                              tandard

                                            e a r e r   '

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


IN' THIS ISSUE


     Rejoicing At Jehovah's Word

        (Editorial)

     Doctrinal Drift in the Netherlands

        (All Around Us)

     News From Jamaica

     The Christian Wife

        (The  Strength of Youth)

     The Synod of Dordrecht on Atonement

        (Contending for the Faith)


                                             Volume XL VIII/ Numbed I / October 1, 1971


2                                                             THE STANDARD BEARER


                                                                                                         THE STANDARD BEARER
                              CONTENTS:                                               Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July and August.
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     Editor's Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .`. . . . . . . . .2    Editor-in-Chief: Prof.  H.  C. Hoeksema
     Convocation Address: Rejoicing At                                          Department  Ediron::.  Mr. Donald Doezema, Rev. Cornelius Hanko, Prof.
        Jehovah's Word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3       Herman Hanko, Rev. Robert C. Harbach, Rev. John A. Heys, Rev. Jay
                                                                                Kortering, Rev. George C. Lubbers, Rev. Marinus  Schipper,  Rev. Gise J.
                                                                                Van  Baren. Rev. Herman Veldman. Rev. Bernard Woudenberg
Meditation  -
     Built Into A Holy Temple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Editorial Office:  Prof. H. C. Hoeksema
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Editorials
                                                   Editor's Notes
                                                               Prof H. C. Hoeksema

     Last Chance!  Well, almost the last . . . At a  re-                           Bound Volumes. This issue of our magazine marks
cent meeting of our Publications Committee, the book the beginning of a new volume year under the grace of
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                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                         3


longer the editor of In His Fear, which he wrote for many according   to  plan,  you  will  be  seeing  more.   changes   in
years. He has now taken  over the department on Old Tes- the Standard Bearer in this new volume. For one thing,
tament history. But it will not be called A Cloud of Rev. Engelsma is again appearing in print. In this issue
Witnesses as it was when Rev. Woudenberg edited that he continues a project begun in the previous volume:
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Other Goodies! I've been holding out on you until the somewhat of a new look! We hope you will enjoy it.
beginning of the new volume. But if everything goes


   Convocation Address: Rejoicing At Jehovah's Word
                                                  ProJ: H.C. Hoeksema

[Editor's Note: On the evening of September 8, at our poet in this expression. Notice that the expression of
Hope Protestant Reformed Church, we had a public the text is very personal. It is not a mere dogmatic
program in connection with our Seminary Convoca- statement: God's people rejoice at His Word. No, the
tion. A small, but attentive audience joined the faculty psalmist speaks personally. He speaks of his own exper-
and student body for this program, led by the Rev. H. ience, and that, too,  coram  Deo, before. the face of
Veldman, president of the Theological School Commit- God. `And the intent is that we shall follow him in this
tee. In his capacity as Rector of our school, your edi- expression: by faith we shall say, "I rejoice at thy
tor delivered the convocation address, reproduced word. . . ." There may be differences of circumstances
below from notes, I                                            and occasion between us and the psalmist. Those dif-
  We may find what might well serve as the keynote, ferences are not essential. We ought to say  - and I
the motto, in all our seminary labors during the com- have in mind our labors in the Word and doctrine at
ing term in Psalm 119: i62, "I rejoice at thy word, as the seminary in particular "I rejoice at thy word, 0
one that findeth great spoil." This entire psalm extols Jehovah." In the second place, let me point out that
the Word of God. With its several synonyms for the this verse expresses what is the right spiritual attitude
Word, and with its references to that Word in every of him who comes into contact with that Word of our
verse except one, and with the twenty-two sections of covenant God, namely, joy. And, in the third place, I
what might be called an acrostic on the Word of God, point out that this attitude of joy should serve to fur-
it is an altogether amazing psalm. I suggest that you nish us with the right perspective and the proper mo-
read it carefully sometime in its entirety, rather than a tivation in our labors with the Word of God. Let us
section or two at a time, as we probably are accus- keep these three observations in mind while we briefly
tomed to do: you will be impressed anew by its riches. study the meaning of this verse.
The particular section in which verse 162 is found may The Word
be said, I believe, to stress the idea of God-fearing joy        The poet says that he rejoices at God's Word. What
at the Word of God. Now it is precisely that Word, you does that mean?
know, which - directly or indirectly - is at the basis           By the Word here is evidently meant the Scriptures,
of and is the object of all our studies in the seminary. or the Word of God as we have the infallible record of
And these studies are, in turn, aimed at preparation for it in the Scriptures in their entirety.
the ministry of the  Word.  Hence, it is indeed fitting          The Bible also speaks of the Word of God with re-
that at the beginning of this term's labors at school we spect to the Son of God: He is the Word. He is the
take this word to heart: "I rejoice at thy word, as one Word of God as God eternally speaks it to Himself. Or
that findeth great spoil."                                    it speaks of that Word of God as spoken in the work of
  Let me make three introductory observations of a creation: "By the word of the Lord were the heavens
practical nature. In the first place, I point out that this made, and all the host of them by the breath of his
expression of the psalmist ought to be, by faith, the mouth." Scripture also speaks of the Word of God as
expression of our own attitude. We should imitate the spoken on particular occasions and to individuals. In


 4                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER



 that sense the Word of the Lord came to Noah, to The Word of God as the God of our salvation was
 Abraham, to Moses, and to the prophets. But evidently spoken from the very beginning in paradise, Genesis
 the psalmist does not refer to any of these. Nor does 3: 15, "I will put enmity between thee and the woman,
 he refer here to a Word of God which had come per- and between thy seed and her seed..." It was spoken
 sonally to him by direct revelation. But he has in mind through patriarchs and prophets throughout the old
 the Word of God  in  the  Scriptures.  This is the idea dispensation. It was spoken through types and shadows
 throughout the psalm, `in fact. The psalmist was in pos- in Israel. Centrally, it was spoken through God's Son in
 session of the Word of God recorded, and as it con- the flesh, our Lord Jesus Christ, in the fulness of time
 tained, for example, commandments, statutes, - in all His manifestation, in all His words and works,
 precepts, testimonies, ordinances, judgments, promises. in His incarnation, His suffering and atoning death, in
 It is that Word of God which he could read, upon His resurrection and ascension and exaltation at the
 which he could meditate, which he could study and right hand of God, in His reception of the Spirit and
 contemplate, that he has in mind.                              His pouring out of that Spirit through Whom He dwells
      Now what is the character of that Word of God in His church, and in His promised coming again to
 which the psalmist possessed and which we also pos- judge the quick and the dead. And it was spoken
 sess?                                                          through the apostles in the new dispensation.
      In the first place, it is always the Word of God, that      In the second place, that Word is Preserved for us in
 is, the Word of which God is the subject, the Word the Scriptures. That is the wonder of inspiration. The
 which God speaks. Here in vs. 162 this aspect is even Word of God - and let me emphasize: exclusively the
 emphasized by the particular term which is used in the Word of God  - is preserved for us in the Scriptures
 Hebrew, in distinction from the term used in the pre- through the inspiration of the Spirit Who led men and
 ceding verse. Both are translated by "word" in our guided men to write in such a way that what they
English Bible; and both denote the same Word of God. wrote was not the word of man, but the Word of God,
 But the terms are not quite the same. By the term in so that in the Bible in its entirety we have the perfect
 our text there is emphasized the idea that this Word is and infallible record of the Word of God.
 the Word which God speaks. In the second place, the              And, in the third place, that Word of God has
 Word of God is a word which God speaks concerning been entrusted to the church. Also this belongs to the
 HimseZJ:  It is the revelation of God. Through His Word wonder whereby we have the Word of God. God en-
 we always learn to know God. We learn to know Who trusted  His Word to the church, so that from many
 God is and what God is and what God does. God is God! other books that have been written only the sixty-six
 And when He speaks, He always speaks concerning Him- books of our Bible were collected into one, while all
 self. He is the purpose of His own speech. And if I may the rest were excluded. How was that possible? Was it
 run ahead for a moment, this is the deepest reason why accidental? Was it arbitrary? Not at all. Let us use the
 that Word of God is found by the psalmist and by us to         example of a jig-saw puzzle. Who cannot tell whether
 be so unspeakably rich, and therefore delightful. When all the pieces of that puzzle are there? Who cannot
 you come upon  that.Word and are filled with joy at distinguish whether a piece is missing? Who cannot
 that Word, it is because you find God in that Word. discern which are the proper pieces of that puzzle
 And it is because the God Who speaks concerning Him- in distinction from any which do not belong to it?
 self in that Word is the infinitely deep and unsearch- So it was with the church and the canon of Holy Scrip-
 able and rich and delightful God!, In the .third  place, ture. Inwardly the church was guided by the Spirit, that
 and this must have the emphasis here, that Word is the is, the principle here. And the objective principle is
 Word of Jehovah, the Word of God as.the God of our that the church was guided by the fulness of the
 salvation, our covenant God, in Christ. That is the Christ-revelation.
 special significance of the Word of God as we have it The Contents of the Word
 in the Scriptures. Nowhere else does God speak of                Notice that the psalmist speaks here in the singular.
 Himself as the God of our salvation in the face of Jesus He does not say: "I rejoice at thy words." But he says:
 Christ our Savior. Nowhere else does He speak of Him- "I rejoice at thy word." This signifies that this Word is
 self as our covenant God than in those Scriptures. This one. It is one organic whole. As God is one, as the Son
 is the significance of the Word of God here. It is God's is one, as Christ is one, so the Word is one. And it is
 Word to His people, revealing to them Who He is and always .essentially  the same and complete. You might
 what He does through Jesus Christ our Lord. Such is be inclined to say that when the psalmist writes of the
 the central content of all the Scriptures.                     Word of God here, and when we speak of the Word of
      There is another question: how is that Word spoken God, these cannot possibly be the same. After all, the
 to us?                                                         Scriptures were not by any means completed yet when
      The answer to this question is three-fold.                the psalmist wrote. But we have the finished Scrip-
      In the first place, that Word was spoken by the won- tures. But this would certainly not be correct. There is
 der of revelation throughout the ages until it `was full.      difference of opinion as to the identity of this psalmist


                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER                                                              5


