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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



I N   T H I S   I S S U E


       Editorials:
          A Laodicean Decision
          The Door Open Wide

       All Around Us:
          The Christian and Theatrical Entertainment

      The Pilgrim and Marriage
         (see: In His Fear)

     -The Dead Speak
         (see: The Day of Shadows )


                                                                   mber 151 May I, 1972


I    338                                                        THE STANDARD BEARER


                                                                                                          THE STANDARD  BEARER
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                               CONTENTS:                                               Published by the Reformed Free Publishing Association, Inc.
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     Editorials  -                                                               Editor-in-chief:   Prof.  H.  C.  Hoeksema
       Developments in the Gereformeevde Kevken                                  Department   Editors.: Mr. Donald Doezema, Rev. Cornelius Hanko, Prof.
                                                                                 Herman  Hanko, Rev. Robert C. Harbach, Rev. John A. Heys, Rev. Jay
       A Laodicean Decision . . . . . . . ; . . . . . . . . . . . . .338         Kortering, Rev. George C. Lubbers, F&v. Marinus Schipper..Rw.  Gise J.
       The Door Open Wide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .341           Van  Baren, Rev. Herman Veldman.  Rev. Bernard Woudenberg
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     Editorials

                      Developments in the Geredormeerde Kerken
                                                  A   LAODICEAN-  D E C I S I O N

                                                                Profi H. C. Hoeksema

     Synodical Decision in the Wiersinga Case                                              The Synod of the Gerefomzeerde  Kerken in the
        Shortly after the April 15 issue, in which we                                  Netherlands (Synodical) has spoken extensively
                                                                                        concerning the objections against the doctrine of
     reported the stand of the Consistory of Amsterdam in                               atonement which the student pastor of Amsterdam,
     the case of Dr. H. Wiersinga, went to press, the                                   Dr. H. Wiersinga, developed in his dissertation on the
     decision of the General Synod of the  Gereformeevde                                atonement, for  which he received the degree of
     Kevken  came to our attention. In  Calvinist Contact,                              Doctor of Theology at the Free University. After a
     April 3, 1972, the following report appeared (we                                   session which lasted from 9 o'clock in the morning to
     translate):                                                                        11 o'clock in the evening, the Synod came to the


                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                   339



 conclusion that Dr. Wiersinga's views indeed depart                 that he correctly has rejected certain expressions in the
 from the Confession and that there must be further                 confessions concerning the doctrine of atonement as
 discussion with him because he agrees as well with the             mentioned  in consideration "a".
 pronouncement about the atonement which the                                  2. Our churches have correctly called the
 synod published in October, 1971.                                  attention of Synod to this departure from the
    Here follows the literal text of the synodical                  confession.
 decision which was adopted unanimously:                                c. Consequently the churches must continue to
                                                                    hold in preaching and instruction to their confession
 The Synod has taken note ofi                                       with respect to the atonement.
    a. The protests which were filed against the                        d. Seeing that with respect to this important point
doctrine of atonement as presented by Dr. H.                        of doctrine, obedience to Scripture and the unity of
 Wiersinga in his dissertation, "The Atonement in                   faith and confession are in a far-reaching manner at
 Theological Discussion," which were brought to                     issue, the Synod considers it necessary that there by
 general attention through a published edition.                     further discussion with  Dr.&Wiersinga  because he, on
    b. The letter of the Consistory of Amsterdam                    the one hand, thinks it necessary to reject certain
 (January  7,1972)  with the attached report.                       expressions concerning the atonement in the
 The Synod considers:                                                confessions, and, on the other hand, has declared
    a. Dr. Wiersinga in the work referred to rejects                agreement with the  synod&l declaration of October
 certain expressions in the confessions concerning the               6,197l.
 atonement; namely, in Articles 20 and  21  of the                   The Synod decides:
 Belgic Confession the expression "to make                              a. To appoint a committee which shall speak with
 satisfaction in the same, and to bear the punishment                Dr. Wiersinga for the purpose of coming to more
 of sin by His most bitter passion and death; the laying             clarity concerning his views and to seek a solution for
 by God of  our  iniquities upon Christ; the appeasing              the problems which are raised in the church by his
 of  God's  wrath by full satisfaction; the suffering for            publications and by the protests filed on account of
 the remission of our sins," in Questions and Answers                them.
 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 56, and 60 of the Heidelberg                   b. She requests Dr. H. Wiersinga to declare himself
 Catechism words such as the following: "that the                    ready to conduct the discussion about his published
 wrath of God against sin is a requirement of God's                  objections against the confessions with this
 justice; that there must be satisfaction of God's                   committee, in the expectation that during this
 justice; that the justice of God requires satisfaction              discussion Dr. H. Wiersinga and all concerned will
 for our sins; that Christ must bear the burden of the               preserve the pastorally required reserve and
 wrath of God (see also Lord's Day 15); that because                 self-control.
 of the satisfaction of Christ forgiveness of sins is given             c. She requests the churches and church members
 us, and the perfect satisfaction granted and imputed                to accompany the further discussions with trust and
 to us," and in the Canons of Dordrecht, II, 1-4, the                intercession.
 entire exposition of the doctrine that there must be                   d. She furnishes notice of her decisions to those
 satisfaction of the justice of God.                                 who have addressed her, to Dr.  H. Wiersinga, to the
    b. Dr. Wiersinga testifies nevertheless to  his                  Con&tory  of Amsterdam, and to the churches in
 complete agreement with the pronouncement of the                    common.
                                                                 -L.
 synod concerning the atonement, October  6,197l.              Comment
    c. He declares that he agrees with the faith in the           Already some of the so-called conservatives in the
 only work of Christ unto reconciliation, and in the           Netherlands have hailed this decision of Synod as a
 gracious character of salvation as the gift of God.           kind of victory  - at least enough of a victory that
 According to our conviction, faith is the work of the         members  of the  Gereformeerde Kerken  may be
 Holy Ghost and finds its certainty only in Christ.            encouraged to remain  with the denomination for the
    d. He retracts the expression "alternative doctrine        time being. The latter does not imply that up to now
 of atonement" because he "does not want to
 exchange the entire traditional doctrine of atonement         there has been any considerable tendency toward a
 for another."                                                 "split" or a reformation in the Netherlands.  On the
    e. Dr. Wiersinga objects against the doctrine of           contrary, while there has been some attrition on the
 atonement in the confession as being in his opinion           part of individual ministers and members, there has up
 one-sidedly juridical, and wishes to make corrections         to now been no sign of a genuine reformatory
 and additions to this.                                        m o v e m e n t   e v e n   t h o u g h   t h e r e   h a s   b e e n   m u c h
 The Synod declares:                                           complaining, and even protesting, about the liberalism
    a. The freedom to test the confession of the               ih the GKN. Now, however, some of the so-called
 church, as this is contained in `her confessional             conservatives seem to find ground for renewed hope in
 documents, by Holy Scripture must continue to be              this decision of the Synod.
 maintained unabridged.                                           We disagree.
    b. 1. It has not appeared that Dr. Wiersinga has              We find this synodical decision to be at best another
 demonstrated from Scripture in convincing fashion             Laodicean-type of decision, that is, neither hot nor  .~


340                                              THE STANDARD BEARER


cold. It is evidently calculated to throw some kind of condemn Wiersinga, maintaining his alleged right to
sop to the conservatives by leaving the impression that test the confessions, meanwhile passing the buck to
Synod is maintaining the confessional  positicn on the Synod. This, remember, is a serious mistake: for it is
atonement, and at the same time to avoid the primarily the duty of a  consistory to exercise discipline
forthright condemnation of the heretical position of over the officebearers within its jurisdiction.
Dr. Wiersinga and the exercise of doctrinal discipline Meanwhile, also the Consistory of Amsterdam no.t only
by what has now become a favorite device in the GKN, became, suspect, but became guilty by association with
discussion.  At worst, however, it is a decision in which Wiersinga. Also about this, however, the synodical
the synod gives evidence of not having the courage of decision breathes not a word. It only states that the
its convictions concerning the truth of the atonement, decision will be sent to the Consistory.
but of leaving the door open to flagrant denial of this           3) Dr. Wiersinga apparently made some concessions.
truth and of protecting heretics.                               One was his declaration of agreement with the
  An analysis of  this,decision  will bring out how little October, 197 1 declaration of the Synod in which the
good substance there is in the entire decision and how latter apparently took its stand with the confessions,
devious is the method by which the Synod avoids the tried to  calm the fears of the churches, and meanwhile
exercise of discipline.                                         stated that there had to be long and careful study of
  First of all, let us take a look at the case itself. There    the case. No details are furnished; nevertheless
is one item on which apparently everyone agrees, Wiersinga's concession on -this is rather mystifying,
including Wiersinga himself, the  Con&tory of and, on the surface of it, rather self-contradictory.
Amsterdam, the protestants, and the Synod: Dr.                  How can he agree with that declaration of the Synod,
Wiersinga has publicly set forth in his doctoral and at the same time reject confessional statements on
dissertation views that are contrary to the confessions the atonement? But let it be noted that this is not
and in which he specifically departs from certain key reason for discussion. No, he should have been put on
expressions of the confessions concerning the trial before Synod and given the opportunity to
atonement. Now in plain language this means that Dr.            demonstrate and defend this alleged agreement. But
Wiersinga is guilty of HERESY. Of course, nowhere in what the Synod does in considerations "a" and  "b"
the ecclesiastical pronouncements on this case is that and "c" is to leave matters unresolved. Another
naughty word used. It has virtually become contraband           concession    w a s   W i e r s i n g a 's   r e t r a c t i o n   o f   t h e
in the Netherlands to use such language. And expression "alternative doctrine of atonement." This
undoubtedly here we have one of the keys to this may seem to be a ray of hope in the case, but it
entire sad history. If those concerned would call things certainly is not. It merely means that Wiersinga takes
by their right name, they would almost be compelled             the untenable and contradictory position of trying to
to take correct and decisive action, too. At least, it is maintain both his own heretical views and the
very difficult plainly to face up to the reality of heresy      confessions. This is a favorite device of heretics: take
and then to do nothing about it.                                ten heretical steps forward, and take one little step
  But how did the case develop? There are several backward,. and thus deceive the unwary. The same is
factors here. Let us note some of the more important true of Wiersinga's characterization of the confessions
ones.                                                           as being "one-sidedly juridical." This business of being
  1) Dr. Wiersinga's sponsor was the reputed and                "one-sided" is a real red herring, you know. The
influential Dr. Berkouwer. His degree was granted by question, however, is whether something is true or
the Theological Faculty of the Free University. This            false, right or wrong; not whether it is one-sided or
means, of course, that Wiersinga sallied forth with his two-sided.
heretical views with considerable backing. It also                In the second place, let us look at the  Synodical
means  - because in the true sense of the word,                 declaration in this case. Synod declares that the
academic approval of a doctoral thesis in theology and freedom to test the confession of the church by Holy
Scriptural and confessional soundness cannot be                 Scripture must be maintained unabridged. Let us note,
separated  - that for good or for ill the Theological however: 1) That this was not the original issue in the
Faculty of the Free University (which is supposed to            case. The issue was one of  heresy.  This matter of
be under ecclesiastical supervision) was immediately            "testing the confessions" was introduced by the
involved in this case. But strangely enough, the                Consistory of Amsterdam. And now what happens?
synodical decision does not breathe a word about this.          Synod's very first declaration is about  this  issue, not
Even from their own point of view and in their own              about the  case.  2) That in the context of the case, this
miserable discussion-spirit, Synod might also have              declaration means that there is complete doctrinal
decided that there should be discussion with the                freedom in the GKN. For remember, this declaration
theological professors of the Free University who               does not say that one may test the confessions by
granted Wiersinga his degree.                                   Scripture in the carefully prescribed way of the old
  2) The Consistory of Amsterdam refused to                     Formula of Subscription. This is neither stated nor


