                              Iae

                         tandard

                                     earer

A   R E F O R M E D   SEMI-MONTHL  M A G A Z I N E



IN THIS ISSUE


        Meditation
          Unmoveably Steadfast

        Signs of the Times

          "De Facto" Church Union

        Editorials
          Key `73's False Ecumenism

          "Quo Vadis'

          A New "Book of Praise"



                                       Volume XLIX 1 Number 8 / January 1.5, 19 73


170                                                             THE STANDARD BEARER




                                                                                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER
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       Unmoveably Steadfast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .170              Department Editors:  Rev.  Robert   D.  Decker,   Mr.   Donald   Doezema,   Rev.
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                                                                                    Kuiper,   Rev.   George   C.  Lubbers,          Rev.   Marinus   Schipper.   Rev.   Gise   J.
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Meditation

                                       Unmoveably Steadfast
                                                                      Rev. M. Schipper
                  "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye  stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the
                 work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour  is not vain in the Lord. "
                                                                                                                                 I Corinthians 1.5:58

       Therefore!                                                                       Though legions of men should be summoned to
       And immediately you ask: Wherefore?                                          deliver us from this horrible monster, are they not all
       First of all, the apostle points up that a triple like you and me? Would they not all succumb to the
monster has been overcome: Death, Grave, and Hell.                                  same devastating power?
       An invincible enemy if we stand alone!                                           But we `know that our Redeemer liveth, and He is
       Death, with its biting jaws, stands before every man, not only able to deliver; He has overcome!
ready to devour!                                                                        Death is swallowed up in victory!
       The grave, which has the power to gnaw away at                                   Death, grave, and hell are wholly impotent through
your flesh, to consume it completely!                                               the superb strength of the risen Lord!
       And hell, the extreme portal of death and the grave,                             Therefore, my beloved brethren . . .!
 demanding every victim who stands alone!                                               But there is more!


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                               171



  The apostle has been speaking of the hope of a always in need of such an exhortation!
complete change. Flesh and blood, so he informs us,            Be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the
cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth work of the Lord!
corruption inherit incorruption.                               But what does this mean? What does it mean to be
  That we shall inherit the kingdom, there can be no stedfast and unmoveable? And what are we to
doubt. Indeed, we shall possess it, walk in it, abide in understand concerning the relation of these two?
it. We shall see it, and enjoy it forever. All our senses      Stedfastness expresses the notion of strength to
shall be filled with the beauty of it. As God's covenant stand; while unmoveableness emphasizes this strength
friends we shall eternally drink in the glories of His as it is tested by opposing forces. Stedfastness has its
heavenly kingdom.                                            figure in the natural, but also proverbial, Rock of
  But the question is: How?                                  Gibraltar, jutting up above the sea on the southern
  That kingdom is wholly spiritual, other worldly, coast of Spain. Or, for those who are more familiar
incorruptible and eternal. But we are natural, with it,  -stedfastness  has its figure in the Rockies,
corruptible, temporal.                                       stretching across our country from the south to the
  0, indeed, there must be a change!                         north and up into Canada; appearing not only as a
  Whether that change take place through death and huge spinal column holding the nation together, but as
the grave, when we shall shed, as a garment, the a symbol of strength. Unmoveableness, on the other
natural, earthly flesh and blood; or whether we shall be hand, has its figure in that same rock formation as it
changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the stands in the midst of the sea, battered by the waves
last trump, - we must be changed.                            and the tempests. Nothing moves the rock from its
  And changed we shall be!                                   mooring, it stands immoveably stedfast, though it be
  Therefore, my beloved brethren . . .!                      beset with much opposition.
  Be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the          This figure of immoveable stability, the apostle
work of the Lord!                                            urges upon the church. She must stand so immoveably
  0, to be sure, there was occasion for such an stedfast that no powers of opposition can move her
exhortation to the church which was in Corinth. Was from her place. Though she be assailed with many
this not the church which had been rocked by unholy forces of attack, their raging is all in vain.
partisanship? Had not this church, scarcely organized,         And this implies, in the first place, that the church
been well-nigh rent to pieces by wrangling, division, must have a place to stand. That place must be the
and debate? And did not the apostle find it necessary truth as it is in Christ Jesus our Lord, and revealed in
to rebuke this church sharply, reminding them that the Scriptures. This is, indeed, a sharply defined
Christ is not divided, and emphasizing the glorious position. There is nothing vague about the truth. It is
truth that all things are theirs, and they are Christ's, not undefinable, nor is it impossible to distinguish it
and Christ is God's? Was not also this the church, from the lie. Nor does it contain contradictions, as
though hardly called out of darkness into God's higher criticism would have us believe. It is readily
marvelous light, yet apparently sinking back into that discernible, easily distinguishable, and the sole basis for
darkness, when they condoned moral corruption? Had faith and practice.
not this church been thoroughly shaken with errors             Secondly, and in close connection with the
concerning the doctrine of the resurrection? Had not foregoing, it implies that you know the truth. That
the apostle explained at great length the seriousness of you be convinced of it, and carry that truth in your
this error? Did he not point out to them that if there is heart, and love it. When vain philosophy entices you
no resurrection, then is Christ not risen? And was it and false doctrines would lead you astray, how shall
not in detail stressed that if Christ be not risen, then all you be immoveably stedfast if you do not know the
is vain, their faith is vain, they are still in their sins, and truth, and are unacquainted with the very place on
they are without hope in the world?                          which you must stand?
  Remembering all this, the apostle, before he closed          Thirdly, however, we hasten to add that it is not
his epistle to them, felt the need to admonish . . .         sufficient merely to know the truth; but you must be
  Be ye stedfast, unmoveable . . .!                          rooted and grounded in Christ Jesus, Who is the central
  But is not this exhortation also necessary for the revelation of the truth. It must therefore be not merely
church of Christ at any time? Also today?                    an intellectual acumen, but a spiritual knowledge of
  Is it not true that the Church is always beset by faith. The truth must be very precious to you, more
much opposition? And do not the Scriptures forewarn precious than anything else. So that you will be willing
that as time goes to its end, the perilous times shall to lose everything, your possession, your liberty, your
increase, when there shall be ill winds of doctrine, and life, than move one inch from your position in the
many shall be deceived? When there shall be a great truth.
falling away?                                                  Finally, to be immoveably stedfast,  .you must also
  To be sure, the Church of Christ in the world is know the forces of opposition, those powers of


172                                          TH E STAN DA,RD BEARER


darkness that are many and strong, and their method          holy as He is holy, when He illumines our
of attack. Not always do these powers of opposition          understanding so that we also are able to discern
appear in their proper garb, and reveal their vicious        spiritual things spiritually. That work of the Lord
nature. Vain philosophy, for example, one of the             causes us to mortify the old man of sin in us, and to
more potent enemies of the truth, does not always            put on the new man. It so powerfully operates in us
come to you as a lie, but with a semblance of truth.         that we are able to know and to love the truth once
Shrewdly, but deceitfully this opponent approaches           more, and to take our stand on the basis of that truth
you with the doctrines of men, pretending to teach           of His Word in the midst of the world. And when that
Christ. Often it looks like the Lamb, while it speaks        work of the Lord shall be finished, we shall be raised
like the Dragon. Shall you stand immoveably stedfast         from the dead, and transformed completely into His
therefore, you must discern sharply and distinguish          perfect image; for we shall see Him as He is, and know
unerringly the light from the darkness, the truth from Him even as we are known.
the lie. Then, too, you must know the vanity of the            In that work of the Lord we are to abound!
world which, with its many allurements, will seek to           That means that consciously and spiritually we
draw you away from your position. It will offer you its      respond to that work of the Lord inwardly and
favor, honor, power, and glory, if you will but be           outwardly. It means that we experience that work
persuaded to leave your place. And you must know             overflowing in our lives. So that we desire it with all
also that these forces of evil, if they do not succeed to    out hearts, speak of it and sing of it all the live long day,
move you from your stand in the truth, will persecute        and all the days of our lives. We act as those who can-
you unto the death. They will frown on you, make not get enough of it, not only on the day of the Lord
your way difficult, cast you out, mock and deride you,       in His house, but all the years of our pilgrimage.
imprison you, and even kill you.                               0, how radical is the Word of God here! It leaves no
  Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast and         room for our works, not even our works for the Lord.
immoveable!                                                  It wants us to embrace only the work of the Lord,
  Always abounding in the work of the Lord!                  nothing else !
  So, and not otherwise, shall you remain stedfast and         And abounding in the work of the Lord constitutes
immoveable!                                                  our labor!
  Be sure, however, that you take particular notice            And we know that our labor is not vain in the Lord!
that the apostle is speaking here of the work of the           That expresses the motive for our always abounding
Lord!                                                        in the work of the Lord, and for being stedfast and
  Not your work, nor even your work for the Lord!            unmoveable. 0, yes, we labor! We are not mere robots
Not our work must abound. But the apostle is saying upon whom the Lord works, or in whom He so works
emphatically that we must abound in the work of the that we mechanically respond to  His manipulations.
Lord. Never should this be interpreted to mean that we Not so does the Lord save us. But He works in us in
are God's little helpers, co-workers with God, as many, such a way that we will and do of His good pleasure.
no doubt, would explain.                                       Note the term "labour"!  Labour is work that is
  Emphatically, it is the work of the Lord! The work characterized by hardship, toil, wearisomeness, much
which He has done, and is still doing as the God of our      difficulty. Evidently the apostle is reflecting on the
salvation. And that work of salvation is entirely His        difficulty, the wearisomeness, that is connected to our
work from beginning to end. That work is the work of remaining stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in
His counsel, according to which He has chosen His the work of the Lord. As we suggested above, to
people in Christ from everlasting. In that counsel He remain unmoveably stedfast, always abounding in the
also ordains the Christ, His only Begotten Son, to be work of the Lord, is demanding; it entails much
our Mediator and Saviour. That work of the Lord is           hardship, the loss of all worldly things, the reproach
also manifested in time, when He comes into our and persecution of the world. The child of God who
world, assumes our nature, under the curse of the law, remains stedfast, knows of the billows of life, and
in order to redeem us who are under the curse. That          often, in distinction from the insensible, unfeeling
work He performed in His suffering and death on the          stone, experiences in his soul the bitterness of the
cross, and in His resurrection and ascension to God's taunts of the wicked, the testing of the temptations of
right hand, where He received the Spirit without the world to remove him from his place. This is labour,
measure. That work of the Lord is the work of the work with toil and wearisomeness.
Spirit as He operates in our hearts, regenerating us and       But the apostle hastens to add: this labour is never
raising us up from spiritual death unto eternal life and vain, idle, without positive fruits, when it is "in the
glory. That work He accomplishes when He makes us Lord." This we know from experience. Does not this
to become partakers of all His saving benefits, same apostle in another of his letters write: "Work out
justification, sanctification, faith, love, and grace; your own salvation with  feav and trembling:  for it is
when He makes us righteous as He is righteous, and God who worketh in you both to will and to do of his


                                                      THE STANDARD BEARER                                                       173


good pleasure?" (Phil. 2: 12,13)                                   glorified Redeemer keeps us in His sphere, and upholds
   That our labour is never vain in the Lord is due to us by His right hand.
the fact, not that you and I are so faithful, so stedfast             So, we never labour in vain!
and unmoveable, so always abounding in the work of                    So, we are encouraged to remain unmoveably
the Lord; but in the fact that the Lord, the mighty, stedfast!
loving, gracious, Lord, Who died for us and in our                    Always abounding in the work of the Lord!
stead, is alive, is risen from the dead. That risen and               My beloved brethren!



