)!
world only knows and loves its own. Here the evidence           The text says that Abel offered  by  faith.  This was
is seen of the enmity between the two seeds. Cain faith which is the substance of things hoped for, the
cannot allow Abel to live. Abel is killed by Cain be- evidence of things not seen. And this faith was the gift
cause the latter hates God. And Cain is unrepentant,         of God. It was the wonderful power of God which
He says: Am I my brother's keeper? He was even with- operated in Abel's heart, regenerated him, called him
out natural affection! And he is stout-mouthed before to faith and godliness. In this faith Abel saw that he
the living God.                                              must bring a sacrifice. He must place it upon the altar.
   And he is driven from the presence of the Lord.              He must kill an animal, must shed his blood. For the
   He is excommunicated from the church of the most life is in the blood. That the term sacrifice means to
high God. He had a religion which had the form -of make a consecrated gift ought to be clear to us. For
godliness, but which denied its power! Cain did not the altar sanctified the gifts. The altar was a little piece
bring his offering by faith. He is of those who fall back    of earth raised up. It was to be made of earth or of
into perdition, the proto-type of all those who are evil unhewn stone. The tool of man might not fashion the
and wicked apostates from the faith. And their name is stone. It must proclaim that there is nothing in this
legion!                                                      dedication from the hands of men. God dedicates that
                                                             which is on the altar to Himself. And Abel knew that
THE BELIEVING ABEL EXCELS WITH GOD IN HIS this was the blood which covered as it was sprinkled
SACRIFICE  (Hebrews  11:4)                                   upon the altar. That the skins of these animals covered
   The writer to the Hebrews draws a sharp contrast their nakedness was only because their spiritual naked-
here between the sacrificial gift of Abel and that of ness was covered by the blood of the Lamb.
Cain. The purpose of the writer is to urge the believers        Abel brings from the firstlings, he brings of the first-
out of the Hebrews on to faith which is for the final born of the flock. And he brings the best of this part
receiving of salvation. The writer believes better things of the flock. He brings of the fat thereof. And thus
of the churches to which he is writing.                      Abel's faith expressed itself as leaning upon the
       Wherefore he writes concerning the faith of Abel. promises of God. He stood upon this promise in true
Abel is the first martyr! Does not Jesus, speaking of all faith, and in hope reached out for the final
the prophets, include Abel among them? Thus he redemption.
spoke on the last day of his public ministry in the city        Thus he excelled in faith. Faith is the victory which
of Jerusalem. "Wherefore, behold, I send unto you overcomes the world. He excelled by bringing a better
prophets and wise men, and scribes: and some of them sacrifice as the expression and confession of his faith.
ye shall kill and crucify: and some of them ye shall Thus Abel is among all the victorious ones who say
scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from "thanks be to God who giveth us the victory through
city to city, that upon you may come all the righteous our Lord Jesus Christ." He is with the souls under the
blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of altar who cry "How long, 0 Lord, holy and true, dost
righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that
Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the dwell on the earth?" Yea, he is with them which are
altar." Thus Abel is placed in the category of the told "that they should rest yet for a little season, until
prophets by Jesus Himself. Furthermore, he is placed their fellowservants also and their brethren, that
at the head of the long list of prophets which ends in `should be killed as they, should be fulfilled."


                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER                                                          357


Contending  for the Faith

                                 Phe Doctrine of Atonement
                                                THE REFORMATION PERIOD
                                                 THE PROTESTANT CREEDS