                                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER                                                         341



implied; and, in fact, the old Formula of Subscription                                       In the third place, notice the decision proper. The
has now been discarded in the GKN. This declaration                                        first item speaks of appointing a committee to conduct
apparently means by "unabridged" exactly that:                                             a discussion with Wiersinga. But what is the purpose?
without any limitation as to method or mode.                                               To convince him of the heresy of his views? No! To
    Further, the Synod makes only a  negative                                              persuade him to make complete retraction? No! "To
declaration concerning Dr. Wiersinga:  `lt has not                                         come to more clarity concerning his views!" As though
appeared  that Dr. Wiersinga has demonstrated                                              they were not clearly in conflict with the confessions!
from Scripture in convincing fashion. . .  ." Take careful As though they were  not simple heresy, and that, too,
note of this. For: 1) It avoids the issue of heresy with respect to the very heart of the gospel of salvation!
completely. The issue was not whether Wiersinga had                                           I ask: what comfort can any conservative take from
in the correct and prescribed and orderly way                                              such a decision?
demonstrated anything from Scripture. The sole issue                                          Besides, the purpose is: to seek a solution for
was whether his public and published doctrine was                                          the problems which are raised in the church by his
heretical, i.e., contrary to the confessions. 2) Even at                                   publications and by the protests filed on account of
t h a t ,   t h e   s t a t e m e n t   i s   n e g a t i v e :   " I t   h a s   n o t    them.    So now this has become a matter of
appeared. . .  ." This even leaves the matter open,                                        problematics! And those who have protested heresy
suggests that it can still appear  - perhaps from the                                      are in part responsible for the existence of the
further discussion. Meanwhile, the Synod adds a                                            problem. I ask: since when has the existence of plain
declaration as big as a barn which no one had                                              heresy in the church been a "problem" in the church?
questioned: the churches correctly called attention to                                     An evil? Yes! The work of the Evil One? Indeed!
this departure from the confession. A pat on the back                                      Something to be rooted out? By all means  - whether
for the churches!                                                                          by retraction or by expurgation! But a problem???!
   Declaration "c" is also deceptive. For one thing, it                                    And I ask, too: must a solution be  sought for?  Is not
does not belong to the case proper. For another, it                                        the solution simple? And is not the solution prescribed
states a fact which goes without saying: must not the                                      - in Scripture, the confessions, and  the-church Order?
churches always hold to their confession in preaching                                        And again I ask: what solace can conservatives find
and instruction unless and until that confession is set                                    in such a decision? And if a "solution" for the
aside or changed? This appears to be nothing more                                          "p r o b l e m " i s   f o u n d , what guarantee is there
than a kind of diplomatic move on the part of Synod                                        whatsoever that it will be a proper solution?
to calm the fears of some and to leave the impression                                        No, it appears more and more that the Synod  is
of loyalty to the confessions.                                                             forcing the  Gereformeerde Kerken  in the direction of a
   And, finally, declaration "d" does not even properly                                    modalities-church, i.e., a denomination in which there
follow from the preceding weak stand of the Synod.                                         are permanently two wings: a conservative, believing
The least one might have expected is that Synod would                                      wing, which wants to hold to the confessions; and a
have placed Wiersinga before an ultimatum: either                                          liberal, unbelieving wing, which wants complete liberty
make it appear  that you have in convincing fashion                                        (license) of teaching. And that is a Laodicean situation
demonstrated from Scripture that certain expressions                                       of the worst sort!
of the confessions are to be rejected, or recant the                                         How it is' possible that Synod dares to ask the
ljosition published in your dissertation. Even this                                        churches to accompany the projected discussions with
would not have been a good decision, you understand:                                       "trust and intercession" is beyond my comprehension.
for Wiersinga should have been  de facto  suspended                                        As far as trust is concerned, Synod, by this and past
from office long ago, on the ground of violating the                                       actions, has forfeited any right to expect trust. And as
Formula of Subscription. But the above would at least                                      far as intercession is concerned, hypocrisy is not the
have been a logical decision in the context of the                                         proper attitude and atmosphere for it: how can one
whole of Synod's stand. Now, however, Synod merely                                         expect and pray for the Lord's blessing upon such
concludes that further discussion is necessary; and it                                     hypocrisy?
does not even promise that there will be a resolution of
the case after this discussion.

                                                        T H E   D O O R   O P E N   W I D E

    In  RES News Exchange  (March 29, `72) there is a                                      time in the Netherlands. Synod had already decided, as
report of another decision of the Synod of the GKN.                                        was reported earlier in our columns, to make a change.
This concerns the matter of the Formula of Now the committee has reported; and Synod has made
Subscription and the binding force of the confessions.                                     a decision.
This entire matter has been under discussion for some                                        And it is a bad decision!


342                                                 ' THE STANDARD BEARER



       Here is the report carried in RES News Exchange:                 in the statement that is literally quoted: "We promise,
           (Grand Rapids) The  ,Reformed Churches in the                in the unity of the true faith, to remain faithful to the
        Netherlands, at thei; recent session of General Synod,          confession of the church which the fathers have
        adopted a new form of subscription for officers in the          expressed in the three general creeds and in the three
        church. The new form,  which all pastors, professors            F o r m s   o f   U n i t y . " W h e t h e r   t h e   n e w   F o r m u l a   s a y s
        and candidates for the ministry must sign, no longer            anything about disagreement and about penalties
        requires complete agreement with the confessional               (suspension and deposition) in case of unfaithfulness
        standards of the church. This is a change from the              remains to be seen.  But it is easily seen that the above
        position taken in 1969 when the Synod saw no               i
        reason not to express full agreement,' although it              promise is the official opening of the door to all kinds
        recognized that there were difficulties in the  formof          of false doctrine  - contrary to the opinions of those
        the argument and manner of expression of the 17th               mentioned in the  RESiVews Exchange  report. And the
        century documents. At that time a commission was                chief problem lies exactly in that distinction between
        charged with the task of studying whether there were            the "confession" of the church and the confessional
        any additional reasons why full and complete                    standards,  or documents. This, you understand, is
        agreement should no longer be required. The recent              altogether different than the precise statement of the
        Synod declared that changes should not be made in               original Formula of Subscription: "We . . . do hereby
        the present standards.                                          sincerely and in good conscience before the Lord,
           In the new form the subscriber affirms that the              declare by this, our subscription, that, we heartily
        Holy Scriptures are the Word of God, the                        believe and are persuaded that all  the articles and
        authoritative revelation of the Gospel of God in Jesus          points of doctrine  (italics added), contained in the
        Christ and therefore are the only rule for faith and            Confession and Catechism of the Reformed Churches,
        life. It also requires the subscriber to say, "We
        promise, in the unity of the true faith, to remain              together with the explanation of some points of the
        faithful to the confession of the church which the              aforesaid doctrine, made by the National Synod of
        fathers have expressed in the three general creeds and          Dordrecht, 161%`19, do fully agree with the Word of
        in the three Forms of Unity."  Some  persons had                Cod."
        difficulty with the fact that the form does not                     I do not have to add any explanation; a mere
        mention the confessional  standards  but the                    comparison of the language of the two statements will
        confession of the church.                                       make the difference clear.
           The reporter to the Synod, the Rev. A. C. van                    Besides, if, as Prof. Plomp is, quoted as saying,
        Nood, explained the new form by saying that it was              nothing essential is changed by the new form, then the
        definitely not the intention to "loosen all the screws"         question cannot be answered: why a new form at all?
        and to allow for unlimited freedom regarding the
        confessions. But, he stated, John Calvin himself held               No, the door is now wide open!
        that the main points of the true doctrine are not all               But,: of course, the Synod-has by this only made
        of one form. Some of them must be subscribed to by              official what has for a long time been an actual fact of
        all, but others allow a difference of opinion without           life in the  Gereformeerde  Kevk-en. This will only make
        affecting the unity of the faith. Mr. van Nood also             it more difficult, if not impossible, to protest against
        explained that the standards are there to direct the            anyone's doctrine on the basis of the creeds, and, also
        confessional activity of the church. Prof. J. Plomp of          to  conirict anyone of heresy.
        the  Kampen Theological College expressed as his                    The decline in the  GKN i's indeed swift!
        opinion that in adopting the new form nothing                       And there is a question which all the churches of the
        essential has been changed. (RES  NE 3/29/72)                   Reformed Ecumenical Churches will have to face, too:
  We are sorry that the entire new Formula is not                       how can the  GKN any longer be tolerated as members
quoted. If possible, we will produce  this at a later date.             in good standing of the RES? Is this not becoming too
  But certainly the substance of the Formula is found                   much for the sister churches of the  GKN to swallow?



Meditation
                       Dwelling in the Hotim of Knowledge
                                                           Rev. M. Schipper

               "Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them accoiding  to knowledge, giving honour unto the
              wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your
              prayers be not hindered. "                                                                                      I Peter 3 :7


                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER                                                   343
~


        Likewise, ye husbands!                                    other cities where they can make more money, but
        Dwell with them according to knowledge!                   who see their wives and children maybe once a week or
        Most fitting instruction is it which the apostle gives    once a month. The apostle in the text is not suggesting
     to complete his exhortation relative to the marital          that a husband provide a house and the physical
     state!                                                       necessities of life, but that he build a home. There is a
        Having spoken of the true beauty of the Christian         vast difference between a house and a home. It is the
     wife, as consisting in her subjection to her husband in      latter which will be the fruit of the intimate fellowship
     the fear of the Lord, the apostle now directs a word to      the apostle is suggesting.
     the Christian husband.                                         Dwell with them according to knowledge!
        They are to dwell with their wives according to             How sad it is when the husband is a fool! What a
     knowledge!                                                   spectacle he makes of himself when he conducts
        But what does this mean?                                  himself in the home as one who is empty-headed, a
        It should be clearly understood that to dwell with        know-nothing. How sad, too, when the wife alone
     their wives includes more than merely to have spiritual appears to have the knowledge necessary to regulate the
     fellowship with them. 0, indeed, it means this, too.         affairs of the home; when she possesses better
     For when Christian men and women marry in the judgment than he, especially in things concerning the
     Lord, it is a union of two who are bound together in marriage relation; when the wife simply takes over,
     the love of the Lord. There will therefore be a spiritual makes all the decisions, and the husband has nothing
     union of spiritual fellowship- which they shall to say.
     experience together with the Lord. Without this                On the other hand, how sad it is, too, when the
     spiritual fellowship there can not be any real union. It husband is a "know it all"; when he considers his wife
     is basic for the Christian home, and for the realization to be no more than a piece of furniture to decorate his
     of a proper Christian marriage. Marriage should              home; when he treats her as a slave that must bow to
     therefore be much more than a mere natural, fleshly          his every beck and call; and in the sacred intimate
     tie.                                                         marriage relation looks upon her as a machine which,
        However, this dwelling of husbands with their wives when it is worn out, may easily be replaced by
     must include also all that pertains to the natural           another.
     relationship. Included is the building of a home, the           The apostle insists that the Christian husband must
     rearing of a family, the provision of the material needs,    dwell with his wife according to knowledge. He must
     etc.                                                         know how to treat her with respect. He must stand in
        To do this, husbands should not live outside of the       the proper attitude towards her. He must know her in
     home. They should not be strangers to their wives and        love, not with mere carnal infatuation, but with the
     children. They should not send them support from a           love which proceeds from the love of God, which is
     distance. Rather, they must have fellowship with them        spread abroad in his heart.
     naturally, physically, and spiritually. This fellowship         As with the weaker vessel!
     implies a mutually intimate relation. It involves the           This belongs with the foregoing, not with that which
     wife as well as the husband. And this means that the         follows in the text. The first part of the text therefore
     wife is not to act as an iceberg towards her husband,        may be translated thus: "Ye men, likewise, are
     never inviting his embraces, treating him like a             dwelling according to knowledge as with the weaker
     foreigner intruding upon her privacy, letting him feel       vessel, the wifely one."
     that he is no better than a government agency                  The wife is the weaker vessel, generally speaking, in
     providing her with the necessities of life. On the other     every respect. Not only is she a different vessel than
     hand, it means that the husband especially must seek to      the man, but normally also the weaker of the two. The
     cultivate a warm, congenial, intimate fellowship in          man is supposed to be the stronger in body, in mind,
     every sense of the word, naturally, physically, and          and in will. As we suggested above, there may be
     spiritually. It stands to reason that the husband who is     exceptions to this. A man may be effeminate, while his
     to do this must not be a stranger to his wife and to the     wife is masculine, strong as or stronger physically and
     children which may come out of such fellowship. In           mentally than the man. But this is abnormal. From the
     this materialistic age there are husbands, and               purely human and physical point of view, the woman
     sometimes even Christian husbands, who imagine that          is the weaker vessel. And the man must also act as the
     if they provide a place of shelter, the necessary food       stronger towards his wife, who is the weaker vessel.
     and clothing for their wives and children, they have         This does not mean that he is to tyrannize over her,
     done all that is expected of them. But this is a serious     treat her with brute strength as a master over a slave.
     error. Such a husband is no better than a divorced man       Not at all! But the very opposite will be true,  - he will
     who by the court is ordered to send alimony and              know that she is the weaker, and therefore treat her
     sufficient up-keep for his family. Today there are           accordingly, as a man of understanding.
     husbands who will take jobs far from home, even in              Moreover, he -will bestow honor upon her as being