Voice of our Fathers

                         The Belgic Confession, Article 14
                                    Creation, A Biblical Truth
                                                          Rev. J. Kortering

  Having dealt with the two main attacks upon the                     We might ask, what good is God's revelation in
doctrine of the creation of man, viz. evolution and                 Genesis? He adds,
theistic evolution or progressive creationism, we now                     If we say, for example, that the first chapters of
proceed to demonstrate that the Bible teaches that                      Genesis are not meant to provide us with scientific
God created man.                                                       information about the origin of man and his world,
                                                                       we certainly do not mean that those chapters could
GENESIS, A TEACHING MODEL?                                             be sliced away from the Bible. They form a chapter in
  We take the Scripture seriously. When the Bible                      the Godgiven message of the Bible that we never
speaks concerning the origin of man, it does so with                   could do without. They proclaim that Israel's God is
divine authority. The Genesis account is historical, it                the creator of heaven and earth - and they keep
describes what God did in bringing forth the first man                 doing that even as we understand them to be teaching
and woman. We insist that this is an apriori  of faith for             models rather than stories of actual history. (page
which we make no apologies. Unless we are willing to                   103)
take this position, we will be influenced and swallowed               Our approach to the Scriptural account is the very
up by the tide of  Scientism, Historical-critical opposite of Kuitert's. The Belgic Confession cannot be
Hermeneutics, and Word-Revelations that are sweeping harmonized with Kuitert's view nor Kuitert's view with
over the church world today. This tide brings one the historic Reformed position. Article 14 of the
inevitably to the position of Dr. H. M. Kuitert in his Belgic Confession expresses the fact that God created
book, Do You Understand What You Read?                             Adam and Eve and that they lived in the Garden of
       It has become impossible in our time, in the light          Eden in perfection. Later the devil came and tempted
    of all sorts of scientific data (we shall not talk about       them to sin and the act of disobedience brought upon
    theory hese) to insist on what we  called the                  them and all man-kind a horrible depravity by which
    literal-historical interpretation of the first chapters of     he is incapable of performing that which is truly good.
    Genesis. Whatever these chapters of the Bible intend
    to teII us (and we said something about that in                GENESIS-HISTORICAL
    previous chapters) they do not intend to teach us that            The Genesis record is a historical account of the
    the world is about 6,000 years old, and that in this           work God did in creating all things, man included. The
    young and complete world an original, human,
    created couple lived alone in the Garden of Eden. It           creation of man was not a continuation of the animals,
    might be possible for Orthodox Protestantism to                as evolution would teach, but a separate divine act. Of
    abandon. this concept, because among other reasons it          the animals we read, "Let the sea bring forth
    is in conflict with the data that we come to know              abundantly the moving creatures . . . let the earth bring
    through normal, legitimate methods. That is to say,            forth the living creature after his kind," Gen. 1: 20-25.
    even as faith does not ask us ever to call white black,        As a distinctive creative act God brought forth man,
    faith does not demand that we dig in our heels, and            for He said, "Let us make man in our image, after our
    contrary to ail scientific evidence, insist that the           likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of
    original human couple of Genesis is a literal and              the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the
    historical pair of people. (page 101)                          cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping


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174                                                THE STANDARD  BiARER



thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created reference to put into focus the present wonder of God
man in His own image, in the image of God created he speaking from the mountain.
him; male and female created he them," Gen. 1:26, 27.                 In pleading with Job to hearken to his words, Elihu
To this is added, "And the Lord God formed man out reasoned, "My words shall be of the uprightness of my
of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his heart: and my lips shall utter knowledge clearly. The
nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the
soul," Gen. 2:7. Of the creation of Eve we read, "And Almighty hath given me life. If thou canst answer me,
the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam,                set thy words in order before me, stand up. Behold, I
and he slept; and he took one of his ribs, and closed up am according to thy wish in God's stead: I also am
the flesh instead thereof; and the rib, which the Lord formed out of the clay," Job 33:4-6. Recognizing his
God had taken from man, made he a woman, and origin, Elihu was both humble and bold: humble
brought her unto the man," Gen. 2:21, 22. This is an because he was fashioned out of the clay, bold because
inspired account of both the fact and the manner the Almighty God gave him his life.
whereby God created Adam and Eve. Because we                          Paul was bold to preach the God of creation upon
believe in the authority of the Word of God, we believe Mars Hill when he declared, "God that made the world
this to be true.                                                   and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven
THE SOVEREIGN CREATOR                                              and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
   There is a close connection between creation and neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he
sovereignty. God Creator has the right to determine needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life, and
and control the lives he has brought into existence.               breath, and all things; and hath made of one blood all
This is true for all of time and even unto all eternity. nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the
God Himself expresses thus in Isaiah, "Ask me of things earth," Acts.  17:24-26. He didn't argue with the
to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work historicity of creation: it formed an integral part of the
of my hands, command ye me. I have made the earth message, God's greatness in creation demands
and created man upon it: I, even my hands have recognition by the creature. Thus Paul also declared to
stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I the church at Corinth, "And so it is written, the first
commanded," Is. 45: 11, 12. This is mentioned in man Adam was made a living soul: the last Adam was
connection with the role Cyrus would play in the made a quickening spirit," I Cor. 15 : 45. If ,we question
release of the captives in the future. Because God made the existence of the first Adam, we call into question
man, He uses all men for His purpose. That central the existence of the last Adam.
purpose is the salvation of His church unto the glory of              Our divine origin influences our life. In the Old
His name. Thus Jehovah said earlier, "Fear not; for I Testament, Solomon wrote the beautiful words,
am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and             "Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth
gather thee from the west; I will say to the north, Give           while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh
up: and to the south, Keep not back, bring my sons                 when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them," Eccl.
from far and my daughters from the ends of the earth;              12:l. The humble response of every child of God to
Even every one that is called by my name: for I have his divine origin is that we gladly give God the glory
created him for my glory, I have formed  him: yea, I for our whole life. We exist not for ourselves, but to
have made him," Is. 43: 5-7. The sovereign Creator is praise our God. Those who deny the creation of man
able to work all things for the salvation of His people. become proud and show this by exalting man's word
THE CREATURE'S RESPONSE                                            above God's own testimony. Then everything goes
   As children of God, we do not deny God's having wrong. For us, our creation influences our Christian
created man, but gladly acknowledge this. This was the conduct. Because man was created before woman,
attitude of the inspired writers who reflected upon this something all of evolution rejects, Paul tells us that
great wonder. In exhorting Israel, Moses reflected upon man is the head of the woman, I Cor.  11:9, 12,
the significance of God having spoken to them from Similarly, in I Tim. 1: 13-15, "But I suffer not a
the Holy Mount. He declared to Israel, "For ask now woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man,
of the days that are past, which were before thee, since but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then
the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman
from the one side of heaven -unto the other, whether b e i n g   d e c e i v e d   w a s   i n   t h e   t r a n s g r e s s i o n .
there hath been any such things as this great thing is, Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if
or hath been heard like it? Did ever people hear the they continue in faith and charity and holiness with
voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as sobriety ."
thou. hast heard, and live?" Deut.  4:32, 33. Moses ONE TRUTH
believed that God created man and that this was the                   All of this teaches us that the truth of God given in
original great wonder which became a point of the Bible is one whole. We speak of God's revelation as


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                            175



being organic, that it is a living whole, each part for His own purpose. He denies that the only hope for
directly related to every other part.                       fallen man is to be reconciled to God by the death of
  If we deny one part of that  .divine revelation, we His Son; rather he speaks about a Jesus who is a good
distort and confuse the whole. Unbelievers deliberately man, who can give everyone a new lease on life. A
do this; they delight in changing the "Word of God to confused church loses her calling to preach the Word,
satisfy the evil intent of their depraved nature. Today finding herself on the bandwagon of social action.
we see this happening about us on every side. Those When man is substituted for God, his end is near, for
who are so proud that they rather trust the theories the height of such presumption is for him to stand in
and seeming invincible proofs of radioactivity, the temple and claim that he is God,  IT Thess.  2:4.
archeology, and science are quick to discard the Word Then his measure of iniquity will be full.
of God as a "teaching model" wholly unreliable for             Our Reformed confession is based upon the clear
telling us where we came from or whither we are going. teaching of the Word of God. The inspired writers
This leads them to deny creation and claim that they gratefully acknowledged that God was the Creator of
still believe in the creator-God. However, if we deny man and as such calls us to acknowledge this and praise
God, and those who deny creation deny God the His name for it.
Creator, we loose the pivotal center of all truth. This       In response to this calling, we maintain the Belgic
explains the confusion in the church world today. Confession as a beautiful statement of faith and join
When man drifts from the Word of God and denies the church of all ages in saying, "That God created
creation, he denies God's sovereignty over all life, he man out of the dust of the earth, and made and
denies that God has the right to determine the future formed him after his own image," Article 14.
destiny of all man-kind as well as controlling history



From Holy Writ

                        Pure and Undefiled Religion (6)
                                         An Exposition of the Epistle of James
                                                Rev. Robert D, Decker

Chapter 1: 12-l 7, The Blessedness of Enduring              punches with us `- but never forget that the Word of
Temptations . . .                                           God, the gospel of Jesus Christ, comes out of the
                                                            immeasurable mercy (pity for the miserable) and love
  This passage takes us back to a thought expressed in of God. The trouble with us who are characterized by
verses five through eight. James there instructed us in unhappiness is S-I-N! And this is the sin; we are not
the truth that if we are to "count it all joy when we       enduring the divers temptations of the Evil One. We
fall into divers temptations" we need the wisdom of are being tempted and we are yielding to the
God. We established the point in that connection that       temptations and what is worse we are saying; "I am
if we are to rejoice in temptations by the power of the     tempted of God." Rather than acknowledging our sins
wisdom of God we must "keep on asking for wisdom and confessing our transgressions, we are hiding our
from God." And we must ask "in faith, nothing iniquities and keeping silence. It is no wonder "our
wavering." The question we faced in that connection         bones wax old through our roaring all the day long."
obtains once more. Are you unhappy? Do you find (Perhaps you recognize this as a paraphrase of parts of
generally in your living from day to day no real, Psalm 32  - read that Psalm: it expresses exactly the
genuine, lasting satisfaction and joy? Is your life thought.) Rather than confessing our sins we are
perhaps characterized by a lack of peace and assurance,     say@, "I am tempted of God"; we are then shifting
by discontent, fear, or anxiety? Perhaps you are even the blame - and that, too, to God! Sin is our Lord; we
deeply depressed? The troubles loom large and appear are drawn away from God and enticed to evil by our
insurmountable, the pressures unbearable, and maybe own lust, and lust brings forth sin, and sin when it is
the horrible thought has more than once crossed your finished brings forth death. Death is experienced here
mind; "I feel like ending it all"?                          and now, alienation from God. This is why we are
  The Bible, The Word from God Himself, points us to        unhappy. Do we really want to: "Be glad in the Lord
the root cause of such unhappiness in these verses. It and rejoice . . . and shout for joy" in every experience
does so in the bluntest of terms  - God never pulls         of life? (Ps. 32: 11) Then we must not blame God for


