                                               Re r .I.- ,_



                                                       earer

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



C O M P L E T E   IM  T H I S   I S S U E :


           Ted and Alice and Groppi... and Grace
                                                .,'


Common Grace-An Encouragement To Worldliness





                                                        Volume XL VII / Number 14 /May 15, 19 71


     362                                                         THE STANDARD BEARER
I


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

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                                                                                  Editor-in-Chief: Prof. H. C. Hoeksema
     Editor's Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .362    Department Editors::.  Mr. Donald Doezema, Rev. Cornelius Hanko, Prof.
                                                                                  Herman Hanko, Rev. Robert C. Harbach, Rev. John A. Heys, Rev. Jay
                                                                                  Kortering, Rev. George C. Lubbers, Rev. Marinus  Schipper,  Rev.  Gise J.
     Guest Editorial  -                                                           Van  Baren. Rev. Herman Veldman. Rev. Bernard Woudenberg
        Ted and Alice and Groppi . . . and Grace . . . . .  .363                  Editorial Office:  Prof. H. C. Hoeksema
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                                                       Editor's Notes

        At the end of the May 1 editorial, in the last sen-                        material of Rev. Van  Baren's lecture; when the lecture
     tence, the reference was, of course, not to  ihe Chris-                       was delivered, time did not permit presentation of all
     tian Reformed Church, but to the Christian Reforma-                           the docuinentation which Rev. Van  Baren had pre-
     tion Church.                                                                  pared. Some of this additional documentation appears
                                    *****                                          in the printed transcript.
        This issue of our magazine is a bit unusual. Some of                          Arrangements are being made to make this material
     our regular departments have been omitted, in order to                        available in pamphlet form also. Those who are inter-
     make it possible to present  in  toto  in one issue the                       ested are invited to correspond with our Business
     significant lecture by the .Rev. G. Van  Baren cm "Ted                        Manager, Mr. H. Vander Wal, at our business address
     and Alice and Groppi . . . and Grace." We felt that, in                       which appears in the masthead.
     spite of its length, it would be more satisfactory to                             Rev. Van  Baren's lecture, by the way, is wholly in
     present this material complete in one issue than  to                          line with the editorial in our May 1 issue concerning
     present it in installments. The material presented in                         the common grace issue.
     print is somewhat more extensive than the actual                                                                                                     HCH


                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER                                                           363


Guest Editorial

                   Ted. and Alice and Gropp.i...and  Grace
                                                              Or
"Common Grace - An Encouracjement  to Worldliness"

                                                      Rev. G. Van Baren

  Many are extremely concerned with developments                     are judging such men to be beyond the help of God's
in recent years within the Reformed community. We                    grace - that is that they are already irrevocably fol-
have reached such a sorry state that today, when one                 lowers of the devil so that there is no good in them
receives into his home a magazine as the  Reformed                   and that we can safely judge them to be beyond
JoumaZ,  a person is inclined to examine the magazine                hope.
carefully before allowing it to lie around where his                    We, of course, do not share your view that the
                                                                     antithesis is so absolute. We believe that God by his
young children may read it. The movie reviews partic-                grace allows the unregenerate to continue to live and
ularly in that magazine are oftentimes downright evil                to do and say some relatively good things, including
and a discredit to the name "Reformed" and "Chris-                   works of "civic righteousness," even though these
tian." Many are sincerely concerned about this and                   may be inconsistent with their ultimate God-denying
other evidences of worldliness in the church. But one                presuppositions. .Hence we feel that it is proper to
hardly knows what to do. Nor do many seem to know                    converse seriously with those who may be unregener-
precisely what the cause of the problem really is.                   ate (as well as to read and study their works in the
  Therefore I want to address you on the rather                      light of God's  Word) and we do not expect that
strange subject of this paper. In reality, this subject is a         everything they say will be absolutely wrong.
continuation of a certain series of articles which I                     Since you do not share our views of common
wrote earlier for the  Standard Bearer.  Almost a year               grace, you apparently found it difficult to see that
ago now, I gave a report in the  Standard Bearer  con-               both in our brief questions to Groppi and in our let-
                                                                     ter to you, we could be indicating that we could ap-
cerning the appearance of Father Groppi at Calvin Col-               prove of some but not all of what Groppi had to
lege. Subsequently, I received a letter from the three               say. . . .
professors who were on the stage with him in which                  I gave a rather extensive answer to that. But that
they explained Groppi's appearance and their remarks part of my answer that I am concerned with now is
to him. This letter I answered. These articles were this:
rather widely reprinted  in  the  Torch and Trumpet  and                 First, I would say: if your contention is wrong; if
in the  Bulletin  of the Association for Christian Re-               the Father Groppi incident is not a logical fruit of
formed Laymen.                                                       common grace - then by all means let us have some
  There was, however, a second letter written by the                 conservative Christian Reformed man stand forth and
same three professors in response to the earlier articles.           show this. Let him show that you are not correctly
This also I answered. And this was printed  only  in the             applying the view of common grace. Let him show
Standard Bearer.                                                     that your view of common grace is distorted. Let him
                     I want to present to you just a por-            prove tbis soundly and conclusively from Scripture. I
tion of their letter and some of my answer.                          will be eagerly awaiting such explanation.
  These professors wrote:                                                Secondly,  if  your contention is  correct; if  the
       As perhaps we should have recognized the first                Father Groppi incident is a logical fruit df common
    time we wrofe to you, the real difference between us             grace - then it is high time that members 6f your
    is the question of common grace. (Italics mine) This             denomination demanded a reevaluation and reconsid-
    became clear from your reply to our letter. You see              eration of the view itself. . . .
    the antithesis between the regenerate and the unre-             That was  not  reprinted in  Torch and Trumpet  nor in
    generate as so absolute that you preclude giving any
    hearing to any of their views. Thus you state that          the  Bulletin  of the Association of Christian Reformed
    "hearing both sides of a question" is a "very basic         Laymen. I am not  sure why it was not. I can only
    error." Consistent with your view of absolute anti-         suspect that these were rather loath to drag out of the
    thesis you readily equate Groppi, agnostics, and simi-      closet the skeleton of common grace and present this
    lar speakers with "the devil and his followers," and        for open examination. I do know that there are many
    twice you condemn us even for praying for such men          conservatives within the Christian Reformed Church
    and for asking God's blessing on them. Clearly you          that are convinced that there is NO relationship  be-


364                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER


tween the appearance of a man such as Father Groppi                    things that belong to the periphery of life and does
at Calvin College and the theory of common grace.                      not reach its spiritual center. The doctrine of Special
And though I have waited several months now  forany                    Grace in Christ is neglected. There is a strong ten-
Christian Reformed writer to point out to the three                    dency to bring theology in agreement with a science
Calvin professors that their application of common                     that is in the service of unbelief. By means of the
grace was erroneous when they use it to condone the                    press and through various inventions and discoveries,
                                                                       which in themselves are to be appreciated as gifts of
Groppi appearance at Calvin, I have seen no such ex-                   God, much of the sinful world is brought into our
planation.                                                             Christian homes.
  It was for that reason I thought it might be interest-                  Because of these and similar influences which
ing and profitable to discuss some of these questions                  crowd in upon us from every side, it is urgently neces-
concerning the relationship of common grace to                         sary that the Church be on guard, and that she, while
Groppi (and Ted and Alice too) to see whether there is                 holding the above-mentioned points, tenaciously
a tie to or basis in the theory of common grace which                  maintain the spiritual-moral antithesis. She may never
would allow such worldliness to enter into the                         allow her preaching to degenerate into treatises and
church. In discussing this, of necessity I will be refer-              discourses on social issues and literature. . . .
ring to various things which have been happening in                  It does not take great discernment, I believe, to
recent years in the Christian Reformed Church. I hesi- recognize that the very evils against which the Synod
tate to do that because sometimes, I fear, this gives an           of 1924 warned, have arisen within the Christian Re-
appearance of a holier-than-thou attitude on my part               formed Church  - and I am convinced that this is in-
or on the part of the Protestant Reformed Churches. I deed a direct fruit (not a misapplication) of the view of
pray that this may not be the impression I leave. I too            common grace.
am a sinner. I know and confess it. And I know that                  But the fact is that when one discusses the question
the Protestant Reformed Churches are by no means of common grace and its relationship with worldliness,
free from error.                                                   one can most profitably study that issue in the light of
  However, first of all, I remind you that repeatedly in the recent developments within the denomination
the past there have been statements from Christian Re- which has officially adopted that view. That is why I
formed leaders suggesting the advisibility of studying shall be touching upon various incidents of worldliness
further the idea of common grace and developing it. that have been seen within the Christian Reformed
Yet little has been done along that line.                          Church. Of course, I am aware that worldliness is also
  Secondly, it seems to me that the Christian Re- evident in most other denominations today as well.
formed Synod that adopted the "three points" in 1924                 Also, when I speak of the Christian Reformed
seemed aware that perhaps it was opening a  "P,andora's            Church, I am speaking of that church which I still
box" of evils upon the church. That is the only expla- regard as our "mother church"  - but a "mother
nation I can give to the "Testimony" that this Synod church" which departs from the right way. It deeply
attached to the "three points":                                    grieves "children" to see their "mother" walk in sin.
          . . . Since Synod has given a declaration relative to    So it has been our desire also for "mother church" to
       the Three Points which were jeopardized by the de-          recognize their sin and repent of it. We pray that this
       nial of the doctrine of Common Grace and thereby            may yet happen under the direction of the Holy Spirit
       disapproved the general denial of this truth, it feels      of God.
       constrained to warn our churches and especially our           As I discuss this particular subject of the relation-
       leaders earnestly against overemphasis and conse-           ship of common grace to worldliness, I am going to
       quent abuse of the doctrine of Common Grace. That           give a rather large number of quotations. I will do this
       danger is real. When Dr. Kuyper wrote his monumen-          to substantiate that which I state.
       tal work on this subject he indicated' that he was
       aware of the danger that some would allow them-                         THE FACT OF WORLDLINESS
       selves to be misled and become worldly. And history                           WITHIN THE CHURCH
       has proved that this danger is more than imaginary. In
       his Dogmatics Dr. Bavinck has also called attention to        I said earlier: many people are deeply concerned
       this danger.                                                about developments in the church. And I know this is
          When we take note of present-day trends, it is ap-       the case within the Reformed community. I have heard
       parent that there is more danger of conformity to the       many people object strenuously to evils which  arise
       world than of world-flight. Today's liberal theology        within the churches.
       virtually erases the boundaries between the Church
       and the world. Evermore the great significance of the       Fact one: movie attendance
       Church is considered to he in the social sphere. The          There is, first of all, the evil of movie attendance.
       consciousness of a spiritual-moral antithesis is being      You are probably aware of the fact that the Christian
       increasingly weakened in the minds of many and has          Reformed Church reversed itself in 1966 when it took
       made room for a vague. sense of a universal brother-        a new and changed stand on what it calls the "film
       hood. To a great extent preaching touches on the            arts." There is a lengthy document in the 1966  Acts of