and as to when he lived. Some place him in the period This is why you can read that Word and study that
long after the return from the captivity; others place Word and exegete that Word and preach on that Word,
him much earlier in history, and even identify him and never be finished! You always find.new riches -
with  David. Certain it is that he did not possess the much spoil  - in that Word. In the third place, that
completed Scriptures, not even the completed Old Word is rich because it speaks of infinite riches of grace
Testament, when he wrote. Yet he speaks of "thy and of never-ending and unfathomable blessings of sal-
word."`He does not say that he rejoices in a fraction of vation through sovereign grace - of things which eye
God's Word, in a section of God's Word, some words hath not seen, nor ear heard, and which have never
of God's Word. No, he has the whole Word of God. arisen in the heart of man. How wonderful! In the
That one Word of God was spoken already in paradise. fourth place, that Word is rich because it reveals to us
It became clearer and fuller and richer in its meaning the knowledge of Him Whom to know is life eternal,
and brighter in its light as time went on and as God through Jesus Christ Whom He has sent. It reveals to us
continued to speak it. But it was always that same that knowledge of God which is the knowledge of
Word, the Word of the God of our salvation. And it friendship, of covenant fellowship! How delightful!
was revealed in all its fulness in the fulness of time, Joy At God's Word
when our Lord Jesus Christ sojourned among us. And                    It is this objective riches of the Word of God that is
its record was completed through the apostles. Yet it subjectively reflected and echoed in the psalmist's con-
was always the same Word. That Word the psalmist fession here: "I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth
possessed. That Word we possess.                                   great spoil." And the language of the text is such that
   From the point of view of its contents the oneness the poet emphasizes that this is his constant attitude.
of that Word consists in its being the revelation of God Literally, he pictures himself as constantly leaping for
in Christ  - our Savior, our Sanctifier, our Perfecter, joy. And he describes that joy concretely by way
our Lord and our God. You may distinguish various of the comparison which he adds: "...as one that find-
aspects of that Word. You may distinguish many and eth great spoil."
varied words in that Word. The poet does that in this                 You see, there are various possible attitudes which
very psalm when he employs all the various synonyms one may assume towards these Scriptures, the Word of
for the Word of God which you find in this psalm. In God.
the main, you may distinguish that Word as the revela-                One can assume a coldly calculating, critical attitude
tion of the promise: the good news of our salvation when he takes the Bible in hand. And then he may
and all that is connected with it. And you may attempt to maintain in various ways and various de-
distinguish it as the revelation of the will of the God grees that that Word is everything but the Word of
of our salvation concerning our life and walk as His God. That is principally the attitude of unbelief. A
covenant people in the midst of the world, as this person who assumes this attitude has no joy at the
is so often emphasized in this psalm. But centrally Word of God. The attitude of joy, such as the psalmist
that Word is the one revelation of the God of our expresses, is a spontaneous and naive attitude which
salvation in Jesus Christ. That is its content.                    excludes that shrewd and calculating criticism. And let
  And that Word is rich! It is like great spoil! When me emphasize, because this critical attitude is so com-
you come upon that Word, it is like coming upon rich mon today: there is no joy, no real joy, in such criti-
spoil. Such is the implication of the figure and the cism. Another possibility is the assumption of a
c o m p a r i s o n   h e r e .   W e   w i l l   r e t u r n   t o   t h a t mechanical, coldly intellectual attitude. I often think
presently,.                                                        that this -constitutes a real danger for seminary stu-
                                                                   dents and theological professors and ministers. They
   But  for. the moment I want to emphasize that that are constantly busy with the Scriptures. That is their
Word is rich. This is the reason for the poet's joy.               work,  - and rightly so. But when they are busy with
   And if you ask why that Word of God is so rich, I that Word of God day in and day out, sometimes plod-
would answer, in, the first place, that it is rich simply ding along and laboring hard, sometimes laboring
because it is the Word of God, the speech of God ,under a certain compulsion; under the necessity of an
Himself. What a wonder this is! What a wonder it is assignment, or under the necessity of preparing a ser-
that God condescends to speak to us! What a wonder it mon by a certain deadline, there is a certain danger
is that we possess that unmixed unadulterated speech that you come to look upon your work as a job rather
of God Himself in the Scriptures, on our level, in our than a calling, as a task rather than a pleasure and
human language  - and yet so that it is indeed the privilege. You can labor with the Scriptures as a man
Word of God! In the second place, it is rich, as I have on an assembly line labors at his machine. Sometimes
already pointed out, because - and this is the deepest before one realizes it he can get into such a frame of
reason - it always speaks of God, Who is Himself infin- mind. This is at least one of the reasons why our atti-
itely rich. This is the deepest reason why that Word is tude in our labor with the Word should always be a
always new. Its riches are unending as God is unending. prayerful one.


6                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER.


     But the psalmist says: "I rejoice, I leap for joy..."       tent, and carried thence also, and went and hid it." You
     That presupposes, of course, that he comes into con- can sense their amazed excitement. And then they
tact with that Word. That Word is the object of his              come to their senses, and they realize that they must
contemplation and his meditation, and that, too, con- share these good tidings and go and tell the king's
stantly. It means, in the second place, that the Word of household. This is the idea of this comparison in our
God finds receptivity in his regenerated heart. For we           text. Notice that this joy is not something simply sub-
must remember that this is the language of a regener- jective. The reason and occasion for the joy is the
ated child of God. This joy is the reaction only of a finding of objective riches, much spoil. And thus it is
heart that has been gripped by the power of God's when we come upon that Word, the Word of God. The
grace, not the reaction of a totally depraved nature. result is excitement, ecstasy, delight at coming upon
And in and from that regenerated heart originates his the depth of the riches  .of that Word of God! It
joy. That joy is the opposite of a morbid and gloomy is the excitement of one that returns and comes upon
and critical and belittling attitude. From that heart new and unending riches and depths every time again.
springs a delight of the mind to know and to search              It is the kind of rejoicing that makes the psalmist
and .to probe and to understand that Word of God and             leap for joy! No, indeed, this joy is no shallow and
its riches. From that heart springs a delight of the will        unfounded and momentary emotion. It is a deep-seated
to heed and to walk in the light of and to do that Word and well-founded joy and an excited and ecstatic joy of
of God. And from that heart springs a delight of all our one who has tasted the riches of grace and the depth
desires, so that they all concentrate around that Word           of the riches of the knowledge of God.
of God. And this implies, of course, that we study that            Let me conclude where I began.
Word, those Scriptures, diligently and prayerfully. For            Let that fundamental attitude of joy fill us and guard
through the Spirit of Christ that Word must enter our us against ever under-estimating and under-evaluating
heart and mind and our entire being, so that we appre- the Word of God, or even beginning to criticize it. I
hend its riches and taste them.                                  assure you that its riches are beyond our boldest com-
     In characteristic language of the Old Testament and prehension. For that Word is the revelation of the
of the psalms, the poet reenforces what he says here by depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge
a comparison: "...as one that findeth great spoil."              of God, of Whom, and through Whom, and unto
     You recognize the picture. It is the picture of the Whom are all things! You as students might be said to
battlefield after the battle, when the spoils of warfare stand at the beginning of your contacts and your la-
are discovered and divided. The point of the compari- bors with that Word of God. From that point of view
son is not that of the way in which one attains to this         you have only begun to probe its much spoil. I, as one
great spoil, but that of the joy of one that findeth great       of your professors, have a good many more years of
spoil. If I may point to a c.ouple of Scriptural illustra- experience in this respect. But. I, too, have not begun
tions: this is the joy which the mother of Sisera and to reach that end of the riches of that Word. And if the
her wise ladies are imagined as anticipating in the song Lord gives us many more years in these labors, we shall
of Deborah and Barak, Judges 5:29,30: "Her wise la- never reach the end of those unending riches. I say
dies answered her, yea, she returned answer to herself, again: its riches are beyond our boldest comprehen-
Have they not sped, have they not divided the prey; to sion. There is ample reason to rejoice continually.
every man a damsel or two; to Sisera a prey of divers              And, in the second place, let the fundamental per-
colours, a prey of diverse colours of needlework, of spective and motivation of that joy move us and en-
divers colours of needlework on both sides, meet for the courage us in our work. When we might be inclined to
necks of them that take the spoil?" Or it is the delight think that our labor is drudgery and that our load is
of those lepers, in the time of Elisha, when the Lord too heavy, that the effort is not worthwhile, that the
miraculously delivered Samaria from the siege of the struggle is too great, or to imagine that with all the
Syrians, II Kings 7. You can imagine their excitement exegesis in the world we cannot find much riches and
when they came upon the abandoned camp of the cannot mine much gold from the Word, cannot find
Syrians, as they are described in verse 8: "And when much reason to leap for joy - then. let us consider again
these lepers came to the uttermost part of the camp, and learn to say anew, as we go back to that Word: "I
they went into one tent, and did eat and drink, and leap for joy at thy word, as one that findeth much
carried thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went spoil."
and hid it; and came again, and entered into another               May God grant that this may be our attitude.


             The Standard Bearer's witness goes to many overseas addresses; your continued generous support will help
          expand this witness.


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                     7



Meditation
                       Built Into A Holy Temple
                                                   Rev. M Schippev

           "To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God,
           and precious, ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to
           offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. "
                                                                                               I Peter 2: 43.

  Not another admonition or exhortation do the eternal purpose of God as expressed by the apostle Paul
words of this text intend to be. In the light of the in the first chapters of his epistle to the Ephesians and
preceding verses of this chapter you might be inclined the Colossians. God gave a certain people to Christ to
to interpret this portion of the Word of God thus. In be gathered by Him into God's presence.
the preceding the apostle admonished the newborn                 This eternal purpose is determined by God in sover-
babes in Christ to desire the sincere milk of the Word, eign election. God did not choose a mere multitude of
that they might grow thereby. So in the text you individuals who have no connection. A house is not a
might conclude that the apostle continues to say that mere pile of bricks. It is a unity, in which every part
we ought to build ourselves up into a spiritual house, has its own significant place and function, and all the
into a holy priesthood, in order that we may offer up parts together express the thought of the architect. So
spiritual sacrifices, acceptable unto God. Yet this can it is also in the temple which God builds.
hardly be the significance.                                      A beautiful house with one central thought in it!
  Rather the text should be regarded as a statement of Each part of it is carefully designed to fit in its own
fact; and as the translation has it, ought to be under- proper place so that it may contribute to the beauty of
stood in the indicative sense. Our reason for this con- the whole. A most beautiful fellowship, characterized
clusion is that one can hardly say: be built up. You by a harmonious unity-not a monotonous unity-but
cannot admonish stones to be built up. The apostle a rich distinction. All to serve the everlasting praise of
therefore is not exhorting the believers to be built up the Artificer,-God! Not the glory of the stones, but
into an holy temple, but is simply stating the fact that the glory of the Architect! And every part contributing
this is precisely what is taking place when they as new- to the glory of the whole. This is the idea of the spirit-
born babes in Christ are feeding on the Word.                  ual house God is building throughout the ages through
  But what is the idea of this? What is the significance Christ.
of being built up into a holy temple?                            A historical reality!
  The temple or spiritual house is a covenant concep-            In the Old Testament this house of God appeared in
tion. In the temple God dwells with His people under the figure of a rectangle, prefigured already in Paradise,
one roof. The believers, as mere individuals, have no which lay eastward in Eden. However, the figure is
significance by. themselves. Emphatically we would re- more sharply drawn in the tabernacle Moses was or-
mind you that the Bible knows of no individualism.             dered to construct, called the tabernacle of the wilder-
This is precisely the error of Pelagianism and  semi- ness, with its holy place and holy of  holies in which
Pelagianism, which is also called Arminianism. These was the ark of the covenant with its mercy seat behind
isms are concerned with the individual. Their gospel is the veil, and its other furniture in the holy place the
intended for the individual. But the Bible never candlestick, the table of shewbread, the altar of in-
approaches us from this point of view. 0, to be sure, it cense, etc., and the outer court. After this pattern
speaks to the individual, but always as he is related to Solomon later built the temple.
others. Nor is it so that believers are saved as mere indi-      In the New Testament the rectangle becomes a
viduals. Though it  is true that I as an individual be- square. With the death and resurrection of Christ the
liever am saved, and can speak from experience of my veil of the temple is rent from top to bottom and that
salvation in Christ, and can even go so far as to say that temple of Solomon loses its significance. Now the
Christ died for me on Calvary's cross; I can never do house of God is spread out over all the earth whence
this apart from all the others whom Christ also saves. God gathers His people. Christ, through the operation
The reason for this is plainly that God ordains a spirit- of the Spirit, calls His people from the four comers of
ual house, a holy temple. The heart of this temple is the earth, out of every nation, tribe, and tongue.
God Himself. He is God, and ordains  His own  self- Hence, the house of God may be compared to the
glory. Around Him are His people in Christ. This is the square.