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our sins, but we must acknowledge and confess them because the Lord has promised it to them that love
all, and we shall find that He is our hiding place, the him. Them that love Him are those whom God loved
God Who preserves us from trouble and Who first and for whom He sent His Son to be the
compasseth us about with songs of deliverance (Psalm propitiation for their sins (I John 4:10, 19). To these,
32:7). Then we can pray for God's wisdom, count it all His elect in Christ Jesus, who love Him with all their
joy in divers temptations, rejoice in our exaltation and heart and mind and soul and strength and reveal that
look forward to glory. This is the message of these love by loving their brothers and sisters in Christ (cf.
verses. We consider them as they stand, one by one.       once again -1 John 4!), God has promised the crown of
verse 12:                                                 life! And God's promise is sure, it cannot fail! Hebrews
  "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for 6: 13ff. grounds the certainty of God's promise in the
when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, immutability (unchangeableness) of God's counsel and
which the Lord hath promised to them that love him." in the fact that when God made promise to Abraham
Literally translated, the text reads: "Happy the man saying: "surely blessing I will bless thee," God swore
who continues to endure temptation," or "who keeps by Himself, because He could sware by no greater!
on enduring temptation. . . ." The verb "endure" is the Therefore we who love God and who have fled for
root from which the term "patience" (vss. 3,4) comes. refuge to Jesus Christ have strong consolation, and we
It means "to stay under" and implies the bearing of a have hope as an anchor of the soul. God cannot lie!
burden. Not in a passive sense must we understand this       Indeed then! Blessed, happy the man who keeps on
enduring, "staying under." Enduring is not a stoic enduring temptation! He is happy even in his deepest
acceptance of the inescapable fact of temptations or a sorrows, even when the tears of grief are streaming
mere acquiescence. Enduring is the expression of a down his face. He knows that nothing can be against
vibrant, active, joyful faith. It is obedience, yielding to him and that all things are for him. He is assured that
the Word of God, which does not succumb to the God, Who spared not His own Son but delivered Him
enticements of the Devil. He who endures, stays under up for us all will also freely give us all things in Him
in the sense that in all the temptations he encounters, (Romans  S)! Thus in anticipation of the crown of
he remains undaunted, faithful to the end.                glory which God has promised him he possesses a joy
  THAT man is blessed, truly happy. This is the which can never be diminished or taken from him.
reason: "For when he is tried, he shall receive the verse 13:
crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them          Here is the antithesis: "Let no man say when he is
that love him." "Having become tried, tested out," tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be
purified as silver by fire, that man shall receive the tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man." Let
crown of life. (cf. vs. 3) The man who endures it be understood that the text refers not to the fact of
temptations is he who has been put through the trying temptations as such but to falling into sin as a result of
or purifying process and thus been molded into the temptation. We might paraphrase it this way: "Let no
image of Christ. When that process is finished he shall man say when he is tempted and yields to that
receive "the crown of life." Scripture speaks often of temptation, I am tempted of God (literally  from
this crown. It is promised to the faithful church at God)." No one may say when he yields to temptation,
Smyrna (Rev. 2:10), it is called the "crown of glory" falls into sin and as a result suffers the evil
and promised to faithful elders (I Peter  5:4) .and is consequences of sin; "God tempted me: it's God's
sometimes called the "crown of righteousness." This is fault. "
not the royal crown, the diadem; but the victor's            But this is precisely what sinful man does. This is
crown. The figure was familiar to the Church of James' what makes sin and the depravity of man so
day. In the Grecian games the victor received a wreath frightening. Not only does man sin, and not only is it
or garland symbolic of his winning the race. Thus the written on every page of Scripture that man according
child of God, having been tested out and approved by to his natural birth can do nothing but sin, but man
the fire of temptations, receives the crown of life. Life has the effrontery, audacity, to blame God, to say that
is that crown. The life that never dies, everlasting life, God is the source of his sinning. This is at once the
resurrection life, the'life of Jesus Christ is that `crown. very depth of depravity and the height of blasphemy.
Life which is to be in the fellowship of God through It all began immediately after the fall of the human
Jesus Christ - that is the crown. Life in glory in which race into sin and death. Consult Genesis 3. Remember
there- shall be no more temptations, no more sin; that after eating of the forbidden fruit Adam and Eve
neither' sorrow, nor crying; life in which we shall knew that they were naked and futilely attempted to
forever  .praise Him Who sitteth upon the throne and cover their shame with fig leaves? Remember how they
the Lamb , in the company. of the innumerable hid themselves in the garden from God, Who came to
multitude, gathered out of every nation, tribe and talk to them in the cool of the day? When God
tongue (cf. Rev. 7:8ff, 21: lff.).                         questions Adam concerning all this; "Adam, . . . where
The. receiving of the crown is absolutely certain, art thou?", Adam answers; "I heard thy voice . . . and I


                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER                                                    177


was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself." God, Who forgives His sinning children in the blood of
God asks; "Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast Jesus. Man is insane, a victim of his environment or
thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that circumstances, his parents failed badly in providing
thou shouldest not eat?" What does Adam say to that? him with "healthy attitudes" when he was young, or
Does he say, "Yes, Lord I sinned"? 0 no! Listen, "The man is sick, or ignorant. The drunkard (the Bible's
woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me terminology) is afflicted with the disease, "alcoholism
of the tree, and I did eat." (emphasis mine) Adam did Young people are on drugs because of the pressures of
more than shift the blame to Eve, he blamed God! modern day life. It all amounts to saying: "I am
"God," Adam was saying, "You gave me that woman, tempted from God." That is total depravity! And, it's
therefore it's your fault that I sinned." Adam was the very anti-thesis of "enduring temptations" and
saying; "I am tempted from God." The woman does experiencing the happiness of God's blessing. The
the same. When God turns to her with the question; bitter fruit of that sin is all too obvious in these
"What hast thou done?" her answer is; "The serpent "perilous times" in which we live.
beguiled me, and I did,eat." Eve says, in other words,               But the fact that the Spirit inspired these words
f`It's not my fault that I sinned, God, you created the indicates that the church needs to be admonished at
serpent, it's you who are to blame."                               this point. The Word, after all, the gospel, is particular;
  Sinful man has been doing the same ever after. Sin it is addressed not to mankind in general (though they
develops also in this respect. According to the world's hear the sound of it  - Romans 10: 18) but to the
educators, philosophers, sociologists, psychiatrists, etc. church in the dispersion. Very simply put, it is our
no one is a sinner. People are not to be blamed for natural and sinful inclination to say when tempted; "I
their sinful behaviour. Guilt is only a bad "feeling." No am tempted from God." With that we continue, D.V.,
one is to be held accountable to a righteous and holy in the next issue.



Contending for the  F&h

    The Doctrine of Atonement (Reformation Period)
                                                         Synod of Dordt
                                                             The Canons
                                                        Rev. H. Veldmauz

  Discussing the Rejection of Errors of the second this also includes those parts of our Canons in which
head of the Canons of Dordt, we now quote Article V: the fathers of Dordt set forth the errors of these
       who teach: That all men have been accepted unto             Remonstrants. These confessions have been composed
    the state of reconciliation and unto the grace of the          for our instruction. They have been sealed with the
    covenant, so that no one is worthy of condemnation             blood of the saints. We must not ignore them and be
    on account of original sin, and that no one shall be           ignorant of their content. In these articles the
    condemned because of it, but that all are free from            seriousness of the Arminian error is held vividly before
    the guilt of original sin. For this opinion is repugnant
   to Scripture which teaches that we are by nature                us. We must bear in mind that these heresies of the
    children of wrath. Eph. 2:3.                                   Arminians follow inexorably from their teachings.
  In this article, according to the fathers of Dordt, the            We must bear in mind that Arminianism and the
Arminians teach three things. In the first place, they Reformed faith have nothing in common. They are as
teach that all men have been accepted unto the state of far apart as the two poles. Sometimes one hears the
reconciliation. Secondly, they teach that all men have remark, when we set forth and condemn the Arminian
been accepted unto the grace of the covenant. And, in error, that we are speaking of the worst Arminians.
the third !place, they also teach that no one is worthy that there are many Arminians who are not that bad
of condemnation on account of original sin, and that and that these Arminians subscribe to the fundamental
no one shall be condemned because of it, but that all truths of the Word of God. This last assertion is not
are free from the guilt of original sin. We do well to true. Arminianism is that system of doctrine which
understand this Arminian view of the atonement of departs from, the Reformed faith, is wholly opposed to
our Lord Jesus Christ. We do well to be fully informed it, has nothing in common with it. If we analyze
about the teaching of the Remonstrants. We do well to Arminianism, we shall discover that it violates every
be acquainted thoroughly with our confessions, and fundamental truth of Holy Writ. I realize that the


178                                            THE STANDARD BEARER


Arminians use Reformed terms, would leave the placed ourselves in a position in which this
impression that they believe the Scriptures. This is not relationship, as far as we are concerned, can never be
unusual. Do not the Scriptures teach that the wolves restored. We cannot pay our guilt of sin, satisfy the
walk about in sheep's clothing? Of this fifth article of unchangeable righteousness of God, and this
the Rejection of Errors of Head II of our Canons is a     satisfaction of God's justice is absolutely necessary if
clear example. Do we not read in this article of the      we are to return into the favor and fellowship of the
state of reconciliation and of the grace of the Lord. And neither are we able to break these bands of
covenant? Also the Arminians speak of the love of sin and darkness and call ourselves out of death and
God, of the death and atonement of Christ upon the        darkness into the life and light of God's covenant. But,'
cross of Calvary, of sin and of the preaching of the although we can and did turn our backs upon the
gospel. Do not the modernists of our day speak of the Lord, the Lord has not broken connections with us,
birth and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ? And has not turned His back upon us. This is the wonder of
so we could go on. This means nothing. When heretics Divine love. The sheep may turn their backs up.on their
use these Scriptural terms they certainly do not use shepherd, but they can never compel the shepherd to
them in the Scriptural sense of the word. And this turn his back upon them. Do we not read in the
means that we must always be doubly on our guard.         Scriptures that God so loved the world that He gave
  There is, first of all, according to this fifth article, His only begotten Son? However, this relationship has
the Scriptural concept of reconciliation. Concerning .been disturbed. Something has happened that makes it
this concept, we would remark, in the first place, that impossible for God to exercise covenant fellowship
God is always the Subject of reconciliation and never with us. We have sinned and God is holy and righteous
its Object, and that the elect sinner is always its object and good. Sin, therefore, must be paid, His. justice
and never its subject. God always does the reconciling must be satisfied. And until our sin is paid, His justice
and is never reconciled, the sinner is always reconciled satisfied, and we are holy even as He is holy, God
and never does the reconciling. As we read it in 2 Cor. cannot exercise covenant communion and fellowship
5: 19: "To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the with us.
world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto      Thirdly, the concept of reconciliation implies that
them; and hath committed unto us the word of this relationship has now been restored. Notice again:
reconciliation." The Scriptures never express it any we are reconciled, not God. The Scriptures never teach
other way. It is true that we read at the close of verse that the Lord is reconciled. The love of God toward
20: "Be ye reconciled to God." But this expression His people has never been broken. And we must also
must never be interpreted to mean: "Become ye note that God does the reconciling, never we. We have
reconciled to God." This is evident from the fact that here the death of the Son of God, of God Himself, in
we read in verse 19 that God was in Christ, reconciling our flesh and blood. God was in Christ reconciling the
the world unto Himself. So, the Lord does the world, His world, unto Himself. So, this relationship
reconciling and the elect sinner is always its object.    has now been restored. The idea of reconciliation is a
  Secondly, the Scriptural concept of reconciliation legal concept, concerns our judicial relation to the law
contains three elements. First, this concept of God. The basis has now been laid, according to the
presupposes a relationship. This is naturally true. righteousness of the Lord, whereby God can again
Strangers are not reconciled. Only people who stand in enter into fellowship with us. This basis has been laid
a certain relation to each other are reconciled, such as in the blood of Calvary. All this is implied in the
husbands and wives, parents and children, employers Scriptural concept of reconciliation. Of this, this fifth
and employees, etc. This is also Scripturally true. article of the' Rejection of Errors in Head II of our
Reconciliation presupposes a relationship between God Canons speaks.
and His people, in which God has known `them in             Now the Arminians teach, according to our fathers
everlasting love, has willed them to be His people, His in this fifth article, that all men have been accepted
covenant friends, with whom He has willed to dwell in unto the state of reconciliation. They were, of course,
everlasting communion and fellowship.                     compelled to teach this. Of course, we understand that
  Secondly, this concept of reconciliation presupposes when they speak of all men being accepted unto the
that this relationship has been disturbed. Mind you, it state of reconciliation, they mean something which is
has not been broken. This, too, is naturally true. A quite different from the Reformed conception. It is,
husband and his wife who have been divorced are not we understand, very true that all men have been
reconciled. Their divorce ends their relationship. restored into the state of reconciliation. The Scriptures
Reconciliationis attempted as long as the bond has not surely teach this. Do we not read in the Word of God
yet been severed, broken; This is also spiritually true. that God reconciled the world unto Himself, and that
0, yes, this relationship has been broken as far as we the crucified and glorified Lord draws all men unto
are concerned. We have certainly severed connections; Himself. When the Arminians, however, teach that all
we have turned our backs upon the Lord. And we have men have been accepted unto the state of