I    344                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



     co-heir of the grace of life!                                 - that your prayers be not hindered.
       Here, undoubtedly, the apostle points up that from              Prayers here, of course, refer especially to their
     a spiritual point of view there is equality. By the grace     prayers together, their prayers in the home, in the
     of God they together are heirs of the grace of life.          marital relation. It is most essential for the well-being
       An heir is one who is destined to receive a legacy, a       of the marital relation that husband and wife pray
     possession which is gratuitously granted by a testator.       together. 0, indeed, there is room for private and
     Here God is the Testator Who has willed to give the           individual prayers. Prayer, which is a grace as well as a
     grace of eternal life to all His people, male and female,     spiritual art, which may be developed with constant
     bond or free, Jew or Gentile. This the man with his           and faithful use, is the opening of the soul before God
     strength cannot give to his wife, but both the Christian      as it gives expression to its sense of blessing and need.
     husband and Christian wife are given this grace by God        Each individual Christian uses this spiritual art
     in His mercy and love. This grace of life is merited for      according as he develops spiritually and senses ever
     them by the perfect obedience of Christ their Lord;           more deeply his dependence upon God, from Whom all
     and bequeathed to them by God out of pure and                 blessings flow, his sins and short-comings, which
     sovereign grace. It is the grace of eternal life, which       humble him before his God. If he is truly spiritual, he
     they possess now in principle, and in the day  ,of Christ     will seek often the quiet of the inner chamber to bow
     in heavenly perfection. When a husband and a wife are         humbly before the throne of grace. Just as essential it
     married in the Lord, they are deeply conscious of this        is that husband and wife, even before they become
     grace, which they observe also in one another. And the        husband and wife, learn to pray together. They are to
     apostle stresses the point that when a man dwells in          live together, no longer as mere individuals, but as one
     the house of knowledge, he will honor his wife as             i n   t h e   L o r d .   T h e y   h a v e   c o m m o n   n e e d s ,   t h e y
     co-heir with him of this grace.                               experience common blessings, they serve the same
       The thought that the Christian husband and wife are         God. They have the common task of bringing up the
     co-heirs of the grace of life makes the marital relation      children God may give them in the fear of the Lord.
     most meaningful. It clearly shows that a Christian            God will sometimes send them the rod of affliction
     marriage has a higher purpose than the mere                   which they will share together. They soon experience
     satisfaction of earthly and natural desire. Nor is the        that after the unforgettable happiness of their wedding
     end of marriage simply intended to be a temporary             day, that joy is often dampened by the sad experiences
     arrangement for the procreation of children. 0, to be         of their wedded life. Even the marriage form reminds
     sure, marriage is intended by God to be a temporary           them before their marriage "Whereas married persons
     arrangement, for they are neither married or given in         are generally, and by reason of sin, subject to many
     marriage in heaven. And it is also surely true that           troubles and afflictions," that wedded life is not
     marriage is divinely intended for the satisfaction of always a happy wedding day. Then how wonderful it is
     human desire and the procreation of children. But             when together they may send to the throne of grace
     there is much more! It must be emphasized that                their cry for help in time of need.
     marriage is also a spiritual arrangement, in which the           In order that they may continue to pray together, it
     Christian couple seeks to typify the true spiritual           is essential that the marital relation be not disturbed, is
     relationship that exists between Christ and His Church, not violated in any sense or to any degree.
     between Christ the Bridegroom, and the Church His                It stands to reason that if the wife does not live in
     bride. Surely when the tabernacle of God shall be with        submission to her own husband, if she is not
     men, and when the Christian husband and wife  who. constantly and faithfully emulating the good example
     are now co-heirs of the grace of life shall come to the       of Sara, who called Abraham her lord; or, if the
     full possession of that life in heavenly glory, then they     husband is not dwelling with her in the house of
     shall no longer be husband and wife. Then they will           knowledge, and honoring her as co-heir with him of
     possess the grace of life perfectly and eternally as          the grace of life, then they will not be able to pray
     individual heirs. But now, while they are on the earth,       together. And when they cannot pray together, the
     and living in their marital state, they must consider         marital relation is in trouble.
     themselves as co-heirs of this grace. Of this they will          Someone has said, "the family which prays together,
     also be deeply conscious in their relation to one             stays together." There is no reason to doubt this.
     another. When the husband considers this that his wife           Doing this, the God-fearing husband and wife will
     is his spiritual equal, and that she with him is an heir of experience the blessedness the Lord intended they
     eternal life, then he will honour his weaker vessel and       should have, when He brought them together.
     hold her in respect not only as his wife but as a child          And so also, they will fulfill in the most beautiful
     of God.                                                       sense the high spiritual purpose God had in mind when
       How blessed to so dwell in the house of knowledge!          He brought them together,  - namely, to show forth
       Such dwelling will indeed have a salutary effect!           the true unity that subsists in the believer's relation
       Of this the apostle speaks in the last part of the text,    and the church's relation to Christ.


                                                                          THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                  345



All Around  6s

                   The Christian and Theatrical Entertainment
                                                                                  ProjT H. Ha&o

    The whole question of dramatic productions has                                                to God; or again, it can be a work performed in
once again become a topic of discussion. This is true                                             service to Christ. But we'can  by no means accept this
for several reasons. First, it is, it seems, in every                                             claim. It is to be doubted whether the acting of, say,
generation a question which needs to be debated anew                                              a love affair (and this is the very stuff of drama)
mostly for the sake of the young people in the Church.                                            which on paper may be read acceptably, can be
S e c o n d l y ,   t h e   a d v e n t   o f   t e l e v i s i o n   h a s   b r o u g h t       performed on the stage without a violation of sound
                                                                                                  morality. For an actor to make love to an actress on
d r a m a t i c   p r o d u c t i o n s   i n t o   t h e   h o m e   a n d   h a s   m a d e     the stage for public entertainment, even if the
them a common form of entertainment. Thirdly, the                                                 language employed is chaste and decorous, cannot
number of so-called "Christian. Movies" is growing, and                                           but have harmful effects on the minds of both
it is even asserted that movies are an effective way to                                           players. The sentiments of love may be rendered
bring the gospel to the unconverted.                                                              highly attractive by all the arts of a facile pen and a
    It  seems  sometimes that anyone who raises his voice                                         lively imagination, but for these to be expressed by
in protest against the use of dramatic productions is                                             voice and emphasized by gesture, and by the physical
something like a voice in the wilderness in our day. In                                           contacts of the players, is bound to have injurious
fact, those who do seem to be such a few that their                                               effects on the characters of both. The giving
voice is scarcely heard. The attitude seems to be that                                            expression to sentiments that are not actually felt, as
anyone who can possibly oppose dramatic productions                                               though they were felt, and that, to gain public
is so far out in left field that he is not even worth                                             applause and (as in the case of professionals)
listening to.                                                                                     monetary gain, is liable to strike at the very
    It was of some interest then, to read an article in                                           foundations of moral character.
"The Banner of Truth" magazine in which a certain S.                                                     The same evil effects may well be considered in a
M .   H o u g h t o n   c o n d e m n e d   s e v e r e l y   d r a m a t i c                     wider context. It is often claimed that the stage
productions. His article is of value both for this reason                                         supplies a reflex of human life, and with this goes the
                                                                                                  plea that an audience is often treated to an analysis of
and because it includes a number of quotations from                                               human affairs, and to a dissection of the human
other writings which prove that the condemnation of                                               heart, that cannot be easily learned elsewhere. But
drama has a long and illustrious history.                                                         human life is a sad medley of good and evil; hence the
    We cannot quote the rather lengthy article in full,                                           stage presents both. It follows therefore that an actor
but give some of the more pertinent paragraphs.                                                   must sometimes represent an evil person who thinks
           The writer of this article believes that it is high                                    evil thoughts and perpetuates wicked deeds. The
       time to expose the folly, the vanity and unlawfulness                                      more an actor can de-personalize himself and throw
      for the believer in Christ of stage entertainments. . . .                                   himself into the part which he plays, the better actor
           It is undeniable that today the Christian Church at                                    he will be. Presumably this is a large part of the secret
      large displays a marked difference in its attitude to                                      `-h-
                                                                                                  o dramatic success. An actor ceases for the moment
      theatricals from that adopted by the vast majority of                                       to be himself, and becomes the king, the lover, the
       evangel&& from the Reformation onwards, not to                                             thief, the betrayer, the adulterer, or suchlike for
      mention such corroboratory testimony as may be                                              which he is cast. If he is cast for an evil part he must
       drawn from the ancient Fathers. It is equally certain                                      simulate all that he can imagine belongs to such a
      that to some extent this change of attitude has                                             character. In the process he is bound to suffer serious
       resulted from the impact of radio and television upon                                      -moral damage. Night after night he puts off his own
       the Christian home. The fact is that theatricals are no                                    character, even as he puts off his own dress, and with
      longer to be defined as a diversion to be "enjoyed" in                                      the costume appropriate to his part he puts on the
       a special building set apart for the acting of plays;                                      character of another. The audience pays to see him
      they have invaded the home and have become for                                              do this. The psychological consequences cannot be
       good or ill a commonplace of domestic leisure. In this                                     good. Whatever the effect upon the audience, the cost
      way the play has become a part of the life of the                                           to the actor is heavy indeed. His "calling" requires
      adolescent as much as of that of his parents. . . .                                         him to live in a world of unreality, to project himself
           It is assumed by many modern  evangelicals that                                        into a make-belief manner of life which blunts the
      the profession of the actor is not in itself open to                                        sentiment and may even render it nugatory, and
      Christian objection, and that if a play, be it tragedy                                      which, in sum, is inimical to honest straight-forward
       or comedy, is morally clean, a man or woman may                                            thinking and living.
       share in a stage performance without a violation of the                                           The matter is well stated by a writer of the
      law of Christ; in other words, in a manner acceptable                                       mid-19th Century: "Never, even by accident, has the


346                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER



       theatre chanced to become the school of morals. In              be a reflex of the world, the world that lies in the
       no circumstances have good men felt that it could               Wicked One. This, say some, is their merit; they are a
       safely be relied upon. This uniform result must have a          mirror of life, and as life includes the foul and the
       cause; and is this not to be found in the very principle        sordid so too must the play. We grant that the
       itself that underlies theatrical representation? It is          playwright sets out to mirror life. So too does Holy
       pageant, show, illusion. It deals in unreal scenes. The         Scripture. No book so revealing as to human nature!
       success of its artists is in simulating; in appearing           No book which better portrays human sin! But if the
       what they are not. The aim of the player is to                  theatre and the Book do one and the same thing,
       personate another. Like the false glare of the scenery          wherein lies the vast difference between them? And
       around him, he must be false himself to real character          why may not one be the handmaid of the other? For
       and feelings. His very name indeed (from the Greek              a variety of reasons; but principally for this  - that,
       `hupocrites'  - `one under a mask') has passed over             whereas the Book shows sin in its true colours, sin in
       into the synonym of sham. We owe our term of                    its devilish origin, sin in its course, sin in its wages, sin
       hypocrite to this name. And can this habitual                   in its awful and eternal consequences; on the other
       simulation be other than unfavourable in its                    hand the theatre displays sin that men may be
       influence? Must not its inevitable tendency be to the           amused, entertained, and alas, all too often seduced.
       deterioration of character? Can that profession whose           The Book smites the conscience and leads a man to
       life-business it is to deal with the unreal, to put off         say, "Woe is me, for I am undone, for I am a man of
       one's own identity, to assume another's position, and           unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of
       personate another's character, be other than averse to          unclean lips, for mine eyes have seen the Ring, the
       that genuine sincerity and earnestness of purpose               Lord of hosts"; it causes him to cry, "God be
       which are the granite base of all true performance or           merciful to me a sinner." But the theatre tends in
       endeavour? . . . .                                              another direction altogether. As it sets out to
  Additional writers are then quoted. We shall include                 entertain, so also it blurs a man's sight of that which
only a statement or two from each.                                     is truly spiritual and divinely holy; as it aims to
          William Law . . . asserts that "theatre  going  is a         amuse, it dulls a man's ability to examine himself in
         sin against the whole nature and spirit of our                the pure light of revealed truth. . . .
         religion. It is a contradiction to all Christian            The author concludes his article with some
         holiness and to all the methods of arriving at it. If     quotations from C. H. Spurgeon, with a condemnation
         you live in the use of this diversion you have no         of Passion Plays and with the following words:
         grounds to hope that you have the spirit and heart
         of a Christian. . . .                                            In sum, then; with the Bible as our guide and
            John Angell . . . : "I do not for a moment                 with wise voices from the past concurring in our
        hesitate to pronounce the theatre to be one of the             findings, we cannot but conclude that the believer is
         broadest avenues which lead to destruction;                   called to renounce the theatre as one of the vanities
        fascinating no doubt it is, but on that account the            of this world, as an institution dangerous to player
        more delusive and the more dangerous . . . Vice in             and spectator alike, and as a form of entertainment
         every form lives and moves and has its being                  commonly given over to that which is inimical to true
        there. . . ."                                                  godliness.
            J. R. Green, the famed historian: . . ."The hatred       If the author's arguments are valid, and we believe
         of the Puritans to the stage was not a mere longing       that they are, then what he has said holds true for
         to avenge the taunts and insults which the stage had      every form of dramatic production whether it is
         levelled  at Puritanism; it was in the main the honest    offered live on the stage, whether it is shown on the
        hatred of God-fearing men against the foulest              screen of the theater, or whether it is piped into the
         depravity presented in a poetic and attractive            home via television. It holds true for all forms of
        form."                                                     drama whether movie productions or so-called
  The author then addresses himself to a common "situation comedies." And if performing in them is sin
argument in support  of  drama.                                    before God, watching such performances is equally sm.
          The fact is that theatrical performances, in order       And if they are sin, they can only bear the wages of sin
       to be paying propositions, must pander to the baser         in the hearts and lives of those who participate.
       passions in unregenerate men and women. They must