                                                         Rev.  H,  Veldman

  Continuing to call attention to the doctrine of the             foundation,  however slightly (we  underscore), we could
atonement as set forth in the Protestant creeds, we               not find rest elsewhere, but should always be troubled.
first quote from the Gallican or French Confession, A.            In other words, the slightest departure from the truth
D. 1559. We note that in the articles we quote the                will deny us the rest and peace of our justification. So,
emphasis is laid upon the truth that Christ upon the              we must never compromise with the truth. Even the
cross accomplished all righteousness, reconciled us to            slightest departure from the Word of God is therefore
God, and that our justification rests solely upon this            of the utmost significance.
work of our Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross of                      We will not quote from all the Protestant creeds in
Calvary, refuting the error of the Romish church that             connection with the atonement of our' Lord Jesus
man's works are meritorious. We quote Articles 16-l  S :          Christ. Of significance, however, is what we read in the
       Art.  XVI. We believe  that  God, in sending His Son,      Westminster Confession of Faith, 1647, Chapter VIII,
    intended  to show His love and inestimable goodness           which deals with Christ, the Mediator. In this article
    towards us, giving  Him up to die to accomplish all           the attention is directed to the particular character of
    righteousness, and raising Him from the dead to               the atonement. We quote:
    secure for us the heavenly life.                                    I. It pleased God, in His eternal purpose, to choose
      Art. XVII. We believe that by the perfect sacrifice             and ordain the Lord Jesus, His only-begotten Son, to
    that the Lord Jesus offered on the cross,  `we are                be the Mediator between God and man, the Prophet,
    reconciled to God, and justified before Him; for we               Priest, and King; the head and Saviour of His Church,
    can not be acceptable to Him, nor become partakers                the Heir of all things, and Judge of the world; unto
    of the grace of adoption, except as He pardons (all)              Whom He did, from all eternity, give a people to be
    our sins, and blots them out. Thus we declare that                His seed, and to be by Him in time redeemed, called,
    through Jesus Christ we are cleansed and made per-                justified, sanctified, and glorified.
    fect; by His death we are fully justified, and through
    Him only can we be delivered from our iniquities and                 IV. This office (the office of a mediator, H.V.) the
    transgressions.                                                   Lord Jesus did most willingly undertake, which, that
      Art.  .XVIII.  We believe that all our justification            He might discharge, He was made under the law, and
    rests upon the remission of our sins, in which also is            did perfectly fulfill it; endured most grievous tor-
    our only blessedness, as saith the Psalmist (Psa. 32:2).          ments immediately in His soul, and most painful suf-
    We therefore reject all other means of justification              ferings in His body; was crucified, and died; was
    before God, and without claiming any virtue or merit,             buried, and remained under the power of death, yet
                                                                      saw no corruption. On the third day He arose from
    we rest simply in the obedience of Jesus Christ, which
    is imputed to us as much to blot out all our sins as to           the dead, with the same body in which He suffered;
                                                                      with which also He ascended into heaven, and there
    make us find grace and favor in the sight of God.                 sitteth at the right hand of His Father, making inter-
    And, in fact, we believe that in falling away from this           cession; and shall return to judge men and angels at
    foundation, however slightly, we could not find rest              the end of the world.
    elsewhere, but should always be troubled. Forasmuch
    as we are never at peace with God till we resolve to be             V. The Lord Jesus, by His perfect obedience and
    loved in Jesus Christ, for of ourselves we are worthy             sacrifice of Himself, which He through the eternal
    of hatred.                                                        Spirit once offered up unto God, hath fully satisfied
  It is true that these articles do not state specifically            the justice of His Father, and purchased not only
that Christ died only for His own. However, this is                   reconciliation, but an everlasting inheritance in the
clearly implied. How else, otherwise, can it be under-                kingdom of Heaven, for all those whom the Father
stood that we have been reconciled to God upon the                    bath given unto Him.
cross and that we cannot become partakers of the                        VI. Although the work of redemption was not
grace of adoption unless God pardon all our sins and                  actually wrought by Christ till after His incarnation,
                                                                      yet the virtue, efficacy, and benefits thereof were
blot them out? And how else can we understand the                     communicated unto the elect, in all ages successively
words that we are fully justified by His death and that               from the beginning of the world, in and by those
through Him only we can be delivered from our iniq-                   promises, types, and sacrifices, wherein He was re-
uities and transgressions? And we also consider the                   vealed, and signified to be the seed of the woman
expression striking that "in falling away from this                   which should bruise the serpent's head, and the lamb