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                             179


reconciliation, they mean all men in the sense of every have also been accepted into the grace of the covenant.
man, head for head. And we will in due time call This means, according to the Remonstrants, that all
attention to what they mean when they speak of all men have been accepted into the love and friendship of
men having been accepted unto the state of the Lord, that the Lord now enters into friendship
reconciliation. But the Arminians were surely relations-with all men and every man. Of course, the
compelled to teach this. Do not the Scriptures speak of Arminian places his own construction upon these
the blood of Christ as the blood of atonement and of words. We understand, of course, that if it were really
reconciliation? Do we not read in 2 Cor. 5: 19 that God true that all men have been accepted into the grace of
was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself? And the covenant, into the love and friendship of the living
does not the apostle, in 1 John .2:2, declare that Jesus God, according to the Scriptural meaning of the love
is the propitiation for our sins? It is, therefore, evident and friendship of the Lord, then all men would surely
from the Word of God that the blood of our Lord be saved. But we know that the Arminian explains
Jesus Christ is the blood of reconciliation. But the everything as dependent upon the free will of the
Arminians also teach that Christ died for the whole sinner. Besides, what a striking similarity there is
world, for all men, every man, head for head. So, they between this Arminian conception and the conception
were compelled to teach that all men have been which is so prevalent today! But, the Lord willing, we
accepted unto the state of reconciliation.                will have to wait until our following article before we
  Secondly, the Arminians teach that all men have call attention to this. And we will also wait until our
been accepted, unto the grace of the covenant. Again, following article before calling attention to what we
this is true enough in itself, provided that we also read in this article, namely, that no one is worthy
understand all men to mean all men as out of every of condemnation because of it, but that all are free
tribe, nation, land and tongue. But, of course, we from the guilt of original sin. This view of the
understand that the Remonstrants mean all men in the Arminians is also completely in harmony with their
sense of every man, individually. And they were also conception that all men have been accepted into the
compelled to teach this. This follows from their state of reconciliation and into the grace of the
teaching that the Lord Jesus Christ died for the whole covenant. And this heresy of the Remonstrants is also
human race and every individual of that human race. If very prevalent in our present day. But to this we will
all men have been accepted into the state of call attention, the Lord willing, in our following
reconciliation, then it follows inexorably that all men article.



Studies in Election

                   Its. Proclamation [continued]

                                              Rev. Robt. C. Harbach

  The Bible is the Book of Election, not a book of lamb was for Israel, not for Egypt. Israel, not Egypt,
Jewish fables, nor a collection of tribal myths, nor a    was baptized with the cloud and with the sea. The law
collation of ancient moralisms. It is full of election of God was given to a redeemed people, not to the
from Genesis to Revelation. The Book of Beginnings is heathen nations. The altar was at the foot of Mt. Sinai,
full of it. The Lord had respect to Abel, but not to not at Mt. Seir. In Leviticus, the atoning sacrifice was
Cain. The Lord was called upon among the Sethites, for the people of God, and was not so much as offered
not among the Cainites. The seed of the woman to the neighboring heathen. The feasts of the Lord
continued in the sons of God, not in the daughters of were those to which Israel was commanded, but to
men. God established His covenant, not with the which the heathen were not called. In Numbers, the
wicked world before the flood but, with Noah and his heathen were made to see Israel as  "the  people who
family. The Lord blessed the sons of Noah, but cursed shall dwell alone" and who were `izot reckoned among
Canaan. The Lord distinguished between the Ring of the nations"  (23:9). In Deuteronomy it is said that
Salem and the King of Sodom, between Lot and the "the  Lord's.portion is His people: Jacob is the lot-of
men of Sodom, between Jacob and Esau, and between His inheritance," and although He "will render
Joseph and Pharaoh. In Exodus, God distinguished vengeance to His adversaries," nevertheless He "will be
between the Egyptians and the Hebrews. The Passover merciful to His land and to His people" (32:9,43). In


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Joshua, Israel enters the land while the Canaanites are    possible to scripturally proclaim the gospel without it.
expelled; the heathen Rahab is chosen and spared, The richness of the gospel is lost when it is not
while her whole city was ordained to destruction. In presented in the light of this golden sunbeam which
Judges, God chose weak and unlikely instruments to shines all throughout the length and breadth of the
gain victory for His people. Seven in number and Word of God. The reason this is not widely understood
forever memorialized in His armory, they are, a left is because not only the relation of the part to the
hand, an ox goad,. a woman, a nail, a millstone, a whole is not understood, but the relation of the heart.
pitcher and trumpet combination, and the jaw bone of to the whole is not understood. Few see that there is
an ass. In Ruth, God continued the covenant line in any relation of predestination to the gospel. They do
her, but not in Orpah. In First Samuel, David ischosen     not understand the meaning of "the Lamb slain from
to be king, while Saul is rejected from being king. In the foundation of the world." The majority think that
Second Samuel, the covenant, house, throne and the heart of the gospel is found in John's Gospel,
kingdom of David were established. In First Kings, chapter three, whereas, it is found in chapter seven-
Solomon began his undisputed reign, and Elijah was teen. More particularly, the heart of the matter is not
sent for the salvation of one widow out of many. In found. in John 3: 16, but in John 17: 2, "Thou hast
Second Kings, God blessed the Shunammite and cursed given Him power over all flesh, that He should give
Jezebel; condemned all the kings of Israel, but saved eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him." In the
some of the kings of Judah. First Chronicles depicts the light of this, it is plain that in attempt to preach the
victorious reign of David, with Israel viewed as God's gospel apart from election, there is no penetration to
servant and Jacob's children His chosen ones (16: 13). the heart of it. The best that is so often done is to
Second Chronicles records the glorious reign of present a very thin, man-centered version of the gospel,
Solomon, various reforms, revivals and marvelous grace which amounts to little more than a re-stating of
in the conversion of Manasseh. The remainder of the certain pet texts of Scripture. The main stream of
Old Testament is full of this truth. It is also detailed Scripture is not followed. The effect of the death of
throughout the gospels. Especially do we find it in the the Son of God is so conceived as to leave
preaching of the Evangelist Supreme. He was no more undetermined the person and uncertain the number of
disappointed when men did not believe in Him than He the saved. Not understood is the meaning of, "for the
was surprised when they did. He rather attributed transgression of My people was He stricken."
either outcome to the sovereignty of God. "I thank           The gospel is usually presented today as confined to
Thee, 0 Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, because the divine work in connection with the sacrifice of
Thou hast hidden these things from the wise and Christ. Little or no attention is ever given to why the
prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, "gospel of Christ" is also called "the gospel of God."
Father, for so it seemed good in Thy sight." "For the The river of grace is rarely traced to its source in the
elect's sake those days shall be shortened." "Come, ye heart of God, or followed on down to its end in the
blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for tabernacle of God. The beginning is often taken to be
you from the foundation of the world . . . Depart, ye at Calvary, or at Bethlehem, rather than in the eternal
cursed  .-.  ." "It is given unto you to know the. counsel of God. The blessings of salvation are not seen
mysteries of the kingdom of heaven; but unto them as flowing' out of and communicated from God's
that are without (the pale of election), it is not given." covenant. They are not seen as "the redemption of the
"Ye believe not because ye are not of My sheep." "Ye purchased possession" reserved  -for "a peculiar
have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you, and people ," or a people for His own possession. The
ordained you." "I know whom I have chosen." The preaching of the age is hardly in harmony with the first
epistles are full of this truth, especially in those of the chapter of the New Testament, where it is explicitly
greatest of the apostles. He speaks of children of God stated that (1) Jesus  "shall  save, (2) namely,  "His
as "the called according to His purpose." They were people  from their sins," and  not  (3) that He hopes,
foreknown and predestinated conformed to the image aims, wishes, attempts or proposes to do this, but actu-
of His Son. Men like Jacob are vessels of mercy before ally shall save them. It is not in the interest of a simple
prepared unto glory. Men like Esau are vessels of wrath gospel to omit the essential truth of election. Such a
prefitted to destruction. Peter says Christ verily was serious omission will leave one with prattling language
foreordained before the foundation of the world, but which even those who utter it do not understand.
was manifested in these last days for us. He says that       Study the doctrine of grace in Scripture and it shall
we were elect according to the foreknowledge of God become apparent that the grace of God cannot  be,
the Father, that we are an elect race, and that our apart from election. The chosen remnant is saved
calling and election are evidenced by faith, virtue, "according to the election of grace." Never can the
godliness, love etc.                                       grace of God be exalted while sovereign predestination
  From this brief survey it may be seen that the truth and unconditional election are denied, nor, either,
of election is the heart of the gospel. It simply is not while salvation is conceived of as provided for all, but


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 181


not actually purchased for any. We hear continually           do not see the relation of the truth of election to the
that God wants all men to be partakers of salvation,          truth of the gospel. This is evident in the beginning
and so, to that end, by the preaching of the gospel He        they make in their thinking. They begin with the
makes an offer of salvation to the free will of all who       crucifixion or the incarnation, rather than with God's
hear it. An offer is understood to mean the privilege of eternal purpose, which He purposed in Christ Jesus our
accepting or rejecting Christ. This is palmed off on          Lord. It is never to the praise of the glory of God's
men as pure gospel. But it is neither gospel, grace nor       grace when that laudation is made apart from election.
privilege.                                                    For grace and every aspect of it flow from the fountain
   Between grace and merit there is a whole sky of of election (Ephesians 1). As soon as grace is separated
difference. But this is not so with the "grace" of the        from election we have divine favor conditioned by the
Arminian and the free will of man. If grace can be            activities and contingencies of men. With election
offered, and must be accepted before it will do the           eliminated from the picture, grace is no more grace.
sinner any good, then the acceptance of it is a               For what, then, is taken to be grace is not grace. Some
commendable act, calling for praise and reward. For if imagine that because they reject the idea that salvation
some refuse the offer, while I accept it, then I either is entirely dependent upon the will of man, that they
have better sense than the others, or am more                 exalt grace when they advance the following. (1) The
tenderhearted than others, or less obstinate, or am a natural man is depraved, spiritually sick, half dead and
better sport to a pleading Savior: Then the question, almost incorrigibly stubborn. (2) But God by His Spirit
"Who maketh thee to differ?" must be answered                 convicts men of sin, or righteousness and judgment,
according to the Arminian boot-strap philosophy, I and enlightens them with the Light of Christ, so that
made myself to differ! At that, I would split the crown they need not walk in darkness, but have the light of
on my Savior's head to wear half.                             life. (3) Yet they must respond to these influences of
   So it is plain that the Bible is the Book of Election, the Spirit, and co-operate with His operations. For the
from cover to cover. Both the Old and New                     reason men are lost is that they refuse such working of
Testaments are full of this truth; in fact, it is the very    the Spirit. Saving grace is experienced as the result of
heart of the gospel. Many who would preach the acquiescence to the purpose of God. At bottom, this
gospel, never get at the heart of the matter, since they brings us down to human effort, not grace at all.