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                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER                                                             347



In His Fear

                         The Pilgrim and Marriage
                                                        Rev. D. H. Kuiper

   It is not good for the pilgrim to be alone. This had irreconcilable differences. No more. Today it is
paraphrase of the Word of God as found in Gen. 2: 18                 possible in some areas for husband and wife to fill out
is permissible because it was already in the Divine a form together, mail it to city hall, and by return mail
mind, before God created male and female, that man                   receive their divorce decree. It is clear the only waiting
should reveal himself as a pilgrim and a stranger on the involved here  wihbe due to the volume of mail.
earth. Even though it is possible for a man or a woman                  These goings-on in the world of sin and darkness have
to be a good pilgrim and faithful servant in the single some influence on the communion of pilgrims called
state, this is certainly the exception. God is able to Church. Thankfully the Church does not immediately
provide special grace to those few whom He wills to follow in the path of these immoral practices, but she
live without marrying that they may serve Him and His is  influenced.  Let us recognize that by way of the
kingdom in some unique way. But for most men and devilish propaganda that infiltrates the Christian home
women, marriage is good, right, and even necessary. It (worldly literature and the television screen) our view
would'not be good if they did not marry. We take a of marriage stands in danger of being altered. It
look at this institution of God, not only to discover belongs to the  ' ministry of the church and the
what marriage is in itself, and not only to discover instruction of the home to instruct and warn,
some of the implications of marriage for the Christian, therefore. The only weapon which can successfully be
but especially to  find an answer to the question: what used on this  home-front  is the Word of the God Who
is the significance of marriage for the  pilgrim?  If conceived of marriage and the home.
pilgrimage is something that permeates all our life and The idea of Marriage
outlook, and if marriage has an influence in all our
living, then at what points exactly do pilgrimage and                   Despite the cavalier fashion in which man treats
marriage touch? Does marriage help the child of God marriage, it is not the creation of man, but an
in his calling, or can it be a hindrance? We cannot even institution of the Lord God. When the Lord observed
mention here all the rich passages of Scripture which Adam as for a short time he stood alone, He noticed
speak of marriage, much less develop their deep what Adam himself experienced, that "it was not good
meanings and imports. We shall confine ourselves to that man should be alone." God saw and Adam felt a
those which will allow us to form a clear picture of the lack. There was something missing with Adam so that
pilgrim's calling.                                                   he could not live a full life nor reach all his potential as
                                                                     a prophet, priest and king. Living in the Garden alone,
Marriage Held in Contempt                                            he could never fulfill his calling before God and
   Marriage has fallen on hard times. In this land, as in experience unmixed happiness and joy. Before such
many others, the wedded state can hardly be would be the case, and before God could pronounce
recognized in terms of its original institution. There are "very good" upon all that He had made, He must
trial marriages, common-law marriages, young people create them male and female. Thus, marriage is also
simply living together in the carnal assurance that good.  God brought to Adam a woman in marriage, and
society lacks the integrity to ostracize, much less for all time "he who finds a wife finds a good thing,
punish them. Weddings are performed, if at all, in and obtains favor from the Lord."
swimming pools, football stadiums, and even in the                      In the second place, marriage was instituted as a
name of the Devil. And what shall we say of divorce,                 bond of the most intimate possible nature. The Genesis
than which no single practice has caused more grief, narrative stresses this when it reveals "(God) took one
mental breakdowns, suicides, and rebel children? In of Adam's ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
many counties, divorces far outnumber marriages.                     and the rib which the Lord God had taken from man,
State legislatures are outdoing each other in liberalizing made He a woman, and brought her unto the man.
their divorce codes. The process must be speedy.                     And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and
M a r i t a l   p r o b l e m s   u s e d   t o   i n v o l v e   t h o r o u g h flesh of my flesh." The closeness of the marriage bond
investigation by the courts, counseling and warning, an is taught also when the Lord expresses that it shall
attempt to patch things up and try again. Time was surpass the relation of parent and child, for a man shall
that you at least had to go to court and say something leave his father and mother in favor of the wife he
uncomplimentary about your mate: he caused you finds. What can be stronger and closer than the
mental distress, he was cruel, you were incompatible or blood-tie between parent and child in which the


348                                             THE STANDARD BEARER



former bring forth the latter out of their loins?               Jesus and His Church the closest relation possible. The
Marriage is! It is closer, stronger, more intimate. It  is, Scriptures state this in a variety of ways. Christ is the
ever true that if a marriage is to succeed, a young             Head and His Church is the Body. We are members of
husband and wife will have to consciously break                 His body, of His flesh and of His bones. Christ is in us,
former parent-ties. Perhaps the intimacy is shown most          and we in Him. "I live," says Paul to the Galatians,
clearly by the amazing words: "And they shall be one            "yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I
flesh"  (Gen.  2:24) These words, repeated by Jesus and now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of
emphasized by the apostle Paul, bring us closer to the          God, Who loved me, and gave Himself for me." And
heart of marriage than any other. Man and woman do              it is certainly true that at the table of communion, we
not just come next to each other, they do not simply            eat and drink the body and blood of Christ unto our
cleave to each other, but they become one, so that              souls, nourishment, until we reach the measure of the
they are not twain, but one flesh! More is involved in          stature of the fulness of Christ. Clearly, the relation
that expression than the beautiful union of the sexual          between Christ and the Church is THE marriage.
relationship. Being one flesh expresses the coming              Christ is the Bridgroom and the Church is His Bride,
together of the entire nature of a man  ,and a woman.           given to Him of the Father before the world was. At
There is a oneness of their body and soul, a unity of the cross the Bridegroom made the Bride worthy of
their thoughts and desires. A sharing of hopes and              Himself, by gaining for her white wedding garments of
experiences and disappointments. Because they share righteousness and holiness. The return of Christ upon
one earthly life together, perhaps the observation of the clouds is the coming of the Bridegroom for His
countless children that long-married couples resemble           dearly beloved! The bride must be waiting for Him,
each other is not to be taken lightly; a child can often        and must keep herself unspotted and faithful. Finally,
"catch" things we miss entirely. Alone, a husband and Heaven is pictured to us as the consummation of the
a wife are misshapen parts of a puzzle, but together marriage! Christ and His Church shall live together
they form a whole. Each supplies what the other lacks,          forever in one house, the house of many mansions.
they give and take, and take and give, without
selfishness.                                                    The Pilgrim's Calling
                                                                  The duty of Christian husbands and wives is to
  There is little more that we can say concerning this          regulate their marriages according to the standard we
two becoming one. From experience we can relate                 are given in the Christ-Church relation. The husband
specific instances in which the wife has been a                 must love his wife even as Christ loved the Church!
tremendous factor in sustaining her husband in his              This involves not the taking of what one wants by
work, or we can recall the sorrow of soul that comes to         brute strength, but giving of one's self, for did not
the married when death is about to snatch one from              Christ give Himself for the Church? This is a giving of
the other. But after we have all had our say, we will           time, and affection, of your body and strength, of
not have yet fully comprehended marriage as far as its          your knowledge and understanding. Be tender towards
basic intimacy is concerned. The more we understand
of it the richer shall our lives together be, yet there will    your wife, knowing she is the weaker vessel. Love
                                                                and esteem her exactly because she is that. If you love
always be something here that mysteriously eludes us.           your wife you will show yourself to be the head of the
Marriage is a Mystery                                           wife, the children, and the home. Finally, loving the
  Just at the point when Paul in Ephesians 5 writes             wife involves prayer: for the wife, for the marriage
that "they two shall be one flesh," he is inspired to say relation, for each other after you have confessed your
as well, "This is a great mystery." In Scripture a              sins mutually.
mystery is not something contradictory, nor is it                 The wife is to submit herself to the husband, for the
something which cannot be known at all, but a                   husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the
mystery is a phenomenon that cannot be understood               Head of the Church. Wives, you are not equal to your
without Divine revelation. Also, because we read such husbands. You have been made out of him, after him,
phrases as mystery of God's will, mysteries of the              and for him. Your life does not have a purpose which
kingdom of heaven, mystery of godliness, we can also            can be identified apart from the life and purpose of
say that a mystery always stands related to our                 your husband. You do not have private objectives and
salvation. Marriage is a matter of revelation if it is to be    aims. You are the supplementing, supplying part of
believed and appreciated (confer Matt. 19: 1  l), and it is     the marriage that enables the husband to be strong and
related to salvation! "This is a great mystery: but I           cheerful in his work. Be of a meek and quiet spirit,
speak concerning Christ and the church." (Eph.  5:32)           honor the husband, submerge yourself in the helping
  If, therefore, we would understand a little more of of your husband unto his calling. He has authority over
marriage, and of the pilgrim's calling in the wedded            you!
state, we must understand the relation between Jesus              If the husband loves the wife and the wife is in
Christ and those whom He saves. There is between                subjection to the husband, the goal of marriage on


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                    349



earth is reached. Then in the home and in marriage demonstrated. Our marriages will show that, if they are
there is a reflection of salvation as it is in Jesus Christ. truly Christian. When they do, the pilgrim husband and
The love of Christ for His people that lead Him to give wife not only exalt their Father in Heaven, but they
Himself to the death of the cross will be revealed in also have a living testimony in their lives of their sure
every Christian home. And the submission of the salvation!
Church to Christ  in  all things  will also there be                              (To be continued)


The Day of Shadows

                                    The Dead Speak
                                                  Rev. John A. Heys

  Yes, the dead do speak.                                      according to it when they answered God's questions.
  The author of the epistle to the Hebrews says in Their answers were speech that proceeded from that
Hebrews  11:4 concerning Abel, "By faith Abel offered carnal mind that is enmity against God. This does not
unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by mean to say that they could not already have been
which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God born again. But it does mean to say that they revealed
testifying of his gifts, and by it he being dead yet           their spiritually dead nature in their speech. Peter was
speaketh;" Although he took his last breath of life a born again child of God who by that new life
about six thousand years ago, Abel speaks to us today confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living
on the pages of Holy Writ.                                     God. Yet, shortly thereafter Peter showed his carnal
  What we refer to at the moment, however, is the nature which was spiritually dead when, not once, nor
speech of those who are spiritually dead. These,               twice, but three times he denied Christ, and finally did
though they may still be alive physically, and are, so with a curse! Now the life of regeneration never
therefore, able to speak words which we can hear and produces such actions as Peter's, nor as Adam's and
understand, cannot perform anything that is spiritually Eve's answers to God. That life prostrates one on the
good, nor in their speech manifest any spiritual virtue. ground in humble confession of sin. There is no trace,
The carnal mind, Paul declares in Romans 8  :7, 8, is no evidence of this at all in Adam's and Eve's answers,
enmity against God, is not subject to the law of God, but instead proud  defence of the sin committed, and
neither indeed can be: so that they that are in the flesh that before the very face of the Holy One!
cannot please God no matter what they say or do. All,            Consider the awful boldness of the fallen human
as David confesses in Psalm 5  15 are conceived and nature! The Holy God's clear and pointed question,
born in sin, because all are the offspring of a set of "Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded
original parents who died spiritually the very day that thee that thou shouldest not eat?", called for a simple
they ate of the forbidden fruit.                               and humble answer, "Yes, I did." Or, indeed, penitent
  Now we do not know the exact moment when Peter's "Lord Thou knowest all things" would suffice.
Adam and Eve were born again and were thereby But what have we here? Certainly there is not a trace
restored to spiritual life. Was it at once? And was their of confession of sin, not a suggestion of sorrow, but
consciousness that they were naked and guilty before only the explanation, "The woman whom Thou gavest
God due to this? Was it just before God came to them me to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did
in the cool of the day with the question, "Where art eat." Unexpressed, yet definitely there, is also the
thou?" Or did this have to wait until symbolically accusation, "If you had not given me this woman, I
God clothed Adam and Eve with the righteousness of would not have done this." Notice that it is not simply
Christ, when He slew an animal and used the skin to a statement that the woman gave him that fruit, and
cover their nakedness? Did the rebirth, and the work that then he ate, Adam is bold to state that the woman
of sanctification have to wait until the legal basis was that God gave him  to be with him did this. The
symbolically laid in the death of that animal?               &h accused sinner dares to charge the holy Accuser with
  We do know that the day that they ate of  the-j! The prediction of God to Adam that they would
forbidden fruit they ate death, and died spiritually, not die the day they ate is clearly proven to be truth. For
simply sometime during that day but that very Eve's answer is an equally proud one devoid of all
moment of their sin. And their speech to God reveals evidence of sorrow for sin. She, too, denies fault and
this to be the case. If already the seed of that new life      tries to place the blame on the serpent.
had been implanted in them, they were not acting                 Yes, both admit that they ate, but neither one