                                                        THE STANDARD BEARER                                                          365


Synod of the C.R.C. which treats this subject of "film                  helping the immature to escape the snare of evil in
arts." I would only quote one short part of its conclud-                the area of the film arts. (p. 319)
ing paragraphs. After approving the principle that the                That all sounds good and pious, does it not? Yet if
Christian can attend "good" movies, the Christian Re- this guidance was so absolutely necessary, why has the
formed Synod added this:                                            Banner,  the official church paper of the Christian Re-
       Since the film arts is a cultural medium that can be         formed Church, not yet presented any movie reviews in
    used for good or evil, the products of the film indus-          harmony with Synod's decision? I have not seen any
    try must be judged on their merits in the light of              movie reviews there yet. But I have read movie reviews
    Christian standards of excellence.                              in other Reformed magazines and periodicals, speci-
       D. 1) In keeping with the directives enunciated              fically  in The Reformed Journal  and in Calvin College
    above, it is incumbent upon the mature Christian to             Chimes.  I have in my possession a whole series of
    exercise a responsible personal freedom in the use of           quotations from some of these reviews. I shall present
    the fnm arts.                                                   only two. The first is a movie review by Roger
       D. 2) Recognized that the  fnm arts are largely
    under the control and administration of non-Christian           Verhulst in  The Reformed Journal  of March 1970 on
    agencies, the Christian must exercise a Spirit-guided           "Bob  & Carol  & Ted  & Alice". (And incidentally, if
    and enlightened discrimination in the use of the film           you were curious about my subject, here is its origin.
    arts.                                                           The "Ted  & Alice" is the last half of this particular
       D. 3) The Christian must reject and abstain from             movie title.) This is what the movie review in  i%e  Re-
    the use of those film arts products which tolerate sin          formed Journal states:
    or propagate it as a normal aspect of human life, or                   . . . We have to do here, first of all, with what is a
    which portray and interpret life in a way that does                 very funny movie. Come to it with anything like an
    violence to the only valid explanation of life as de-               open mind and a detectable degree of detachment,
    clared in God's revelation of sin and redemption.                   (Mind you: a Reformed man can go to a movie as this
    (Eph. 5:3, 11,12).                                                  with an "open mind" and a "detectable degree of
       D. 4) A Christian may witness a dramatic presenta-               detachment?" But that is what is says. - G.V.B.) and
    tion of the realities of life which portrays a redemp-              you'll spend most of the evening laughing. Bob &
    tive struggle between good and evil when such a por-                Carol & Ted & Alice is, first of all and beyond any
    trayal helps him in his struggle to overcome evil with              doubt, comedy.
    good (Rom. 12: 21) and thus makes a contribution to                    . . . Still, there's sex enough: Bob has an affair;
    a more fully oriented citizenship in the Kingdom of                 Carol has an affair; then Ted has an affair; and Alice
    God. . . .                                                          chats with her psychiatrist. Eventually they all get
       E. 1) There is a large educational task that must be             into bed together, creating a situation which embar-
    initiated by responsible agencies at the various levels             rasses us almost as much as it embarrasses them; but
    of life in the Church.                                              accomplishes little else. . . .
             a. The membership of the Church must be-                      . . . All that remains to be asked is whether grant-
                  come more sensitive to what is good and               ing that it's funny - this is a movie worth seeing,
                  what is evil in the film arts so as to come to        Worth thinking about.
                  a meaningful evaluation and a discriminate               The answer, I think, is yes. This is a movie that
               use of the same.                                         effectively challenges the convictions both of those
             b. It is imperative that the Christian community           who think that sexual freedom is the cause of all the
                  should engage in the constructive critique of         world's ills, and those who imagine it as the cure. . . .
               the film arts, being led by those who are              It is rather interesting, I think, that  Time  magazine
               specialists in art and in Christian ethics.          reviewed that same movie,  Bob  &  Carol  & Ted  & Alice.
             c. The fruit of  this effort (b) should be pre-        That review states:
               sented to and shared with our modern soci-                  B h C & T h A is a sniggering Hollywood send-up
               ety and the Church in general as a cultural              of infidelity, wife-swapping and other variations on
               and moral witness: for we are the "salt" of              the theme of modern marriage. . . .
                  the earth and "light" in a secular world. (Pp.           The dialogue remains flaccid throughout, badly in
                  360-l)                                                need of the kind of cutting edge that Billy Wilder
  The above decision of Synod was made, in part, as                     could have given it. What Mazursky and Tucker obvi-
answer to an Overture of  Classis Eastern Ontario whose                 ously had in mind was a sophisticated, controversial
argument was summarized as follows:                                     comedy, but their work suggests that sex is too im-
       Finally, with respect to the weaker brother, Classis             portant to be left to Hollywood . . . (Time, Sept. 26,
    argues that an endorsement of acceptable movies will                1969, p. 94)
    not harm the weak and immature since it is precisely              The Reformed Journal  reviewed also the movie,
    they who are attending movies. The argument is not              "M*A*S*H" in the May-June issue of 1970, a review
    without some relevance but it would seem more                   written by Daniel De Vries, who was at that time a
    cogent to insist that a more realistic rejection of de-         senior at Calvin College:
    moralizing film products and an endorsement of the                     M*A*S*H is the service comedy to end all service
    acceptable productions would be a positive step in                  comedies. It is high-spirited, wildly irreverent, crazier


366                                                      THE STANDARD BEARER



       than life, and thoroughly engrossing. To boot, it is a      freely lately within church services too, as well as that
       film precisely of our moment. None of that old `love        which is presented within Christian schools for the en-
       the ATmy despite its faults' stuff in which the lovable     tertainment of covenant seed. There was a report in
       country hero comes one up on the brass because he           the Grand Rapids' Press  of Sept. 26, 1970 listing some
       happens to be slightly stupider than his superiors.         of the rock bands which were scheduled at Calvin Col-
       M*A*S*H hates the  Army with an exquisite, elo-             lege fieldhouse:
       quent, and perfectly just hatred, and features some
       bright (drafted) surgeons who beat it, not by playing              The Byrds will open this year's Calvin College
       its silly games, but by defying it and laughing at it.           entertainment series, sponsored by the Student Sen-
          They laugh, and we laugh - continuously and up-               ate, with a concert at Knollcrest Fieldhouse at 8 p.m.
       roariously, through two of the funniest hours ever               Friday.
       put on film. . . .                                                  Appearing with the popular English group will be
          This makes the success of M*A*S*H all the more                Zaranthustra, a Minneapolis-based band in the Chi-
       remarkable: so many people, including a great many               cago tradition that will-be playing in West Michigan
       unknown actors, combined their talents to produce                for the first time. . . .
       it. Not only are many of those people immensely                     . . . Plans for the rest of the year still are very in-
       talented, somehow the talents of all complement and              definite. A few names have been mentioned, includ-
       supplement each other and the result is a wildly                 ing Melanie, Gordon Lightfoot,  Joni Mitchell and
       funny, absolutely brilliant film, which, although not            Chicago.
       perfect, is close enough so that its minor flaws don't         There was strong objection, of which some of you
       matter much. . . .                                          may have heard, to the  ,appearance  of a rock band that
   Time  magazine reviewed M*A*S*H also. They entertained the youth at the Young Calvinist conven-
wrote:                                                             tion last summer.
          . . . Not infrequently they shatter the wrong objec-        And in more recent months there has been consider-
       tives; a parody of the Last Supper, for example, is         able stir about the rock opera entitled "Jesus Christ
       utterly without wit or point. But most of the time          Superstar." You may have heard of it. It has been
       the film is a moon reflecting the sun of battle. War        played in the Fine Arts Auditorium at Calvin College
       assaults taste, language, sense itself. . . . So does       on March 4, 1971 (instead of chapel, I understand)
       M.A.S.H., animated with a dangerously robust sick           with hardly any word of criticism. Some of this music
       humor and a highly civilized savagery. An audience          has been used in a Christian Reformed Church as pre-
       should approach this film as it would a field of live
       mines.  (Time; Jan. 26, 1970; p. 78)                        lude and postlude to the service with the statement in
  Now you will notice in the first place,  Time,  a the bulletin:
                                                                           We use "Jesus Christ Superstar" as a prelude and
worldly magazine, more closely reaches the objectives                   postlude with the hope of showing a more realistic
set up by the Christian Reformed Synod in 1966 than                     and yet Biblical interpretation of a suffering Savior.
do the reviews of a magazine such as  The Reformed                    The  Banner  of April 16, 1971 presents also two re-
Journal.  Is that not frightening?                                 views of this rock opera, reviews which, to say the
   In the second place, not only these two reviews, but least, are not unfavorable.
every review I have seen in  The Reformed Journal  or                 I wondered about this, and therefore obtained a copy
the Calvin College  Chimes,  evaluates these movies not of the words of the recording "Jesus Christ Superstar."
in the light of spiritual, moral standards, but in the Now some have suggested that this recording is really
light of what is called  %rt." And almost invariably, it not so bad. It is "modern music," true; but musical
seems, the norm for "art" is far  (lower than that found tastes do change. It has been said that this opera is
in such a magazine as  Time.                                       presented for the most part from the viewpoint of
  In the third place, I have found that almost invari- Judas Iscariot, and therefore it is to be expected that
ably the worst sort of movies are reviewed in these he speaks of Christ from his distorted viewpoint. But I
Reformed periodicals; and in many instances these evil found in the recording also songs sung by' Jesus. I
movies are approved and the reading audience is en- would like to quote some of these to you. At one
couraged to see them.                                              point, Jesus says to those who are seeking to be healed
  No wonder people have asked, "What's wrong in the by Him:
church?" Is this part of that general trend seen within                 There's too many of you - don't push me
the churches towards worldiness? Or is there perhaps There's too little of me - don't crowd me
some basic underlying false philosophy which is  inevi- Heal yourselves!
tably leading the churches in this direction of worldli-              Is this the Jesus that Reformed people could appre-
ness?                                                              ciate? Or, at the Last Supper Jesus sings:
                                                                   The end. . .
Fact two: rock music                                               Is just a little harder when brought about by friends
  A second example that I give you of worldliness                  For all you care this wine could be my blood
within the church is that desire to enjoy such things as           For all you care this bread could be my body
rock music  - music and words which are used rather The end!


                                                          THE STANDARD BEARER                                                       367


This is my blood you drink                                            It makes shivers  gb down your spine, doesn't it? It is
This is my body you eat                                             blasphemy; a denial of the divinity of Christ; a denial
If you would remember me when you eat and                           of Christ's consciousness that He was performing the
   drink. . .                                                       work of atonement; a scoffing of the idea of the Lord's
I must be mad thinking I'll be remembered - yes                     Supper.
I must be out of my head!                                             Is it any wonder that many ask, "What's wrong in
Look at your blank faces! My name will mean
   nothing                                                          the church?" Is this part of a general trend towards
Ten minutes after I'm dead!                                         worldliness? Or is there some underlying, evil philoso-
One of you denies me                                                phy which inevitably leads in this direction of world-
One of you betrays me -                                             liness?
   Is this the Jesus of Scripture that Reformed people, Fact three: Groppi3 appearance at Calvin
young or old, confess? Or the Jesus who sings in  Geth-               The third example that I give to you is the incident
semane as follows:                                                  of Groppi's appearance at Calvin College. I wrote
In the Garden of Gethsemane                                         about that  in  the  Standard Bearer.  I was present when
I only want to say                                                  Groppi spake there. It is very hard to forget the stand-
If there is a way                                                   ing ovation given to Groppi as he ended his speech. It
Take this cup away from me for I don't want to taste                is hard to get out of one's mind the applause which
   its poison                                                       interspersed this speech, particularly the applause after
Feel it burn me, I have changed I'm not as sure                     some of the most evil statements. It is rather difficult
As when we started                                                  to get out of one's mind some of the remarks that
Then I was inspired
Now I'm sad and tired                                               Groppi made. I recall distinctly yet how he described
Listen surely I've exceeded expectations                            some of the rioting and looting and burning that took
Tried for three years seems like thirty                             place in Milwaukee. He described black people who
Could you ask as much from any other man?                           took furniture and clothing from the stores. I recall
But if I die                                                        how he spoke of one young black man with a piece of
See the saga through and do the things you ask of me                stolen furniture under his arm, passing by Father Groppi.
Let them hate me bit me hurt me nail me to their tree               This young man raised his fist in salute to Groppi and
I'd wanna know I'd wanna know my God                                said, "Black Power, Father!" Groppi said that he re-
I'd wanna see I'd wanna see my God                                  sponded by raising his fist, saying, "Black Power, Joe!
Why I should die                                                    Be sure, you don't get caught!" There has been no
Would I be more noticed than I was ever before?                     acknowledgement by college officials that they erred
Would the things I've said and done matter any more?
I'd have to know I'd have to know my Lord                           in allowing Groppi at Calvin. There has been no state-
I'd have to see I'd have to see my Lord                             ment of apology. There has been no acknowledgement
If I die what will be my reward?                                    that the appearance of such a man could evilly influ-
I'd have to know I'd have to know my Lord                           ence covenant youth. But there was an editorial in the
Why should I die?                                                   Jan.  15, 197  1 issue of the  Banner  in which Dr.  L. De
Can you show me now that I would not be killed in vain?             Koster rather scoffed, I think, at those that  opposed
Show me just a little of your omnipresent brain                     the appearance of Groppi. He wrote:
Show me there's a reason for your wanting me to die                            All right, then, some among us deplored the ap-
You're far too keen on where and how and not so hot                     pearance of Groppi, and let that be known. Now let's
   on why                                                               go on from there: what, in such matters, are wefor?
Alright I'll die!                                                              Can we be for an educational institution hermeti-
Just watch me die                                                       cally sealed against the views of Groppi and the like?
See how I die!                                                          Then we must be for shutting off radio, television,
Then I was inspired                                                     newspapers and magazines, and books from the col-
Now I'm sad and tired                                                   lege campusses.  In no other way can the Groppi's, or
After all I've tried for three years seems like ninety                  rock music, or whatever is alive in the mind of the
Why then am I scared to finish what I started                           day, be shut out from the schools to which we com-
What: you started - I didn't start it                                   mit our children. And this, in fact, we know to be
God thy will is hard                                                    impossible. But what, then, having been opposed to
But you hold every card                                                 Groppi, is one to be for?, , . .
I will drink your cup of poison, nail me to the cross                          Ask yourself: how would I go about producing
   and break me                                                         graduates who will not wilt under the harsh winds of
Bleed me beat me kill me take me now - before I                         modernity the moment they leave the campus? How
   change my mind.                                                      would I give our  fine young people the trust and
   To Pilate Jesus says:                                                freedom essential to responsible development? How
I have got no kingdom in this world -                                   would I deal dreatively with the mistakes all human
I'm through, through, through . . .                                     beings make? What, in short, are critics of Groppi, or
There may be a kingdom for me somewhere,- if I only knew                of rock musicians for?. . . .