Studies in Baptism

         The Mode of Baptism Established (continued)

  Of those eleven cases of New Testament baptism,             annihilate the argument for the mode of sprinkling or
three are baptisms of single individuals with no              pouring. That stands intact. That argumentation does
children,  - Jesus, the Ethiopian Eunuch and Paul.            not need these eleven instances for its survival. As we
Three other cases were the disciples of John, the three       have already shown, there is an abundance of Scripture
thousand at Pentecost and the Samaritan converts. The         support for it much elsewhere in the Word of God. But
remaining five were family baptisms. Since at                 if you believe in the unity, continuity and perpetuity
Pentecost the promise was to the families of Israel and       of the covenant, you will not need proof that infants
their children (Acts 2:39), then over half of all these       were baptized as well as their Christian parents.
cases were family baptisms. That in itself is quite             Then there is the passage which is appealed to in
significant. What if we' cannot prove that in these           support of the "burial theory" of baptism, as in Rom.
families there  were children? No one can prove that          6:3-4 (Cp. Col. 2: 12), which reads, "Know ye not, that
there were no children in them. What if we. could not         so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were
prove from these cases that the mode of baptism is            baptised into His death? Therefore, we are buried with
sprinkling or pouring? No one will prove on the basis         Him by baptism  .into death, that like as Christ was
of them that the mode is immersion. But if the                raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father,
immersionist cannot prove his mode from these                 even so we also should walk in newness of life." The
instances of baptism, what will he do for support of his      American Standard Version, more exact, reads, "Or are
position on mode? Really nothing at all; it goes lost.        ye ignorant that, all we who were baptized into Christ
He needs these cases for his so called "proof." But the       Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried,
elimination of the eleven cases from the debate does not therefore, with Him through baptism into death . . ."


182                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



The original could be better translated, as, "Or are ye in all His redemptive acts. Our position, then, is one of
ignorant that, all who were baptized in Christ Jesus, in       identification with Christ. We were, then, positionally
the death of Him were baptized? We were buried,                buried together with Him through  the  baptism, that
therefore, together with Him through the baptism in            is, the true, historical baptism, of which water baptism
the death . .  ." Paul is certainly not dealing here with is the sign. It is all an accomplished fact for the church
any water baptism a thought which loses sight of the           through the Baptism (there is only the one baptism) in
real meaning of the passage. Here the subject is, The          the  death (there is, only the one atoning death). So
Objective Incorporation of the Entire Church into              then, Paul wrote here not of individual water baptism,
Christ, in His crucifixion, death, burial and                  nor even of regeneration, but corporately of  the
resurrection. The whole elect church is viewed in its          Baptism in the Death. Paul's object is not to show that
identification with Christ crucified, dead, buried and         Christians ought to walk in newness of life because
risen. They all were baptized in Christ Jesus. It was a figuratively raised from a  watery  grave in symbolic
baptism in His death. It is as plain as can be that His ritual, but because spiritually, objectively, historically,
death was a baptism of blood. (Cp. Matt  20:22-23; unitedly, corporately and representatively raised from
Mark  10:38-39; Luke  12:50 with Luke 22:20). When             the grave through the death. There is nothing of mode
He died we were incorporated, identified with Him, so          here, and to introduce it is to reveal lack of
that the once-for-all settled fact of the matter is, "We understanding of the passage. Peter refers to that
died! We were buried!" (Notice the tense of the verbs.)        baptism through His death when he mentions the
It is perfectly clear when this took place. We died with       "Sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ" (I Pet. 1:2)
Him on the Cross. We were united together with Him             and the pouring out of His Spirit (Acts 2: 17-18).



Signs of the Times

                      "De Facto" Church Union

                                                  Rev. G. Van Buren

  On the basis of Rev.  13:11-18, II Thess. 2:3-12,            longer so popular as it once seemed to be. Several
Matt.  24:24-26, and other passages, we believe that           denominations have withdrawn from the COCU
near the very end of time there will be established the        movement. It might seem that "ecumenism" is on the
great church of the antichrist. This church will claim to      decline.
be following the mandates of Christ. On the basis of             But it is not. There are yet attempts made toward
the Scriptures, it will insist upon unity. It will claim to    formal merger of denominations. But increasingly
be the only legitimate church and insist that all the          there is seen what might be called a r`de facto" church
"godly" belong to it. This will be the time of severe          union. By this, I mean that the churches do not
trial for the true child of God who will not be deceived       formally unite into one large denomination (which has
by these false prophets.                                       often been opposed at the "grass roots" level), but that
  One sees in the past years developments which                denominations increasingly cooperate together  as
suggest that the time may be near when that                    though they were one doctrinally.  I suspect that this
antichristian church will be established. Most of us are       will be increasingly seen in the days to come. Formal
aware of the efforts being made toward formal church           union takes too long to work out; perhaps it genders
union. Some large denominations in this land and in            too much opposition within denominations; and it
others have already become united. There are                   might cause segments to break off from the church if
movements such as COCU (Consultation on Church                 formal union took place. So  - instead of formal
Union) which seek formal  unions of several large              organization into one denomination, there are
denominations. And, of course, there are the W.C.C.            increasing evidences of cooperation among the
and N.C.C. which, though they do not claim to be any           different denominations.
sort of super church, nevertheless encourage and work            Such "de facto" union has been seen in several
for church union..                                             instances recently in our city of Grand Rapids. The
  However, in the past year or so, it would appear that Standard Bearer has earlier given reports concerning a
formal union between differing denominations is no convocation of non-public school teachers (Roman


                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                           183


Catholic, Lutheran, Christian Reformed) which was                  at the June 27th meeting that the NUMBER ONE
openly advertised as "ecumenism in action." Reports                PRIORITY that we would suggest for S.E. churches
have appeared on several aspects of the "Evangelism                would be Visitation, Survey and Scripture
Thrust" program in the Christian Reformed Church, a                distribution and that this (we felt.) could best be
program which is tied in with the "Key 73" project of              a c c o m p l i s h e d   b y   g r o u p s   o f   n e i g h b o r h o o d
evangelism in which over 150 denominations and other               congregations  visiting together in interdenominational
organizations are participating.                                   teams, locating prospects and inviting them to Christ.
  In this article, I would point out how that the "Key             (italics mine - G.V.B.)
73" project is promoting "de facto" church union in              Or from another letter:
Grand Rapids, (and, I presume, in other cities as well).              Don and Ken (Rev. D. Griffioen of the C.R.C. and
I strongly believe the "Key 73" project will accomplish            Rev. K. Lindland of the Methodist Church) are both
more toward "de facto" church union than it will                   amazed as we go around and see the excitement that
                                                                   is building as we get together. The only thing more
bring "converts to Christ."                                        exciting than the excitement is the love (Agape)
  I want to state emphatically that I am not opposed               which we sense in the groups. Our prayer circles and
to mission labors - I believe these must be cartied out.           the very conversation says, "They will know we are
I do oppose such cooperative efforts which can surely              Christians by our Love."
serve the purpose of the antichrist when the lines of                 In every section of the city and area where Don
truth must be blurred and unity established in spite of            and Ken have visited we have rejoiced to note the
doctrinal and confessional differences.                            wonderful participation of our Roman Catholic
  But allow me to show how "de facto" union is                     brethren, both lay and clergy . . .
happening in Grand Rapids under the "Key 73"                     Mixed teams (Christian Reformed and Roman
project.. This "Key 73" project is the attempt of over         Catholic; Reformed and Lutheran; etc.) are to confront
150 denominations and organizations to reach every             the people of the city with the Christ. How is this
person "for Christ" in the year 1973. A general plan of        mixed team to present the Christ? Is this Christ to be
action has bee'n laid out. Individual churches can "do         presented as the One Who loves all men and dies for all
their own thing"; yet cooperation is emphasized. In a          men (as the Arminian would insist) or the Christ Who
recent paper from the Christian Reformed Board of              dies for His people alone (as presumably a Reformed
Evangelism of Greater Grand Rapids (issue No. 5), the          man would insist)? Is this Christ to be presented as
following appeared.                                            One whose sacrifice must be daily repeated (as the
       Many of the Churches of Grand Rapids are                Roman Catholic teaches) or as One whose sacrifice is
    cooperating in a year of evangelism in 1973. Church        fully and finally  ,accomplished  on the cross itself (as
   leaders from Roman Catholic, Baptist, Lutheran,             presumably a Protestant would teach)? You see, the
    Reformed, Christian Reformed, Methodist
    Presbyterian, Church of Christ and others have been        only way for mixed teams to present Christ, would be
    meeting together to plan cooperative evangelistic          to present Him in a way in which all would be agreed.
    outreach for the year 1973.                                And to which church would this mixed team urge an
       Some of the areas where cooperation is being            inquirer to attend? The "church of their own choice"?
    discussed are :                                            (Besides, I, as a Reformed man, would be extremely
       1. The noon prayer call (Christmas  1972-January        embarrassed to bear witness with a Roman Catholic
       5, 1973) is a specific Key `73 emphasis for             while I am aware what my confession, the Heidelberg
       Christians all over the North American continent        Catechism, has to say in Question 80 about his views
       to pray for the success of Key `73.                     on the cross and the repeated sacrifice of the mass.) I
       2. Bible Distribution and Bible Study (Thanks-          can only wonder, too, what sort of alliances will be
      giving 1972 to Easter 1973). The churches are            formed by those of different denominations as a result
       discussing a cooperative Bible distribution to every    of this cooperation. There is suggested  `a "de facto"
      home in Grand Rapids.                                    union which can only lead toward ever closer
       3. A Palm Sunday or Easter Parade is a possibility
       as a public testimony and witness of concern and        cooperation, without agreement on the truths of God's
       commitment to make the Good News of Jesus               Word, and eventually formal union as well.
       Christ live in our city.                                  That there are intentions on the part of some for
  Notice first two above: "The churches are discussing         using "Key 73" to promote greater actual unity and
a cooperative Bible distribution to every home in              union of churches is evident, according to the
Grand Rapids." However, this cooperative venture in-           published schedule of events for "Key 73", when the
volves more than just Bible distribution. Subsequent           Burton Heights Ministerial Association of Grand
literature from the interdenominational "Key 73" com-          Rapids plans:
mittee points out the following:                                          D u r i n g   t h e   W E E K   O F   P R A Y E R   F O R
       5. On September 7, Mr. Ken Cochran ~8s our host                    CHRISTIAN UNITY (Jan. 18 to 25)
    at  Eastminster Presbyterian Church. Here we further         1. There will be a Corporate Ecumenical Service held in
    confirmed the decisions that seemed to be evolving              one of the churches.