350                                             THE STANDARD BEARER



confesses sorrow for sm. Fear of the punishment of             life. Many are already in hell. The idea is that all whom
their sin they clearly reveal. A broken and a contrite         Adam represented died in him; and all whom Christ
heart they do not show. Adam's  ". . . and I did eat" is       represents are made alive in Him. Adam's sin brought
no more a confession of sin than Judas' "I have                j u d g m e n t   t o   c o n d e m n a t i o n   u p o n   a l l   w h o m   h e
betrayed innocent blood." Evidence of spiritual life           r e p r e s e n t e d ,   t h e   w h o l e   h u m a n   r a c e .   C h r i s t 's
there is not in the speech of either Adam or of Eve.           righteousness realized righteousness unto life for all
  The serpent is not questioned by God, and he speaks          whom He represented, the elect Church. And Satan
no accusation against either God or the devil who used         and the fallen angels as well as many men, are out of
him. The serpent had not died spiritually for the              that sphere.
simple reason that the serpent never had any spiritual             Once again, Christ would have to die thousands of
life. Physical life it had, and this physical life serpents    times to save the angels. They did not fall by the sin
are losing every day. But as irrational creatures, even in     of  one,, but each fell individually, not being created in
their glorious form of being the most subtle beasts of         Satan but being created individually. And salvation for
the field, they did not have and cannot have spiritual         each angel, that is fallen angel, would have to be done
life, or therefore die spiritually.                            for each angel on an individual basis. I John  2:2 does
   The devil, however, had spiritual life as a former          not mean that Christ is the propitiation for the world
righteous and glorious angel before God's face in              of angels, but of the world of men.
heaven. And he died spiritually before he came to                  But let the living listen to what the dead speak, and
tempt man away from his righteousness, and before he           then let them learn the lesson of God's grace. The
murdered man spiritually. (Jesus says of the devil in          world cannot hear this lesson or this speech of the
John  8:44 that he was a murderer from the beginning           dead. Even as a physically dead man cannot hear the
and abode not in the truth.) His speech clearly                speech of the physically living, the spiritually dead
indicated his spiritual death when he approached Eve           world cannot hear the speech of God, or the lesson in
through the serpent. The words he spoke through the            the speech of the spiritually dead Adam, Eve and
serpent were words of spiritual death. He slandered the        Satan. Yea, the flesh of the believer cannot hear this.
living God. He called Him a liar. He presented Him as a        And so often in the church this speech is not heard. So
cruel tyrant who was only trying to defend himself             often we stop our ears and refuse to listen. Those who
from what man might and could have. And Satan was              try to do away with this speech of the spiritually dead
doing this in an act of hatred in the form of lying            by labelling the first eleven chapters of Genesis as
about the fruit of that tree of knowledge of good and          fiction, we will leave to God as far as the judgment as
evil. When we speak then of the dead speaking, as our          to whether or not they have been born again to
theme expresses it, let us by all means not overlook or        spiritual life is concerned. But that action of theirs is
forget that here from Satan's mouth also we have               no more the work of that new life in Christ than was
speech of the dead!                                            Adam's and Eve's speech in paradise when they were
  Let it also be noted that there is no question of God        approached by the God against Whom they had sinned.
to the devil as to whether he had deceived Eve. There          We will do the same with those who deny that man
is no approach of grace to bring him to repentance, to         actually died spiritually that day, and with their
teach him his misery and to promise him a Saviour              Pelagianism insist that man still has a free will, is
Who will restore to spiritual life. There is no salvation      desperately sick, weak, and to a very great degree
for any fallen angel. Christ took not upon Himself "the        spiritually paralyzed, but retains the ability to choose
nature of angels, but He took on Him the seed of               salvation when it is properly presented to him. They,
Abraham," according to Hebrews 2: 16. This is also             likewise, if indeed born again, are not speaking for the
implied in Romans 5 : 18 and I Corinthians 15  :22.            principle of that new life, for that life never
Because the whole human race was created in Adam,              contradicts God, Who in Ephesians  2:l declares that
all could fall in Him, and all could be made alive in          we are dead  in trespasses and sins, and in Psalm 5  1:5
Christ, that is, all who are in Him by sovereign election      that we are conceived and born in sin.
could be made alive. Here in Romans  5:18 the                     But let us be sure that we hear the message that God
translation is literal, and we do find the word men. By        gives us here when He records this speech of the
the  offence of Adam, judgment to condemnation came            spiritually dead. It is this: Salvation by grace! The
upon all men because Adam was the head of the                  truth comes through loud and clear: Adam and Eve
whole human race. By the righteousness of One,                 deserved to be struck down and cast at once into hell
namely Christ, justification of life came upon all men,        for their brass, their proud self-justification, their
and not upon a single angel, for Christ took upon              refusal to confess their sin. Their act of eating of the
Himself a human nature as the last Adam, He is Head            forbidden fruit was enough to call for their physical
only of the elect. Look at the text in I Corinthians           death the day they ate, and for an entrance into the
15:22  again,  ". . . in Christ shall all be made alive."      eternal death of the lake of  fire  at  once! But this
Now all men shall not be made alive with everlasting           speech before the holy God of heaven and earth


                                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                             351



compounds their evil and guilt. Only grace explains He brings to the conviction of sin. He speaks of the
that God will stay there before them, listen to such                                 salvation He will work. He slays an animal and clothes
proud speech of spiritually dead creatures, and then                                 Adam and  Eve. He, the living God, gives life to these
give such a wonderful promise of better things than                                  who manifest spiritual death by their speech. Truly with
those from which in a moment they would be driven.                                   Jonah we must say, and we want to say, "Salvation is
Only because He saw them in Christ, as the Lamb slain                                of the Lord." And we want to sing, "Saved by Grace."
from before the foundation of the world, did He                                      When by that grace we are born again to spiritual life
approach them'with His questions and take this dirt                                  we  i;an and will do that. The dead speak nonsense and
from them and provide a way of salvation.                                            words that deny God His glory. The spiritually alive
     And note Genesis 3 carefully from beginning to end.                             speak words of wisdom and praise of God. Do you
You read not a word of an offer of salvation to Adam                                 listen to the words which your soul and mouth speak?
and Eve, as though they retained some spiritual power                                Do you confess your sins and praise God for His
of life to be able to accept. There is no "gospel                                    forgiving grace?
invitation." All the salvation action recorded is of God.

-

Contending for the Faith

                                    --=-The Doctrine of Atonement
                                                                      Rev. H. Veldman

     Continuing our brief discussion of the Canons in                                admonish all his hearers to repent and believe in the
connection with the Second Head which treats the                                     Lord Jesus Christ. And this he cannot do because  ,he
atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ, we now call                                      believes in an unconditional election and particular
attention to Article VI of the Second Head of these                                  atonement of Christ upon the cross of Calvary. How
Canons:                                                                              can a preacher command and urge all sinners to repent
          hd, whereas many who are` called by the gospel,                            and believe when God has sovereignly predestinated
       do not repent, nor believe in Christ, but perish in                           only some unto salvation from before the foundations
       unbelief; this is not owing to any defect or                                  of the world and  whell Christ has died only for some
      insufficiency in the sacrifice offered by Christ upon                          and not for all? Imagine a sinner, if you please, who,
      the cross, but is wholly to be imputed to themselves.                          upon hearing the gospel, should feel  s,orry for sins,
     Although it is true that these heads of doctrine in                             desire salvation, and knock at God's door pleading for
the Canons of Dordt are followed by a section in                                     mercy. Would not the Lord be compelled to say unto
w h i c h   t h e   S y n o d   r e j e c t s   t h e   e r r o r s   o f   t h e    him: "I know that you are sorry for your sins and
Remonstrants, and that in these heads of doctrine the                                desire pardon and salvation, but I cannot give it to you
fathers  first set forth the truth positively, yet also in                           because I have not loved you and Christ has died for
these positive articles our fathers set themselves against                           you, and therefore there is no salvation for you?" This
the errors of the Arminians. This is also true of Article                            is the charge which the Remonstrant hurls at the
VI. The Arminians, we understand, accused the                                        Reformed preacher of the gospel. This Reformed view
Reformed view of being unable to preach the gospel to                                must ascribe the perishing of the sinner to the
all the hearers of it. In a way, the Remonstrants are                                insufficiency  .of the cross of Jesus Christ.
correct. Of course, according to the Remonstrants the                                   This charge the  fathe&deny-`in this sixth article we
preaching of the gospel is an offer of salvation to all                              are now discussing. They declare that the sinner's
the hearers of it. And, if it be true that the preaching                             perishing is to be imputed- wholly to himself. Is this
of the gospel be such an offer, then it must follow                                  charge of the Remonstrant true? Is this the experience
that, believing in the Reformed view of salvation, in                                of the sinner when he does not repent and believe and
sovereign predestination and particular atonement, we                                perishes? Indeed, no sinner has ever knocked at God's
cannot preach such a gospel to all the hearers offt.                                 d o o r   o n l y   t o   b e   t u r n e d   a w a y   e m p t y - h a n d e d .
     Be this as it may, is it true, as suggested in  this  si.xth                    "Whosoever  cometh  untv-.Me I will in no wise cast
article, that the failure of many sinners to be  saGed is                            out," is the `clear  tea&in&of:  $loly Writ and also the
due to any defect or insufficiency in the sacrifice                                  experience of  every  repent&t  sinrier.' The blood of
offered by Christ upon the cross? This, according to                                 Christ is not insufficient.  1;  itself,`$s  far as its value is
the Remonstrants, is a fault to be laid at the door of the                           concerned, it is  surely  s&&i.ent to blot out all the sins
Reformed view of salvation. According to the                                         of all mankind. Every  sih-.,&nfessed   iS  &t.ainly blotted
Arminian, the Reformed preacher of the gospel cannot                                 out by that blood.  Secondl~,:th&thC$nner  perishes is
                                                                                                                             . .
                                                                                                                            ,_.,.  _  -