368                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER



   Is it any wonder that people ask, "What's going on                word "world" can be understood in more than one
in the church?" Is this simply a part of the overall                 sense, including an unfavorable and an essentially
trend toward worldliness? Or is there, perhaps, an un-               neutral sense. Therefore Christians should not form
derlying philosophy which inevitably leads towards                   separate communities or shun all association with un-
such worldliness?                                                    godly men. How can Christians have fellowship with
                                                                     unbelievers? (Scripture says in II Cor. 6:14 that they
The culprit: Common Grace?                                           can not! - G.V.B.) The solution is found in the doc-
  Now I am aware, as you doubtlessly are, that there                 trine of common grace. Spiritually the believers and
are evil trends towards worldliness evident within all               unbelievers. have nothing in common, but morally
denominations today  - and I do not exclude the Pro-                 they have. The basis of our fellowship with unbe-
testant Reformed Churches. One reads of it in any                    lievers should never be the sin which we have in com-
church periodical he may pick up. But the question I                 mon with them, but the grace (common) which they
                                                                     have in common with us!. . . . God has given certain
wish to face with you is this, "Does common grace                    joys, diversions, pleasures to man. . . . He restrains sin
have anything to do with this?"                                      in the hearts of the ungodly so that the diversions,
  Now you know that in the past years, and even                      and amusements which they devise are not always
today, members within the Christian Reformed Church                  and necessarily tainted with sin. (p. 324)
felt that the Protestant Reformed people had some                       This world has not returned to absolute chaos,
sort of hang-up on the issue of common grace. Every                  however, for God restrains the power of sin and be-
time something went wrong in the C.R.C., every time                  stows many good gifts and talents upon man in gen-
some new and erroneous position was adopted, writers                 eral. These gifts are common to both the regenerate
from the Protestant Reformed Churches took the occa-                 and unregenerate man. God "giveth to all life, and
                                                                     breath, and all things." (Acts 17:25) In Acts 14:17
sion to point out that these errors were the fruits of               we are told that He falls our hearts with gladness. This
common grace. Do  P.R.`s have some sort of "hang-up"                 is "a kind of favor or grace of God which He mani-
on this issue?                                                       fests toward His creatures in general." (Acts of Synod
   I think that it is rather interesting to discover that            1924, Article 132) It would be highly ungrateful to
within the Christian Reformed Church, increasingly so                God to despise or reject these gifts and their results in
in recent years, common grace is used as a basis for                 human society. Sinful man, in his effort to be
much of what the conservatives call "worldliness"                    autonomous, may boast of his accomplishments and
within their church. I think that was rather strikingly              idolize his culture; but the Christian will accept what-
true with regard to the appearance of Groppi at Calvin.              ever God has made possible with gratitude and will
When I wrote about this particular appearance, and                   dedicate it to God's glory. (p. 332)
after I answered the first letter of the three professors          So you see, within the Christian Reformed Church
to me, I mentioned  not  one  word  about common itself, common grace is repeatedly used to support
grace. And I did that intentionally because I feel too much of what I consider to be (and conservatives
that there are many in the Christian Reformed Church within the C.R.C. also consider these things to be)
that do think we have some sort of "hang-up" on that worldliness.
issue.                                                           The "`early warning" of Rev. H. Hoeksema
  However, the second letter these same professors ad-             I hesitate to state for the churches I represent, "I
dressed to me,  they  introduced the idea of common told you so!" Yet I must remind you that the late Rev.
grace. They were the ones that wrote,                            H. Hoeksema had exactly pointed out that this worldli-
          As perhaps we should have recognized the first         ness would develop as a result of the adoption of com-
       time we wrote to you, the real difference between us
       is the question of common grace . . . . (italics mine)    mon grace. He stated in a pamphlet he wrote many
  I begin to wonder who has the "hang-up" on com- years ago ("Why Protestant Reformed?"):
mon grace! These professors use it to defend their ac-                  The above mentioned ministers, who were later to
                                                                     find themselves deposed, turned their attention to
tion of having Groppi appear on their stage.                         this theory and made a very careful study of it.
  One finds the same thing to be true in  synodical                  Thereto they were compelled by the undeniable facts
decisions of the Christian Reformed Church. Most                     that the application of the doctrine of common grace
striking, I think, is the document presented to Synod                in practical life led to an alliance of friendship and to
in 1966 on the "film arts." The report in that  Acts  of             conformity of the church with the world.
Synod  is very lengthy. It includes many grounds for                    And their study brought them to the discovery
their decision. But it is striking that there are several            that the doctrine of common grace is a thoroughly
references in it to common grace. In support of their                false doctrine, in conflict with the Scriptures, in con-
contention that the "film arts" must be recognized by                flict with reformed faith and confession, and is dan-
the church (and this deceptive term "film arts" is theirs;           gerous for our practical calling of life. (p. 6,7)
not mine), they say this:                                          And in another pamphlet, written early in the his-
          Concerning the third general principle of Spiritual    tory of the common grace controversy, and entitled,
       Separation from the World, the report states that the     "The Triple Breach," he wrote:


                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER                                                          369



          I consider this introduction of the notion of rela-    There is outward conformity to God's law
    tivity into the sphere of ethics and morality positively       Before I go further, I would point out that we as
    pernicious, (and I am going to call your attention to        Protestant Reformed Churches do  not  state that the
    this later again - G.V.B.) and the evil effects of this      wicked  never conform outwardly with some of God's
    view are observed but too plainly in the actual life of      laws. We do state that the unregenerate  never  do good.
    the people of God in the world. All lines of distinc-
    tion are being obliterated on the basis of this philoso-     The late Rev. H. Hoeksema himself, even before 1924,
    phy. A sphere of transition, a common sphere of life         pointed out that he understood clearly, and taught,
    is created by it, a domain where the righteous and the       that the wicked will observe externally some of God's
    ungodly have fellowship with one another and live            laws when it is to their own advantage. They can pro-
    the same life. And a very superficial conception is          duce inventions in harmony with certain laws which
    formed by this philosophy of relative good and evil of       God laid down in creation. They can observe some of
    what is good before God. True consciousness of sin is        God's moral laws in an external way when they realize
    well-nigh impossible in the light of this conception         that it is for their own safety or for their own physical
    and the true fear of the Lord is rooted out. When one        benefit. I have a quotation from a Dutch booklet writ-
    considers this view in its real and fundamental ten-         ten by Rev. H. Hoeksema  before  1924, in which he
    dencies, one cannot help but shudder with horror and         writes:
    fear for the future of a church that follows in its                     And what then is civil righteousness? In our opin-
    direction. (p. 76,77)                                            ion the sinner notes the God-instituted relations, the
  That, I am convinced, was very prophetic.                          given laws, means of fellowship, etc. He notes the
                                                                     propriety and usefulness of them. And now he makes
              THE UNDERLYING BASIS FOR                               use of them for his own sake. If he succeeds fairly
             WORLDLINESS IN THE CHURCH                               well in this, an action will result which formally ap-
                                                                     pears to be in harmony with the laws of God. Then
  But what is this issue of "common grace" that Pro-                 you have civil righteousness, regard for virtue, and an
testant Reformed people oftentimes mention? What                     orderly external deportment. If this attempt fails, as
was adopted by the Christian Reformed synod in                       is of course often the case, then also civil righteous-
1924? I am not going to discuss this evening the first               ness falls away; then the opposite is true. His funda-
two of those "three points." In this paper I want to                 mental error is, however, that also in striving for ex-
consider with you specifically the "third-point"                     ternal deportment, he does not seek . . . God. To the
adopted by the Synod of 1924. That "third point"                     contrary he seeks himself also in fellowship with
reads:                                                               other sinners and tries to maintain himself in his sin,
          Relative to the third point, which is concerned            with the entire "world" in whatever he does. And
    with the question of civil righteousness as performed            that is sin. This also actually has evil results for him
    by the unregenerate, synod declares that according to            and his fellow-creatures. His action overagainst his
    Scripture and the Confessions the unregenerate,                  neighbors and fellow-creatures takes place according
    though incapable of doing any saving good, can do                to the same rule and with the same results. It there-
    civil good. This is evident from the quotations from             fore happens that sin always develops and that cor-
    Scripture and from the Canons of Dordrecht, III, IV,             ruption continues, and, yet, there remains relatively a
    4, and from the Netherland Confession Art. 36,                   formally just behavior according to the laws laid
    which teach that God without renewing the heart so               down and instituted by God. And yet the natural
    influences man that he is able to perform civil good;            man never performs ethical good. This is our view.
    while it also appears from the citations from Re-                Who now will venture another explanation? ("Langs
    formed Writers of the most flourishing period of Re-             Zuivere Banen",  p. 72,73)
    formed Theology, that our Reformed Fathers from                We, then, in the Protestant Reformed Churches agree
    ancient times were of the same opinion.                      that the wicked can and do observe outwardly certain
  Now perhaps you have never made a thorough study               of the laws of God. But when these do that, they sin;
of the third  "points."And  perhaps it is time you did. If       for what is done is not in harmony with the law of
you want information from a Protestant Reformed                  God, nor to His glory, nor out of a living faith. Inci-
viewpoint, you can find a very clear explanation of all          dentally, I believe that those things which the unregen-
three points in the book,  The History of the Protestant         erate produce in outward conformity to God's law
Reformed Churches ($2.00);  or there is also an expla-           (whether moral or physical), can be used also by
nation found in the booklet, "The Triple Breach"                 Christians for spiritual advantage. An unregenerate
(25~); or an interesting presentation can be found in            man, in obeying physical laws, can invent and produce
the booklet, "The Reunion of the Christian Reformed              a good automobile. I can use that to the glory of God.
and Protestant Reformed Churches"  (10~). The above              An unregenerate man can pass laws forbidding murder,
literature was written by the late Rev. H. Hoeksema.             adultery, stealing  - and I can profitably observe these
But in this paper I ask you only, what is the error of           because they were made in outward conformity to the
the "third point" of common grace? And why should                moral law of God. I can enjoy music  produced.by the
this lead toward worldliness?                                    unregenerate  - provided this is written in outward