184                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER



       2. During that week there will be Daily Prayer                sub-committees (Parade, Program, and Publicity) are
         opportunities to which both pastors and Laymen are          being formed. If you have a good suggestion for a
         invited.                                                    member of one of these committees contact Don
  The cooperation which is being proposed involves                   Griffioen . . . .
various other projects which, to say the least, are of             Though it might be premature to pass judgment on
very questionable wisdom. In order to supplement the an event which is not yet entirely planned, one can not
"noon prayer call," sunday school buses will be help but have the impression that this can only be a
stationed in various highly visible locations where breaking of the fourth commandment in the name of
people will be encouraged to offer their noon prayers Christ and His church. What else must be the result of
to God for the repentance of the nation. Now I know such a large, public, ostentatious display for the eyes
that there is  place for public prayer; we have such in our of men at the very time that God requires us to
gatherings and church services. Yet the arrangements worship Him in sincerity and truth in His house of
being made for the "Key 73" project resemble the very prayer?
thing, it seems to me, which Christ condemned so                   I   a p p r o v e ,   o f   c o u r s e ,   o f   s o m e   o f   t h e
emphatically in Matthew  6:5-8. Surely there is no               recommendations made in the "Key 73" project  -
Scriptural warrant to have all pray precisely the same           especially the recommendation toward greater
hour of each day and openly in this manner. This is              personal and group study of Scripture. This is good.
not being done certainly to persuade God, but to be But I am deeply concerned that this project can very
seen of men.                                                     truly be used to serve. the purpose of the final
  I have grave reservations about another proposal establishment of the antichristian church. Its emphasis
which seeks both to promote the appearance of unity upon unity and union, apart from unity of doctrine,
of churches but at the same time, it seems to me,                can only work in that direction. So I would warn
breaks the Sabbath. The plan of action suggests:                 concerning participation in this activity  - lest, while
        NUMBER SEVEN  - The proposed PALM SUNDAY  -              believing ourselves to be fighting for God's Cause (as
             "PARADE OF JOY AND AFFIRMATION"                    Paul did before his conversion), we in reality be
                     (Calling our city to Christ)                assisting the cause of the antichrist. Yet, let us know
           This idea, with four Banner Bearing columns,          that these events too serve as a reminder that the
        entering the Calder Area from four sections of the       "Lord is at hand" (Phil. 4: 5).
        city really seems to be catching on; three



A/Z Around Us

                         Christmas Made Relevant
                                                         PVOJ: H. Hanko

  There is a lot of talk nowadays about making the              when perusing a recent booklet distributed to the
gospel relevant. It must be made relevant to our times          students at Grand Valley College in Allendale,
so that it addresses people in this Twentieth Century,          Michigan. The pamphlet was intended, apparently, to
this modern scientific and technological age. It must be        make Christmas relevant to the students at that
relevant especially to young people so that the gospel           college. It is not the work of some fly-by-night
comes to them in their present problems and life. And,          evangelist; it is not a student publication - in which
more particularly yet, it must be made relevant to              one can expect to find almost anything; it is not even
those young people who go to college.                           an independent publication. It is a monthly
As, often as not, however, the attempt to make the              publication of the Christian Reformed Board of Home
gospel relevant has resulted in so altering the gospel          Missions. It is therefore, an official publication.
and its contents that there is little or no resemblance            We shall quote most of it, for it is not very long.
any longer between the truth of the Scriptures and the          What we omit are a few Scriptural quotations (from a
relevant gospel which is brought to the people of our           modern translation) and two "evangelical cartoons."
modern day. Relevance has become only an excuse to                 It begins with a page entitled "The `Live' Manger
corrupt the gospel and introduce all kinds of heresy.            Scene."
  This was forcibly brought home to me once again                          Some of us kids portrayed another "live" manger


                                                       THE STANDARD BEARER                                                      185


    scene this past week. Many people in cars came by to         an exact description of several ancient heresies related
    peek and see how cold the shepherds looked and how           to Arianism which were condemned by the Church
    many were still holding out.                                 hundreds of years ago; but it is also crassest heresy.
       It's always amazed  me, Lord, that in the live            God did not choose to live in a man. The Word became
    manger scenes of today the only person not "real" in         flesh and dwelt among us. That is something quite
    these scenes is You. You are usually portrayed by a          different. A virgin conceived and bore a Son because
    Raggedy Ann, a Baby First Step, or a Tippy Tumbles           the Holy Ghost came upon her and the power of the
    doll.                                                        Highest overshadowed her. Therefore her child is the
       But that's really not true either, is it, Lord?
    Because You are alive in Cindy, who is playing Mary,         Son of God. The pamphlet's expression too can surely
    and in Bob who is Joseph, and in Bruce, Doug, and            be interpreted (and is most naturally interpreted) to
    Jane, who are decked out as the shepherds tonight.           mean that God dwells in this man in some way similar
    That's where You come alive - not in the crib but in         to the way He dwells in every man.
    people!                                                        And that, I suppose, is why the whole point is made
       You make it truly a "live" manger scene! Help me          here that God came in a quiet way. He really did not,
    to see You "alive" in the middle of my life whether          of course. When the apostle John speaks of the Word
    I'm at Bethlehem, Calvary or Chicago.                        becoming flesh, He adds that "we beheld his glory, the
  Now, forget for a moment the use of "You" and the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of
questionable propriety of a creche. What does this grace and truth." And the whole life of Christ was not
opening paragraph really say when one attempts to quiet but world-shaking, for He came in judgment to
understand its meaning? Although it says very little of destroy.
any worth, and does not say that little in a very clear
way, it does assert that Christ comes alive, not in a                   Two thousand years ago you'd have said that the
                                                                     life of a carpenter-turned-rabbi Jesus was
crib, but in people. Whether the authors intended this               insignificant. Yet, today there are millions who gladly
or not, certainly the very strong impression is left that            serve and worship Him, and many who have
"The Divinity" designated by "Lord" and by "You" is                  demonstrated their willingness to die for His sake,
alive today only in people. It does not matter whether               The greatness of God, the greatness of Jesus, is quite
this vague and nebulous divinity came alive in                       different from the greatness which men usually
Bethlehem; nor presumably, whether "He" became                       notice: The greatness of a pure life humbly offered to
alive in any resurrection. The important thing is that               give each person the opportunity to become a child
He comes alive in people. Not only God's people; just                of God.
people. And what it means that he comes alive in                   A prayer is interspersed at this point:
people is not said. There are no modernists anywhere                 CHRISTMAS UNOPENED
in the world who would not subscribe to that kind of                 C o n f i r m   C h r i s t m a s
language.                                                              Among the distant descendants
  But to go on.                                                         Of kings and shepherds
                                                                         Before we send Christmas back
       Impress by bigness, statistics and brute power, we                  Because we can't get it to work.
    tend to think God must be big  - Real big: It takes                        0 God, what have we done
    Christmas to remind us that the bigness of God is not                       If we have to justify why
    a matter of size. Look how quietly God entered                               We still keep Christmas?
    human history, which is the best side of Christmas.                           Why must we make such excuses as
    The birth of Jesus is a fact of history; not a pious                           We have always done it or
    legend. You'd expect a big God to crash into the life                            We do it for the children?
    of this disturbed planet with tough anger and force.                                Send us searching through
       Jesus came to save, His humble means of entry is
    the best clue to His greatness. God enters His world in                               Our attics and our trash
    humble circumstances, lives life on the same terms as                                   Lest in our blindness
    He expects all human beings to live it, accepts no                                       And bad judgment
    special privileges, no protection, and in the end, is                                      We left our treasure there,
    betrayed and executed. No tricks, no hookers to                                              Unopened.
    prevent it from happening at the last moment.                                                   Amen.
       Christmas: the humble birth of the Man in whose           Then this:
    flesh God chose to live, to die, to live again.                     There was no advertisement, no press conference,
  Here apparently there is some kind of an attempt                   no publicity. God just slipped in through back door
made to bring into relevant terms the truth of the                   Bethlehem. In fact, the entry of God into His own
                                                                     world was incredibly humble. There is little romantic
incarnation. But this is very vaguely and even                       or beautiful in the thought of a young woman having
heretically expressed. For one thing, this truth of the              labor pains in an animal shelter inlaid with
incarnation is especially expressed in the words: "in                wall-to-wall straw. Sad commentary on a political
whose flesh God chose to live." Not only is this almost              power that would not give up a bed for a girl in labor


186                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER



        - and that the Son of God must be born in a stable.             the true meaning of Christmas. For although God
           Yet the political power in which He was born                 knew the human condition, it was necessary to enter
        utterly collapsed; all that remains  - slag heaps. Yet          the planet in order to experience it. God was in Christ
        the little baby, born in such pitiful humility and cut          experiencing temptation, difficulty, ingratitude and
        down in His prime, commands the allegiance of                   disappointment. Intensely He felt the vibes of
        millions all over the world. You meet them in a ticket          heartlessness, exploitation and stupidity. He
        line, on a subway, over a sledding hill, during a coffee        hammered out undated maxim to last for the
        break at a rest stop, after a  frigging,  before a big          remainder. of the planet's life: words that have
        decision.                                                       changed human life and history as no other words
           He has become friend and companion. Jesus of                 ever have.
        Nazareth, this unique person, has become the ironing                Without flinching from His announced goal to save
        board for all the crumpled programs and aspirations             b y   l o v i n g ,   H e   c o n f r o n t e d   o p p o s i t i o n   a n d
        of the ages. A most astonishing, phenomenon in                  misunderstanding. He lunched with the arrogant and
       human history. A solid rock of evidence.                         hypocritical. He spent mornings listening to
  The Christ described here is no different from the                    prostitutes. He went on walks looking for the failing,
Christ of a thousand modernists. True, he is called "the                the anxious ones; He waited in a line to help the hurt
Son of God"; but Arius called Him this; so did                          ones.
Servetus; so did hundreds who denied His divinity and                       After all that and more, He experienced hell. And
                                                                        came back loving.
who deny the blood of atonement. This is the Christ of                      Proof that God is not some vast impersonal power,
a good example; a loving, caring Christ Who is but a                    but is the God who, "because He wanted to,"
leader among men, a pointer to a way of morality all                    experienced all those things for our sakes. Get the
should walk. He is the Christ of heresy, not the Christ                 message? Open Christmas and discover a God who
of the Scriptures. There is no word of a Christ Who                     cares. Be sure of this. He cares.
comes to take peace from the earth, Who comes as a                    But there is no Christ here Who comes into the
refining fire, Who comes as God's eternal Son with the hearts of His people with the irresistible power of His
burden of the guilt of the sins of His people upon Him.             Spirit to create in them a new creature, freed from sin
There is here no Christ Who is exalted in the highest and guilt, holy and righteous, heir of heaven.
heavens as Ruler of all, whose eyes are as a flame of                 It is all so sad.
fire and whose feet like to fine brass and whose voice is             Supposing that one student would be "converted"
as the voice of many waters; Who has in his right hand by this pamphlet - something really impossible; what
seven stars and out of Whose mouth comes a sharp then? He would be converted to a Christ of man's
two-edged sword; and Whose countenance is as the sun imagination, to a gospel upon which Paul pronounces
shining in his strength.                                            in holy anger, his anathema.
  Finally, the pamphlet is concluded with this:                       But this is not the Christ God's people have
WAS CHRISTMAS NECESSARY?                                            worshipped in adoration beginning with the shepherds
           Someone suggested that Christmas was necessary           and  wisemen.  He is not the kind of Christ before
        because "God had a lot of knowledge, but lacked             Whom we bow in awe and praise. Thank God it is not
        experience. " Not a bad place to start thinking about       our Christ!