352                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER



to be ascribed to his unbelief. Viewed subjectively, because of the death of Christ, inasmuch as Christ died
from the viewpoint of the sinner, he despises the Christ for  all_jmen and therefore also for those who perish,
and tramples His salvation under foot. Remember, the but because of his faith) accused the Reformed
Christ, although not offered to everyone who hears the preacher of the gospel of really having no place in his
preaching of the gospel, is nevertheless set forth before preaching for the activity of faith. According to them,
him in that preaching of the gospel. And the perishing the saved sinner is saved because God has elected him
sinner responds to that preaching, reveals the attitude and because Christ has died for him, and therefore his
of his heart and mind to that Christ. He refuses to calling to believe is relatively unimportant and without
repent, because he loves the darkness rather than the significance. The fathers, however, also in this seventh
light. He despises the salvation set before him, because article, emphasize the importance of the activity of
he loves evil and corruption. He rejects the salvation of faith. They know very well that only they who believe
God's fellowship and covenant, because he loves this in the Christ as set forth in the preaching of the gospel
world and the things that are below. This is the history are saved. And they do not hesitate to state this
of the wicked sinner throughout the ages, also of repeatedly, also in this seventh article of Head II.
wicked and carnal Israel in the Old Dispensation. They              Now the fathers, in this article, speak of those who
could not enter into the promised land of Canaan trul' believe. Do the fathers, using here the word
because of their unbelief, Heb.  3:19. Their failure to "t r u l y " refer to the superficial view  which the
enter into the promised land was not because of the Remonstrants entertain of the activity of faith?
terrible wilderness  - God did deliver His people and According to the  Arrninians,  faith is a condition of
carried them upon eagles' wings. That they did not salvation. According to them, faith is a condition for
enter in was not because of the mighty heathen God's work of salvation. After all, Christ died for every
nations  - God destroyed those nations. That they did man, head for head. And the preaching of the gospel is
not inherit the promise was not because they were few an offer of salvation. God would have all men be saved.
and weak  - one of them could have set a thousand to This means that the salvation of the sinner is
flight. No, but viewed subjectively, from the viewpoint dependent upon his believing, that the Lord must wait
of the sinner, he does not repent and believe in the until the sinner believes, and that faith is a condition
Christ because of his unbelief. And unbelief is never which man must fulfill prior to God's work of
merely a matter of the mind, but also of the heart.  The salvation in him. This is the Remonstrants' conception
sinner hates God and His Christ, and it is this which of faith. But the fathers must,  of,.course, have nothing
prompts him in his rejection of the gospel. And it is of this. And, therefore, they use the word, "truly,"
this truth which the fathers maintain here in this sixth emphasizing the true nature and character of faith.
article. We cannot and may not preach a universal love              The believers now are indebted for their faith,
of God; there is no universal love of God. We cannot through which they are saved and delivered from sin
and may not preach a universal atonement of Christ and destruction, solely to the grace of God, given them
upon the cross of Calvary; Christ did not die for all in Christ from everlasting, and not to any merit of
men, but only for the sheep given Him of the Father their own. That they believe does not in any sense of
from before the foundations of the world. We do and the word lie in themselves. It is not due to any merit of
must command all men to repent and believe. And the their own. If left to themselves they, too, would reject
sinner refuses to repent because of his unbelief. It is the gospel  anti perish. Faith is not a condition of
this truth which is clearly set forth in our Canons, in salvation, something we must fulfill before we can
this sixth article of Head II.                                   receive the benefits of Christ, but it is itself one of
                                                                 those gifts of Christ, bestowed upon God's people in
                         ARTICLE VII.                            sovereign grace and mercy. The death of Christ upon
   The seventh article in this Second Head reads as the cross is not dependent for its efficacy upon the
follows:                                                         faith  of' a sinner, but it merited also the gift of faith.
          But as many as truly believe, and are delivered and    Really, we must understand, the cross does not save us
       saved from sin and destruction through the death of       because we believe, but we believed because the cross
       Christ, are indebted for this benefit solely to the       has redeemed and saved us. Faith is a fruit of the cross.
       grace of God, given them in Christ from everlasting,      And the'fathers emphasize this when they speak in this
       and not to any merit of their own.                        article of faith as a benefit.
  In this seventh article the fathers declare that they            That we believe is to be ascribed only to the grace of
who believe are saved from destruction through the God. This article emphasizes this truth. We may notice
death of Christ. It is well to call attention to the fact that that the fathers here speak of the grace of God. This
the fathers declare that they who are saved are those grace is the free gift of God. And we do well to note
who believe. The Arminians, because of their wrong that the benefit of faith is set forth in this article as
emphasis upon the importance of faith (according to rooted in this grace, this free gift of God. This grace is
them, a sinner is, not delivered from sin and death the  favour but also the power of the Lord whereby He


                                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER                                                         353


bestows upon His own the benefit of faith; it is surely in Him and we receive it from Him as a free, sovereign
free. In the Scriptures it stands opposed to works,  as. gift. And, finally, the fathers also speak in this article
we read it in Rom. 11: 6: "And if by grace, then is it                                   of  Gdd's eternal decree. We read that this benefit has
no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. been given us in Christ from everlasting, and this refers
But if it be of works, then is it no more grace:                                         to Divine election. So, before we were born, from
otherwise work is no more work." So there is no merit before the foundations of the world, God gave us this
in our salvation whatsoever.                                                             gift of faith in Christ. We surely had nothing  td do
   And how the fathers emphasize that this benefit of with it! The grace of God, therefore, was ever upon us,
faith is a free gift of God's sovereign grace. We are even eternally, and there is nothing we could possibly
indebted solely for this faith to the grace of God. In no                                do or need do to merit it. Salvation is of grace alone,
sense of the word can a sinner ever boast of the fact without any merit on our part. This is the language of
that he believed. Besides, God gave us this grace in the fathers; this is the language of Holy Writ; and this
Christ. And notice, please,  how.the fathers connect our is also the experience of every child of God as he is
faith and salvation with our Lord Jesus Christ. It is all                                called out of darkness into God's wonderful light.



Friendship With God

                 God's Triune life--The Source of All Virtue
                                                                       Rev. B. WCmdenberg

   The attributes of God are often distinguished as                                      always echoes back is that of Isaiah  55:8,  9, "For my
"communicable" and  `+incommunicable."                                                   thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways
   The incommunicable attributes are those which                                         my ways, saith the LORD; for as the heavens are
cannot be communicated to or have existence in the                                       higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your
creature. They belong to God alone and He cannot                                         ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."
share them with another. These are such things as His                                      And yet, if this were all we knew of God, something
s o v e r e i g n t y ,   H i s   i n f i n i t y   a n d   e t e r n i t y ,   H i s    would be wrong, something would be missing. God
immutability, independency, and such as that. They are                                   would be so distant from us, so foreign to us that we
important for they are the unique attributes of                                          could only stand in a quivering fear before Him. We
divinity. Without them God would not be God.                                             might stand in  awe before His greatness, but we would
Through them God is exalted in transcendent greatness                                    not be drawn to Him. We might, perhaps, try to satisfy
far above every other being, so that we can only stand                                   His demands so as to escape His wrath, or even to gain
before Him in awe and wonderment to worship, and                                         what reward He might offer; but to draw near to Him
the words of the psalmist become our words, Psalm                                        and to walk with Him, we would not so much as
113:2-4,  "Blessed be the name of the LORD from this                                     desire. We would be like the children of Israel at Sinai
time forth and for ever more. From the rising of the                                     who, after standing before the thunderings of the law,
sun unto the going down of the same the LORD's                                           drew back from the mountain and cried to Moses,
name is to be praised. The LORD is high above all                                        Exodus 20: 19, "Speak thou with us, and we will hear:
nations, and his glory above the heavens."                                               but let not God speak with us, lest we die."
   Actually when we try to understand and give                                             But this is not all. There is more. God has also His
content to these concepts in our minds we are brought                                    "communicable" attributes, that is, those which God
inevitably to the limits of our human comprehension.                                     shares with us so that we may know Him in terms
In fact, when it comes to the' incommunicable                                            which our experience can understand. God made us
attributes of God we find it almost impossible to think                                  with the intention that this should be so, as we are told
of them in anything but negative terms. So God is                                        in Genesis  1:26, "And God said, Let us make man in
"infinite," which is to say, He is "not finite," He is not                               our image, after our likeness." Nor did God ever leave
limited as to space in the way we are. God is                                            this purpose, for we hear Jesus praying in that great
"immutable"; He is `not changing' the way we are.                                        prayer of His last night on earth, John  17:2 1, "That
God is "independent," "not dependent" as we are                                          they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I
upon another. And so it goes on. Always in the end we                                    in thee, that they also may be one in us." God has
stand before the rhetorical question of Isaiah 40: 18,                                   within His Triune Being a life of personal fellowship
"To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness                                        and virtue which He has willed to share with His
will ye compare unto him?" And the answer which                                          creatures. Here is where we find the "communicable"


354                                            THE STANDARD BEARER


attributes of God.                                              But what is love? So rich and broad is the Biblical
  Comprehended here are all of the moral virtues concept of love, so far beyond what the world wishes
ascribed by Scripture to God; and they are many  - to make of it, that it is difficult to contain it all within
mercy, knowledge, justice, love, holiness, wisdom, a comprehensive definition. Nevertheless, there are a
goodness, etc. And these are all interrelated, they are few things which do stand on the fore.
one in Him; e.g., His knowledge is merciful and His             Closely related to the essence of love is giving. This
mercy is with knowledge; His wisdom is just, and His comes out when John, between those two  emphatic
justice is wise; and so we could go, on interrelating all assurances that "God is love, says further of it,  I John
of the virtues together. But there are three of them 4:  10, "Herein  is love,  not  that  we love God,  but  that
that are most basic to all  - holiness, love, and truth.      he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for
  God is a holy God. Repeatedly Israel was assured of our  sins." And John is simply reaffirming what Jesus
this when being given the commands of the law, said himself in John 3: 16, "For God so loved the
Leviticus  19:2, "I the LORD your God am holy." wbrld, that he gave his only begotten Son, that
Isaiah in his prophecies  WZIS  very conscious of this, for whosoever  believeth in him should not  perish,   but  have
before he was ever called, God had taken him up in  everlasting  life." Thus when Paul enters into his rich
vision to hear the seraphims exclaim before the and wonderful  development   of  love,  he  assurgs   US  in
presence of the divine greatness, Isaiah  6:3, "Holy, I Corinthians  13:5 that love "seeketh not her own."
holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is Love is that which  gives of itself to another.
full of his glory." And then when God spoke through             But love is also more. Love is a state of exultant
him it was with constant assurances, such as in Isaiah pleasantness and joy. This is the cry of the Song of
43:3, "For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Solomon,  7:6, "How fair and how pleasant art thou, 0
Israel," and "For thus saith the high and lofty One love, for delights !  " In turn Moses, speaking of God's
that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell love for Israel, said, Deuteronomy 10: 15, "For the
in the high and holy place."                                  LORD had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and
  Holiness is on the one hand separation  - separation he choose their seed after them, even you above all
from all that is corrupted and sinful. Accordingly the people, as it is in this day." This joy is related, of
instructions of God to Israel were, Leviticus  19:7,  26, course, to the giving. This is  the, paradox of
"Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy" for I am Christianity: joy comes not from seeking one's self and
the LORD your God. . . . And ye shall be holy unto its pleasure, but from the giving of one's self to
me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you another. Jesus put it this way, Matthew  16:25, "For
from other people, that ye should be mine."                   whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever
  But we should not forget that latter part of will lose his life for my sake shall find it."
Leviticus  19:26  either,  ". . . that ye should be mine."      The result is that love forms a bond: as Colossians
That is the positive side of holiness  - complete 3: 14 calls it, "The bond of perfectness." Certainly it is
dedication to that which is good.                             that preeminently in God. In God there are Three who
  Certainly both of these elements describe the never in any sense withdraw into themselves from the
fellowship of the Triune life preeminently. Between others; Their life is one and has existence only as that
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit there is freedom from which is shared in perfect giving with each other. God
every evil by which their unity might in any way be is love! And thus their life is one of perfect and eternal
corrupted. Rather there is a perfect dedication of life. joy, as Christ prayed in deep strains of heartfelt
We receive a little idea of the beauty of this anticipation, John  17:5, "And now, 0 Father, glorify
interrelationship within God in the life of Jesus. There thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I
we have the Son always professing, John  6:38, "For I had with thee before the world was."
came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but             And then there is truth.
the will of him that sent me." In turn we hear the              One can hardly think about the concept truth
Father once and again exclaiming, Matthew 3: 17  ; without hearing the cynical question of Pilate echoing
17:5, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well through the ages, John  18:38, "What is truth?" He had
pleased; hear ye him." In turn, this is what we are told arrived at that degree of educated sophistication where
of the Holy Spirit, John  15:26,  "But when the he knew how equivocal the claims of truth could be.
Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from Even in the realm of physical observation; what is real
the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth to one is called sheer illusion by another; and when it
froni the Father, he shall testify of me." It is in this comes to the mental and spiritual  - well, what is the
perfect in terdedication to each other and their use? And it is hopeless as long as man remains the
common life together that all holiness begins.                standard by which truth is to be determined. But it is
       Love must relate immediately to the essential, different with God.
moral nature of God, for John tells us twice, in I John         Clearly truth, too, relates very directly to the
4: 8 and in 4: 16, "God is love."                             essence of God. Often  God is called in Scripture, "The


                                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                                          355


God of truth," (Isaiah 65: 15, etc.). In turn Jesus said of                            in the determination to find the truth behind- reality
himself, John 14: 6, "I am the way,  the truth,  and the by themselves without help. In fact, the search may for
life." And when speaking of the Spirit He said, "When a time seem quite exciting and even near to Success;
he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into                               but in the end it always fails and all that remains is that
all truth."                                                                            cynical, despairing question of Pilate, "What is truth?"
    It means that truth has its only beginning with God, It is because they have refused, just as Pilate did, that
 and in Him, when Father, Son and Holy Spirit think which Jesus had just said, "John  18:37, "To this end
and will together that which is shared  withti the was I born, and for this cause came I into the world,
Triune consciousness and when what is willed by them                                   that, I should bear witness unto the truth. Every onk
comes into reality. Isaiah 55: 11 puts it this way, "So that is of the truth heareth my voice." Or earlier in
shall my word be that goeth out of my mouth: it shall John  8:31, 32,. "If ye continue in my word, then are
not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth,
which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing and the truth shall make you free."
whereto I sent it." Numbers 23: 19 puts it even more                                     And so one could go on through all virtues. Each in
explicitly, "God is not a man, that he should lie; its own way would relate to one of these three and so
neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he to God from whom all that is  virtue.begins. Of all that
said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and is good, God is the only source, as James 1: 17 says,
shall he not make it good?`" It is from this Triune mind "Evely good gift and every perfect gift is from above,
of God that all reality and truth comes forth.                                         and  cometh down from the Father of lights."
    To be sure, men may, and many.do, put God aside