370                                                      THE STANDARD BEARER



conformity to the laws God has established concerning God's Word that He would say  that..1  realize that there
harmony. The unregenerate produce all these things in is reference often made to Jehu who did "right" in
sin; their action is -evil; but the regenerated child of God's sight and received a "reward" of the Lord. If
God can use some of this to God's glory. However, the you are interested in reading an explanation of this
wicked also produce much in open violation of God's passage of Scripture, I would recommend the pamph-
laws (corrupt movies; evil songs; etc.); these, by the let, "The Curse-Reward of the Wicked-Welldoer" by
very nature of the case, I can not use to God's glory.              Rev. H. Hoeksema.
The "third point" and "relative good"                                 But the fact is that when one speaks of a "relative
  The third point of common grace makes "good" to good," there is, in the first place, no  absolute standard
be relative. That is one chief complaint we have against of good with respect to the wicked. One then can not
it. If you have read any Christian Reformed writers judge the actions of the wicked according to some ab-
                                                                    solute standard that God's Word presents, but one
on this subject, you will discern that this is exactly
their position. The "good"  which the wicked do is must judge them according to what his own idea of a
termed a "relative good." It is at the same time good in            "relative good" must be. As soon as one insists that the
the eyes of God  - yet it is sin. The third point itself wicked do "relative good," he has even lost the right to
suggests this idea of relatively when it distinguishes oppose such things as the appearance of Father Groppi
between "civil righteousness" in distinction from spir- at Calvin College. Why? If there is such a thing as
itual good. There is a contrast made between that                   "relative good" in the wicked, then why should not
which is truly good, i.e.,  that  which is in harmony with Calvin College bring speakers, unregenerate speakers,
the three-fold standards which God set forth; and that radical renegade Roman Catholic priests, in their stage?
which is civil or relatively good.                                  Does not one have the right to enjoy that "relative
  I have a number of quotations from various Chris- good" to be found also in Groppi? Why not? If there is
tian Reformed writers that emphasize the idea of a a "relative good" yet to be found in those unregener-
"relative good." One of these quotations is from Prof. ate producers of godless, lustful movies, then why
L. Berkhof who was himself deeply involved in the should not one enjoy their corrupt productions  - de-
adoption of the three points. In a little booklet on the riving benefit from that  degee of "good" which can be
"Three Points" which he wrote at the time of the com- found in them? Why not?
mon grace controversy, he stated:                                     You see, the difficulty between "conservatives" and
           . . . While we acknowledge this civil good, it is not    "liberals" in the Christian Reformed Church is
        denied that this relative good is, at the same time,        usually not that one denies "common grace" and the
       sinful, if we consider it from another point of View. It     other approves of it, but rather that one has a higher
       is not a good in the full sense of the word, but only        standard for "relative good" than the other. And as
       relative good. It resembles somewhat the withered            soon as one speaks of "relative good," each will deter-
        fruit one may find sometimes on a tree or shrub that        mine  fok himself what he will judge to be good. And
        is cut off from its root. . . . Even the best works of      inevitably one's standard of what is "relatively good"
       the ungodly are, from a formal point of view, and            declines over a period of years. The standard of what
       with respect to the manner in which they are per-            was "relatively good" `was comparatively high in 1924;
        formed, entirely sinful. . . . At the same time it is       but from that point on, one sees a rapid decline. And
        good in a relative sense. The mere assertion that all
       the works of the unregenerate are sinful, without any        now anyone can accept almost any form of worldliness
        qualification, fails to distinguish properly, contains      with the claim that he sees in it some evidences of the
       only a partial truth and is characterized by an absolu-      gracious operation of the Spirit which he can term
       tism, that is condemned by the analogy of Scripture,         "good." Therefore we, in the Protestant  Reformed
       by our Confessions and by Reformed theology (p.              Churches, have been so strongly opposed to this view
        53). (italics mine)                                         of common grace. I believe it to be impossible to main-
  So, the "good" that the wicked perform is a "rela- tain a "relative good" with respect to the evil deeds of
tive good." Precisely at that point, one opens the door natural man  - and continue to keep worldliness out of
to all kinds of worldliness, don't you see? What is "re- the church.
lative good" that is at the same time good in the eyes              The  "third point" - a common ground for fellowship
of God and yet is sinful? I am actually at  a  loss to                In the second place, the third point of common
understand myself what that must be. I suggest it to be grace establishes definitely a common ground of fel-
a contradiction in terms to speak of "relative good." lowship and communion with the wicked. I quoted to
How many of you would buy a "relatively fresh" you earlier a statement from the document presented
dozen of eggs? How much less would the Sovereign to the Christian Reformed Synod of 1966 on the
God, looking down upon the unregenerate, say, "But "Film Arts." There the question is asked, "How can
they are doing a relative good, pleasing in my sight  -             we have fellowship with the world?" The answer, they
though it does not measure up to the standards I give say, is, "On the basis of  commofi grace." This means
in My Word." There is no indication whatsoever in that if the Holy Spirit graciously operates upon the


                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER                                                           371


wicked (though not in their hearts), he is the  selfsame              We are of the opinion that such a simple discarding
Spirit Who operates in my heart. And though the unre-              of the Three Points, as well as of the elucidations and
generate are not changed spiritually, they also have the           interpretations of these given in the letter of our
gracious effects of the Holy Spirit seen in them. Why              Synod of 1959, is not desirable. We would rather
then can I not join hands in any field of endeavor with            point out to you a more positive basis upon which we
                                                                   may seek for unification. This positive approach is
them and claim that on the basis of common grace, we               not to be sought by requesting our Synod virtually to
can  have fellowship? Light and darkness now CAN                   discard what it deemed to be necessary to state in
unite! Christ and Belie1  can  work together. Why not?             1924, and what is still necessary to maintain at the
And so the theory of common grace abrogates  II                    present time . . . (p. 114)
Corinthians 6.                                                   These churches have in no way amended that posi-
  When I began, I suggested that there is an underlying tion in subsequent years. I, frankly, have no hope that
philosophy which allows for an introduction of world- they will. Yet  I  am convinced that if worldliness is to
liness within the church. That philosophy, I am con- be stemmed, it must be by means of rooting out this
vinced, is "common grace." And when that underlying underlying philosophy.
philosophy is officially adopted by a denomination,
that means that its members are not in a position any- Maintain the an tithesis
more to fight effectively worldliness.                           What must be the position of the church of Jesus
  We have other objections to the third point, but             Christ? Not only must that church deny any so-called
these are sufficient now for our purpose in this paper.        relative or civil righteousness, but the church must
                                                               positively (and this is what we are "for") insist on the
                  THE ONLY REMEDY                              fact of the antithesis: the difference between right and
                  FOR WORLDLINESS                              wrong; between good and evil.
                                                                 The Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day 33, question
  What is the remedy? How does one work out the                19 asks, "What are good works?" (It does not ask what
problem of removing worldliness from the church?               are "relatively good" works; but, what are good
Get rid of common grace                                        works?) The answer is, "Only those that proceed out
  I suggest that the error of common grace must be             of true faith, are performed out of the law of God, and
rooted out of the official decisions of the church and         to His glory; and not such as are founded on our imagi-
must be rooted out of the minds of those that use such         nations or the institutions of men." Would that all
a philosophy as their guide. I would remind you that           Reformed churches still held firmly to that! And that
not only has the Christian Reformed Church officially          is also Scripture  - not simply the teaching of this one
adopted the "Three Points" of common grace, but that           Confession of the church. For Scripture declares:
the Reformed churches in the Netherlands are yet                      Remans 14:23 ". . . For whatsoever is not of faith
much influenced by the teachings of Dr. A. Kuiper on               is sin."
common grace. And most other denominations assume                     I Samuel 15:22 "And Samuel said, Hath the Lord
as fact (though they may not have officially adopted               as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in
such a position) what the third point teaches. There-              obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is
fore I insist, this idea of "relative" or "civil" good             better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of
must be rooted out  - otherwise worldliness will con-              rams."
                                                                      I Corinthians lo:31 "Whether therefore, ye eat, or
tinue unabated in the midst of the church.                         drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of
  I believe, however, that the Christian Reformed                  God."
Church will not rescind those "three points." They               Do you see now the calling of the church  - and
emphasized in their Synod of 1960, in no uncertain             your  calling? It is to maintain absolutely that standard
terms, (when trying to bring back into their fold the          of goodness without compromise. We must recognize
De Wolf element that had left the Protestant Reformed          that which is good when it is in harmony with the
Churches) that the position on common grace was just           three-fold standard of Scripture; and when it does not
as essential in 1960 as it was in 1924.                        measure up, we must say, "That's evil; it proceeds out
       Reflecting on the synodical decisions of 1924 re-       of sin." We may not praise these works of unrighteous-
    specting the Three Points,,we believe that an outright     ness, but must condemn them.
    and official setting aside of them is unwarranted for        When one maintains that absolute Scriptural
    the following reasons:                                     standard of that which is good, then he has a firm basis
       a. The serious situation in 1924 which called these
    Three Points into being.                                   upon which he can stand to say, "Evil men such as
       b. The salutary effect of these Three points in pro-    Groppi may not appear in Christian colleges to in-
    ducing rest and peace in the churches.                     fluence adversely covenant youth." (And, by the way,
       c. The fact that such setting aside of the Three        that is not the same as "hermetically sealing"  a college
    Points would run counter to and virtually nullify a        against every reference to Groppi as Dr. L. De Koster
    large measure of agreement which had been achieved.        of the  Banner  implies.) When one maintains that


372                                             THE STANDARD BEARER



absolute standard of what is good, he is not going to Rather we must evaluate all this according to the
write about  Bob  & Carol  & Ted &Alice,  saying, "Now standards of God's Word and ask ourselves, "What does
that's a worthwhile movie to see!" He does not write God say is good.7" Such I will want to maintain. "What
about  M  *A  *S*H,  saying, "It's hilariously funny." does God's Word say is evil?" Such I must condemn.
Though it presents a parody of the Lord's Supper, And I must shun and denounce as a plague every evil
though it contains cursing and swearing, though it philosophy that tries to water down this truth of
plainly violates the seventh commandment on antithesis.
adultery, that one should still say, "It's hilariously          I leave you, now, with a warning  - and an encour-
funny." But he rather says, "It is evil. It proceeds out agement. The warning comes from the prophet
of wickedness. Such works must be  condemed and Jeremiah to an apostatizing Judah  (7:9-lo),  "Will ye
shunned as the proper works of the devil."                   steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely,
   And if I can bring it right to you, I'd say this. You, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods
confessing children of God, must maintain this prin- whom ye know not; and come and stand before me in
ciple of antithesis in your own life and walk. Do not this house, which is called by my name, and say,  We
acknowledge it simply as part of the confession of the are delivered to do all these abominah'ons?"
church, but maintain it as that which governs you in            The proper guidance for us comes from Psalm
your conversation, in your deeds. There are many 119: 11, "Thy Word have I hid in mine heart, that I
temptations about us: temptations to watch the evil might not sin against Thee."
dramatizations on T.V.; temptations to listen to the            Is that Word of God in your heart too?
songs of this world and see nothing wrong with them.


Meditation

                   Eternal Ground of our Present Hope
                                                    Rev. M. Schipper

           "Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these
          last times for you, who by him do believe in God,that  raised him up from the dead, and gave
          him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God. "
                                                                                           I Peter  1:20,  21.

  Our redemption, so we observed in our last Medita- Mediator! The reference to foreknowledge here is not
tion, is the incentive to sojourn in Godly fear!             that knowledge which God has. eternally of Himself,
  Ransomed we were by that precious blood of Christ, according to which also the Son is known eternally as
God's Lamb, without blemish and without spot!                Son; but this foreknowledge has to do with that
  Ransomed out of a vain conversation received by knowledge which God has concerning those things out-
tradition from our progenitors!                              side of Himself: His predestinating, decreeing fore-
  The knowledge of this redemption should incite us knowledge, the foreknowledge of His eternal, sovereign
unto consistency between our confession and our decrees. In that eternal, sovereign foreknowledge
walk.                                                        Christ has the preeminence. In the counsel of God
  But that is not all that should incite us!                 Christ is the first-born of all creatures, and it is God's
  Wonderful as that redemption is, that is not all of purpose that in Him  ,all the fulness should dwell; for it
the picture!                                                 is, according to Scripture, God's purpose to gather to-
  Back of that redemption is the decreeing God! Who gether all things in one in and through Christ.
not only predestined Christ as the Captain of our salva-       That Christ is foreordained, foreknown before the
tion, but Who has also chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, must therefore also be under-
foundation of the world. In this sovereign foreknowl- stood, not in the temporal, but in the logical sense. To
edge of God lies, along with our redemption in Christ, say that the term "before" has temporal reference here
the ground of all our hope.                                  gives no sense, for the simple reason that there is no
  Christ, the anointed Mediator and Saviour of His time before the foundation of the world. Time begins
people, was foreknown before the foundation of the with the foundation of the world. Time and space were
world. And this means that fundamentally Christ is created with the foundation of the world. Nay, rather,
eternal. Foreknown by God Triune, not as Son, but as the term "before" ought to be understood logically. It