8                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER


     When the house of God shall dwell, then it may be priating Him as He is revealed to them in the preaching
compared to the perfect cube. The apostle John in the        of the gospel.
Revelation beholds the city four-square, the New Jeru-         And what is the purpose of all this?
salem. Then heaven and earth shall be united in perfect        To offer up spiritual sacrifices!
fellowship, and all the living stones shall have been          Well-pleasing to God through Jesus Christ!
fitted into their proper place, and the house of God           You see, because these living stones which are built
shall be finished, in which He shall realize His covenant into an holy temple are at the same time a spiritual
with them forever.                                           house, they by coming constantly to Christ are also
     Such is the historical development and reality of the become a priesthood. They become priests who com-
Holy Temple, in which is realized an holy priesthood, a pletely consecrate themselves to the service and praise
spiritual house. Then God's covenant shall be perfected of God.
forever!                                                       Christ is their High Priest! He it was Who was ap-
     Of living stones is the holy temple built!              pointed to realize the house of God. He it was of
     Not of dead stones, such as they are by nature. If Whom it was written: "Lo, I come, in the volume of
this is what the believers are, like dead stones simply the book it is written of me, to do Thy will, 0 God."
cemented on one another, as bricks used by the mason This He did not merely by bringing a sacrifice as the
to construct a building, then the apostle could not          priests did in the tabernacle and temple, but the offer-
speak of them as coming to Christ, the living Stone. ing He brought was Himself. In body and soul, in mind
Believers are not dead stocks and blocks. Rather, the and spirit, He gave Himself in complete consecration to
temple of God is made up of living stones. Living they       the will and service of God. All the high priests that
are, not merely because they are rational, and spiritual ever served in the sanctuary were only faint pictures of
beings, but more particuarly because they are regener- Him Who is called the Great High Priest. As Mediator
ated. They have been born again from above, not of and Saviour of  His people, He also through His re-
corruptible seed, but by the Word of God which liveth        demptive work makes them kings and priests unto
and abideth forever.                                         God. And coming to Christ constantly these living
     Living stones they are (not lively, as the translation stones also become priests, consecrated unto God. 0,
has it), who are coming constantly and continuously to to be sure, they need not, as He, to offer up sacrifices
Christ. Should they cease to come to Him, they would         of blood to atone. Through His sacrifice all blood sacri-
not be living anymore. Daily and all the day are they fices have an end. But they are required to consecrate
called, and they come to Christ, of Whom they have themselves, and all that they have unto the service and
great need. All their life is bound up in Him Whom praise of God. They offer up spiritual sacrifices, that is,
the text says is: the living Stone. Christ is the elect      sacrifices as fruits of the Spirit of Christ. They have
Stone, Chosen of God and precious. Living is He, not really nothing of themselves they can offer. All their
only because He is the manifestation of the living God; sacrifices must be supplied to them by the Spirit of
but He is the Mediator, Who is. become a life-giving Christ.
Spirit. After He died on the cross to atone for and to         And this is why the text states emphatically: sacri-
save His people, God raised Him from the dead. He fices through Jesus Christ. Apart from Christ, the living
attained unto immortality and life. This immortality stones, the anointed priests, have nothing to offer. It is
and life He gives to His people. So they become living all of grace!
stones, after Christ first comes to them. But now              And this is also why the text informs us that the
having been made alive, they must come to Him con- sacrifices are well-pleasing to God. God has seen to it that
stantly; to Him in Whom is all their life and salvation. we cannot bring anything of ourselves to Him, or it is
To Him they come by faith through the Word - through first given unto us of God through Christ, in order that
the Word which is preached unto them, the milk of the spiritual sacrifices may be pleasing to Him and
which they must drink also as newborn babes. The serve unto His glory.
term "coming" in the text stresses the point not only          Those sacrifices, those offerings which are given to
that they come to Christ only once to make contact us of mere grace by God Himself through Jesus Christ,
with Him, but it signifies  a  constant activity. Yea, are the only sacrifices which please Him. For in the
more, it suggests that there is more and more an appro- house of His covenant only that may appear which is of
priation of Him, so that they continue.to grow in His Him, and through Him, and unto Him; in order that all
grace and knowledge.                                         the glory may be His alone!
     0, indeed, they could not come to Him of them-            Thus the living Stone, rejected and disapproved of
selves! He must, and He did come unto them first. This by men, over Whom men fell to their own destruction,
He did when He caused them to be born again. And but Who was by God counted elect, a precious Stone,
secondly, He does this also through the living and pure to Whom we as living stones may come and find in
Word of the gospel. And now as a fruit of His grace, Him all that is necessary to make us become that holy
they respond by coming constantly to Him, and appro- temple in which God is pleased to forever dwell, - in


                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER                                                             9



which temple He shall behold the work of His own may grow thereby, having tasted that  the Lord is  gra-
grace which is most  pleasing to Him, should also be cious. And fmding in Him all of our salvation, we shall
most pleasing to us.                                            respond indeed as a royal priesthood with spiritual  sac-
  To Him we will indeed come when we are new-born rifices well pleasing to God.
babes desiring the sincere milk of the Word that we


All Around Us

                        Evidences of Doctrinal Drift in the Netherlands
                                          Ecumenical Developments

                                                         Prof: H. Hanko

EVIDENCES OF DOCTRINAL DRIFT IN THE                                  Professor Kuitert, Oct. 5, 1966, in a meeting of the
NETHERLANDS                                                          Christian Pedagogical Studies Centre:
  In a couple of past issues of  Calvinist Contact,  the                   There has never been an Adam and no Eve either;
editors included  a series of quotes from various  Dutch             there never existed a Paradise that was created with-
papers which had been brought together  and which                    out sin and death.
show  how far the  Gereformeerde Kerken  have fallen                 Professor Kuitert, in the "Friese Kerkbode," Nov. 11,
into apostasy. These quotes show as clearly as anything              i966:
can that there is, among the leaders of the                                There never was a falling into sin.
Gereformeerde Kerken, almost no evidence of the re-                  Professor Kuitert, May 13, 1966, as reported in
formed gaith left.                                                   "Trouw" on the annual Theological School Day in
    Professor Koole, in "Gereformeerd Weekblad," Sept.               Kampen:
     16,1966:                                                              You cannot say that something really happened
       The Bible is an ancient Oriental description of his-          because it says so in the Bible. For instance, in the
    tory which one should not expect to be absolutely                time of Joshua, Jericho did not exist.
    exact.                                                           Professor Rothuizen, in "Centraal Weekblad," June
    Drs. T. M. Gilhuis, in "Opdracht en Dienst," Jan. 1,             12,1966:
     1966:                                                                 Homosexuality is no sin.
       The snake in Paradise, Balaam's donkey, and Jo-               Professor Rothuizen, in "Trouw," Oct. 15,1966:
    nah's whale are the three animals to which "saving                     When the homosexual author VanhetReve com-
    grace" is attributed, but whose stories we are not to            pares God with a donkey with whom he commits
    take literally.                                                  fornication, that is not intended as blatant blas-
    Professor Bakker, in "Gereformeerd Weekblad," Oct.               phemy. In many respects, Vanhet Reve is a Christian
     14,1966:                                                        author.
       (On II Car.. 11:3: "but I fear, lest by any means, as         Rev. Zwanenburg, in the "Groniger Kerkbode," Jan.
    the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so                9,1965:
    your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity                     I wish to deviate from the doctrine of original sin.
    that is in Christ") In II Cor. 11:3, the apostle Paul is
    limited by his own horizon. The unsuspected witnes-              Professor H. Ridderbos, in "Trouw," May 9,1966:
    ses have merely adjusted themselves to the opinion of                  The Bible has no authority regarding the expres-
    their contemporaries, or they have said so in their              sion of a certain concept-view of the world, nor as far
    ignorance.                                                       as style or historical statements are concerned.
    Dr. F. L. Box, in "Trouw," Jan. 8,1966:                         Professor H. Ridderbos, May 7, 1966, in the "Nieuwe
       Paul has read the creation story regarding the dual-          Haagse Krant":
    ity and the individuality of man and woman through                     We are increasing our understanding of the fact
    colored glasses.                                                 that the real authority of the Bible lies in its contents,
                                                                     not in its formal authority.
    Professor Kuitert, April 20, 1963, at the Conference
    of Christian Scientists:                                        Mr. G. Vander Wal, in "The Free University Maga-
       Genesis 1 is a story borrowed from the Babylonian             zine," Sept. 1, 1969:
    myths. God's creation has never began (sic) "good"                     Western society has to be changed radically. Its
    from the beginning. Genesis 3 is probably not a re-              pretended values are void. Democracy is a joke. We
    cord of the facts. (as reported in the Netherlands               want socialism, solidarity, creativity, autonomy, and
   Dagblad")                                                        the complete development of self. The Free Univers-


10                                                        THE STANDARD BEARER



       ity must put its services at the disposal of the oppres-            Kunst-quotations:
       sed and those who are without justice..                                Brave words by the chairman of the Synod of
      Professor Kuitert, in "Centraal  Weekblad," Nov. 8,                  Sneek  (1969-1970)!  But the brave deed did NOT
        1969:                                                              follow. . . .
          If a mother expects a child that she has not or-.             Such is the situation among many of the leaders in
       dered, she has the absolute right to request abortion.         the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands. May God
       It makes me very angry to think that society can be            give strength and courage to a faithful remnant to pre-
       against that. It has nothing to do with murder. (As a          serve the heritage of the Reformed faith.
       doctor) I would be very generous with my approval.             ECUMENICAL DEVELOPMENTS
       Professor Lever, in an interview for the NCRV, as                One does not hear a great deal these days about
       quoted in "On the Road to Damascus" of July 1,                 recent and newly concocted merger plans.  In a  way,
       1969:                                                          there seems to be a hiatus, a kind of catching of one's
          . . . by way of a process taking millions of years,         breath, a period of calm and perhaps reflection before
       man has evolved from dead oceans which slowly filled
       with algae.                                                    the new moves are made. This is, in part, because of
                                                                      the fact that the whole COCU movement (a plan to
       Drs. T. J. Baarda, in "The Reliability of The Gos-             unite nine or ten major denominations into one large
       pels," 1969:                                                   church) has recently been in the doldrums. Even the
          There are some accounts in the gospels that have
       the legendary touch, as for instance, the story of the         leaders of the plan speak pessimistically of it and of
       cursing and withering of the fig tree, or more so even,        any hope to implement it in the foreseeable future.
       that of the resurrection of some dead when Jesus                 Nevertheless, there have been some recent develop-
       died. Is it not possible that certain apocalyptic words        ments which are of more than passing interest, for they
       of Jesus have been dramatized in the rumor, the story          are developments which, in some respects, speak of a
       passed on orally by the people?                                growing strength among conservatives.
       Professor Kuitert, in "Do you understand what `you               The Southern Presbyterian Church has come to a
       read?", page 76:                                               crisis of sorts in its denominational life. For many
          Just as little as faith requires us to call white black,    years conservatives  in that denomination have vexed
       against all human observation, in the same way it              their souls over the growing liberalism of many leaders
       does not demand from us to cling to the first parents          who were intent on destroying the authority of Scrip-
       of humanity as historical figures, against all scientific      ture and leading the Church into the devious by-ways
       evidence.                                                      of a social gospel. Things came to a head at the last
       Professor H. Ridderbos, in "Trouw" of May 9,1966:              General Assembly of that denomination. The liberals
          The Church, led by the Holy Spirit, has to deter-           clearly carried the day on several key issues. For exam-
       mine what must be believed.                                    ple, a motion to rescind last year's liberal decision on
       Professor Augustyn, in "Voorlopig" of Dec. 1,1969:             abortion failed; a motion to withdraw from the N.C.C.
          The Reformed community has not paid sufficient              failed, as did a motion to withdraw from the W.C.C.
       attention to the developments in Liberal (church) cir-         But the most important issue was a plan to alter the
       cles. This isolation has been terminated.                      present boundaries of the particular synods. This issue
       Professor Kuitert, in "Anders Gezegd," page                    is closely tied up with the issue of union talks with the
       181/182:                                                       Presbyterian Church of the north, the United Presby-
          In the world in which we live now, the Gospel of            terian Church. Merger talks in the past have been fruit-
       Jesus can only be combined with resistance against             less because liberals were always unable to gain the
       the established authorities.                                   necessary three-fourths majority vote of the presby-
       Dr. P. G. Kunst, in "Trouw" of July 18, 1970:                  teries to make a merger a reality. Apparently the move
          We are in a period of deconfessionalisation, and, if        to restructure the synods is intended to do a bit of
       that process continues and expands in the Reformed             gerrymandering by empowering synods to redefine
       (Gereformeerde) Churches, WE ARE NOWHERE.                      presbytery boundaries so that the necessary  three-
       Dr. P. G. Kunst as quoted by Rev. J. H. Velema in              fourths vote for union with the more liberal church of
       "De Wekker":                                                   the north can become a reality.
          I am not planning to prevent a separation in our              Although the margin of victory was only ten votes,
       churches at any price. It is important to indicate             nevertheless, the move to restructure synods passed.
       clearly where we are going. I stick with reformed              And conservatives are now convinced that it is only a
       Churches that continue to know what they confess.
       That will result in a loss of members, of people who           matter of time before a merger with the United Presby-
       do not see any beauty in the Reformed Confession               terian Church will take place.
       any longer.                                                      The result is that four conservative organizations in
          In addition to this collection of statements, Mr. J.        the Southern Presbyterian Church has joined forces to
       VanWestenbrugge of Zwolle, Holland, who drew my                make plans to separate from their denomination to
       attention to this material, added one remark to the            continue the presbyterian and reformed witness which