358                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER



       slain from the beginning of the world, being yester-           conceived and brought forth." It is very plain that the
       day and to-day the same and forever.                           Catechism views the death of Christ as atoning, as pay-
         VIII. To all those from whom Christ hath pur-                ing for our sins, as bearing the wrath of God upon our
       chased redemption He doth certainly and effectually            iniquities, as satisfying fully and completely the justice
       apply and communicate the same; making interces-               and righteousness of God. In Answer 37 we read that
       sion for them, and revealing unto them, in and by the
       Word, the mysteries of salvation; effectually persuad-         the Mediator, all the time that He lived on earth, but
       ing them by His Spirit to believe and obey; and                especially at the end of His life, sustained in body and
       governing their hearts by His Word and Spirit; over-           soul the wrath of God against the sins of all mankind,
       coming all their enemies by His almighty power and             and also that He redeemed our body and soul from
       wisdom, in such manner and ways as are most con-               everlasting damnation. In Answers 38 and 39 we read
       sonant to His wonderful and unsearchable dispen-               that He was condemned in order that He might there-
       sation.                                                        by free us from the severe judgment of God to which
   In these articles the particular character of the                  we were exposed, and that He took upon Himself the
atonement of the cross is literally set forth. We read curse which lay upon me. In answer 40 we read that it
that God gave to His Son a people to be His seed, to be was necessary for Christ to humble Himself even unto
redeemed, etc., by Him; we also read that the virtue,                 death because "with respect to the justice and truth of
efficacy and benefits of Christ's work of redemption God, satisfaction for our sins could be made no other-
are communicated to the elect; and we also read that wise, than by the death of the Son of God." A further
Christ certainly and effectually applies and communi- benefit of the cross is set forth in Answer 43 : "That by
cates His purchases redemption to His own.                       I    virtue thereof, our old man is crucified, dead and
   The Heidelberg Catechism calls attention to the                    buried with Him; that so the corrupt inclinations of
significance of the atonement in Lord's Days 5, 15 and                the flesh may no longer reign in us; but that we may
16, although Question and Answer 20 in Lord's Day 7                   offer ourselves unto Him a sacrifice of thanksgiving."
is also of the utmost significance. The elect are not                 And then, in answer 44, answering the question, "Why
mentioned in these Lord's Days; however, it cannot be is there added, "He descended into hell," we have this
doubted that the particular character of the atonement outstandingly beautiful statement: "That in my great-
is emphasized throughout. In Lord's Day 5 the subject                 est temptations, I may be assured, and wholly comfort
of the satisfaction of God's justice is emphasized, and myself in this, that my Lord Jesus Christ, by His in-
attention is called to the fact that this satisfaction,               expressible anguish, pains, terrors, and hellish agonies;
impossible by any creature as well as by man himself, in which He was plunged during all His sufferings, but
is possible only by such a mediator who is not only                   especially on the cross, hath delivered me from the
very man and perfectly righteous but who is also very                 anguish and torments of hell."
God. Hence, the death of our Lord Jesus Christ is not                   It must be evident from these Lord's Days that the
the death of a martyr, or of an example, but the death                Heidelberg Catechism emphasizes the particular char-
of one who dies atoningly, satisfies the justice of the               acter of the sufferings and death of our Lord Jesus
living God, and therefore must be particular in Christ. It is true that the Catechism, in Answer 37,
character.                                                            speaks of "the wrath of God against the sins of all
   Lord's Day 7, Q. and A. 20 is very important. Q. 20                mankind." And it is certainly to be questioned
reads: "Are all men then, as they perished in Adam,                   whether the meaning is that He suffered the wrath of
saved by Christ?" And the answer reads: "No; only                     God against the sins of all mankind in the sense of all
those who are ingrafted into Him, and receive all His His people out of every nation, people and tongue.
benefits, by a true faith." Here the emphasis is laid                 Fact is, our sin is certainly the sin of mankind, the sin
upon the truth that only those are saved who are  in- in which all mankind is involved. Sin is universal. But
grafted into Christ by a true faith. Also the Arminian this does not necessarily mean that Christ died for the
will grant that not all men are saved. But  it is his                 sins of all mankind in the sense of "all men, head for
contention that they are saved who will to be saved.                  head." That this is not the meaning and position of the
The reformed fathers, however, emphasize that only                    Heidelberg Catechism is plain from what we read in
they are saved who are ingrafted into Christ. God alone these Lord's Days. Clearly the Catechism is speaking
ingrafts us into Christ, and therefore it is God alone                throughout of the people of the Lord. Also in Answer
Who determines who will be saved. This is exclusively                 37 we read of the passion of Christ as the "only propi-
particular.                                                           tiatory sacrifice," the sacrifice of atonement. The
  Actually, the Catechism discusses the sufferings and repeated use of the pronouns, "us, me, I and we,"
death of our Lord Jesus Christ in Lord's Days 15 and                  clearly indicate that the reference is to the elect people
16, although there is a reference to the significance of of the Lord. Our curse was laid upon Christ, satisfac-
the atonement already in Answer 36: "That He is our                   tion for our sins was made with  Eespect to the justice
Mediator; and with innocence and perfect holiness,                    and truth of God, the death of Christ abolished our sin
covers in the sight of God, my sins, wherein I was. and our death is therefore a passage into eternal life.