 The Strength of Youth
                                    Confession  of  Faith:(4)
                                                                   Rev. Robert D. Decker

                "Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess before my Father
                which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my
               Father which is in heaven. "
                                                                                                                  Matthew  10:32,33

   Closely related to our living the new and godly life is                             minister of the gospel. A respect that was manifest in
the whole subject of "church government." The third                                    their behavior in the catechism room was in the past
and  final question to be answered by those publicly                                   generally the case on the part of pupils. Today the
confessing their faith in the Savior is: "Will you submit                              minister has a constant battle to fight on this score.
to church government, and in case you should become                                    Perhaps the fault must be laid at the pastor's door for
delinquent (which may God graciously forbid) to                                        his failure to maintain the dignity of his office; but
church discipline.7" The significance of this question is                              certainly it is also true that the world's rebellious
!becoming more and more apparent in our day. We will                                   stance has "rubbed off" on us more than we care to
understand that significance when we understand the                                    admit. It is well, then, that we take the time and effort
point of this question. The question does not deal with                                to examine this question in the light of the Scriptures
cases of church discipline only. Rather it covers the                                  and our confessions.
whole matter of living in obedience to the authority of                                  What is church government? Very simply put, it is
God, which is conferred upon Christ the King of the                                    the  i-ule of Christ exercised by and in the church as
C h u r c h   a n d   e x e r c i s e d   b y   C h r i s t   t h r o u g h   t h e    instituted in the world. It is the rule that Christ
officebearers He ordains in His Church. It ought to be                                 exercises through the offices He has instituted in the
perfectly obvious that in our day of a so-called "crisis                               church; namely, that of pastor, elder, and deacon. The
in authority" this matter takes on added significance.                                 Scriptures speak very clearly on this in many passages.
Not only is it true in the world, but  alsoin the church,                              We find an especially beautiful passage in Hebrew 13: 7
that there is a general lack of respect for God-ordained                               & 17. There the Bible says: "Remember them which
authority becoming more and more apparent. It just is                                  have the rule over you, who  have spoken unto you-the
not what it  us&d to be. This writer remembers the day                                 word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end
when  catechumens had a profound respect for the                                       of their conversation. Obey them that have the rule


        356                                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER



        over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for                                        God in this life.
        your souls, as they that must give account, that they                                          Will you then submit to church government? Will
        may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is                                        you yield yourself to the rule of Jesus Christ? That
        unprofitable for you." These texts speak volumes.                                          must be our resolve, if we are to confess our faith in
            Notice the Scripture admonishes us to obey "them                                       Jesus Christ. By so doing we are saying, "Christ is Lord
        that have the rule" over us. We are to obey them for                                       of my life!"  "He bought me with His own precious
        no other reason. We do not obey them because they                                          blood; in Him I am blessed with all spiritual blessings
        are older or wiser or stronger. We do not obey them                                        in heavenly places; His Word I love and my pledge now
        because of any kind of outward restraints or                                               is to submit myself to His gracious rule."
        punishments they are able to enforce or inflict. We                                            That means that we submit to the Word of Christ as
        obey them simply because they have the rule over us.                                       preached by His ambassadors from the pulpit. It means
        And they have that rule over us because God in Jesus                                       we recognized Christ as He speaks to us in the
        Christ gave them that position. They are not in office                                     catechism room. We receive Christ into our homes
        b e c a u s e   t h e y   r e c e i v e d   t h e   m a j o r i t y   v o t e   a t   a    when the pastor and elder come on family visiting.
        congregational meeting. They do not rule by the                                            When we are sick Christ visits us, when in sorrow He
        "consent of the governed." The Church of Jesus Christ                                      comforts us, and when we are in need of correction He
   is NOT a democracy; it is a theocracy. The Bible makes                                          admonishes us. Obey them that have the rule over you
        that very plain in I Corinthians  12:28:  "And God hath                                    and submit yourselves. In so doing we live in obedience
        set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily                                        t o   C h r i s t .   A n d   t h a t   i s   f o r   o u r   p r o f i t .   W h e n
   prophets, thirdly teachers, after the miracles, then gifts                                      officebearers must give account to God Who calls them
        of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues." with grief because of the stubborn disobedience of
   Understand that! God  hasbet them in the church. God                                            those over whom they rule, it is unprofitable not for
   has appointed them to their office and laid the holy                                            the officebearers but for the disobedient!
        charge upon them to "watch for your souls, as they                                           Still more, when we confess our faith we promise to
   that must give an account." God may do that (and He                                             submit to church discipline in case we become
        does) through the means of a congregational meeting                                        delinquent. Sad to say, in many cases this vow is
   and the rest, but it is God, nonetheless,  Who,places  His                                      broken. When one falls into sin and has to be visited
   servants in office. Ephesians 4: 11 teaches the same                                            and censured, more often than not he will "ask for his
   truth. Here we learn that the ascended Christ:                                                  papers" and leave the church entirely, or go to a
+ . . . gave some, apostles; and some prophets; and some,                                          church which fails to manifest that mark of the church
   evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers." This text                                         known as church discipline. Such a person must
   teaches not only that God ordains officebearers in the                                          understand that he severs himself from the church of
   church, but that these officebearers are gifts of God to                                        Christ by refusing to bow under the authority of
   the church. In verses 12 and following of this chapter                                          Christ. And God is not mocked.
   Paul teaches us of the rich blessings the church receives                                          Finally, the relation between this third question and
   through these officebearers, when he writes that they                                           the previous two is evident. Only by submitting to the
   are given by Christ: "For the perfecting of the saints,                                         authority of God in Christ and thus living in obedience
   for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the                                           to His Word are we able to live that new and godly life,
   body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the                                            which expresses the doctrine of the Old and New
   faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God; unto a                                           Testaments as contained in the articles of the Christian
   perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the                                             Faith.
   fulness of Christ. . .  ." Other Scriptures teach the same.                                        At the risk of redundancy we repeat that it is only
   The elders are to "feed the flock of God and take the through the diligent use of the means of grace; the
   oversight thereof' (I Peter 5); and deacons as well as                                          preaching of the Word and administration of the
   elders are to "take care of the church of God." Sacraments that God is pleased to save us. The Word of
   (I Timothy 3)                                                                                   God to covenant youth then is this; confess your faith
           Thus we are to obey them, and that-is for our own                                       in Christ; hold on to sound doctrine, live that new and
   profit and blessing. Turning back to the passages cited                                         godly life; and do that by the grace of God which is
   above out of Hebrews 13, we find that these elders                                              yours through the offices which God has ordained in
   who have the rule over us speak to us the Word of His church. Submit then to the government of
   God. Their faith is for us to follow. And in all of this the Church of Jesus Christ. Yield to the authority of
   they watch for our souls. They continually watch out Christ.' The way is narrow, and few find it. It is the
   for us. And, they do that not to catch us in some                                               way to everlasting life. And that is joy beyond
   wrongdoing, but to protect us from the wiles of the devil                                       compare.
   and the host of other dangers that threaten the child of
   I                                        TEN for TWO-- Have you written in about it?


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                            357



 Studies in Election

                                          Its Evidences
                                               Rev. Ro`bert  C. Harbach

   Any real study of the doctrine of election will mean        high intellectual side, but it also has running through it
 a study of plain Scripture, the whole Scripture               a spiritual vein. So it is with that facet of the doctrine
 throughout, from beginning to end. The holy Scripture         we are treating. Election has a doctrinal emphasis; it
 alone is our standard of doctrine and practice. Faith         also has a practical-emphasis. We now enter upon the
 and life have their rule in the doctrine of Scripture.        latter. We have seen in what way election has been
 There is really only one doctrine  - the doctrine of          instructive. It now remains to be seen how it is related
Scripture. It is called the doctrine of the Lord, the          to practice. Since the divine foreknowledge of love is
 doctrine of Christ or the doctrine of God, the latter         the originating cause of all things, and the final cause
 receiving the main emphasis, for Scripture is                 of all things, and election streams from that fountain,
 God-centered. The doctrine of Scripture may be                then the relation of election to a practical life of
 thought of as a great diamond of the faith once-for-all       godliness is one of cause and effect. The effect of
 delivered unto the saints, and so having many facets.         divine election is the production of every saving good.
 Then we may speak of the doctrine of election, the               One outstanding product of the truth of God's
 doctrine of creation, the doctrine of atonement, the          absolute sovereignty, of His election of a glorified,
 doctrine of regeneration, calling, faith, justification,      perfect church, is that of humility. The person who has
 sanctification, etc., just as we may  speak,\as Scripture     a   t r u e   c o n c e p t i o n   o f   G o d 's   s o v e r e i g n t y ,   a n d
 itself does, of the doctrine of baptisms, of the              consequently, of God's election, has had all his pride
 resurrection of the dead and of eternal judgment.             abased. He takes his place in the dust at his Maker's
 Never in the plural does the Bible refer to "the              feet! At first, a man may believe, like Cain, that God
 doctrines" or to "sound doctrines." It is always in the       will surely be satisfied with his lofty efforts to exert
 singular. Of course, we do, and may, speak loosely, of        his cultural skills and develop mankind and the earth
 the doctrines of the faith, or of the doctrines of grace,     into an advanced civilization! Certainly, then, if there
 or of the  dochines of Calvinism. Yet there is but one        is a heaven, he must be on his way to it! It must come
 doctrine of grace, for there is but one grace. Calvinism      to him as somewhat  of a shock to learn that God is the
 is really  the  doctrine of Scripture. The name Calvinism     God of election. How that changes the picture! God
 is a term of convenience which immediately illustrates        has from eternity chosen to Himself a people in His
 what we mean by Reformed doctrine or biblical                 Son Jesus Christ and under His headship. He has also
 doctrine. But Scripture does not speak of all kinds of        determined upon the means that He shall use to
 doctrines, in the plural, for the biblical usage of the       accomplish this great end. He now begins to show
 plural, "doctrines," as found in the Word of God,             some concern as to whether  he  is  one of those
 refers not to the faith or that which is of the truth, but    ordained to glory. He is impressed deeply with the
 to denial of the faith and all kinds of errors. Then you      eternal issues involved. Thinking becomes painful and
 read of "doctrines, the commandments of men"  (Matt.          unsettling. He is no longer "at ease in Zion."
 15:9), "the doctrines of men" (Col.  2:20),  "doctrines          If he persists in the direction of his qld self-inflated
 of demons" (I Tim. 4:  l), "divers (various) and strange      carnal assurance, he will not want anything to interfere
 doctrines" (Heb.  13:9).  The doctrine of Scripture is        with his counterfeit peace. He will begin to rebel
 the truth standing over against the lie, and then it is       against the idea of electing grace, distinguishing grace.
 "the  doctrine" (I Tim, 4:  16), "good doctrine"  (4:6),      But that very grace will humble him and bring him to
 "sound doctrine" (Tit.  2:1), and "the doctrine which         inquire more openly and honestly into the truth. To
 is according to godliness" (1 Tim.  6:3). Just so with        him it may seem, to begin with, like plunging into an
 the truth; there is only one truth. Truth is a unit. The      icy stream of frustration to learn that God's eternal
 Word of God has such language as "the truth of the            purpose of grace is limited to an  e'lect people. He finds
 Gospel,"not  "truths" of the Gospel, or "the truth of         it much more comforting, so he may at first think, to
 God," but not "truths" of God. It is "truth versus            believe that stupefying philosophy that God loves all
 error," the truth versus the lie, not truths and              men. To face the question whether I am one of the
 untruths. An exhaustive concordance will show that            chosen in Christ is most difficult because it is not easy
 the word  truth  never appears in Scripture in the plural     to give a satisfactory answer. Who  is sufficient for
 form.                                                         these things? It is not an issue the hypocrite will face.
   Paul the apostle is known for  the expression, "the         But the regenerated elect will not draw back from it.
 doctrine," and in all his epistles "the doctrine" has a       He will wrestle in prayer until he obtains the desired