                                           THE STANDARD BEARER                                                         11



they are committed to. These four organizations are way. The denomination of which they are a part has
Presbyterian Churchmen United, Presbyterian Evange- clearly, as they themselves see, gone the way of heresy.
listic Fellowship, Concerned Presbyterians and the Let them now either bring the issues to the higher
Presbyterian JouvFzal board of Directors. A committee ecclesiastical assemblies for adjudication or, without
was organized to make plans for a split and to prepare delay, separate themselves fearlessly and courageously
for a new alignment of denominations. The hope is and leave the outcome to the Lord. Then genuine re-
that conservatives in the Northern Presbyterian Church formation will result.
will join them in the future and that there will be a       The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod is caught in
re-alignment of denominations along theological lines the same tensions. The last synod meeting was, in
- with conservatives in one denomination and liberals many respects, a victory for the liberals also in that
in the other.                                             denomination. Efforts to pursue the matter of ridding
  L. Nelson Bell, a founder and editor of The Presby- Concordia Seminary of false teachers have been frus-
terian Journal and the father-in-law of Billy Graham, trated. Movements to return the Church to her
long associated with the conservatives in the southern confessional basis have been stymied. Conservatives
church, has recently announced his resignation from lost badly. And so conservatives also in this denomina-
the Journal because of his oppositioQ  to these plans for tion have formed a new organization called Federation
a schism.                                                 for Authentic Lutheranism to make plans for separa-
  It will be interesting and of considerable importance tion. The hope is that an alliance' can be formed with
to see what future developments are. We have, at this two small evangelical Lutheran bodies and perhaps
point, only two observations to make. One is that it is with the Wisconsin Synod Lutherans so that Lutheran
our earnest hope and prayer that the conservatives will- programs in parochial schools, seminaries and missions
see that at the bottom of the drift towards modernism can be carried out. Already several congregations have
and liberalism lies the church's long commitment to left the Missouri Synod Church and it is hoped that
Arminianism and that in their efforts to reform the historical Lutheranism can be preserved through the
Church they will rid the Church also of all vestiges of way of separation. The estimate made by some leaders
Arminianism and return to a genuine Calvinism which is that fifty major congregations will pull out.
is according to the Scriptures. Otherwise their move-       These are harrowing times for those who are resist-
ment will come to naught. The second is that we some- ing liberalism. It is not easy to leave a Church which
times get the impression that many leaders in the has been one's home. The future will tell whether these
conservative movement are moving slowly and cau- movements will preserve the Church.
tiously because they are more concerned about num-          There are several more items we intended to discuss.
bers and finances than the preservation of the truth of This will have to wait until our next issue.
God's Word. Church reformation is not carried on this


Feature

                       The Concern of the Reformation
                            for Christian Education (7)
                                              Rev. David Engelsma

  The Reformers did not propose schools in which the grammar, rhetoric, dialectic, music, arithmetic,
children of believers would receive instruction exclu- geometry, and astronomy. He wrote, in his work,  To
sively in the Bible. Rather, they called for and estab- the Councilmen of All Cities in Germany that They
lished schools in which capable teachers would give Establish and Maintain Christian Schools:
instruction in every branch of human knowledge.                 For my part, if I had children and could manage it,
  According to Luther, foreign languages had to be           I would have them study not only languages and his-
taught, especially Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. Instruc-        tory, but also singing and music together with the
tion in the languages was mainly for the benefit of          whole of mathematics . . .
those young men  who would preach and teach the                 How I regret now that I did not read more poets
Scriptures. In the schools of the Reformation, Luther        and historians. . .
also demanded the teaching of the "liberal arts," a The breadth of Luther's view of Christian education is
traditional, medieval description of seven subjects, apparent when, in his Sermon on Keeping Children in


12                                             THE STANDARD BEARER


School, he speaks of schools that educate men for "the        Cl-uistian, that are helpful in learning the languages;
fields of medicine and the other liberal arts," for being "books on the liberal arts, and all the other arts";
"jurists," and for the work of writing. He advocated "books of law and medicine"; and the vital "chronicles
studies in the natural sciences, the knowledge of the and histories."4-
creation and the creatures in the creation. With typical        It is obvious that the Reformation did not construe
insight, he pointed out both the nature and necessity Christian education as instruction only in the Bible.
of such scientific study by the believer:  ". . . by the Nor did the Reformation have a narrow,  suspicion-
grace of God we already recognize in the most delicate ridden view of Christian education. On the contrary, it
flower the wonders of divine goodness and  omnipo-            conceived of Christian education as embracing the
tence. We see in His creatures the Power of His Word." whole, vast sweep of God's creation.
I-It is not without humor that just as Luther assailed          That which makes this view of Christian education
Erasmus' conception of grace, so he also gibed at all the more weighty is the fact that it was held by the
Erasmus' view of nature: "Erasmus passes by all that leading Reformers in the face of vociferous objections,
(that is, God's goodness and power in the creation), objections from within the Church. Some objected
takes no account of it, and looks upon external objects that knowledge of the Bible was sufficient, because
as cows look upon a- new gate." He insisted on the this is all that matters for salvation. Others objected
teaching and enjoyment of music in the schools, both to the proposed schools in these terms: "Ha, if my son
vocal music and instrumental music. Jokingly (some can read and write German and do arithmetic, that is
school teachers will hope), he made musical ability a enough. I am going to make a businessman of him."5.
qualification for teaching: "A school-master must be Against all such objections, the Reformers insisted on
able to sing, otherwise I will hear nothing of him." full-orbed, Christian education.
Luther did not limit education to the training of the           This emphasis upon Christian schools was not a
child's mind. He saw a place for gymnastic exercises. peculiarity of the Lutheran Reformation. John Calvin
This, he thought, "produces elasticity of the body and was in basic agreement with Luther, in this matter.
preserves the health. But a great reason for (its) prac- Calvin himself was a learned man, whose writings are
tice is that people may not fall into gluttony,  licen- sprinkled with references to the noted, secular authors.
tiousness, and gambling, as is the case, alas! at courts He was a friend of the arts and sciences, as long as they
and in cities. Thus it goes when such honorable and `are subject to God's Word, which indeed is their only
manly bodily exercises are neglected."2. The physical proper place.
education department in the Christian school has a               -. - natural perspicacity is a gift of God, and the lib-
staunch supporter in Luther, `pictures of him to the             era1 arts, and all the sciences by which wisdom is
contrary notwithstanding.                                        acquired, are gifts of God. They are confined, how-
      A glance at the subjects prescribed  for the schools       ever, within their own limits; for into God's heavenly
by Luther's colleague, Philip Melanchthon, will show             kingdom they cannot penetrate. Hence they must
how far removed these schools were from "Bible                   occupy the place of handmaid, not of mistress: nay
                                                                 more, they must be looked upon as empty and worth-
schools."3. In the schools for the youngest children, in         less, until they have become entirely subject to the
addition to Biblical studies, the children had to study          word and Spirit of God. If, on the other hand, they
the primer, which contained the alphabet; read                   set themselves in opposition to Christ, they must be
Donatus; gain a good vocabulary from Cato's verses;              looked upon as dangerous pests, and, if they strive to      I
learn grammar, including etymology, syntax, and                  accomplish anything of themselves, as the worst of all
prosody; read. Aesop's fables, the dialogues of Mosel-           hindrances, and are much to be dreaded.6-
lanus, the colloquies of Erasmus, the works of Calvin took pains to dissociate `the movement of the
Terrence, Plautus, Virgil, the Metamorphoses of Ovid, Reformation from those "fanatics" who were suspi-
and the Letters of Cicero; write Latin verse; and study cious of all learning, who regarded all science as
dialectic and rhetoric. In the schools for older children, "science falsely so called," and who condemned out of
the youth learned the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew lan- hand all philosophy as "vain philosophies of men."
guages; dialectic; rhetoric; mathematics; and cos- Commenting on I Corinthians 8: 1, after he has warned
mology. In the University of Wittenberg, the faculty of against that knowledge which lacks love and which,
the liberal arts consisted of ten professors, who taught therefore, puffs up, Calvin writes:
Latin, Greek, and Hebrew literature; ethics; mathema-            At the same time, knowledge is not by any means to
tics; physics; philosophy; dialectic; and ihetoric.              be blamed for this, any more than a sword, ifit falls
      The same broad view of the scope of education for          into the hands of a madman. Let this be considered as
the children of the Church is evident when Luther                said with a view to certain fanatics, who furiously
                                                                 declaim against all the liberal arts and sciences, as if
pleads for the creation of good libraries. Among the             their only use were to puff men up, and were not
books which he recommends for inclusion are copies               most useful means and instruments, both for the
of the Bible in all languages; good commentaries on the          knowledge of God, and for the conduct of common
Bible; books of poets and orators, whether pagan or              life. Now those very persons, who defame them in


                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 13



    this style, are ready to burst with pride, to such an      Plutarch, and Plato. At the dedication ceremonies, the
    extent as to verify the old proverb - "Nothing is so       Academy was dedicated "to science and religion."`.
    arrogant as ignorance."                                                       (to be continued)
  Also Calvin worked to carry out his thoughts. on
Christian education in the establishment of a Christian l Quoted  in Luther on Education,  F.V.N. Painter,
school. In .,1559, the Academy of Geneva,was  founded,           Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, 1889.
largely as the result of Calvin's efforts. At its founding,
the Academy "consisted of two parts: a primary 2 Ibid.
school, the  college  or  scholia privata,  divided into 3 These curricula are found in Heroes of the Reforma-
seven grades and designed to serve all the youth of              tion: Philip Melanchthon,  J. W. Richard, G.P.
Geneva (the top-most class had 280 pupils that first             Putnam's Sons, New York and London, 1898.
year, and an extra teacher had to be hired at once); 4 To the Councilmen of Germany
and a more advanced Academy or  scholia  publica,
which was intended primarily to provide advanced 5 Martin Luther,  A Sermon on Keeping Children in
training in theology."7. Calvin and Beza taught in the           School
seminary. Ten capable professors taught in the college. 6 John Calvin, commentary on I Cor. 3: 19
The subjects taught in the college included grammar, 7 E. William Monter, Calvin's Geneva, John Wiley and
logic, mathematics, physics, music, and the ancient'             Sons, Inc., New York * London * Sydney, 1967.
languages. The statutes governing the college were
drawn up by Calvin. They prescribed the study of the 8 Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, Vol.
famed, secular authors, Caesar, Livy, Cicero, -Virgil,           VII, Charles  Scribner's Sons, New York, 1892, p.
Ovid, Herodotus, Xenophon, Homer, Demosthenes,                   805.