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                    373



m.eans, therefore, that in the counsel of God the fore-       manifest Himself. Those clouds were the law and the
knowledge of Christ was in the mind and purpose of            prophets. All through the old dispensation these clouds
God before the foundation of the world. Christ is first,      hovered over the church of the old day. Those clouds
not the foundation of the world. In the order of the          allowed for some light to shine through them, for how
divine decrees Christ is the beginning, the first, in the     else would the saints of the old dispensation know that
purpose to glorify Himself. Then follows logically the        Christ was behind them? Though He had not yet mani-
predestination of the elect and reprobate, the decree         fested Himself, they knew He was coming. Thus they
concerning the fall, and the decree to create the world       were saved in hope, by a typical Christ Whom they
and all it contains.                                          believed would in His manifestation deliver them from
  It is precisely this truth which is emphatically set        all their sin, and grant to them His righteousness.
forth in our text as belonging to the ground of our             But now He is fully manifested!
hope. To be sure, as the hymn writer has expressed it:          Now we see Him Whom God has eternally fore-
our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and       known and in Whom He has determined all our
righteousness, and therefore all other ground is sinking      salvation!
sand. But it must also be clearly understood that the           Literally the apostle informs us: Manifested on the
precious blood of Christ was not an afterthought on           last of the times on account of you!
the part of God. Back of that spotless Lamb and the             This refers to this entire new dispensation, beginning
cleansing power of His precious blood is the decreeing        with the incarnation  - His assumption of our human
God Who in His unchangeable, eternal counsel ordains          nature; He is manifested in such a way that aged
that Lamb Whose sacrifice and perfect obedience must          Simeon could take Him up in his arms while he ex-
redeem all who were chosen unto eternal life in Him.          claimed: Mine eyes have seen Thy salvation. He was
This digs, as it were, the ground of our hope much            manifested in word and deed as He walked among
deeper, does it not? Accordingly, therefore, the Lamb         men. He was manifested on'the cross where He was led
of God is slain already in the eternal purpose and            as a lamb to the slaughter. He was manifested after He
counsel of God; and it follows that also in that counsel      arose from the dead with many infallible proofs. He
all the redeemed are also saved by the blood of the           was manifested again when He ascended into heaven to
Lamb.                                                         God's right hand. On the day of Pentecost He mani-
  Consequently our faith and hope are not rooted in a         fests Himself most clearly through the Spirit as the
"whosoever will gospel," so generally presented in our        Lord Who saves His church. And all through this pre-
day; but in the full-orbed gospel which is anchored in        sent dispensation until He is manifested fmally on the
the eternal foreknowledge of God.                             clouds of glory in His second advent, He is manifested
  This is the thrust of the gospel so highly recom-           to `us by His Spirit and through the preaching of the
mended by such leaders of the Reformation as Calvin           Word.
and others. This is the truth of the Word of God so             On account of you He is manifested!
clearly expressed by the father of Dordrecht. This              You who are the children of God in time, and as
eternal love of God in Christ is the ground of our            you live in this present evil world where you are called
redemption and therefore of our hope.                         to be strangers and pilgrims. On account of you, whose
  Its timely manifestation!                                   hearts are often filled with fear, and whose hope is so
  But was manifest in these last times for you!               often dim. On account of you, who so often in the
  We have before called your attention to the fact that       history of this present dispensation are a persecuted lot
there is a difference between manifestation and revela-       who need to be encouraged and lifted up. On account
tion. This we did when we meditated on verse 5 of this        of you, who so often are surrounded by manifold
chapter. Though these terms are evidently closely re-         temptations and trials. On account of you, who are
lated, there is a difference in viewpoint that should be      humbled by the knowledge of your sin and unworth-
marked. Revelation, you may recall, can be repre-             iness, and who look to Him for all your salvation. On
sented by the figure of a statue that is to be unveiled.      account of you, who in Christ were also foreknown
The statue stands there, covered by a veil. When the          before the foundation of the world, and concerning
veil is removed, the statue is revealed. In revelation the    whom God our Father ordained that you should be
subject is passive. Manifestation, on the other hand,         redeemed by the precious blood of the Lamb, and be-
may be represented by the figure of the sun piercing          come heirs of life everlasting and of an inheritance that
the clouds. While the clouds hold their cover, the sin        is reserved in heaven for you. On account of you who
remains hidden. But suddenly the sun pierces through          by Him do believe in God, that raised Him up from the
the clouds to manifest its rays. In manifestation the         dead and gave Him glory.
subject is active.                                              That your faith and hope might be in God!
  In the fulness of time Christ Jesus, proceeding out           Faith and hope  - beautiful combination!
of the eternal, sovereign foreknowledge of God,                 So related are they that the one is the source of the
pierced the clouds which  .hid Him from our sight to          other; the one is the spiritual fruit of the other.


374                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



   In I Corinthians 13 the Word of God informs us that        is through Christ, for apart from Him we are nothing.
these graces abide, along with love." And now abideth         Through Christ we are faithful to and therefore  lnope
faith, hope, and love, these three; but the greatest of       in God as the God of our salvation.
these is love." Here love, which completes the beauti-           Our present hope is the result of that timely mani-
ful  triad,`is evidently to, be understood as the fountain    festation of the eternally foreknown Christ.
and source of both, faith and hope. But then, too, the           Whom God raised from the dead and gave Him
relationship of these concepts is to be understood so         glory! God raised Christ from the dead and gave Him
that, while both faith and hope find their source in          glory, and by raising Him from the dead, He becomes
love, they proceed out of love in such a way that hope        the God of our salvation  - the only object of our
proceeds out of faith. Without faith we cannot hope.          hope.
And it is this latter relationship that our text has in          What an incentive we have therefore to continue
m i n d .                                                     faithful unto God in our present walk!
   Your faith and your hope!                                     What an incentive also for our present hope!
   Your faith as the source of your hope! Or, better             Hope that is grounded in the Christ of God Who was
still, that your faith and therefore your hope may be in      eternally foreknown, foreordained to ransom us
God!                                                          through His precious blood and bring us at last into the
   You, who through Him, i.e., Christ, are believing in       glory, the very glory into which He was brought by the
God . . . probably better translated  - who through           decreeing God. Such hope cannot perish, but it must
Him are faithful unto God. That presupposes believing         cause us to so walk that daily we live in the expecta-
in God; and at the same time  il means that in all their      tion and longing that He will perfect us also in glory.
relation in the world they are faithful to God. And this


The Strength of Youth
                          A Word For Graduates
                                       or "Vanity of Vanities"
                                               Rev. Robert D. Decker

   For graduates  especially,  perhaps, but a word for all    hopeless despair. Apart from the true, Biblical perspec-
of us. One really doesn't envy the youth of God's cove-       tive there is  nothing  but misery in this world.
nant who graduate into the world of the seventies.              Consider just the past ten years, which  timewise
While musing on the subject of this article the opening       comprise only a minute portion of history. There were
lines of A  Tale  Of  Two  Cities by Charles Dickens came     tremendous advances made in this world. Medicine suc-
to mind: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of       ceeded in transplanting vital organs and made great
times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of            strides toward conquering many diseases. The techno-
foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch     logical accomplishments that serve to make modern
of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the        life a bit more comfortable were numerous. America
season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it  was        did what it set out to do a decade ago and staggered
the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we        the world by landing men on the moon. It was a
had nothing before us. .  .", If we change the tense of       decade of unparalleled prosperity and pleasure. In the
the verbs from past to present, it strikes me that this       sphere of religion many found reason for optimism at
quotation can readily be applied to our times. It is the      the advances towards unity made by protestants and
best of times for it is the end time and Jesus Christ is      Roman Catholics alike.
coming swiftly to make all things new. From this point          No doubt many graduation speakers will take
of view we certainly do envy covenant youth  - they           thankful note of these things and attempt to impress
are privileged to live at the end of the ages and may         their audiences that it is the best of times in which we
very well be privileged to be living in the very last day.    live. They will call us to look forward to an even
On the other hand it is the worst of times, the epoch         brighter future.
of incredulity, the season of darkness, the winter of            But that is not the whole story of the past decade!
despair, and we have nothing before us! `The times are        There were tremendous problems that remain to this
all of this, apart from a Biblical perspective. What I        day. War and  ,mmour of war still rage in this world. We
mean is that if we fail to view our times in the light of     have seen frightening race riots in which huge sections
God's Infallible Word we shall fall into the abyss of         of the. cities of this land of the free and home of the


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                    375



brave were burned to the ground. There has been and science,  ,inventions,  his pursuit of pleasure and wealth,
continues to be a terrible increase in crime, especially       his family life  - is vain. In one word, all of man's life
of the more violent types, so that many areas of the           on this earth under the sun is futile, empty, and no
cities are unsafe even during the day. Who can forget          more than a puff of smoke.
the assassinations of the able, popular brothers                 This is what the inspired Preacher learned from his
Kennedy? There is the revolt of the youth of the land own experience. In verses  15-l 8 he tells us he pursued
as seen in the hippies,  yippies, protest marches, campus wisdom and gave his heart to know it. So do many
riots. LSD, pot, speed are part of the land's everyday today, claiming that education is the answer to the
vocabulary. It is a time of the "new morality," advo-          world's ills. What is the Preacher's conclusion? "This
cating complete freedom from all standards of morals.          also is vexation of Spirit.I" With much wisdom is much
A "healthier" attitude toward sex is advocated, the pill       grief, learning increases sorrow. Then he proved his
is pushed, skirts are raised to embarrassing heights.          heart with mirth. "Behold this also is vanity," he says
  Religiously many feel man has  %rrived." Among in chapter 2: 1. He gave himself to wine, he built him-
the more liberal-modernistic circles God was confi-            self houses, he  ammassed  a fortune, gathered servants
dently  (& blasphemously!-) declared dead! The Church          and maidens around him, built pools of water so that
is urged to get with it by ceasing to preach, updating         he was the richest man in Jerusalem and all looked
confessions, and getting out into the world and                enviously upon him. Of this, too, he writes, "all is
changing it. Even in traditionally Reformed circles vanity and vexation of spirit." Then in chapters 3
"enlightened" theologians finally conclude that the            through 11 the Preacher observes all the evils of life.
Bible is not the infallibly inspired Word of God. Great        He sees violence perverting judgment! And how much
sections of it are summarily dismissed as the mere wit-        of this do we not see today! He sees the oppression of
ness of men. The Bible is said to be unreliable when it        the poor by the rich! He also observes that riches
speaks of Creation, the fall, the flood etc. And, of           perish. And again the conclusion is the same: "Vanity
course, the Three Forms of Unity are totally irrelevant of vanities!"
to our times and situation.                                      Now this is life on this earth! A terrible appraisal
  This is the world into which covenant youth of the           you say? Remember, this is not the word of a de-
seventies will graduate. What can we say to you? Only          pressed pessimist. This is not even the word of the
one thing may be said: Hear and do the Word of God!            wisest of men. It is the Word of GOD. This is God's
Live in obedience to your Maker and Saviour. In this           evaluation of human life. God looking down from His
way you stand above all of these frightening events in         throne in heaven pronounces this judgment on all the
our world and you are unmoved. And you have a joy              works of men: "Vanity of vanities!"
and hope that will never put you to shame. Charles               Go back now to chapter one and you will find the
Dickens' words just won't do for an evaluation of the          reason. Rhetorically, the inspired Preacher asks: "What
times. We have to listen to the Word of God for that.          profit hath a man of all his labor?" The answer is
That is what I should like to do with you.                     nothing! All man's labors are profitless. How true that
  Get your Bible and turn with me to the only true             really is! "One generation passeth away and another
evaluation of all of life on this earth, Ecclesiastes  1:2:    generation  cometh," 1: 4, and with each passing genera-
"Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vani-       tion passes all its achievements and with each new
ties; all is vanity." This expression is repeated twenty       generation arises new achievements to replace the old
times in Ecclesiastes with obvious emphasis. The term          and then these,' too., get old and pass away. But let's
vanity itself comes from a root that means breath or           understand the new is not essentially new. It's just the
vapor. Vanity therefore is that which has no substance;        same old thing in a new appearance; it's the old thing
it's no more than a breath of thin air. For that reason        dressed up in a new garb. The Preacher says in  1:9:
it is useless, futile, and empty. The Bible describes our      "The thing that hath been, it is that which  shah-be;
life in the same terms: "For what is your life? It is          and that which is done is that which shall be done."
even a vapor that appeareth for a little while and then        And he concludes there is no new thing under the sun,
vanisheth away." (James 4: 14).                                nothing of which we can say "see this is new!"
  Now notice the emphasis of the Preacher; "Vanity               The conclusion to this is inevitable.  ,Everything is
of vanities, vanity of vanities, all is vanity!" He simply     vanity. Man reaches no lasting goal; the new is just the
cannot put the matter any more strongly. Everything            old. It's as if man were on a treadmill or going about in
without exception is utterly vain! The Preacher spells         a vicious circle. He gets nowhere. Like the sun he rises,
out just what he means. Reading on we find in verse 3:         goes down, and hasteth toward the place where he
"What profit hath a ma'n of all his  labour?" All the          arose. As the wind he whirls about continually and
labors of man are vain! All of his daily pursuits, every-      returns again to his circuits. That is the plight of man.
thing man does in every sphere of life, every moment is          There is a second reason cited why all is vanity. It is
vain. The sum total of all of man's endeavors  - all his       that man  can'never  make the crooked straight. There is
philosophy, art, learning, culture, industry, economics,       that which is crooked. Man fell into sin and brought


376                                              THE STANDARD BEARER



upon himself the terrible curse of God. The earth, too,         says in chapter 3: 18-20. Man is like the beast; in fact,
is cursed as a result of the fall. Hence, man is crooked,       "they are beasts." The reason being that what happens
this earth is crooked, the earthly life is crooked. It's all    to the beast also happens to man; as the one dies, so
dead in sin under the curse of God's wrath. This is the the other dies. Both go to the same end; the dust from
sore travail that God has given to the sons of men to be        whence both were taken. This is the prospect vain man
exercised therewith! So the Preacher saw wickedness in          faces. After all, the vanities of life he dies like a dog!
the place of judgment and iniquity in the place of Again, do not forget, this is not the babbling of a
righteousness. He saw the oppressions of those that             sceptic who denies the resurrection of the dead and life
have no comforters and all the sufferings and tears that after death. This is God's Preacher talking about the
are under the sun. And how much more don't we see               stupid blindness of man! God makes very clear in the
today? Graft and scandal in high places of government,          carrying out of His sentence of death that sinful man is
corruption in politics, the buying of votes, dishonesty but a beast. But sinful man still claims that this life is
in business. There is unspeakable filth in book and             good and hates God. WHAT A FOOL!
magazine, newspaper and screen. There is the murder               Thus, my friend, the first word that must be told
of abortion, the lawlessness so rampant today, the              you is this! The world into which you graduate is
complete abandonment of all morals and decency. And utterly vain! The most that can be said for all of this
the only cure for all this is the fear of God in men's          life is "vanity of vanities !" If you are going to see
hearts. But God they hate. They expel him from their things and discern things in the proper light, this you
schools and pronounce him dead from their pulpits               must understand.
and chairs of theology. And they will never change                What then? Is there no more to be said? Thank  {God,
their hard hearts of stone but will persist in their evil this is not the last word! There is hope. There is a
way of vanity to the outer darkness of hell. And over bright future for the youth of God's covenant. About
all this stands the almighty God who is not mocked that we shall write the next article, D.V. In the mean-
and He says: Vanity of Vanity, all is vanity!                   time read through Ecclesiastes once more. Ponder
  The last reason why all of this earthly life is vain is       especially these passages: 11: 9, 10; 12: lff., and 12: 13.
the terrible reality of death. That, too, the Preacher