                                                 THE  STANDkRd  BEA.RiR:;                                                   359



Moreover, by virtue of Christ's death, our old man is                         RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
crucified, dead and buried. And when we read in                    The Ladies Society of the Hudsonville Protestant
Answer 44 that "in my greatest temptations, I may be             Reformed Church expresses sincere sympathy to one
assured, and wholly comfort myself in this, that my              of its members, Mrs. Gerrit Holstege, in the passing of
Lord Jesus Christ, by His inexpressible anguish, etc.,. her mother.
hath delivered me from the anguish and torments of                                MRS. ALICE DYKEMA.
hell," one cannot doubt that the Catechism is speaking             "      the God of love and peace shall be with you."
here of the child of God. This the wicked cannot, may            (II Corinthians 13 : 11 c.)
never say. Indeed, the particular character of the                                                      Rev. H. Veldman, Pres.
atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ is certainly empha-                                          Mrs. Peter Lubbers, Vice Sec'y.
sized by the Heidelberg Catechism.
                                                                           SIL VER WEDDING ANNIVERSAR Y
                                                                   On May 8, the Lord willing, our beloved parents
                                                                        MR. AND MRS. HENRY VANDER KOLK
                                                                 hope to commemorate their 25th wedding anniversary.
                                                                   We, their grateful children, thank and praise our
                                                                 Covenant God for them, and for using them to instruct
            RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                               us to walk in the fear of His name. Our prayer is that
  The Martha Ladies Aid Society of the Hull Protes-              they may continue to experience the Lord's blessings
tant Reformed Church hereby expresses its sympathy               on their earthly pilgrimage.
to one of its members, Mrs. Ben Bleyenberg, in the                                                 Their children,
passing of her sister,                                                                           Gerald and Ruth  Vanden Berg
              MRS. CONRAD HULSTEIN.                                                                         Jerry Vander Kolk
  May the Lord comfort the sorrowing and grant them                                                        James Vander Kolk
peace in the knowledge that "all things work together                                                       Linda Vander Kolk
for good to them that love God." (Romans  8:28d).                                                         and their grandchild
                                     Rev. J. Kortering, Pres.                                                         RR No. 3
                                 Mrs. Nellie Brummel, Sec'y.                                                    Zeeland,  Mich.



                                  News From Our Churches

              REPORT OF  CLASSIS EAST                            ground of lack of manpower cited in our January
                          April 7, 1971                          decision re the pulpit supply of Oak Lawn and Ran-
                 At Hudsonville Church                           dolph.  Classis, furthermore, assured  Classis West that
                                                                 further requests for help in pulpit supply would be
  Classis East met in regular session on April 7, 1971           considered.  Classis adopted the following appointment
at the Hudsonville Prot. Ref. Church and speedily con-           schedule:
ducted its routine business.                                       HOPE: April 18  - H. Veldman; April 25  - G. Van
  Rev. R. Harbach, chairman of the January  Classis,                    Baren; May 16  - R. Harbach; May 23  - G. Van
led in opening devotions and after the credentials were                 Baren; June 13  - J. Heys; June 27  - H. Veldman;
received, declared  Classis to be properly constituted.                 July 11  - M. Schipper
All the churches were represented by two delegates.                HUDSONVILLE: May 2  - M. Schipper (PM); May 9
Rev. H. Veldman then presided and Rev. Harbach                          - J. Heys; May 23  - H. Veldman; June 13  - M.
recorded the minutes.                                                   Schipper; June 20  - R. Harbach; June 27  - G.
  The Stated Clerk and the Classical Committee                          Van  Baren; July 11  - J. Heys
reported on their  activites.                                      SOUTHWEST: April 18  - R. Harbach; May 2  - M.
  Elders D. Meulenberg and H. Velthouse were ap-                        Schipper (AM)
pointed to serve on the Finance Committee and B.                   Classis responded affirmatively to a request from
Windemuller was appointed to thank the ladies of  Hud-           Classis West to adopt a uniform procedure for the sign-
sonville for their catering services. Rev. J. Heys, Rev.         ing of the Formula of Subscription by a  candidate-
G. Van  Baren, and G. Pipe served on the Classical Ap-           elect after successfully passing his classical exam.
pointment Committee.  Classis adopted the advice of                The signing of the document is to be done in public
this committee to further elucidate to  Classis West our         and is to be included in the ceremony.