The Day of  Shadows

                               A Personal Involvement
                                                     Rev. John A. Heys

  It is well before any new undertaking to ask the our children to look at ourselves, at the present and to
question, Why?                                                 the fupre, rather than to go back to generations with
  Why ihould this new work be initiated? Why should whom we have lost contact?
the time.and effort which it requires be spent on this           In answering these questions we assume that our
project? Why is this the activity for which the moment readers receive the Scriptures as the infallible, inerrant
calls, or at least, why is it the activity which will bene- Word of God. Those who do not receive them as such
fit us today?                                                  are not able to give the correct answer to these ques-
  These questions certainly are in order, and ought to tions, nor will they be able to follow us in our answer
be asked, as we with these lines begin what.will be, the       taken from the Scriptures. And the answer taken from
Lord willing, a lengthy series of visits with the Old Scripture must be accepted, because no one is able to
Testament saints i and sinners'- from Adam onward, prove that the Scriptures are not the infallible, inerrant
who, though they are dead, yet speak to us from the Word of God. Men may claim that they are not. They
pages of Holy Writ.                                            may be vehement in their denial of, or be subtle in
  Why should we consider the earthly and spiritual their attack upon the truth. But they cannot prove
lives of men who lived so many generations ago? Why            their claim. It is still nothing but the creature's word
concern ourselves with the problems and actions of over against the Creator's word. It is nothing more
people whose names we have difficulty pronouncing, than the theory of a creature who at best sees only
who lived in lands where we have never been, and seventy to eighty years of the history of this world,
whose very existence is questioned today by many then by death has his mouth silenced, and not only
"leai-ned" men?                                                loses his power to uphold and propagate his theory,
  We have our own problems of this present day,                but will appear before the God Whose word he has
problems of drugs and crime, of social inequalities and ascribed to fallible men. It still is the proud denial of a
unrest, of war and riots, of disease and environmental         creature who was not there, and yet dares to call Him
pollution. Would it not be better to devote words, and         Who was there a liar!
lines, and paragraphs and pages to these at-hand prob-           What then is the answer to these questions? Why
lems of our own? Should we not, do we not owe it to investigate, dig into this ancient history, weigh it in the


14                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



light of the New Testament Scriptures, and review the spoken and written for us.
actions of the enemies who are now in the lake of fire?      You have His word for that in II Timothy  3:16,
Yes, you guessed the answer. Our title gave you the where Paul declares, "All scripture is given by inspira-
clue. We are personally involved. We may not want to tion of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof,
be involved. It might please our flesh to deny that for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That
Adam is our first father, the root of the whole human the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished
race and its corporate head. Our folly may cause us to unto all good works." God gave it for the man of God.
prefer an ancestry that can be found behind the bars in And all this Old Testament is for our doctrinal emich-
some zoo, or climbing a tree in the jungle, swinging by ment, for reproof unto us, for our correction and for
its tail  and' sporting ridiculously silly features com- our instruction in righteousness, that we may be per-
pared with those which we see in man. Yet we are fect and be fully equipped unto every good work.
personally involved. And God says that we are. To            At the same time, and for this very reason, the Old
mind comes the text in Romans 5: 12, "Wherefore, as Testament Scriptures are the gospel, the good news of
by one man sin entered into the world and death by salvation, They are not simply the background of salva-
sin, so death passed upon all men, for that all have tion, the background of the gospel. They are the gos-
sinned." And again in I Corinthians 15:22, "For as in pel, the good news God gives us in His Son. They do
Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive," from Genesis through Malachi speak the truth that
to say nothing of Luke 3 where the line from Joseph is "Christ is Coming," while, the New Testament Scrip-
traced down to Adam and back.                              tures declare that "Christ is Come." Yet to all the
      We are descendants of Adam, and of Seth and of saints in the Old Testament dispensation God spoke
Noah. And although Scripture is not a history book of the good news of salvation in Christ. This also we pur-
the human race, but rather the record of the work of pose to hold before your eyes throughout this whole
the Son of God as He gathers from the beginning to series of visits with the saints, both in the old world
the end of the world a church chosen to everlasting life before the flood, and with those in the new world under
(together with an account of the enemies of that the law and in the days of the shadows. We will, the
church who foolishly rage and imagine that they can Lord willing, from the first Adam's appearance to the
destroy her), this record reveals that we are involved as Last Adam's advent hear of salvation in Christ. We will
branches on the tree of which Adam is the root, but see that, from the creation of the heavens and the
also as members of that Church that the Son of God is earth, and from the moment that God called into being
gathering. This is  our  history as such descendants of the light, God was bringing forth the Christ. This we
Adam and of Eve, but also as branches on the true begin to consider more in detail next time. But at the
Vine. And a consideration of this truth will work in us moment let us consider that all sixty six books of the
a richer appreciation of the fact that we are also per- Bible are the gospel. All reveal the good news of salva-
sonally involved in that salvation which is in Christ. In tion in Christ when seen in the light of the whole. All
the measure that we are spiritual and concerned with do not reveal that good news in the same way. For that
our salvation, we will want to visit those whom the matter neither do Matthew, Mark, Luke and John pre-
Son of God gathered out of the Old Testament dispen- sent it in exactIy the same way. All manifest the love of
sation, by meeting them on the pages of Holy Writ. God for His people. All therefore reveal Christ through
For, and get this, these are the people with whom we Whom that love is dispensed to the Church. And when
shall spend eternity! With these we shall eternally be our series is finished, and we lay our pen down, we
involved in singing God's praises in the new Jerusalem. trust that the Spirit will have opened our eyes to some
These are members of the same body to which we beautiful manifestations of this truth, some marvellous
belong. Surely we wish to listen to them as they speak works of God, so that we shall in our souls sing the
a word of warning and of encouragement, witness to us song of Moses and of the Lamb: "Great and marvellous
of the Son of God and sing the praises of our God. are Thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are
Their struggle is our struggle. Their victory is our vic- Thy ways, thou King of saints." (Revelation 15 :3)
tory. Their hope is our hope. Their Saviour is our           We have, therefore, a calling in regard to these Old
Saviour.                                                   Testament Scriptures. That calling, first of all, is to
 Let us, then, consider certain truths which should listen to what God has to say to us. As already sug-
rule us in our consideration of what is recorded con- gested, these saints do speak to us. The author of the
cerning them. And let us bear in mind, first of all, that epistle to the Hebrews declares that of Abel in
this whole record is God's word to us. Not only must Hebrews 11:4 when he writes that `"he was righteous,
we stress that all of it, every word from Genesis 1: 1 God testifying of his gifts; and by it he being dead yet
through Revelation 22:21 is the Word of God, but also speaketh." Yet it is God Who speaks to us through
that it is His word to  US. It  was  not written for the him. And it is God Who has something to say to us
world, although it pleases God at times to cause the today in these historical accounts which He has pre-
world to come in contact with that Word, but it was served, and which are a part of His infallible Word. It


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                           15



behooves us, therefore, to listen to Him and to learn          that it is not relevant, and in answer to our original
what He has to say to us. We are not to speak and tell         questions as to why we ought to treat this history
Him what a given passage means. It is our duty to              today, they have no answer. They, too, will ask,
listen to Him interpret His Own Word. We must then             "Why?" But their answer will be, "There is no reason
take any given passage in the light of the whole. We           why we should." And it is because men do not see
must let Scripture interpret Scripture and bow before          Christ, the true Christ in the New Testament Scrip-
its testimony. If we do that, we can never throw away          tures, that they cannot find Him in the Old Testament
the first eleven chapters of Genesis as fiction with a         writings either. But seeing Him in the New Testament,
moral, a teaching in them. Instead we will cherish these       we have the advantage over the saints whose lives we
eleven chapters and let the light of the New Testament         purpose to treat. And let us not be guilty, then, of not
shine on them. We will not run to some proud, prating          seeking Christ in this Old Testament history. Yea, let
scientists, - so-called. We will not listen to what men        us be sure that we find Him with His cross. For with-
have to say, but to what God says.                             out that cross He is no Saviour, and without finding
  The second element we are called to do with the Old          that cross we will find no comfort or peace in consider-
Testament Scriptures, and particularly in these histori-       ing the lives of the saints in the Old Testament dispen-
cal events is to look for Christ and His cross. Always         sation.
we must find Him as the Seed of the woman Who is                 The continuity of the contributions in this depart-
vehemently hated by the seed of the serpent. Always            ment will be that of the history itself. We will not try
we must see Him as the Seed of the woman who                   to attach the various articles to each other, and will
crushes the serpent and his seed for us. If we do that         seek to avoid carrying a subject over to the next issue.
we will find that blessed truth of Scripture that we are       Rather our plan is to write contributions to this de-
saved by grace and not by works. The Jews so often             partment which are a complete thought in themselves.
did not see Christ in the types and shadows, and ex-           At times we may go rather slowly. And then again we
actly therefore they sought salvation by the works of          may take larger and broader steps. But exactly because
the law. They sought salvation by their work of bring-         our plan is to have each contribution to this depart-
ing a lamb, instead of seeking it in The Lamb of God.          ment a whole thought in itself, we, will have to find
  It is also because men today do not see Christ in the        Christ in every incident, and in the lives of all His
Old Testament Scriptures that they say especially of it        saints of the Old Testament dispensation.


Contending for the Faith

                              The Doctrine of Atonement
                                           THE REFORMATION PERIOD
                                               THE SYNOD OF DORDT

                                                   Rev. H. Veldman

  In our preceding article we had begun to call atten-         declare that these benefits are given exclusively to the
tion to the opinions as expressed by the delegates to          elect. They do declare that they are bestowed upon the
the Synod of Dordt from Great Britain. And we had              elect, but not that they are given  only  to the elect.
quoted their first proposition which they had pre-             And, the Lord willing, we will have opportunity to
sented to that synod for its consideration.                    show that this exclusive character of the bestowal of
  Their second proposition reads, as follows: "Out of salvation as only upon the elect is emphasized in the
this same love, through and because of the merits and          Canons.
intercession of Christ, these same elect are given faith,        The third proposition, somewhat longer than the first
and the perseverance, and all other matters, through           two, we wish to quote in full:
which the condition of the covenant is fulfilled, and                     God, having mercy upon the fallen human race,
the promised benefit, that is, everlasting life is obtained        has sent His Son, Who gave Himself, as a ransom
infallibly."                                                       price, for the sins of the whole world.
                                                                     In this sacrifice of Christ we note two things. The
  Again, one cannot object to this statement as such,              manner of calling people to the actual imparting of
except that we do not speak of the conditions of the               this sacrifice, and the fruit of the same sacrifice as
covenant. However, we can make the same remark as                  diversely bestowed upon men.
in connection with their first proposition: they do not                   Concerning the manner, there is no man who can-


16                                                       THE STANDARD BEARER


       not be called truly and earnestly by the ministers of         atonement in one breath and then of the atonement as
       the Gospel unto the imparting of the forgiveness of           for the elect is hardly clear and unambiguous lan-
       sins and of everlasting life, obtained by this death of       guage. And the Canons certainly do not speak this lan-
       Christ; Acts 13:38, 39, Unto you be it known; that
       forgiveness of sins is preached unto you through              guage.
                                                                       The fifth proposition of the theologians of Great
       Christ, etc.; John 3: 17; Whosoever believeth not, he is
       damned, because he did not believe in the Son of              Britain reads as follows:
       God. Now, in the Gospel there is nothing false or                       In the Church, where, according to the promise of
       feigned, but whatever therein is offered by the Minis-            the Gospel, salvation is offered to all, the administra-
       ters or is promised to men, the same is offered and               tion of grace is of such a nature that it is sufficient to
       promised by the author of the Gospel in the same                  convince all the penitent and unbelievers that they,
       manner.                                                           through their own wilful fault and either because of
          As concerning the fruit; out of the death of Christ,           neglect or despising of the Gospel have perished and
       in which is contained an infinite treasure of merits              have lost the offered benefit.
       and spiritual blessings, the actual fruit is bestowed           It has been stated in the past that the word "of-
       upon people in the same manner and measure, and               fered" as used by the fathers in the days of the Canons
       through the same means as it pleases God. Now, it             of Dordt meant: "to present, exhibit." However, in the
       pleases God, also after He has accepted the sacrifice,        light of the third proposition of these divines of Great
       that the forgiveness of sins and everlasting life shall be    Britain, one gains the impression that there is a general
       imparted to everyone in no other way than through             grace of God connected with this "offer" of the gos-
       faith in the same Redeemer. And here that eternal
       and hidden decree of election is revealed, when that          pel. In the explanation of this proposition one reads
       price, which is paid for all, and which will surely help      this paragraph: "That not all are called to the grace of
       all believers unto everlasting life, nevertheless is not      the Gospel, to whom the Gospel is preached, is not
       helpful to all, because it is not given to all .that they     stating it correctly, however true it may be that there
       should fulfill this condition of the unmerited cov-           are those who are disobedient to the Gospel. Here they
       enant. Thus, then, Christ died for all, in order that all     declare that it is incorrect to say that not all are called
       and everyone, faith coming between them, through              to the grace of the gospel to whom the gospel is
       the power of this ransom price might obtain forgive-          preached. And we are of the opinion that these theolo-
       ness of sins and everlasting life. Thus did He die for        gians of Great Britain are of the opinion that all to
       the elect, in order that they out of the merits of His        whom the gospel is preached are graciously called.
       death, according to God's eternal good pleasure, par-
       ticularly ordained for them, infallibly obtain faith            In the summation of the errors they reject, these dele-
       and everlasting life.                                         gates from Great Britain are generally sound..However,
      What must one say of this third proposition? In this we do wish to quote the first error they reject. This
statement by the theologians of Great Britain, one reads as follows: "The first; the death of Christ having
reads of being called truly and earnestly by the minis- been set forth; is, that there is no other purpose of
ters of the Gospel, and this language `one also en- God to save any particular persons except condition-
counters in our Canons of Dordt. However, instead of ally, and depending upon the actual deed of man's
teaching that men are called unto repentance and faith faith." This, we believe, is stating the truth weakly. We
in the preaching of the gospel, and that the Lord prom- read here that it is an error to state that God's only
ises eternal rest and peace to all those who come unto purpose to save men is a conditional purpose. This can
Him, we read here that the author of the Gospel offers surely imply that God has also purposed to save men
and promises salvation to all who hear the gospel. In conditionally.
the third paragraph of this third proposition, there is                Next, we turn our attention to the delegates from
surely nothing particular as applicable only to the the Palatinate, "uit de Palts." In the quotations from
elect. Besides, we also read in this statement, toward these delegates, we must bear in mind that they pre-
its conclusion, that Christ died for all men. We read, if sent the position of the Arminians and then proceed to
you please, that Christ died for all, in order that all and refute them. These quotations are surely of great signi-
everyone, faith intervening, through the power of this ficance. The Three Points of 1924 are a mixture of Dr.
ransom price might obtain forgiveness of sins and ever- A. Kuyper's Common Grace and general grace. The
lasting life. And in the very beginning of this third former refers to God's general goodness to all men as
proposition, these delegates from Great Britain declare revealed in the things of this present time. And .the
that the Son of God gave Himself for the sins of the latter refers to the saving grace of God's salvation as
whole world. Now it is certainly true that the Son of Divinely intended for all men and revealed in the uni-
God gave Himself for the sins of the whole world, pro- versal atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ and in the
vided that we understand "world" as referring to all preaching of the gospel, which is presented as a general
mankind as out of every tribe, people, land and offer of salvation to all who hear this preaching of the
tongue. But one can hardly believe that this is the gospel. We should bear this in mind as we listen to
meaning of these English divines. To speak of universal these quotations. We now quote the following:


                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER                                                          17


                      FIRST PROPOSITION                               mercy general, whereby He is merciful to whom He
       God the father has ordained His Son Jesus Christ               will, Rom. 9:18;  neither is also that grace common
    to be a Redeemer and Reconciler for our sins, out of              to all, out of which these are given faith in
    that love whereby He has loved men, although fallen               Christ and not to others, Matt.  13:ll. Hence,
    and worthy of condemnation, nevertheless as His                   the love of the Father in  Christ, then, is no
    creatures; and has willed to be merciful unto them, if            longer common; whereas the Scriptures exchange
    this could occur as in any way in harmony with His                these things as equally important and as among one
    righteousness.                                                    another; 2Tim. 1:9; Rom. 3:24, and 5:8, and else-
                                                                      where. Christ Himself, John 4:10, calls Himself a gift
                          JUDGMENT                                    of God, Who has come forth out of the love of the
       A general inclination of the love of God, whereby              Father and His goodness toward us.
    He loves all His creatures, but especially the human                 It is general and equally common to all? This none
    race, we mutually acknowledge and confess with one                wilI lightly say, who has learned from Paul that God
    mouth. The Heavenly Father also reaches out in His                has given us His son thus that He with him at the
    goodness toward man, also after the fall, giving us               same time gives what is necessary unto salvation; wis-
    life, breath and all things, Acts 17:25;  causing His son         dom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption,
    to go up over the evil and the good, and causing it to            I Cor. 1:30. Thus it remains a special gift, ordained
    rain upon the righteous and unrighteous, Matt. 5:45.              out of a peculiar and special love of God, in order to
    Yea, in the constant habit and exercise of sinning, He            redeem the elect and to save the believers. Hence,
    endures the sinners with great longsuffering, in order            Paul declares that God is a Saviour or Sustainer of all
    that He at least with goodness should break their evil,           men, but especially the believers, I Tim. 4:lO;
    Rom. 2:4. And when He punishes and destroys the                  The Lord willing, we will continue with this quota-
    stubborn and impenitent, He has no delight in the             tion in our following article. We understand, of course,
    destruction of the creatures but in the carrying out of       that these delegates to the Great Synod of Dordt here
    His righteous judgment, Is.  1:24. This is truly an           set forth their belief in a general goodness of God as
    eminent love to sinners. But more eminent and higher
    one may justly regard the love by which God, being            extending to the things of this present time. This is A.
    moved, has given us His Son to be a Saviour for our           Kuyper's Common Grace. But they are very firm in
    sins. The same we set forth not as general but as par-        their maintaining that the love of God as revealed in
    ticular, not common to all and every man, but as              Christ Jesus is very particular, extending only to the
    peculiar for the elect. For that love is nothing else         elect, and they deny emphatically that this good pleas-
    than a good pleasure to save in Christ, Eph. 1:4,5. Is        ure of the Father also extends to the reprobates. This
    this the good pleasure of the Father with respect to          goodness or mercy or love of God as in Christ is not
    the salvation of alI men? Christ denies this plainly,         common but very particular. To these interesting mat-
    Matt. 11:25, 26. Moreover, it is obvious that God's           ters we expect to call attention the next time.
    purpose is not general, Rom. 8:28, 29; neither is His


The  Strength  of Youth

                                     The Christian Wife
                                                         Rev. J. Kortering

  The Christian wife and mother must do a great deal for it does. Presently you are going to set up your own
of sighing nowadays. It is inconceivable that any dedi- home and then you face the practical question con-
cated wife and mother who knows the teaching of cerning your idea of the proper role of husband and
Scripture concerning her place in the home, should wife in the home. You do well to read and think con-
join the raucous cry of the women's lib movement. The cerning the issues.
entire movement adds insult to injury for the Chris- THE ATTACK
tian woman.                                                          Kate Millett is outspoken in her role as leader of the
  What has this to do with the strength of youth? A women's lib. Her most well known book is entitled,
great deal! You covenant young people are forming "Sexual Politics," and in it she writes concerning the
your ideas concerning the role of men and women in                plight of modern women, "Two leading myths in
society, not only, but also in the home. You are bear- western culture are to blame, the classical tale of
ing the brunt of the present day attack upon the tradi- Pandora's box and the biblical story of the fall." Both,
tional Christian values. As young people you cannot in her estimation, prejudice men against women and
brush this subject aside and say it doesn't concern you,          subject her to discrimination. The spirit of her move-


18                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



ment is to elevate women on a level with men, or one         Christ. Therefore, Christ must sustain and enlighten
gets the impression, to exalt women over men. This has       every man who is thus called to this responsible task.
many practical implications for marriage. It is sug- The guide for the husband is not human opinion, but
gested that trial marriages are good, the idea being that    the Word of God. The law of God is spelled out in
compatibility can be determined without the legal            detail in the Bible and it is the calling of the husband
entanglements of marriage. If one marries, the couple to know this and enforce it in the home. (4) The hus-
should determine whether they want children.                 band must give account for his conduct to God. With
Perhaps it would be for the good of the wife and hus-        every responsible position is also accountability. The
band that no children be born, but that each be per-         husband is accountable to God for the things of the
mitted to develop his own career. If children are de-        home, even as the elder is in the church and the rulers
sired, the couple should decide who will stay home and are for the government of the nation.
care for the children. It is seriously suggested that          A further question comes to mind. Why did God
many men are more qualified to care for children than make man the head of the home? Notice carefully the
many women and therefore in such cases the woman             form this question takes. We assume by this question
should continue her career and the man care for the that God is the one who made man the head of the
children at home. The idea is that men and women are home. We disagree entirely with the position of the
not confined to certain roles by virture of their sex, for women's lib that man assumed this position to himself.
sexual identification has nothing to do with it. Each        By the language that some proponents of this move-
must be judged on their individual interests and             ment use, you would think that man by hook and
abilities.                                                   crook grabbed this position away from the woman.
      This we suggest is an attack upon the Scriptural role This is wrong. God appointed man to the position of
which God gives to the husband and wife within the head. We ask why?
bonds of holy marriage. In our last article we suggested       The answer is two-fold.
that the formula for the Christian home may be found
in Eph. 5:21, "Submitting yourselves one to another in         First, the relationship of marriage demands only one
the fear of God." If we truly have the fear of God, we head. It is folly to speak of two bosses at work, two
will receive God's specifications for our respective roles teachers in the class room, two presidents of the
in the home.                                                 country; likewise it is folly to speak of two heads in
                                                             the home. The nature of marriage itself, as well as
THE HEADSHIP OF THE HUSBAND                                  home life, demands only one head. This is demon-
       According to Eph. 5:22-24, the role of the Chris- strated for us in the original marriage. God made Adam
tian wife is to submit herself to her husband. The rea- first, then Eve as helpmeet. Eve's creation was not in-
son for this is also given, the husband is the head of the dependent of Adam; rather Eve was taken out of
wife, even as Christ is the head of the Church. This is Adam, her life was derived from the man and therefore
not the only place in Scripture where this is indicated; subordinate to him. God made only one head of the
consider I Cor. 11: 3, "But I would have you to know human race: that man was Adam and Eve was to assist
that the head of the man is Christ and the head of him. This principle carries through the whole of Scrip-
woman is the man and the head of Christ is God."             ture. I Tim. 2:  12,13,  "For I suffer not a woman to
      What is included in the  headship of the husband teach nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in
over the wife. Let's notice the following elements. (1) silence, for Adam was first formed then Eve."
Headship involves rule. In a very real sense the husband       Secondly, God made a natural difference between
is the king of the home. His calling is to exercise the men and women, a natural difference that aids each
law of God as it is applied to the domestic scene. To one in his God-defined role. God gave the man the
do this he must determine what is right and wrong, natural gift to be ruler and head of the home, God
promote the right and forbid the wrong. (2) This law made the woman to have the natural gifts of home-
which gives the husband the right to rule is the law of maker and mother. Thus we read in I Peter 3:7, "Give
love. This emphasized in verse 25, "Husbands love honor to the wife as the weaker vessel." Read the
your wives." The rule of the Christian husband is to beautiful description the Holy Spirit gives of the Chris-
take God's law of love and in the way of love, apply it tian wife and mother in Proverbs 3 1. God made her for
to the daily needs of the family. Hence a Christian this domestic role in the home.
husband is not a tyrant, a law unto himself. As Christ         I realize that by nature we may not like our  God-
rules the Church, so a husband ,must rule his wife. (3)      given roles. There are many men who do not want the
The power of this rule is not inherent in the man, but responsibility of headship, there are many aggressive
is given to him by Christ. It is not a question of the women who want to usurp it. The reason for this is not
supremacy of the man over the woman in natural due to the lack of clarity in the Scriptures; rather,
terms; rather, it is a question of divine assignment! The fallen man rebels against God's assignment. Sin did not
role of husband is a calling given to him by Jesus           obliterate these roles; rather corrupt man violates his