A Cloud of Witnesses
                Solomon's Choice of Wisdom
                                                  Rev. B. Woudenberg

             In the night did God appear unto Solomon, and said unto him, Ask what I shall give thee.
             And Solomon said unto God. . . Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out
           and come in before this people: for who can judge this my people, that is so great?
             And God said to Solomon . . . Wisdom and knowledge is granted unto thee; and I will give
           thee riches, and wealth, and honour, such as none of the kings have had that have been
           before thee, neither shall there any after thee have the like.
                                                                                          II Chronicles 1: 7- 12

  Solomon was a young man when he became king, as time of the judges. More and more the people had
he said himself, "But a mere child," I Kings  3:7. It is come to neglect the worship of Jehovah within the
probable that he was somewhere in his teens. But he tabernacle, until at last in the days of Eli the taber-
was by every measure a son of his father, in his nacle was almost a forsaken place. Only a small hand-
strength and also in his weakness.                              ful of faithful any more visited along with certain
  It was the former that became evident almost imme- groups of vile people, who under the leadership of Eli's
diately after Solomon ascended to the throne. One of sons used it for revellous purposes. It was more than
his first acts was to go to  Gibeon to worship there God could bear, so that finally He slew Eli and his sons
before Jehovah. It was an event of tremendous impor- in one day, the Ark of the Covenant was taken into
tance.                                                          captivity, and God forsook the tabernacle at Shiloh.
  Actually for many, many years the practice of wor- We don't know exactly what happened to the taber-
ship in Israel had been in shambles. It was a result of nacle building after that; but apparently it was at some
the gradual degeneracy which had set in during the. time moved to Nob and during the early reign of Saul


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                377



some effort was made to maintain the worship of             then stood. His life ever since he had been suddenly
Jehovah there. The effort was brought to a sudden           thrust into the throne had been one of repeated crises.
halt, however, when Saul murdered the priests of Nob        The coronation itself had been an emergency move
for helping David, even though ignorantly, in his           because of the plotting of his brother Adonijah. Soon
escape from the king. For years it was the end of for-      thereafter there had been the emotional impact of his
mal worship.                                                father's final instructions and the sorrow of his death.
  Eventually, of course, David came to the throne of        Then there had been the matter of having to deal with
Israel, and the religious atmosphere in Israel took a       Joab and Adonijah, something which required the ut-
definite change. And yet, it would appear that regular,     most of mature discretion and courage while observing
formal worship was not actually restored.                   proper regard for righteousness and justice. But he had
  To be sure, David was himself a man of worship. All       come through these well; and now there had been this
through his life he poured out his heart in songs of        wonderful day at  Gibeon  with all of the people
petition and praise which have continued to be used by      gathered there in joy before the altar of Jehovah in a
the church of God in worship ever since. After David        way that His chosen people ought. It might well have
became king, one of his first public acts was to get the    seemed at that time that he, in spite of his youth, had
Ark of the Covenant up from its seclusion in                proved himself and could now look forward to a suc-
Kirjathjearim to a tabernacle which he had prepared         cessful reign as a great and capable king. At that point,
for it in Jerusalem. But apparently public worship in       an offer such as God now presented him with could
which the people could participate was not restored.        well have struck him as an open invitation to choose
Humanly speaking, it may well have been that David,         the reward which his early efforts deserved. It was an
although a great man of God and well liked by the           offer designed to expose the true nature of his heart,
people generally, lacked the temperament and organi-        whether it was spiritual or carnal.
zational ability needed to restore a whole order of wor-      Solomon, however, was a spiritual heir of his father
ship after so many years of neglect. Behind it also,        David also. He was not about to be misled by these
however, was the fact that since the days of Eli a curse    early, outward successes to presume that such were his
lay upon the priesthood which had not yet been lifted.      to produce at any time at will. After all, what man is
  When, therefore, Solomon soon after his coronation        there able to meet even the ordinary problems of life
opened up the tabernacle which was at  Gibeon, re-          with such assured confidence? And here he was, a very
stored the brazen altar before it, and called the people    young man in a position where the greatest problems
to public worship there, it was a tremendous event for      of a whole kingdom would be brought and laid at his
the nation. Few, if any, remembered any more what it        feet. And even more, this was God's chosen people,
was to participate in such public worship, so that it       and in a real way he represented God to them and to
was for all a wonderfully new experience. And, being        all of the world. How could he ever be capable of
carried on by Solomon, it was on a large and impres-        doing it?
sive scale such as few could match. No fewer than one         The sincerity of his concern came out clearly in the
thousand burnt offerings were offered there for the         answer which he gave to God's commandment, "Thou
king and the nation in the presence of God.                 hast showed great mercy unto David my father, and
  The true wonder of the day was, however, that God         hast made me to reign in his stead. Now, 0 LORD
received the worship of the people. It meant that the       God, let thy promise unto David my father be estab-
curse of Eli's house had been lifted. How did they          lished: for thou hast made me king over a people like
know it? Surely there was not a believing heart there       the dust of the earth in multitude. Give me now
that day which did not know intuitively God's pres-         wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in
ence was there testifying of His acceptance. But an         before this people: for who can judge this thy people,
even more tangible evidence came to Solomon that            that is so great?"
night after the great ceremony of worship.                    To really appreciate this prayer of Solomon, we
  It happened while Solomon was sleeping. God ap-           have to understand what he meant with the term
peared to him in a dream. We are not given any indica-      "wisdom." Certainly he meant something quite differ-
tion of what the appearance was like. All we have is        ent from what we are apt to make of it.
the final, critical command which was given to him. It        In our day wisdom is looked upon merely as the
was this, "Ask what I shall give thee." It was an open      ability of the human mind to go out and master any
offer by the God of heaven and earth to anything that       problem that may be presented to it. Almost uncon-
the young Solomon might have upon his heart. But by         sciously we suppose the humanistic supposition that
the same measure it was an offer which through the          human logic is the ultimate power in this world that
response which he gave to it would expose the true          properly used will surely solve any difficulty and con-
nature of his heart.                                        trol every situation. Of this Solomon would have had
  It is difficult to imagine the impact which this offer    nothing.
must have had upon Solomon in the position where he           What Solomon considered wisdom to be he has told


378                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



us himself very clearly in the book of Proverbs, espe-     therefore, one only has to be able to analyze these
cially the 8th chapter. There we read: "Does not wisdom    relationships and learn how to interject new causes
cry? and understanding put forth her voice? . . . Unto     that will give one control over this world's develop-
you, 0 men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of         ment. To be able to do this is the world's idea of
man. . . . The  LORD possessed me in the beginning of      "wisdom."
his way, before his works of old. I was set up from          Solomon, however, saw the world as being under the
everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.    immediate and complete control of the Sovereign God,
When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when       Jehovah. To be able to deal with it effectively, there-
there were no fountains abounding with waters. Before      fore, one must live in a personal communion with this
the mountains were settled, before the hills was I         God. And to do this is a real possibility too; for this
brought forth: while as yet he had not made the earth,     God speaks to them whom he loves, He takes them
nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the    into a personal communion of love and reveals to them
world. When he prepared the heavens, I was there. . . .    how life must be lived if it is to go well. To Solomon
When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters        this personal communion in truth was what he called
should not pass his commandment: when he appointed         "wisdom." To John it was "the Word." And we know
the foundations of the earth: then I was by him, as one    Him more fully as "the Son of God, Jesus Christ." It
brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, re-      was this personal communion of friendship through
joicing always before him. . . . Now therefore hearken     the promised one for which Solomon pleaded with
unto. me, 0 ye children: for blessed are they that keep    God.
my ways."                                                    Just how acceptable to God was this prayer of
  Certainly we should be able to understand this  - in     Solomon is completely evident from the answer which
a way, even better than Solomon did himself. For the       He gave him. To Solomon God replied, "Because thou
similarity to John 1: l-3, 14 is too striking to be        hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself
ignored. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word      long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself,.nor hast
was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in        asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for
the beginning with God, all things were made by him;       thyself understanding to discern judgment; Behold, I
and without him was not any thing made that was            have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so
made. . . . And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt         that there was none like thee before thee, neither after
among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the    thee shall any arise like unto thee. And I have also
only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."    given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches,
  The point is, of course, that men in our day look        and honour: so that there shall not be any among the
upon this world and its events as nothing more than an     kings like unto thee all thy days. And if thou wilt walk
endless series of cause and effect relationships which     in my  ways, to keep my statutes and my command-
follow one upon the other according' to certain innate     ments, as thy father did walk, then I willlengthen thy
and unchanging laws or principles. To deal with them,      days."


In His Fear

                         Doing The Father`s Will
                                               Rev. John A. Heys

  Last time we concluded with the observation that         will of His father in heaven. Matthew 7: 21-23.
the wise business man takes inventory to see what            Now, there are those, and the words of Jesus exactly
goods to reorder and also what product does not sell.      mean that, who claim to be doing the will of His
  We said this in connection with the truth, to which      Father in heaven who nevertheless do not enter into
attention was called last time, that now, at this very     the kingdom. They claim to have prophesied in His
moment, is the time for spiritual inventory. We used       name, to have cast out devils in His name, and  to  have
Paul's words in II Corinthians  13:5, where he exhorts     done many wonderful works in His name. All this
us to examine ourselves, whether we be in the faith;       means that they are convinced in their own minds that
for if Christ is  not  in us, we are reprobates. But we    they have been doing the will of His Father which is in
were also reminded of Jesus' words that not all who        heaven.
f=Y, "Lord, Lord," will enter into the kingdom, but          There is today so much of that, so much that goes
only. those who, besides saying, "Lord, Lord," do the      under the name of Christianity, and for that matter


                                                 THESTANDARD BEARER                                                 379



under the name of Calvinism and of the Reformed              lead to the Kingdom of Heaven. He does not speak out
faith as well, that is NOT doing the will of the Father      of two sides of His mouth, so that you can defend this
in heaven.                                                   doctrine in His name, and then also take the com-
  We can profitably pause a few moments therefore            pletely opposite view and preach it in His name. And
and investigate this will of the Father in heaven in         one does not come before His face in glory with a part
order to examine ourselves whether we be in the faith.       of the truth. For He is The Way, because He is The
And in the measure that we find that we are following Truth and The Life! John  14:6 The "devil" which we,
in the teachings or practices of those who only say,         while walking on our pet way, believing our cunningly
"Lord, Lord" but are not really doing these things in        devised doctrine, and with emphasis upon a way of life
His name, we must turn away, follow no more, and             for which our flesh clamors, have cast out may well be
walk so that we do find that Christ is in us.                a saint who does not only say "Lord, Lord," but is
  There is much confusion on this matter. The  de-           doing the will of the Father; he enters those gates into
fence is often uttered that it really makes no difference heaven from which we are turned back and where we
what you believe as long as you believe something con- were told that we were workers of iniquity.
cerning God and His Christ. We all, so the argument            Now really the matter is not so involved and compli-
goes, are going to the same place. Only we are doing so      cated. It is simply a matter of doing the will of the
on different roads. We all serve and love the same God,      Father in heaven. For that you and I must look into
only we express this in different ways. No church has        our lives. And though it is a simple matter, it is never-
all the truth, and all churches have a part of the truth.    theless a matter full of implications because our life is
  Now the two texts to which we referred last time,          so complicated; and each step of the way we must take
and which then are again briefly referred to in the          inventory as to what is lacking, that is, what fails to be
above lines, say something quite different. Many be-         doing His will, and what must be eradicated, taken off
lieving that they are serving Christ and believe in Him      the shelves of our hearts and minds and be branded as
are told that He never knew them; and that is said of        sin and unbelief!
them in spite of "tremendous" works and a great                That will of the Father is presented to us in Scrip-
abundance of deeds "in His name." The road they              ture in very simple terminology. Jesus Himself boiled it
were walking on was quite different from the narrow          all down to that simple statement that we love God
way which on God's map is labelled, "The way of              with all of our being. That is His will. That is what
doing the Father's will." They thought they were going       pleases Him. Those who love Him and whose proph-
to the same place. They deceived themselves into             esying, casting out of devils, and works are charac-
thinking that they were worshipping the same God and         terized by this love shall enter the kingdom.
Christ. But the end of the way shows that they were            Yes, here we run right back into the same apparent
walking on a way that will drive them forever from His       difficulty. All those who claimed that they did these
presence. They deluded themselves into thinking that         works in Christ's name, believed that they did this in
they had something to prophesy that was truth, and           love to God. Are we a step further then in determining
for which they would be rewarded alongside of Isaiah,        what activity actually reveals that Christ is in us and
Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel, with the minor prophets that we are not reprobates?
and Elijah and Elisha. But God would have nothing of           We are, if we are willing to listen to what the Word
their fine speeches and "religious" zeal. Their proph-       of God says about that love of God. Where many go
ecies were wholly unknown to Him. They did not even          astray is that they begin with man and from that posi-
have a part of the truth. And He Who is The Way tells        tion approach God. What we mean is this: They use
them that they were never walking on the way of life,        man's love as the standard whereby they judge God's
and will be sent to the doom of the way on which all         love and from it conclude what He loves and what that
these years they were travelling. They claimed that          love of God truly is. Now that is a very dangerous and
Christ was in them. They, surely, were no reprobates.        serious error, not only because being creatures our love
They had works to show that He was in them and that          can only be a reflection, and then a creaturely reflec-
therefore they were the children of God.                     tion, of the God in Whose image we were created, but
  It behooves us for our own comfort, then, to look          also because we are beginning with the love of a fallen
more closely at this matter of spiritual inventory and       image bearer, who, even if he has been born again, and
ask ourselves whether. we are doing the will of the has the life of Christ in him, has only a very small
Father in heaven. You have your choice today of doc-         beginning of that new obedience and a very faint re-
trines, and spiritual leaders, and practices, and mergers flection, therefore, of the love of God. And when we
of religious bodies. But there still is only one way that    begin to measure and characterize the love of God by
leads to glory. Christ is The Way, and He is not divided using our human love as the starting point, we are
into parallel or converging lines that ultimately, the       going to make His love something of human emotions
one sooner than the other, the one more safely than          and of human sentimentality, which God as a Spirit of
the other, the one more conveniently than the other,         infinite perfections does not have. The goings-on in our