.-


               THE STANDARD BEARER
                       P.O. Box 6064                                                                          SECOND CLASS
              Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506                                                                   POSTAGE PAID AT
                                                                                                           GRAND RAPIDS, MICH.

           C  3 6 0                                            THE STANDARD BEARER


                  Rev. J. Heys was appointed to serve as Hudsonville's     class to conduct private study. And we are assured that
              moderator and was also elected to serve a three-year         this can be done even on the basis of the proposed
              term on the Classical Committee.                             tentative plan by juggling space on the ground level
                  Rev.  Schipper and Rev. Veldman were chosen to           and dropping everything on the picture besides the
              serve as church visitors.                                    classrooms, auditorium, and office, into the basement.
                  The questions of Article 41 of the Church Order          In one word, our people may rest assured that no
              were answered satisfactorily.                                building will be erected that will not adequately fulfill
                  Classis will meet next time on July 7, 1971 at the       our need."
              First Prot. Ref. Church.                                        "Why an auditorium, and why so large?"
                  Rev. Veldman thanked the  classis for its cooperation       "A Seminary building must be complete and contain
              in conducting the day's business. Elder B. Windemuller also the facility for practice preaching. And because
              closed the session with prayer.                              the Seminary building will be synodical property, the
                                                               J. Huisken Theological School Committee did conceive of the idea
                                                          Stated Clerk that the building with all its proposed facilities and
                                        *****                              especially the auditorium, could be used for synodical
                                                                           meetings. . .  ."
                  Some time ago the Theological School Committee
              distributed to all of our churches a letter soliciting         Those are a couple of the questions suggested and
              contributions for a new Seminary building. Attached          answered by Southeast's Council. Just in case you in-
              to the letter was a copy of tentative floor plans for the    tended to respond to the original letter, have not yet
              proposed building. You have, no doubt, seen both. The        done so, and have forgotten to whom the response
              Council of Southeast Church felt that the letter from        should be directed, we'll quote this last paragraph:
              the Theological School did not really say enough, that       "Kindly send your contributions and pledges to: Mr.
              there was still room for "questions which should have        Richard H. Teitsma, 1659 Shangrai La Drive, S.E.,
              an answer if our people were to contribute willingly         Grand Rapids, Michigan, 49508, and he will send you a
              and intelligently to this worthy cause." So the Council receipt to be used for tax purposes. Make your checks
              accompanied the School Committee letter with a letter in favor of: Theological School Building Fund."
                                                                                                    *****
              of its own in which an attempt was made to answer              Installation for Rev. Veldman will be held during
              some of those questions. Since this is something that is     the morning service on May 2 and he will preach his
              of interest and importance to all of us,  iye would like     inaugural sermon in the evening. The members of
              to take just a few excerpts from that letter.                Southwest congregation plan to hold a welcome pro-
                  "After using our present facilities in First Church      gram for Rev. and Mrs. Veldman on May 13.
              for some 45 years, what makes the proposed new                                        *****
              facility so necessary now?                                     The special worship services in observance of  (Good
                  "It is true that until three years ago the basement Friday included the celebration of the Lord's Supper
            facilities of First Church, for want of a better place to in our Loveland Church. Their church bulletin noted
              meet, have covered the needs of our Seminary. How- that the Church Order does not limit a congregation to
              ever, by a decision of Synod (1968) a preseminary            celebrating the Lord's Supper only four times a year,
              department has been added to the Seminary on a trial but allows a congregation to celebrate as often as it
              basis. . . . The trial arrangement has proved to be          thinks beneficial. And "the consistory judges that it is
      `       highly successful; but if it is to continue, larger and fitting and profitable for the church to celebrate the
              more adequate facilities will have to be provided. . .  ." sacrament of the body and blood of our Lord at the
                  "Does the floor plan as proposed by the Theological      occasion of the Good Friday service."
              School Committee adequately provide for our future                                    *****
              need?                                                          Hope Church concluded its April 4 bulletin with this
                  ". . . There are no definite plans. These will be pro- short poem entitled "Yours and Mine?" by Harry
              vided only after we have received sufficient funds and Abma :
              are ready to build. It is evident  to, the Theological                  "That cup which Jesus dreaded
              School Committee even now that when actual plans                           In Gethsemane,
              are to be drawn up, provision will have to be made for                  But which he drained
              at least three and maybe four classrooms, there will                       To its last bitter dregs
              have to be library room sufficiently large to contain all                  On Calvary  -
              our books as well as to afford space for students not in                Whose cup was that?"                     D.D.