Editorials

                                     Key `73"s False Ecumenism

                                                         ProJ: H. C Hoeksema

  From various quarters Key `73, of which Evangelism                  One of the very serious errors of Key `73 (and of
Thrust is the Christian Reformed Version, has met Evangelism Thrust) is its ecumenism. This is rather
with criticism. The  Standard Bearer  has more than graphically pointed out in a little leaflet published by
once engaged in criticism of the movement; and the Fundamental'Evangelistic Association and entitled,
elsewhere in this issue you will find an article by Rev.            "Explo `72 + Key `73 = Confusion `74." In this leaflet
Van  Baren which once again points out some of the                  Key `73 is called the " `Trojan Horse' of ecumenism to
real dangers of this attempt at "ecumenical                         penetrate the evangelical camp." Now while we are not
evangelism."                                                        so concerned with what is vaguely called the


                                                      THE STANDARD BEARER                                                   187


"evangelical camp," and while we most likely would                  Recently  De  Wachter  made reference to some of this
not agree with the conception of evangelism held by              anti-Key  "73  propaganda of the Fundamental
the Fundamental Evangelistic Association, yet we may             Evangelistic Association. But instead of answering the
well pay attention to some of the evidence produced in           claims and justifying Christian Reformed participation
this leaflet. The leaflet makes a point of producing             in Key `73, the snide comment was made (I translate):
quotations from various leaders in the Key `73 move-             "And some people slick this up like cake." That, of
ment, so that by means of these quotations Key `73               course, is no answer. It is either "whistling in the dark"
ought to stand condemned in the judgment of a Re-                on the part of one whose Reformed conscience tells
formed man out of its own mouth. For this reason I               him that this cannot be answered and that Christian
will quote some of the information and quotations                Reformed participation cannot be justified, or it
contained in this leaflet.                                       bespeaks a haughty and self-righteous conceit.
    Key `73 has been called "A Smorgasbord of Ideas"                The fact of the matter is, of course, that as soon as a
    and "An umbrella high enough raised so that under it         Reformed man would speak up for his Reformed
    we can all gather without sacrificing our particular         principles of evangelism and would begin to insist on
    heritage." These expressions used by leaders of Key          reaching America with the gospel according to our
    `73, are most revealing. ECUMENISM is indeed a
    "smorgasbord" and an "umbrella" b u t                        Reformed confessions, the cooperation and ecumenism
    EVANGELISM is not. ECUMENISM IS OF THE                       of Key `73 would disappear like a morning mist.
    DEVIL. EVANGELISM IS OF GOD. They are                        Imagine, if you will, what would be the reaction of
    opposites. It is a sin to join them together!                men like Dr. Raedeke, Dr.  Outen, and Dr. Morikawa
    Key `73 offers a "Do Your Own Thing" Evangelism.             (all mentioned above) if a representative of Evangelism
    Key `73 director, Dr. T. A. Raedeke, in his report to        Thrust  - let us say, the Rev. Wesley Smedes  - would
    the Central Committee in October 1971, made this             inform them that Evangelism Thrust would begin its
    very clear. He emphasized four principles of Key `73         campaign at their addresses!
    evangelism: 1) Do your own thing - your way, 2) Do             The trouble is, of course, that the brand of
    your own thing - but share, 3) Do your own thing -           "evangelism" for which Evangelism Thrust stands is
    simultaneously, 4) Do your own thing - together.             itself far from Reformed. In fact, it fits right in with
    What could be more unscriptural - what could be              the ideas of men like Dr.  Outen. You think a statement
    more deceptive - what could be more dangerous than
    to encourage everyone to DO YOUR OWN THING                   like this is extreme, perhaps radical? The evidence is at
    and then call it EVANGELISM?                                 hand  - for anyone who is willing to see it. Exhibit No.
  H e r e   i s   a   s a m p l e   o f   t h i s   do-your-own-thing- 1 you will find  in All Around  Us in this very issue of
evangelism with which a church is necessarily                    the  Standard Bearer.  The sad fact is that the brand of
cooperating when it cooperates with Key `73.                     "evangelism" represented in  the pamphlet about which
    Key `73 has the endorsement of the United Methodist          Prof. Hanko writes is an evangel-less evangelism. It is
    Church - one of the most liberal of all Protestant           pure modernism. And Exhibit No. 2 can be found in
    bodies. They are represented on the Key `73 Central          the unholy mixture of Hudnut, Bonhoeffer, and Calvin
    and Executive Committees. But do apostate                    which Editor De Koster presents as a "Pattern For
    Methodists preach the one true gospel? Of course not!        New Year" in the  Banner  of December 29, 1972. It is
    Dr. Gebrge Outen, in his presentation of Key `73 to          readily understandable to me, when I read such
    the United Methodist Conference in Atlanta on April          samples, that the Christian Reformed Church can
    25th, said, "To protest war -that's evangelism . . . to      cooperate  &th Key `73.
    work for open housing - that's evangelism . . . to
    combat racism - that's evangelism . . . to be engaged          There are two things, however, which I cannot
    in the political process - that, too, is evangelism."        understand.
    Outen made it clear he would have nothing to do                The first is this: how is it that some who have valid
    with a "Bible-thumping", revivalist kind of                  criticisms of Key `73 and of Evangelism Thrust and
    evangelism - yet, he is a strong supporter of Key `73        who have voiced these criticisms in writing and orally
    and will be "doing his own thing" in the name of Key         nevertheless Cooperate, even in a measure? Do they not
    `73 evangelism.                                              realize that they are doing the same thing as are all of
  And here are the ideas of the staff executive for  Key         the participants in Key  `73? That is, they are
`73 of the American Baptist Convention, Dr. Jitsou               attempting to "do their own thing" but in the name of
Morikawa, who told the delegates:                                Evangelism Thrust. They disagree seriously with
    Key `73 appears to be a decisive event in the religious
    history of America. In unprecedented degree of scale,        Evangelism Thrust, but they purpose to evangelize as
    religious forces of the right and left are reaching out      participants in Evangelism Thrust. This is dishonest. It
    toward each other  in a common, corporate                    is deceitful. It can only be detrimental. These critics of
    evangelistic enterprise . . . There is an amazing mixture    Evangelism Thrust's materials ought to make it their
    of fundamentalists, conservatives, liberals and              first business to  convert,  if possible, their own leaders
    ecumenists, spanning the whole religious spectrum of         who are publishing this rot. And I am purposely using
   America.                                                      the word "convert" here. I seriously believe that men


188                                         THE STANDARD BEARER


who write stuff such as that cited by Prof. Hanko are       You understand, it is all right for non-participants to
in need of conversion! In other words, let the Christian    point out and to warn against the evils and the dangers
Reformed critics of Evangelism Thrust begin with their      of Key `73. But those who participate cannot take the
evangelism  at home, in their own denomination,             approach represented in the question, "What is wrong
among their own champions of evangelism, before they        about it?" To justify participation one must have
attempt to evangelize North America!                        something  positive.  One must confront the question,
   And the  second  is this: why is there so much           "What is right about it?" And especially in our day,
preoccupation with the question what is  wrong  with        when it is becoming so extremely difficult and so very
Key `73 and Evangelism Thrust? To my knowledge, no          rare to maintain a distinctly Reformed stance, this is
one, either among the critics or the protagonists of essential. We must ask: what is right, i.e., what is
Evangelism Thrust, has attempted to furnish a sound,        REFORMED, about it?
thorough-going, confessionally based, Scripturally            If this question is honestly confronted, the answer
based, Reformed answer to the very proper question:         will be, I am convinced: ZERO!
what is RIGHT about Evangelism Thrust and Key `73?


                                    "Quo Vadiis?"
   In the December, 1972 issue of the News Bulletin of the state church (the  Hewormde  Kerk)  in the
the Association of Christian Reformed Laymen the            Netherlands has long been, and such as the
above question (which means: "Whither Goest                 Gereformeerde  Kerken  in the Netherlands are also
Thou?") is addressed to the Christian Reformed              becoming.
Church in connection with the recent  synodical                2) In inseparable connection with this, the Christian
whitewash of Dr. Willis De Boer's heretical views of Reformed Church is becoming (or should I say: has
Genesis l-l 1. It is asserted in the article referred to    become?) a church in which there will not be and
that the Christian Reformed Church has reached the          cannot be a heresy trial.
point of no return. -But then it is added - as though it
is possible to return from the point of no return: "To        The above two statements may seem blunt - almost
retain many committed members an immediate                  unbelievable  - to many. I assert that they are indeed
reversal of position must be shown by the leadership of blunt, but that they are not unbelievable. I assert,
our denomination and the members of the Boards of moreover, that it is high time that serious-minded
our institutions, to make it possible for thousands of Christian Reformed people see the present situation
concerned members to continue their affiliations with exactly in such blunt terms, and that they make up
the Christian Reformed Church."                             their minds whether or not they want to be members
   Now it is not my intention to comment at this time       of such a "modalities church" and to accept the
on the Willis De Boer whitewash, except to remark that responsibilities of such membership for themselves and
there is no essential difference between De Boer's their children.
position and that of Dr. Harry Kuitert with respect to        Furthermore, I claim that the evidence of the events
Genesis l-l 1, and that it is evidently not true, of especially the last 10 or 15 years points to the
therefore, that Report  36/44 (The Nature and Extent reality of the above two propositions. The case of Dr.
of the Authority of Scripture) excluded such views.         Willis De Boer, cited by the ACRL, is but one link in the
  Nor is it my intention to comment on the apparent         chain of evidence; and the ACRL has brought into the
inconsistency pointed out in the first paragraph of this open much of the same kind of evidence in the years
editorial.                                                  of its existence.
   Rather, I want to suggest a plain answer to the            Still more: I believe that in the above two
question, "Quo Vadis, Christian Reformed Church?" propositions is represented the thinking of responsible
   That answer is two-fold:                                 leaders of the Christian Reformed denomination. For
   1) The Christian Reformed Church- is becoming a my own part, I have no doubt about this. But if the
"modalities church." For those who might wonder men of the ACRL hesitate to accept my judgment, I
what this term means, let me explain that this means a      suggest that they ask some responsible leaders
church in which two or more wings, liberal and whether or not this is their thinking, and perhaps,
conservative, live together (whether by explicit or by      upon occasion, their speech. Let them begin, say, by
tacit agreement) under one denominational roof in           directing this question to Editor De Koster, of the
so-called peaceful co-existence. It is a church such as Banner.


                                                                         THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                 189


                                    A New "Book of Praise"
    F r o m   t h e   C o m m i t t e e   f o r   t h e   P u b l i c a t i o n   o f   a n        this psalter, it should be mentioned that in the
A n g l o - G e n e v a n   P s a l t e r   o f   t h e   C a n a d i a n   R e f o r m e d        archives of the committee their individual
Churches I received a review copy of their  Book of                                                contributions are duly recorded. To Messrs John
Praise: Anglo-Genevan Psalter.  I hereby express my                                                Cozens and K. F. Ettinger the committee expresses its
sincere thanks to the Committee, and I gladly comply                                               thanks for many useful suggestions regarding matters
with their request for a review. Because I deem this                                               of versification. Grateful acknowledgement is hereby
                                                                                                   made also to all those who gave permission for the
p u b l i c a t i o n   t o   b e   e s p e c i a l l y   s i g n i f i c a n t   a n d            use of their copyright material.
worthwhile, I am placing these remarks in the editorial                                               English translations of the Belgic Confession, the
columns of our magazine, rather than in the  Book                                                  Heidelberg Catechism, and the Canons of Dort  - the
Review  section. Before I proceed with this discussion,                                            Reformed doctrinal standards  - are included in this
let me add the information (for any who may wish to                                                edition, along with the ecumenical creeds, prayers,
purchase this book) that it may be purchased for $3.00                                             and liturgical forms, for  the Book of Praise  is ,
f r o m   t h e   f o l l o w i n g   a d d r e s s :   C o m m i t t e e   f o r   t h e          intended to serve as the "churchbook" of the
Publication of the Anglo-Genevan Psalter, P.O. Box                                                 Canadian Reformed Churches.
66 1, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.                                                                 Included in the introductory part of this book is
    Perhaps I can best acquaint our readers with the                                           also a section of "Notes on the  Genevan  Melodies" as
origin and nature of this worthwhile publication by                                            follows:
quoting some of the introductory material. First of all,                                              The Psalm melodies can be divided roughly into
I quote the "Preface," which informs us briefly of the                                             three groups:
origin and purpose of this book. (By the way, the                                                  (a) the melodies of the 50 Psalms in the Geneva
Canadian Reformed Churches  - for such as may not                                                  edition of 1551, for which Clement  Marot provided
know  - are sister churches of the so-called `Liberated                                            the text. Louis Bourgeois is usually considered to be
Churches" o f   t h e   N e t h e r l a n d s . )   H e r e   f o l l o w s   t h e                the composer, but there is as yet no certainty on this
explanation given in the preface:                                                                  point.
          The appearance  of the  Book of Praise:                                                  (b) the melodies of the 34 Psalms for which Theodore
      Anglo-Genevan Psalter                                                                        de Beze (Beza) provided the text and which also
                                            is an event of considerable                            appeared in 1551. Although the details are not yet
      significance in the life of the Canadian Reformed                                            clear, it is assumed that Bourgeois composed or
      Churches as well as a landmark in the history of                                             edited these tunes as well.
      psalmody. All 1.50 Psalms are here published for the
      first time in English metrical versions that can be sung                                     (c) the 40 remaining melodies, which appeared in the
      to the sixteenth-century  Genevan  melodies.                                                 completed edition of 1562. They are usually ascribed
                                                                                                   to a certain Maistre Pierre, but it has not yet been
          This book of praise is evidence of the desire of the
      Canadian Reformed Churches to preserve their rich                                            established whether he composed or merely copied
      Calvinist heritage. Already in 1954 their first Synod                                        them; his identity also remains unsolved.
                                                                                                      Since 124 melodies are used for the 150 Psalms,
      appointed a committee to study the problems                                                  some of them are repeated; 15 melodies occur twice,
      connected with the versification of a  Genevan psalter                                       4 occur three times, and 1 occurs four times. (Here
      in the English language. In 1956 this committee                                              follows a list of the repeated tunes, HCH)
      published a report entitled Op weg  naar een Engelse                                            Eight of the  Genevan Psalm melodies have been
      Reformatorische Psalmbundel,  and in 1958 the                                                assigned to ten of the Hymns and Paraphrases. (Here
      second Synod appointed a new committee with the                                              follows another list, HCH)
      mandate to produce an English psalter according to                                              Furthermore, the Hymns and Paraphrases include
      the guidelines offered in  this report. In 1961 a                                            six hymn melodies used in the original  Genevan
      provisional edition of the  Book  of Praise  appeared,                                       psalters (Here follows a third list, HCH).
      followed in 1967 by a Supplement.                                                               Harmonizations (lacking in this book, HCH) of the
          The Synod of 1958 also urged that, in addition to                                        Genevan melodies are available e.g. in Jac. P. Bekkers
      the Psalms, "other hymns of the Scriptures" be                                               and Jac. Kort,  Orgelbegeleiding  bij het Psalmzingen
      incorporated in the proposed psalter. The results can
      be seen in the Hymns and Paraphrases that follow the                                         (The Hague,  1947),  and J. Worp,  Melodieen  der
      Psalms in this edition (61 of them, HCH). The                                               Psalmen  en Lofzangen,  arranged by George Stam
      melody of Hymn 45 (the  Credo), to  which the                                                (Groningen, 1956).
      committee holds the copyright, was composed                                                    (A booklet with harmonizations of the other
      especially for the Book of Praise by Mr. J. Schouten.                                        melodies used in the  Book  of  F'raise   has also
      The text of Hymns 10, 17, 18, 30, 46, 47, 48, and                                            appeared. Those interested in further information are
      49, and the metrical versions of the Psalms are                                              invited to write to the Committee for the Publication
      copyrighted as well.                                                                         of the Anglo-Genevan Psalter.)
          Since the various authors whose work has been                                          ?`o the above I may add that the final section of the
      adopted for publication are generally not identified in                                  book contains the confessions and liturgical forms of