380                                                THE STANDARD BEARER



flesh, and the emotional reactions of the creature of his sin? Or is there arbitrariness with God, and respect
flesh and blood are an exceedingly poor basis upon                 of persons, so that He does not hate the human sinner,
which to come to a decision as to what the love is of              only his sin, while He does hate the angelic sinner as
Him Who is a Spirit and must be worshipped in spirit               well as his sin?
and in truth. And we will find that when this is our                  If we love God are we not going to listen to Him
starting point, we are going to have an imaginary God              when in Psalm 5: 5 He says that He hates "all workers
(as those in Matthew  7:21-23) whose love is in conflict           of iniquity?" Note not all works of iniquity but
with His righteousness, holiness and justice.                      workers  of iniquity. If we love Him, are we going to
  Let us then begin with God; and by all means let us              agree with Him, or are we going to tell Him that He
listen to Him. And He says Himself that He IS love. We             does not know Himself, does not know that He really
love. He is love. And He loves Himself eternally and               does love the workers of iniquity? When He is specific
unchangeably. He loved Himself before there was a                  enough in Romans 9: 13 to mention even the name of
creature. Father, Son and Spirit loved each other                  Esau and to say that He hated him before he did any
eternally as an holy and triune God. This is an impor-             good or evil, "that the purpose of God according to
tant point to remember. That point was also thundered              election might stand," and we love Him, are we going
twice from heaven, once at the beginning of Jesus' to try to twist His words to mean that this means that
ministry, and later on the Mt. of Transfiguration; "This           He loved Esau less? And  that  is the meaning of the
is My beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased."                      word hate? Are we then going to translate, or rather
  Hold fast now then to that truth that eternally and              explain, that word "hate" this same way when used in
unchangeably God loved His Son, the Father and Spirit              John 15: 24, 25 where Jesus speaks of the hatred of the
loving the Son- in the triune life of God, and the triune          world towards Himself? Did they nail Him to the cross
God loving that Son in our flesh. What then do we                  because they  loved  Him less than they loved Caesar
have when we maintain that God loves everybody?                    and Pilate? Or than Barabbas? Does a lesser degree of
Where do we land when we so interpret John 3: 16                   love lead to murder, or is it hatred that produces
(Closing our eyes to John  17:9 and I John  2:25, 26) so           murder?
that it means that God loves every man head for head                  And other texts there are such as Psalm 7: 11,
and soul for soul in the world? Is there duplicity in the          Ephesians  5:6 and others which show that God hates
God Who IS love? Can He love His Son and also those                the sinner. Did He tell Adam in paradise that He would
who hate His Son? Can He love Himself and also those hate his deed but would inflict no punishment upon
that hate Him? And this God Who is just in all His                 the sinner? Does He today punish the sin or the sinner?
ways, why has He not also loved the fallen angel world             Is sin an act that can be divorced from the man who
and the devil himself? Those who cry, "Unfair! Unfair,             committed it? But our time is up once again; and there
Such is not a God of love Who can decree that some                 is much more to say. But for our comfort let our con-
men shall perish for their sins, and some He will save in          cluding remarks be that God does love us, who also are
Christ," must face the issue squarely and answer for               sinners, only because He sees us in Christ. We belong to
the fairness and justice then of not providing atone-              Him, are one plant with Him, are judged in Him be-
ment for the devil and for a single one of his fallen              cause God gave Him to be the Head of the Church and
angels. Are we coming to this yet in the future? The               wrote our names in the Lamb's book of life as those
enemies of sovereign election and limited atonement,               whose punishment He would bear and whom He would
are they going to make it so unlimited that it includes make saints by His blood.
Satan and the evil spirits which fell with him? God so                It is such a God Whom we must love. It must be
loved the world. . . . But are not these  - Satan and his before the will of such a God that we must bow. His
fallen angels  - also not a part of the world?                     will we must do, or all our calling Him our Lord is the
  That bit of emotionalism and sentimentality that is lie. And if Christ is in us, and we are not reprobates,
right down the line of man's flesh, namely, that God               we will find that we love such a God. For such a love
hates sin but not the sinner must answer that question.            was in Christ. If He is in us, will it not also be found in
He hates no sinners? He has no hate for Satan, only for us?



        To mispronounce a word - this can be overlooked; To offend against so&al graces - this can be forgiven;
        But to put a KINK in youth's thinking - this is a sin against future generations!
        This is why the apostle James said: "Be not many of you teachers, my brethren, knowing that we shall receive
        heavier judgment." James 3: 1


                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER                                                           381



Contending For The Faith

                                The Doctrine of Atonement
                                               THE REFORMA TION PERIOD
                                                THE PROTESTANT CREEDS

                                                        Rev. H. Veldman

  We now call attention to what we read  in  the  Belgic             condemned by Pontius Pilate as a malefactor, though
Confession, also called the Confession of Faith or the               he had first declared Him innocent. Therefore, he re-
Thirty Seven Articles, concerning the atonement of                   stored that which he took not away, and suffered the
our Lord Jesus Christ. The Belgic Confession was com-                just for the unjust, as well in His body as in His soul,
posed in French by Guy De Bres, who died a martyr in                 feeling the terrible punishment which our sins had
1567. It was composed in 1561, was adopted by a                      merited; insomuch that His sweat became like unto
Reformed Synod at  Emden in 1571, and by the                         drops of blood falling on the ground. He called out,
                                                                     My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? And
National Synod of Dord in 16 19, which subjected the                 hath suffered all this for the remission of our sins.
text to a careful revision by a comparison of French,                Wherefore we must say with the Apostle Paul, that
Dutch and Latin copies. Articles 20 and 21 treat this                we know nothing but Jesus Christ, and Him crucified;
subject of the atonement of Christ. Article 20 reads as              we count all things but loss and dung for the excel-
follows:                                                             lency  of  the knowledge  of  Christ Jesus our Lord: in
      We believe that God, Who is perfectly merciful and             Whose wounds we find all manner of consolation.
    also perfectly just, sent His Son to assume that nature          Neither is it necessary to seek or invent any other
    in which the disobedience was committed, to make                 means of being reconciled to God, than this only
    satisfaction in the same, and to bear the punishment             sacrifice, once offered, by which believers are made
    of sin by His most bitter passion and death. God                 perfect forever. This is also the reason why He was
    therefore manifested His justice against His Son when            called by the angel of God, JESUS, that is to say,
    He laid our iniquities upon Him, and poured forth His            SAVIOUR, because He should save His people from
    mercy and goodness on us, who were guilty and                    their sins.
    worthy of damnation, out of mere and perfect love,
    giving His Son unto death for us, and raising Him for          We may also make the observation, in connection
    our justification, that through Him we might obtain          with this twenty first article of our Belgic Confession,
    immortality and life eternal.                                that there is no mention in these words of the elect.
  Now it is true that this article does not mention the          There is no mention in this article of the particular
elect by name. However, it surely cannot be denied               character of the atonement. However, it must surely be
that this is certainly implied in the wording of this            granted that also in this article the doctrine of election
article. The use of the personal pronoun "us" and                is implied. Notice the repeated use of the personal
"we" and "our" cannot be interpreted in any other                pronoun, "our." It is true that we read of "His
way. We may also call attention to the fact that this            people" at the end of the article, but this is a quota-
article stresses the element of satisfaction, that our           tion from Matthew 1. The repeated use of "our" in
Lord Jesus Christ bore the punishment of sin whereby             this article, and the fathers' complete failure to speak
we are justified, and that Christ was raised for our             of "all men" in connection here with the cross of our
justification, that through Him we might obtain im-              Lord Jesus Christ cannot lead to any other conclusion
mortality and life eternal.                                      than that the elect are surely meant in this article. Of
  Article 2  1, which discusses the satisfaction of Christ,     course, we must bear in mind that the Arminian contro-
our only High-Priest, reads as follows:                         versy and the Arminians' stressing of the general charac-
      We believe that Jesus Christ is ordained with an           ter of the cross did not take place until after the
    oath to be an everlasting High Priest, after the order       Belgic Confession was composed. The Canons of Dordt
    of Melchisedec: who hath presented Himself in our            certainly emphasize the particular character of the
    behalf before His Father, to appease His wrath by His       passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. But it is well to note
    full satisfaction, by offering Himself on the tree of       that also this article emphasizes the essence of  the
    the cross, and pouring out His precious blood to
    purge away our sins; as the prophets had foretold.          cross as a bearing of the wrath of God upon our sins, and
    For it is written, He was wounded for our transgres-        that Christ poured out His precious blood to purge
    sion, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastise-      away our sins. This article certainly stressed the ele-
    ment  of our peace was upon Him, and with His               ment of vicarious atonement.
    stripes we are healed; He was brought as a lamb to the         Before we call attention to what we read in the
    slaughter, and numbered with the transgressors; and         Canons of Dordt of the atonement of Christ, it is well