358                                             THE STANDARD BEARER



help from God, "and all is made plain."                      God's Spirit with my spirit that I am a son of' God
   Then assurance will be wrought. Now that he has           impels me to that conviction. It is God who works
come this far, finding himself tremblirig with doubts        faith in me. Faith is the operation of God (Col. 2: 12).
and fears, he need not think that this is evidence that         We happily know our election by the evidences of
he doubts the Word of God. That he doubts himself or         election. One of its evidences is that of true prayer.
doubts the reality of his Christian profession is one The elect are a praying people. "Shall not God avenge
thing. But now he believes the Word of God. He does His own elect who cry day and night unto Him?"
not doubt that! He believes the Lord's chosen people         (Luke  18:7). Their prayer is that of a deep, heart-felt
are a "little flock" (Luke  12:32).  What he doubts is       cry out of the depths of sin, misery and death  - a
that he belongs to that flock! He believes, but he cries,    prayer like the publican's prayer: "God be a mercy-seat
"Help thou mine unbelief!" Of necessity, for now he          to me, the sinner!" Their prayer is, "0 wretched man
believes that "the heart is deceitful above all things,      that I am! who shall deliver me?" and he prays this
and desperately wicked" (Jer.  17:9). He realizes            with groanings which cannot be uttered. He prays as an
something of the deceitfulness of sin, and regardless of elect child of God blessed in God's sovereign election.
whatever others think, he prays God to undeceive him!        "Remember me, 0 Lord, with the favor that Thou
He longs for full assurance of salvation. He desires to      b earest unto Thy people: 0 visit me with Thy
know his election of God. He is inclined to believe that     salvation, that I may see the good of Thy  chose& that I
certain knowledge of this is possible (I Thess.  1:4). He may rejoice in the gladness of Thy nation, that I may
finds no comfort in the Romish dogmatism that no             glory with Thine inheritance" (Ps.  106:4,5).  The elect
one can know his election, unless favored with an            pray as no others do. They seek the things (above) no
unusual, personal revelation from God.. He wants to          others seek. They know God's grace is only for the
stand, not in a supposed apostolical succession, but in      elect. They pray for His saving grace for themselves.
the assurance the apostles had, that their names were        But they also covet the same for all the rest of God's
"written in heaven" (Luke  10:20). They were men             elect. They pray for the good of His chosen ones. In
who knew their election! They did, because they took         prayer they rejoice with those that do rejoice in
God at His Word.  "Rejoice  because your names are the Lord. They rejoice in the gladness of that lioly
written in heaven," Jesus exhorted.  IOne does not nation (I Pet.  2:9) which is God's  "elect race" (ASV).
rejoice in the unknowable, the  unk:nown or the In the communion of prayer they glory with the Lord's
uncertain. The Romanist with his constant doubt as to heritage. They aim to endure all things for the elects'
his soul's welfare, and his utter lack of assurance of sakes!
salvation, still claims to have faith. Is it possible to       Another evidence of election is a looking for and
have faith, saving faith, and that of long standing, and     longing for the final coming of Christ, whether He
still not know one has salvation? Or is it not rather        comes by death or by  His return in final glory and
that the man who has faith soon learns that true faith visible majesty. Naturally, the Christian flinches at the
is a sure mark of election, since "as many as were           thought of physical death. It is not only an ab-
ordained to eternal life believed" (Acts 13  :48)?           normality, but the first, the persistent, ubiquitous
  The implication is, that knowing, brethren, your           and last enemy we have to face. Then his own
election of God, is something attained by faith. It          indwelling sin makes the thought of death still more
comes not by ascending up to heaven to get a glimpse         difficult. For how shall such a sinner stand before the
of the register of the names in the  Lamb'zi Book of Life, holy God, the Judge of all the earth? But the new man
not by peering into the book of God's eternal decree.        in him has strength to raise his soul above such
Much less does such knowledge  calme  by some hindrances. The renewed man cannot be satisfied with
preternatural event or extraordinary  prafvidence. C. H. his sin-laden existence, his imperfect prayers and
Spurgeon struck at this self-delusion when he said,          distracted communion with God. He longs for full and
". . . some imagine themselves to be elect because of perfect fellowship with the Lord. He feels as Paul did
the visions they have . . . but these are as much value as about it, "having a desire to depart, and to be with
cobwebs for a garment . . . at the day of  jiudgment  . .  ." Christ, which is far better" (Phil.  1:23).  This is an
(Sermons on Sovereignty, p. 73). No, but rather it is attitude common, perhaps not to every professing
this way: "God hath from the beginning chosen you to         Christian, but to every child of God, and to the entire
salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief election of grace. They long for that "crown of
of the truth" (II Thess. 2: 13). The witness of my own righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge,
spirit is that I believe the truth, and therefore, that shall give me at that day, and not to me only, but unto
witness continues, God has chosen  nze `co salvation! I      all them also that love His appearing" (II Tim.  4:8).
believe the truth of the Gospel because the witness of                          (To be continued)

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                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                   359



                                                                             WEDDING ANNIVERSAR Y
                                                                  On May 9, 1972, our beloved parents, MR. AND
                                                               MRS. HIB KUIPER hope to celebrate their 25th
                                                               wedding anniversary. We, their children, are grateful
                                                               for this occasion and thank them for the many years of
                                                               love and  Christan  instruction they have given us. It is
                                                               our prayer that in their remaining days they may
                                                               experience the continued blessings of our covenant
                                                               God.
                                                                  "Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with
                                                               benefits, -even the God of our salvation." (Psalm
                                                               68: 19).
                                                                                   Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Brink (Linda)
                                                                                                                  Donna
L                                                                                                                    Jay
               W E D D I N G   A N N I V E R S A R Y                                                               Daryl
     On April 23, 1972, MR. AND MRS. JAY BOMERS                                                                    Hibb
celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary.                                                   and Lon and  Stacey Brink
     We thank our Covenant Father for preserving them Hudsonville,  Mich.
for each other and for us these many years. Our prayers
are for His continued blessing on them throughout
their earthly walk.                                                        RESOLUTION OFSYMF'ATHY
                           Their children and grandchildren      The Men's Society of the Loveland Protestant
                                                     Bruce Reformed Church expresses its Christian sympathy to
                                                     Lorie     Mr. Frank Van  Baren and his family in the death of his
                                                     Heidi     father,
                                                    Timmy                  MR. GILBERT VAN  BAREN.
                                                    Brenda     May the Holy Spirit comfort them with the promise of
                                  Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Huber the resurrection: "For the Lord himself shall descend
                                        Heidi Jo and Billy. from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
                                                               archangel, and  wi,th the trump of God: and the dead in
                       IN MEMORIAM                             Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and
     On Tuesday afternoon, March 21, our Heavenly remain shall be caught up together with them in the
Father called to Himself our beloved Husband, Father clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we
and Grandfather,                                               ever be with the Lord" (I Thess. 4: 16, 17).
                GILBERT VAN  BAREN                                                              Rev. D. Engelsma, Pres.
at the age of 69 years.                                                                           Mr. M. Alsum, Sec'y.
     "For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He .
shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And
though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in                                 NOTICE!!!
my flesh shall I see God." Job  19:25 and 26.                     According to the decision of the Synod of  ,197  1, the
                                    Mrs. Gilbert Van  Baren    Consistory of First Protestant Reformed Church of
                              Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Zandstra     Grand Rapids, Michigan, was appointed the calling
                           Mr. and Mrs. Anthony  DeYoung       church for the 1972 Synod. The  Consistory of First
                             Mr. and Mrs. Seymour Vroegh       Church hereby notifies the Churches that the 1972
                               Mr. and Mrs. Eugene'Kuiper Synod of The Protestant Reformed Churches in
                       Mr. and Mrs. George Donald Vroom        America will convene, the Lord willing, on Wednesday,
                              Mr. and Mrs. Gise Van Baren      June 7, 1972, at 9 A.M., in  Fir+ Church. The
                                Dr. and Mrs. Melvin Hugen preSynodical service will be held Tuesday evening,
                            Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert Van  Baren    June 6, at 8 P.M. in First Church. Rev. G. Van  Baren,
                             Mr. and Mrs. Frank Van  Baren     president of the 197 1 Synod, will preach the sermon.
                           Mr. and Mrs. Cornelius Nymeyer      Synodical delegates are requested to meet with the
                               Mr. and Mrs. Don De Young       consistory before the service. Delegates in need of
                             Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Hoffman       lodging should contact Mr. James Heys, 1432 Giddings
                                         29 Grandchildren      Ave., S.E., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49507.
South Holland, Illinois                                                                              -James Heys, Clerk

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


                                                                                        -

360                                             THE STANDARD BEARER


                                News  From Our Churches

             REPORT OF  CLASSIS EAST                          planned to celebrate the anniversary. And an
  Classis East met in regular session on. April 5, 1972,      interesting evening it promises to be. Rev. D.
at Hudsonville. Each church was  repreisented  by two         Engelsma, a Hope alumnus, will be the main speaker.
delegates. The agenda was routine except for the              In addition, Mr. John Buiter and Miss Agatha Lubbers,
submission of an overture by an individual concerned          present and former administrators, respectively, will
about the site of the proposed seminary building.             provide some highlights of the present situation and of
  The reports of the Stated Clerk and Classical               past  history,,.again  respectively.
Committee were read. The Stated Clerk reminded                   The date for the program, remember, is May 12, and
Classis and particularly the clerks of  consistories that     the place is Grandville Junior High School gymnasium.
all forms must now be obtained from Rev. D. Kuiper,           After the program, you'll no doubt want to drive over
the Stated Clerk of Synod.                                    to Hope School for the "open house" there.
  The Finance Committee of Elders J.  Bioone and J. B.                                 *****
Lubbers reported expenses of $11.08. The following
classical appointment schedule prepared by a                     The inclusion of this next item will mean that the
committee of Rev. R. Harbach and Elders H. Kuiper             "News from our Churches" is made up entirely of
and D. Meulenberg was adopted by  Classis: HOPE:              school  news this time; but that's all right once in
April 23  - C. Hanko; May 7  - G. Van  Baren; May 14          awhile, isn't it?
- R. C. Harbach; May 28  - J. A. Heys; June 4  - M.              The written product of last summer's Social Studies
Schipper;  July 2  - H. Veldman                               workshop has recently come off the press (located in
  Rev. C. Hanko and Rev. J. Heys were chosen as               one of the Seminary rooms in First Church's
church visitors with Rev. H. Veldman as alternate.            basement). It consists of about 120 mimeographed
  The questions of Article 41 of the Church Order             pages, bound in a soft-covered volume. It's entitled
were answered satisfactorily. After the concluding            "Biblical Perspectives in the Social Sciences," and
remarks of the chairman in which he thanked the               includes seven different essays dealing with "problems
Classis for their cooperation and wished the churches         or concerns which arise repeatedly in the study of
God's blessing, Elder H. Vander Kolk closed the               history." "The Proper Relationship, of Church and
session with prayer.                                          State," is one such topic. A couple of others are "The
  Classis will meet next on July 5, 1972 at Holland,          Idea of Revolution, " "The Decline of Nations," and
Michigan.                                                     "War and Peace." In the book's preface, the workshop
                                   Respectfully submitted,    director,  Mr: Lamm Lubbers, suggests that "the
                                Jon Huisken, Stated Clerk     principles stated are meant to stimulate the creative
                        *  *  *  *.*                          and dedicated teacher to make explicit and specific the
  May we remind you, again, of Hope School's                  principles from the Word of God in his teaching."
celebration of its 25th anniversary? For a quarter of a         That the participants of the workshop were thus
century, the dedicated boards and teachers at Hope            stimulated is plain from the following statement from
have been providing distinctive instruction for our           Mr. Gerald Kuiper, in a written evaluation of the
covenant children. The teachers and board members of          two-week session: "The workshop has reminded me
the past twenty-five years certainly deserve a word of        again of the importance of the subjects I am privileged
commendation. More important, of course, is the fact          to teach. I also  feei that I am better prepared to teach
that the continued existence and growth of the school         from a distinctive point of view."
has been possible only through the blessing of God on           A third summer workshop is being planned for this
the efforts expended there. That the present board is         coming summer. The topic, this time, is "Written
very much aware of that fact is evident from its choice       Communication Skills." A director has been chosen  -
of theme for the celebration  - "Gold's Covenant              Mr. Darrel Huisken, junior high teacher at Hope School
Faithfulness"  - as well as by the steering committee's       - and applications are being taken, presently, for
stated purpose in planning  the celebration, namely, "to      participation in the workshop. It's the hope of the
acknowledge God's goodness to us."                            Federation, which sponsors the event, that the 1972
  That we, who live within reasonable  d.istance of the       workshop will be "a worthwhile experience for the
school, share in their gratitude can be shown in no           teachers, and, therefore, of value, ultimately, to the
better way, I think, than to attend the program being         students who receive instruction in our schools." D.D.