                                             THE'STANDARD BEARER                                                 19



responsibility concerning them. It is only when we rec- husband, she must obey him. The marriage vow em-
ognize the truth of Eph.  5:21 that we  will say in the phasizes this in distinction from the vow of the hus-
fear of God: this is my calling. Anything else will only band. If a faithful wife listens carefully, she will also
bring confusion and every evil work as we see it before do what her husband says. The law of God will not be
our eyes today. One cannot rebel against God without scorned; it will be furthered by her.
reaping the consequence of such sin, which is death.          Finally, the church gladly gives the glory to Christ
This we also see today in the chaos that the women's her Lord. This is proper: since the word of love and
liberation movement produces in our land.                   gospel of grace comes to the church from Jesus Christ,
                                                            she gladly calls him Lord and honors Him for His posi-
THE WI FE'S SUBMISSION                                      tion. Thus God receives all the glory eternally. And so
  A wife is to submit herself to her husband as the it must be with the wife. The joy of the Christian
church is subject to Christ. We can delineate four home is enhanced when the wife responds to her hus-
things.                                                     band and gladly recognizes that her place is to make
  First, the church must recognize Christ's lawful him truly happy in the Lord, thus enabling him to
place as its head. We read, "as- Christ is head of the fulfill his task in the world.
church, and he is the savior of the body," verse 23.          By mentioning this, we do not imply that there is no
The idea is this: Christ is Savior, therefore he is head. sharing of the responsibilities of life between husband
Remember Christ secured the marriage-license through and wife. How wonderful it is when both talk together
the shedding of His blood on the cross. We are be- concerning the important things of life. Remember the
trothed to Him and the wedding will take place upon formula: Submitting yourselves one to another. This
His return. God exalted Christ by making Him the both husband and wife must do as each must seek
head of the church. Therefore the church must recog- spiritual wisdom from God. A Christian wife is a good
nize Christ's lawful place. So it is true for the wife in influence upon her husband as a husband is upon his
relation to her husband. Marriage opens the way for wife. They must discuss their most intimate desires. It
man, the husband, to assume his responsible place over is not proper for a husband.to say, "I leave it up to my
a woman, the wife, not only, but the entire family that wife how many kids she wants. "No, they must prayer-
may come forth from such a union. If a wife is to be        fully consider this together. Finances are considered
subject to her husband, she must recognize her hus- together in the fear of God. Responsibility in the
band's God-given place.                                     church must be discussed and decided upon mutually.
  Secondly, the church must listen to Christ. Because The care of children and problems that result must be
Christ is the Lord of the church, he has the say over discussed together.
her. All the church professes to believe and all she is       The point is that the final decision must be made by
called to do is determined by what instruction Christ one, and that person is the husband. And in all lawful
gives to her. So also a husband must give instruction to things, the wife is to subject to him in this decision.
his wife and a wife must listen to her husband. She No, she does not sell her soul to him, she must be
must be devoted to him, assisting him in carrying out subject to him as they together are subject to Christ.
the law of God as it applies to the home.                     This produces harmony in the home.
  Thirdly, the church must obey Christ. Notice care-          You see why we need the fear of God in order to be
fully, this means that we must do more than listen, we willing to accept this God-defined role in life. We must
must act upon the instruction of Christ. This elimi- truly know Him and stand in awe before Him if we are
nates "Sunday Christians." If we, as the bride of to bow and say, "Speak Lord, for thy servant
Christ, listen in obedience to our husband, we will im- heareth."
plement in our daily lives what He tells us. This obedi-      May God give us hearing ears and willing hearts, and
ence is one of love. So with a wife in relation to her the peace of God will rest upon our homes.


Mission News
                           News from  Jamacica
             The LORD said to Isaac in a crucial time of his life. . . Sojourn in this land, and I will be
           with thee. "                                                                      Gen. 26:4a.

  Once more we are in the land of Jamaica, a "little        off-beat Calypso music. We had the singular privilege
island in the sun" as the song goes accompanied by          to be home in the States for about four weeks. These


20                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



were good days at home, busy days packed with activ- ston to the Chief Emigration Officer in due time and
ity. There was not a dull moment. When we set our have our Visas extended. We thought of I Peter 2: 13
foot on American soil in Miami, the first impression we "Submit yourselves to every human ordinance. . . ."
had was that we were no longer sojourners abroad. We         Yes, we often think of the advantage which Paul had
were home! We were in the land of our birth and in this respect. The Romans had conquered the entire
earthly citizenship. This was evident from our rapport world around the Mediterranean Sea. And all the land
with the Emigration officers, the customs agents, and was under the Roman sceptre. And Paul was a Roman
the entire atmosphere about us. But what really was Citizen by birth, born in the city of Tarsus. He did not
home was when our children and grandchildren met us need to live in the various countries as a "sojourner"
at the Airport in O'Hare Field with placards "Welcome with a passport or as one in need of a "Work Permit."
Home Grandpa and Grandma, we love you . . . Wel- Paul was a tent-maker by trade and freely plied his
come Missionaries From Jamaica."                           trade wherever he went to support himself and those
      While at home amidst the churches we might spend who were with him He would live off the land but not
a busy and happy time. We preached twice in Love- off the. people of God. But Jamaica does not allow a
land, Colorado, once in South Holland, Illinois, and "sojourning" preacher to live off the land and must
finally twice in our calling church, First Church, Grand control this officially. They have here "preachers"
Rapids, Michigan. We might speak before a large audi- who come "in faith" and then somehow live off the
ence one Sunday evening at First Church, Grand land. This is not permitted. This makes for many bu-
Rapids, composed of the brethren and sisters also of reaus and delays. Twice we applied for a "Work Per-
the surrounding churches. We spoke in Loveland, Col- mit" and as often received no reply, either from the
orado and in Hull, Iowa (Doon and Eggerton present) Jamaica Embassy in New York City, or from the Mini-
and in Pella, Iowa and, finally, in South Holland, Illi- stry of Labor and National Insurance here on the
nois. We rode with our daughter Agatha and Winnie island. Now we have made a third application and pre-
Koole and might cover some 3000 miles in twelve days sented it in person to the Ministry of Labor, applied
and speak seven times. And we thrived on it. We were for extended Visas in the Ministry of Home Affairs and
loved, feasted and treated as dear brethren and sisters are now informed that the matter is being investigated,
in Christ. We are only too sorry that we could not, too, both the records and the nature of our work from the
have spoken in Isabel, who sent a letter requesting us data which we offered the government. We cannot be-
to come there, too, for an evening. We were in the lieve that our request for a "Work Permit" will be
"land that I love" and we enjoyed it "from the moun- turned down.
tains to the prairies." It was wonderfully thrilling to      Unless the Lord shows it differently, I believe that He
behold the works of God.. Three -times we were feasted says to us as He said to Isaac "Sojourn in this land, and
with perfect double rainbows after the storms. It was a I will be with thee!"
message of God. And the cloudy pillars of God's              We cannot say how long our sojourn will be here.
throne were a beautiful sight to behold as we sped We look forward to another year of work, labor, toil.
across the plains. And the majesty of the "eternal" And soon another year flits by when one is busy and
mountains, Long's Peak with its beckoning heights, occupied. Tempus Figit.
outdoing the other lofty mountain peaks is unforget-         As we look into the future we see our schedule. The
table. And then we thought of lowly Zion, and of the ministers of the "Protestant Reformed Churches in
heavenly City, beautiful for situation, the joy of all the Jamaica" have agreed with the plan that undersigned
earth.                                                     preach for a few weeks consecutively in each church.
      Now we have once more left the shores of our This will make for more constructive work by the un-
homeland. And the first experience in the Pan Am dersigned and make a better base on which to judge of
plane was that we were leaving our homeland for a a sustained interest in the Gospel as we preach it as a
foreign country. We were to be once more "sojourners missionary minister. There is ever much work here
in the land." When we showed our plane ticket in Miami with the Building Program, the poor and the needy.
we were held up because one stamp in our "Passport" And last but not the least is the labor of teaching
book showed that we had received our visa on June 8, students in the school. The Lord willing, school will
1970 for one year and another showed the imprint of again begin on September 8, 197 1. We do feel that it
the Immigration officers at Montego Bay Visas for one will be necessary for us to hold school one day per
year, September 9, 1970. Grudgingly the officer at Pan week instead of two days. The drive is really too far
Am honored our ticket (which was one-way) and for twice per week. It is 134 miles for each trip. So we
warned us that if we were deported we were on our will try to hold school one day for 5% hours, instead
own responsibility and not on that of Pan Am! I had of two days and four hours each day. It must be re-
been warned. We proved to be correct that our Visas membered that we also' hold "Discussions" with the
were good till September 8, 1971. However, we were ministers every other week here for three hours. So
courteously informed that we should proceed to King- that our teaching would be eight and a half hours one


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                   21



week and five and a half hours the other week. This         deacons constantly be held up on the wings of prayer.
would free our hands a bit for an occasional mid-week       Be assured that we welcome also your letters, cards
service. I believe that this will meet with the approval    and all the tokens of your love. You are ever in our
of the Mission Committee as well as with the brethren       minds and prayers. God bless you and keep you all,
here.                                                       dear people of God.
  I believe it in order that I say to you "Pray for us."      Sojourn in the land and God be with you!
May all our ministers, professors, teachers, elders and


From Holy Writ

                          Exposition of  .Hebrews
                                                 Rev. G. Lubbers

NOAH.WARNED OF GOD (Hebrews `I  I:71                        divine time-table. It was one hundred twenty years be-
   The warnings of God are to be heeded by His ser- fore the actual fulfillment in the Flood. Unbelief, as
vants, both by the prophets and by others! These warn- we see in the world of Noah's day, would not accept
ings of the LORD are quite different from those of men, the Word of God. But the veracity of the event lies
especially His predictive warnings concerning the judg- exactly in the prediction, and that it comes to pass
ments of the world and concerning the ultimate salva- according to it. It proves to be no mere happenstance,
tion of the Church of Christ in the world. It is the        a freak of nature, a breaking of the harmony of the
Son  of, God Who gathers and defends His church,            Deistically conceived Universe which runs according to
elected unto everlasting life, in the unity of faith. And positive "laws of nature." But this is the warning Word,
His ways are in the Sanctuary. His footsteps are seen in the oracle of God, spoken from His holy throne, sum-
every day of the world's existence in His secret provi- moning men and women, all the godless, into His
dence. And if ever we saw this Word of God fulfilled in court, and proclaiming to all that the "end of all flesh
the cataclysmic judgment, it was in the days of Noah. is come before Him." Noah was to heed this summons
Forever afterwards the sacred  re.cord speaks of "as it of God when all the world comes and stands in the
was in the days of Noah." This became the divine pat- fury of God's mighty judgment! We do well to notice
tern of the final catastrophic overthrow of the world in this announcement as proof that the Flood was the
the last day!                                               work of God in His mighty judgment.
   Hebrews 11: 7 says that Noah was "warned of God.",         Besides, this warning, as to its positive instructions,
The term here employed in the Greek is  chreesrnat- must be carefully noticed by Noah. He must build an
istheis.  This term is employed by the writer to the ark. And he is instructed in the minutest details how
Hebrews also in Hebrews 8:5 and  12:25. In Hebrews he is to build this ark. He is told who and what will go
8: 5 the .writer speaks of Moses being warned of God. into the ark. He must prepare an ark for himself and
He is warned by the Lord that he make the tabernacle for the animals of every kind, so that in a "new world"
according to the pattern shown him on the mount, (Ex- there may be survivors. God will not create a new
odus 25:40). Moses was to be very meticulous in build- world, but He will continue the world's history
ing the tabernacle and its furnishings; he was in no case through this ark. The ark is, so to speak, the medium
to follow any design of his own ideas and fabrication. of the new world. Here the church will be preserved in
Moses was in ~no sense of the word to design the divine the context of the cosmos! That is the "covenant"
symbolism of the covenant of the Triune God. When which the Lord makes and remembers with Noah.
we turn to Hebrews 12:25, we notice that the author These words to Noah are covenantal words rooted in
of the Hebrews warns the church by way of compari- God's sovereign love and mercy. Noah found "grace"
son. He points out how God spoke on earth to men in the eyes of the Lord. He was a vessel of mercy
with His warnings. It may have been a less perfect prepared by the Lord for His purpose in His sovereign
revelation of God to Moses and Israel when compared love. Noah did not find mercy because he "walked"
with the final and heavenly, but it was nonetheless a with God. On the contrary, Noah walked with God
"warning," a divine oracle which was heeded. These because he had found favor with the Lord. Had the
warnings and threatenings were the words of God en- Lord not named him "Noah" through his father, as we
trusted to Israel. And that was Israel's chief advantage, read, "And he (Lamech) called his name Noah, saying,
(Romaris 3: l-3)                                            This same shall comfort us concerning our work and
   The timing of this warning was according to the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the


22                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                       *