382                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER



to call attention to the  Arminian controversy which led              Gomarus would not yield. Even the States of Holland
to these Canons of Dordt. Concerning Arminius and                     tried to bring about a reconciliation between the two,
Arminianism, we read the following in the New                         and in August, 1609, both professors and four
Schaff-Herzog Religious Encyclopedia, Vol. I,                         ministers for each were invited to undertake new
296-297:                                                              negotiations. The deliberations were first held orally,
         ARMJNJUS,  JACOBUS  (Jakob Hermanss), AND                    afterward continued in writing, but were terminated
       ABMJNJANISM:  A Dutch theologian and the theo-                 in October by the death of Arminius.
       logical system he is supposed to have held. Arminius             In his Disputations, which were partly published
       was born at Oudewater (18 m.e.n.e. of Rotterdam)               during his lifetime, partly after his death, and which
       Oct. 10, 1560; -died at Leyden Oct. 19, 1609. After            included the entire department of theology, as well as
       his father's early death he lived with Rudolphus               in some discourses and other writings, Arminius had
       Snellius, professor in Marburg.  In 1576 he returned           clearly and pointedly defined his position and ex-.
       home and studied theology at Leyden under Lam-                 pressed his conviction. On the whole these writings
       bertus Danaeus. Here he spent six years, till he was           are a fine testimony to his learning and acumen. The
       enabled by the burgomasters. of Amsterdam to con-              doctrine of predestination belonged to the funda-
       tinue his studies at Geneva and Base1 under Beza and           mental teachings of the Reformed Church, but the
       Grynaeus. He lectured on the philosophy of Petrus              conception'of it asserted by Calvin and his adherents,
       Ramus and the Epistle to the Romans. Being recalled            Arminius could not make his own. He would not
       by the government of Amsterdam, in 1588 he was                 follow a doctrinal development which made God the
       appointed preacher of the Reformed congregation.               author of  sib  and the condemnation of men. He
       During the fifteen years which he spent here, he               taught conditional predestination and attached more
       gained the general respect, but his views underwent a          importance to faith. He denied neither God's omni-
       change. His exposition of Romans 7 and 9, and his              potence nor his free grace, but he thought it his duty
       utterances on election and reprobation gave offense.           to save the honor of God, and to emphasize, on the
       His  learned but hot-headed colleague, Petrus Plancius,        basis of the clear expressions of the Bible, the free
       in particular opposed him (the undersigned writer of           will of man as well as the truth of the doctrine of sm.
       these articles would call attention to the phenomenon          In these things he was more on the side of Luther
       that defenders of the truth of Holy Writ are often             than of Calvin and Beza, but it can not be denied that
       hot-headed whereas heretics are often smooth and               he expressed other opinions which were violently
       very refined and cultured, as was also Arius, the here-        controverted as departures from the confession and
       tic who denied the eternal Godhead of the Christ).             catechism. His followers expressed their convictions
       Disputes arose in. the consistory, which for the time          in the famous five articles which they laid before the
       being were stopped by the burgomasters.                        States as their justification. Called Remonstrants
         Arminius was suspected of heresy because he re-              from these Remnstrantiae,  they always refused to be
       garded the subscription to the symbolical books as             called Arminians.
       not binding and was ready to grant to the State more         The above quotation, we must bear in mind; is the
       power in ecclesiastical matters than the strict Cal-       presentation as set forth in the New Schaff-Herzog
       vinists would admit (this is understandable -heretics      Religious Encyclopedia. In the main, we subscribe to
       are apt to gain more sympathy from the State than          it. One may well question the observation that  Armin-
       strict Calvinists, H.V.). When two of the professors of    ius was more on the side of Luther than of Calvin and
       the University of Leyden, Janius and Trelcatius, died      Beza, although it is true that subsequent Lutheranism
       (1602),  the curators called Arminius; and Franciscus      did follow -the teachings of Arminius. Imagine, how-
       Gomarus, the only surviving theological professor,
       protested, but he became reconciled after an inter-        ever: the supreme court rendered the verdict that the
       view with Arminius. The latter entered upon his            controversy had no bearing upon the main points per-
       duties in 1603 with an address on the high-priestly        taining to salvation; the doctrines of a conditional pre-
       office of Christ, and was made doctor of theology.         destination, inherent goodness of the sinner, Christ's
       But the dogmatic disputes were renewed when                universal atonement, and doubt with respect to the
       Arminius undertook public lectures on predestina-          perseverance of the saints have no bearing upon  the
       tion. Gomarus opposed him and published other              main points pertaining to salvation! We are, of course,
       theses. A great excitement ensued in the university        not surprised that Gomarus and the strict Calvinists
       and the students were divided into two parties. The        would not yield. Of course they would not yield. We
       ministers in Leyden and other places took part in the      must never seek the solution of any doctrinal contro-
       controversy, which became general. The Calvinists          versy in compromise. Such compromises always favour
       wanted the matter settled by a general synod, but the      the heretics. They are always ready to adopt com-
       States General would not have it (such a synod could
       not be held except with the consent of the govern-         promise solutions. But the defenders of the truths of
       ment - H.V.). Oidenbameveldt, the Dutch liberal            Holy Writ cannot  .afford to resort to such tactics. In a
       statesman, in 1608 gave both opponents opportunity         following article we will call attention to these teach-
       to defend their views before the supreme court, and a      ings of the Remonstrants  as  stated in their famous Five
       verdict was pronounced that since the controversy          Points. This is very important. And it is very important
       had no bearing upon the main points pertaining to          that the first of these articles denies the unconditional
       salvation, each should bear with the other. But            character of Divine predestination.


                                                    THE STANDAR,D BEARER                                                   383


                                         BOOKREVIEW-
                                                         Prof: H. Hanko

THE CRISIS OF PIETY,  by Donald G.  Bloesch;  Wm. This error (probably fundamental in much conservative
B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1968; 168 pp., $3.50.                thinking) vitiates his whole approach and leads in the
  Aware of the decline in personal piety, the author of          direction of a social gospel.
this book makes a plea for a return to the devotional              Finally, I was disappointed in that the author did
life. He himself states the need for this book on p. 15 :        not make an effort to discuss and criticize the many
       What is needed today is a renewal of devotion to          false ideas of mysticism so prevalent in the Church
    the living Saviour, Jesus Christ. Such renewal will          today which manifest themselves in tongue speaking, a
    take the form of a spiritual reformation that involves       certain degrading of the importance of the church
    the very structure and life of the church. It will take      institute, etc.
    the form of a deepening concern for prayer and                 While the criticisms we offer are, in our opinion,
    meditation. It will also manifest itself in an awakened      basic, the book can be read with profit.
    interest in the sacraments, particularly the Blessed
    Sacrament of Holy Communion. Surely a renewed
    devotion to Jesus Christ will also entail a passionate                              NOTICE!!!
    concern for the outcasts and unfortunates in our
    world, those who have been made homeless by war                According to the decision of the Synod of 1970, the
    and famine, the victims of racial apartheid, and the        Con&tory of the Protestant Reformed Church of
    diseased and forsaken.                                      Edgerton, Minnesota, was appointed the calling church
  There are several excellent features about this book          for the 1971 Synod. The Consistory of  Edgerton
which make it worth our study. Especially helpful is            hereby notifies the Churches that the 1971 Synod of
the author's discussion of the history of mysticism  - a        The Protestant Reformed Churches in America will
subject which quite naturally comes up in a book of             convene, the Lord willing, on Wednesday, June 2, at 9
this nature. The author makes a plea for a biblical             A.M., in the  Edgerton church. The pre-Synodical ser-
mysticism as the essence of true piety and does a good          vice will be held Tuesday evening, June 1, at 8 P.M., at
service in warning against the evils of a false mysticism       the Edger-ton church. Rev. M.  Schipper, President of
which elevates emotions or feeling or subjective                the 1970 Synod, will preach the sermon.  Synodical
experience to a position of authority higher than that          delegates are requested to meet with the  consistory
of the Scriptures. He emphasizes  aright the proper             before the service. Delegates in need of lodging should
relation between justification and sanctification as            contact A. Hendricks, R.R. 2, Jasper, Minn. 56144.
important for a piety which is rooted in `the fear of                                                  Allen Hendricks, Clerk
God. His assertion that personal piety, especially in
these times of moral decay, involves self discipline and                     RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
spiritual exercises is very much to the point and                  The Ladies Society of the Hudsonville Protestant
worthy of consideration.                                        Reformed Church extends its sincere sympathy to one
  But there are some aspects of the book with which             of its members, Mrs. Jay Lubbers in the recent passing
we cannot agree. For one thing, in seeking a theology           of her father,
upon which personal piety can be based, the- author                                   MR. SID GRASSMID.
rejects the infallible inspiration of the Scriptures. One          May our Covenant God comfort with His Word and
wonders very seriously whether this does not open the           Spirit in the assurance that "All things work together
door to a false mysticism after all.                            for good to them that love God." (Romans  8:289.
  Secondly, there is a noticeable lack of rooting true                                            Mrs. Gerrit Holstege, Sec'y.
piety in the knowledge of God as He has revealed
Himself in Christ and as we have the infallible record
of that revelation in Scripture. After all, we must                          RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
admit the true piety stems from and grows in                       The Martha Society of the  Doon Protestant Re-
proportion to the knowledge of the truth.                       formed Church wishes to express their heartfelt sym-
  Thirdly, piety is discussed in terms of making a              pathy to one of their members, Mrs. E. Van Egdom in
greater impact on the world in which we live. Although          the passing of her brother
the author is intent on keeping the spiritual and the                               JULIUS STELLINGA.
secular separate, and criticizes modern theology for its           "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His
failure to do this, nevertheless he does not approach           saints." (Psalm 116: 15).
the problem from the viewpoint of sovereign                                                  Mrs. Elmer Van Den Top, Pres.
predestination and the limited atonement of Christ.                                       Mrs. John Van Den Top, Sec'y.


     -

               -    TCiE STANDARD BEARER
                           P.O. Box 6064
          r         Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506



                    384                                          THE STANDARD BEARER


I                                                   News From Our Churches

                      At the time of this writing, we are aware of two          history of our schools it has never been a simple task
                    ministers who are considering calls. Rev. Heys has re-      for all the Boards to acquire a complete staff of
                    ceived the call from our Randolph congregation and          teachers  - and this year it's been done before the end
                    Rev. Van  Baren from the Hudsonville congregation.          of April. That, by itself, is a pretty good indication
                    Rev. Heys had just declined the call from Grand             that the teacher-supply situation is improving. But, if
                    Rapids' Hope church.                                        our information is correct, it's also true that there are
                      As we mentioned before, Rev. Veldman has ac-              more than a dozen of our young people, presently at-
                    cepted the call from Southwest. He preached his fare-       tending college who intend to enter the teaching pro-
                    well sermon at Hudsonville on Sunday, April 25. The         fession. For our schools this is very welcome news.
                    congregation held a Farewell Program for him the fol-                               *****
                    lowing Tuesday. The congregation of Southwest,                We should mention something, yet, about recent
                    meanwhile, was preparing for the arrival of Rev.            lectures. One of them was entitled "Holy Scripture
                    Veldman as their pastor. `Some work was done in the         Wholly Divine," and given by Prof. H. C. Hoeksema in
                    parsonage, the ladies doing the cleaning, and the men       South Holland, on April 19. The other, which you've
                    some repairing and remodeling.                              seen advertised  in  the Standard Bearer, was by Rev. G.
                      According to the bulletin of Southwest, Rev. M.           Van  Baren in Grand Rapids, on April 22. The rather
                    Schipper officiated at the installation of Rev. Veldman     unusual topic, "Ted and Alice and Groppi . . . and
                    on Sunday, May 2. The consistory, in that same              Grace," might have had something to do with the size
                    bulletin, thanked  Classis East and the Seminary for        of the audience. Certainly it is true also, of course, as
                    providing pulpit-supply during the time in which            the speaker mentioned, that the size of the audience
                    Southwest was without a pastor.                             was an evidence of the deep concern about the depar-
                                            *;****                              ture from the truth which we see in the Reformed
                      With the vacancy at Hope and Hudsonville, the             community. First Church was nearly filled. If you
                    Seminary students certainly have plenty of oppor-           missed the lecture, we understand that it will appear in
                    tunity for "practice" preaching in our denomination.        the  Standard Bearer,  and that tapes of the lecture will
                    We notice that, on March 28, at Holland, Seminarian be available, on request, from Mr. H. Vander Wal,
                    Mark Hoeksema joined the ranks of those students            whose address can be found on the first page of this
                    engaged in such practice. That brings to six the number magazine.
                    of seminary students who have appeared on one or                                    x****
                    another of our pulpits. There are at present seven stu-       In addition to lectures, there were also plenty of
                    dents, one of which (Mr. Rod Miersma) will graduate         end-of-society-season speeches in the last several
                    this June. There are, also, two young men attending         weeks. Rev. H. Veldman, for example, spoke in South-
                    the Dogmatics class, both of whom might soon be  full-      west at the league-meeting of Mr. and Mrs. Societies.
                    time students in our seminary. `The class which they        His topic was, "The Christian's Calling of Love." In
                    attend is one which is attended by all seven full-time      speaking of the manifestation of that love in the com-
                    students as well. The room is equipped to accom-            munion of saints, he mentioned such things as the con-
                    modate eight comfortably. A folding chair must be           tent of the discussion in visits with friends. But he laid
                    brought in for the ninth one. Can you imagine that?         the stress, in his speech, on another aspect of that love,
                    Our seminary is outgrowing its classrooms!                  namely, preparation for society meetings. Our societies
                                                                                can be very useful as a means of mutual edification
                      There is, in our churches, another area in which the      through discussion of a passage of God's Word. This
                    blessing of God is manifest in an increased number of       can be done  weZ2, however, only in the way of prior
                    laborers. We have in mind the area of instruction of study. A lack of preparation makes it impossible for an
                    covenant seed in our Protestant Reformed day-schools.       individual member to benefit as he should from his
                    We learn from Loveland's bulletin that Miss Hoekstra        society attendance. However, by a lack of preparation
                    and Miss Zandstra intend to return, for the 1971-l 972      a person is also saying something about his attitude
                    school season, to our school in that city. We under-        toward the communion of saints as it is evidenced in
                    stand that Mr. Tom De Vries and his wife will again be      the united study and mutual edification made possible
                    in Edgerton. As far as we know,  Doon is all set, and so    in our societies. That message of Rev. Veldman could
                    are Adams, Covenant,  Hope, and South Holland. In the       well be repeated at the beginning of next season. D-D.