Lord hath cursed?" Pray, how did Lamech prophesy            God concerning unseen things and worked while it was
this? Did he do so by some vague human premonition?         day, ere the night come in which no man can work.
That no Bible student worthy of the name will hold. And this Noah did in spite of the evil men of his day,
Lamech prophesied here as a divine indication that while the long suffering of God waited! (I Peter 3:20;
Noah had been separated for the "comfort" of the Luke  17:26, 27) Noah did not hesitate and say,
church from his mother's womb. Thus in the covenant         "Whereby shall I know that this will come to pass?" as
of grace for the church from his mother's womb. Thus did Abraham and Zacharias and Gideon. The godly
in the covenant of  graces for the church of God in fear was instantaneous with the divine warning. Notice
Noah's day it is: comfort ye, comfort ye my people.         the two aorist participles both alike, showing that the
      And then when Noah was five hundred thirty years action was contemporaneous.  (Pistei . . .  chreematis-
old, and after he had been a  ".preacher of righteous- theis. _ . eulabeetheis.)
ness" for centuries, he was told of what God would do       NOAH CONDEMNS THE WORLD AND BECOMES
for the "comfort" of the church, and what He likewise       H E I R   O F   R I G H T E O U S N E S S   B Y   F A I T H
would do to all the godless because of all the ungodly      (Hebrews 11:7b)
words which they have spoken. Noah comforted the              In the real sense of the word Noah could not con-
people of God with divine Eschatology. And, finally,        demn the world. That is the prerogative of the Judge
Noah's preaching receive the "Amen" of God, received        of heaven and earth. Noah could only condemn the
this "Amen" in the cataclysmic destruction of the           world by obeying the warning of God concerning the
world and of every living creature, (Jude 14, 15).          judgment of the Flood. And that is really what the
                                                            text says. For the "by which" refers to Noah's faith
NOAH FEARS WITH A GODLY FEAR  (Hebrews                      and the godly fear of this faith. Noah judged and con-
11:7)                                                       denmed the world by bowing his head in deep piety
      The things of which Noah is "warned" of God are as    and reverence, trusting that God would call all his and
yet not seen. They are for Noah as certain as if they       God's enemies into hell and destruction, and that God
had already occurred. Noah believed God. He had             would save him with all the elect in glory. Yes, this
found favor with God and, therefore, believed with a would mean many centuries of history yet; neverthe-
faith which does not fall back into perdition, but be- less, Noah looked for the final coming of the King in
lieves, to the saving of the soul. His conduct is an        His glory.
example for all the saints, and is a concrete exhibition      Did he not prepare an ark for the "salvation of his
of "faith as the substance of things hoped for, the house?" And is this "house" not the "generations of
evidence of things not seen," (Hebrews 11: 1).              Noah" as they are blessed in the Noahic blessing,
      However, because Noah believed God, he "was which reads, "blessed be the God of Shem; and Canaan
moved with fear." The fear with which he was moved shall be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he
was simultaneous withy the "warning." The hearing of shall dwell in the tents of Shem, and Canaan shall be
Noah was mingled with faith. And thus Noah profited         his servant?" For this house, the church of the living
by the warning; and in this fear Noah translated the        God, both Jew and Gentile, Noah prepared an ark. For
warning into action to build the commanded ark. And, from the sons of Noah the entire human race devel-
therefore, the emphasis falls on "by faith" in the text.    oped, and out of all these nations is the church gath-
      One might become involved in a deep psychological ered. The human race is saved organically in Noah's
study of "godly fear" here. One might try to trace generations. For, according to the flesh, Christ was in
with his finger the work of God in this wonder of faith that ark. So Noah's preparing of the ark was not mere
as it moves to fear upon hearing the warning of God.        "fleeing from the wrath to come," but it was an antic-
However, those who have faith know the  spiritual-          ipation of greater things for the church, a-new world in
psychological reality of this connection between faith which the earth would not any longer be cursed for
and "godly fear." The term "godly fear" in the Greek man's sake. It was for the salvation of his house that he
is eulabee theis.                                           prepared the ark.
      According to competent scholars the term eulabeia       Was not this ark and the flood a picture, a type of
marks that careful and watchful reverence, which pays baptism, which is not merely a putting away of the
regard to eve@ circumstance in that with which it has filth of the flesh but is a question of a good conscience
to deal, (Westcott). Trench says that the image on toward God? Was not the church saved in the ark and
which this term rests is that of careful taking hold and by  the water? When Noah rides on the Flood and in
careful handling, as if of some precious yet fragile ves- the awful deep in which the entire world is condemned
sel.                                                        to death and hell  - it was then that Noah must have
      If such be the case, then the writer seeks to teach sung a song as did Israel when Pharaoh and all his hosts
that Noah's faith was such in the divine warning and were drowned in the Red Sea. And riding the waves
directions that he gave careful heed to them; yea, for and the mighty deep, Noah by faith condemns the
one hundred twenty years he held on to this Word of world! Hallelujah!


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 23


   And this same Noah also became heir of the right- world, (Romans `4). In this same sense Noah, too, is an
eousness which is according to faith. Before the Flood, heir. He is the only Patriarch of his kind. He is heir,
Noah was simply a voice crying in the wilderness. He joint-heir with Christ. But it is according to the rule
buried the saints until he even must commit the aged and standard of faith. It is by grace! Therefore, also
Methuselah to the earth in the very year of the Flood. Noah is not saved except by the soverign love of God.
The Flood could not harm such. Adam, Abel, and the Noah, too, was a poor sinner. No flesh is justified be-
saints are in their burial places. But the church is gath- fore God by the works of the law. Noah was saved by
ered, defended, and preserved not in spite of the grace through faith, and all his house also, the church
Flood, but right through the Flood. And Noah has his in the ark and the holy Christian church which the Son
reward. It is not a mere earthly and temporal reward. of God gathers out of the entire human race.
It is the reward of a son in God's covenant. He is            Let us, then lift up our feeble hands and strengthen
remembered with a reward of grace.                          our weak knees, looking at faith of this man of God in
   Yes, Abraham has the promise of being heir of the the cloud of witnesses.


                     IN MEMOR Y                             the full assurance of His peace and everlasting promise.
  Our Lord suddenly took unto Himself on August 9,                                           Mr. and Wm. A. Griess
197 1, our wife, mother, daughter, and sister                                          Mr. and Mrs. Otto Trautman
                                                                                                      Mr. Paul Griess
                ELOISE SCHUITEMA.                                                      Mr. and Mrs. Russel Golgert
  Though we feel the emptiness, we trust in His per-                                                  9 grandchildren
fect wisdom and believe He does all things well.                                              3 great-grandchildren
  We acknowledge with thanks the many expressions
of sympathy and have learned anew the true meaning
of the communion of saints.                                           RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
                                       Mr. Ken Schuitema      The consistory and congregation of the Randolph
                                    Dianne, Brenda, Steven Protestant Reformed Church express their sorrow and
                                     The Kortering family sympathy to MR. AND MRS. THEODORE DE VRIES
                                                            and family in the death of their infant daughter. We
              ANNIVERSARY NOTICE                            pray that our God may strengthen and sustain them in
                                                            their sorrow by His comforting Spirit.
  On October 2, 197 1, our beloved parents,                   "And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, in
         MR. AND MRS. ALVIN P. GRIESS,                      that day when I make up My jewels." (Malachi
celebrate.their  50th wedding anniversary.                  3: 17 [a] . And from Romans 8 :28 - "and we know that
  We, their family, express our sincere gratitude to our    all things work together for good to them that love
covenant God for the blessings we have received             God, to them who are the called according to His pur-
through them these many years. It is our hope and           pose."              Consistory and Congregation of the
prayer that our .heavenly Father will continue to bless                     Randolph Protestant Reformed Church,
them in the remainder of their earthly pilgrimage in                                          Randolph, Wisconsin



                               News From Our Churches

  One thing that's even better than an abundance of ing the service. And, as you probably know by this
bulletins from which to gather news, is a long Classis      time, Rev. C. Hanko has accepted the call from
Report. Enough space remains, we think, for one short       Hudsonville.
paragraph, so we'll put a few sentences together and                                                           D. D.
proceed to take the evening off.
  A congregational meeting was scheduled for Septem-
ber 24 at Hope Church (Grand Rapids) in order to call                  REPORT OF  CLASSIS  WEST AT
a minister from a trio consisting of Rev. D. Engelsma,      ISABEL, SOUTH DAKOTA ON SEPTEMBER  1,197l
Rev. G. Lanting, and Rev. G. Van Bar-en. The mstalla-           On Wednesday evening, September 1, Rodney
tion of Rev. R. Moore in  Doon was held on Friday           Miersma, then pastor-elect of the Hope Protestant
evening, September 10, with Rev. G. Lanting conduct-        Reformed Church of Isabel, South Dakota, was ordained

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

24                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER



as minister of the gospel. This took place in a                        of Subscription. The president of  Classis read the
worship service of the Isabel congregation that was Formula aloud, after which Rev. Miersma signed the
wisely planned by the Isabel consistory to coincide                    Formula in the presence of the Classis.
with the meeting there of  Classis  .West. All of the                    The examination was the major part of the work of
delegates      to  Classis could attend this impressive the eight ministers and twelve elders of the  Classis.
service. Several of the delegates participated in the cer-             Rev. B. Woudenberg, president of the previous Classis,
emony. Rev. C. Hanko led the congregation in the con-                  led the  Classis in opening devotions on Wednesday
gregational prayer. Rev. R. Decker preached the                        morning. He read Ephesians  1:3-l 0 and spoke on
sermon, "God's Watchman to the House of Israel," Ephesians  1:7b-10.  We again experienced that this
from Ezekiel 33:7. Rev. D. Kuiper read the "Form of brief exposition and application of a passage of God's
Ordination of the Ministers of God's Word." Rev. Word is an excellent way to begin the meetings of
Decker, Rev. Hanko, Rev. R. Moore, then pastor of Classis.
Isabel, and Rev. G. Van Baren, delegate ad examina to
Classis West from  Classis East, joined Rev. Kuiper in                   Rev. R. Decker served as president of Classis.
the laying on of hands. Rev. Moore exhorted the newly                    Classis drew up a schedule of classical appointments
-ordained minister and the congregation, according to                  for the vacant churches of Forbes, North Dakota and
the concluding part of the "Form." Rev. Miersma con- Randolph, Wisconsin. The schedule is as follows:
cluded the service with the benediction.                               FORBES:  Sept. 26, Oct. 3  - J. Kortering; Oct. 24  -
      We ought to be thankful to the Lord that He has R. Miersma; Nov. 7 - R. Miersma; Nov. 28, Dec. 5 -
given our churches another young man for the mini- D. Engelsma; Dec. 19  - G. Lanting; Jan. 16  - R.
stry. It is our prayer that He bless Rev. Miersma in his Miersma; Jan. 23 - R. Moore: Feb. 6 - J. Kortering;
office and make his work fruitful.                                     Feb. 27, March 5  - B. Woundenberg.  RANDOLPH:
                                                                       Sept. 12, 19 - R. Decker; Oct. 10, 17 - G. Lanting;
      This ordination was possible because of the success- Nov. 7, 14 - R. Moore; Dec. 5, 12 - D. Kuiper; Jan. 9
ful examination of Rev. Miersma by the Classis at its                  - R. Decker; Jan. 16 - D. Kuiper; Feb. 27, March 5 -
meeting on September 1. In keeping with a recent deci- C. Hanko.
sion of  Classis West, Rev. Miersma preached the re-
quired sermon the evening before the convening of                        In executive session,  Classis treated a request by a
Classis at a special worship service of the host church,               consistory for advice concerning the discipline of a
in this case the congregation of Isabel. His text was                  member, according to Articles 76 and 77 of the
                                                                       Church Order.
I Peter 2:24. All of the delegates to Classis were pres-
ent at this service, as were the delegates ad examina                    The next meeting of  Classis West will be held in
from Classis East, Rev. J. Heys and Rev. G. Van Baren.                 Pella, Iowa on March 1, 1972, the Lord willing.
The Classical Committee of Classis West had appointed
two delegates as the committee to give advice to Classis
on the sermon.  Classis examined Rev. Miersma on
Wednesday morning in dogmatics, knowledge of Scrip-
ture, knowledge of the Confessions, controversy, and
matters of his own faith and walk. With the concurring
advice of the delegates ad examina, Classis decided to                                                 Rev. David Engelsma,
approve the examination and to advise Isabel to ordain                                                            Stated Clerk
him. One new and fitting aspect of  Classis' examina-                           Classis West of the Prot. Ref d. Churches
tion was Rev. Miersma's rpublic  signing of the Formula




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