190                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



the Canadian Reformed Churches. Preceding each of musical point of view. I am no musician; in fact, for
the Three Forms of Unity is a brief statement of the          some criticisms from a musical point of view, I had to
origin and history of each confession. The prayers            consult others. But I love good music, and I think I can
which occurred in the Dutch  Psalmboek  are also              recognize good music to a degree. And while I am well
published; I do not know whether they are in regular          aware that the Genevan  melodies are held in disrepute
use in the Canadian Reformed Churches, however. I             and even despised by some (These are melodies such as
may also note: 1) That the language in parts of this          those found in the chorale section  of  our  Psalter.),  I
section has been modernized somewhat. 2) That the             think it cannot be denied that melodies of this kind
Canadian Reformed Churches use a Form for Public              and calibre represent what is recognized as good music,
Profession of Faith different from ours. 3) That the          also outside of Reformed circles. Moreover, it is what I
Canadian Reformed Churches have a "Form for                   would class as "church music" in distinction from
Excommunication of Members Who Have Not Yet                   music which does not at all lend itself to the purposes
Made Profession of Faith," something which we do not          of worship.
have among our Liturgical Forms. 4) That the Church             I almost hesitate to express any negative criticism in
Order is not included in this book  - a regrettable           this day when there is in many quarters a totally
omission, in my opinion.                                      negative attitude toward the type of work represented
   The above will furnish our readers with somewhat of in this book. Hence, when I do make a few negative
an idea of this Book of Praise. If you are interested in      comments, I want it clearly understood that the
these matters, I strongly recommend that you purchase         favorable remarks made above stand.
a copy.                                                          My negative comments are as follows (and I cannot
  And now for some comments.                                  take the time and space to document them at present;
  In the first place, I believe that the Canadian.            perhaps I can add some details later):
Reformed Churches are to be congratulated for this               1. Personally, I would not like a steady and
accomplishment. They are a rather young denomination,         exclusive diet of the  Genevan  melodies. I know our
established in Canada (I think there is only one              forefathers were limited to this kind of music in the
congregation in the U.S.  - in Grand Rapids) after            Psalmboek; and I still love some of the Dutch psalms
World War II. In the space of some twenty years they          which I learned in my youth, both for their music and
have produced their own  Book  of  Praise  -  in fact,        their words. But there is other good music, too; and I
their own complete "churchbook." This in itself, even         believe that a Book of Praise for a Reformed church in
apart from the contents of the book, is quite an              the 20th century need not be restricted to these 16th
accomplishment. I cannot refrain from expressing a bit        century melodies. Perhaps the Canadian Reformed
of jealousy (and I think it is holy jealousy) when I          Churches, who are not long out of the Netherlands,
think of the fact that the work of our Protestant             can succeed in transplanting the exclusive use of these
Reformed Psalter Revision Committee and our                   melodies to Canada; I do not know. But I am
Committee for a Revised Translation of our Liturgy            convinced that in our churches, for example, it would
has fallen by the wayside during that same period.            never work. Whatever demerits our Psalter may have -
Personally, I am of the conviction that the work of           and it has not a few - I do not believe that it would be
both committees should be revived; and I hope that            practical to cut down the wide variety which we now
this accomplishment of the Canadian Reformed                  have to the very limited variety represented in this
Churches will provoke us to emulation!                        Book of Praise. Nor do I believe that to limit a book of
  In the second place, - and this is in reference to the      praise to' these melodies has any special merit.
contents  of the  Book  of  Praise  itself  - the Canadian      2. In connection with the preceding, it seems to me
Reformed Churches are to be congratulated on the              that on the whole these are rather heavy, ponderous
publication of a sound, usable, Scriptural, Reformed          melodies. Not only does the maxim hold that "variety
book of praise. This does not mean that I have checked        is the spice of life," but, in my opinion, there is a lack,
all of the psalms and hymns in this book for their            for example, of plaintive tunes to go with Psalms
accuracy and faithfulness to Scripture and the                which are very definitely plaintive in tone.
confessions. But this is an over all judgment. And              3. It is regrettable, in my opinion, that only the
especially in a day when there is a clamor of unholy          melodies are printed in this book, rather than the
revisionism with respect to the church's worship and a        4part music. Is it the intention that there shall be
clamor for innovations in the music and singing of the        unison singing in congregational worship? If not, it
church, this is noteworthy and commendable. What              would seem better to print the music in its four parts,
you find in this book is "solid stuff!" And this is true      especially in this day when so many are able to read
both of the metrical versions of the Psalms and of the        music and to sing a part. I would hope that a future
Hymns and Paraphrases. The material of this book is           edition would include this change.
certainly in the spirit of our rich Calvinistic heritage .       4. The rhythms of the  Genevan  melodies as here
  In the third place, this is also true, I believe, from a    presented. are not above reproach. I find many of them


                                                                -II       ,,r"-"r         -I                 :

                                                                -' .-
                                                THE STANDARD  BE/idEi   ."  .I                                      191
                                                                                            li      3  i

                                                                                        iA'  I  ,I  -8  ,*i
                                                                                           *4           u

abrupt and unnatural; in our own circles we are more vocabulary. Less of the latter and more of the
accustomed to singing these tunes as plain chorales.          sparkling, expressive Anglo-Saxon-derived English
Some of the Genevan  melodies can well be sung with would be an improvement.
half and quarter notes. But many of these tunes                  There are deeper questions involved in the
would require a goodly amount of practice, and some           production of a Book of Praise such as this. I cannot
of them would, I think, never go very smoothly. In            enter into: these in detail at this time. One of these
some cases, I would prefer the plain chorale; in some         questions; is this: when the church of the New
cases I would prefer to adjust the rhythm somewhat.           Testament, day sings the Psalms, is it necessary and
And in not a few instances the rhythm and the                 advantageous to sing them literally  - almost
versification do not fit; this results in incorrect accent    literalistically - even to the figures of speech? And if
of words and faulty emphasis in the thought.                  the Psalms are rather literally versified, do we not tend
  5. One more criticism of the musical aspect - and           to lose our New Testament perspective as we sing
here I confess that I am over my head, though I               them? Is it not true that this "New Testament
understand what is meant. There are no accidentals            perspective" on the part of those who sing them must
written in the music. This results in what I would call       be  assumed,  rather than being expressed, when we
an unnatural (and also difficult) flow of the music.          attempt to sing the Psalms rather literally? Moreover,
  Perhaps- some of the points criticized above will be        true that when you sing isolated stanzas, you tend to
the subject of difference of opinion. Perhaps the fact        jerk that stanza out of the context of the Psalm  -
that some of the music appears in this book as it does        unless, of `course, the stanzas are very skillfully com-
is due to the fact that the authors adhered strictly to       posed, and thereby become, I would think, less literal?
the original Genevan tunes. I know not. But these are            But these questions go to the very heart of
my criticisms.                                                psalmody and of what constitutes proper psalm-singing
  As far as the versifications are concerned, I have the      by the church of the New Testament. And, by the
following criticism:                                          way, let no one construe these remarks as constituting
                                                              opposition to Psalm-singing. I am a dedicated
   1. Some of the versifications are characterized by Psalm-singer!
rather stilted, awkward language and by forced                   But let me end on a positive note. Some of the
rhyming. I know that to prepare versifications like this      Psalms in this Book of Praise I found to be especially
is no easy task; but there is room for improvement.           attractive. ;Let me mention Psalm 68 and Psalm 81 as
When I compare the versifications in our Psalter, I find      examples in which the music and the words are
these to be, on the whole, warmer, more singable, and         well-suited. And I also want to make special mention
smoothly flowing.                                             of Hymn 47, a paraphrase of Lord's Day 1.
  2. There is considerable use of the heavier, more              Once again, congratulations to the Canadian
mechanical, Latin-derived portion of our English              Reformed Churches and especially to their Committee.



Book Reviews                                                                          WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
                                                                 On January 19, 1973, the Lord willing, our beloved
                                                              parents,
          LIFE IN CHRIST                                                  MR. AND MRS. HENRY BRANDS, SR.
LIFE  IN CHRIST,  by Norman Pittenger; Wm. B. will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.
Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1972; 128 pp., $1.95                    We thank our Heavenly Father for preserving them
(paper). [reviewed by Prof. H. Hanko]                         for each other and for their covenant love and
                                                              guidance they have given us. Our prayer is that God
   This is a devotional book on what it means to live "in will continue to bless them in their remaining
Christ" in all of life - in the communion of believers,       pilgrimage together.
in the community at large, and in the personal life of
the child of God.                                                        Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Schuiteman (Alice)
                                                                         Mr. and Mrs. Henry J. Brands
                                                                         Mr. and Mrs. Peter Vande Vegte (Grace)
                                                                              10 grand children
                                                                                1 great grandchild


                                                         5.          I
   THE STANDARD BEARER                  `.         :            ..
                                                                P
         P.O. Box 6064
  Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506                                             .I.             .-
                                                         )-

  192                                            THE STANDARD BEARER

                                  News From Our Churches
    According to an October 29 bulletin from                              And, "our supply of the booklet on Pentecostalism is
  Randolph, the Reformed Witness Hour "Will again be                      completely  .gone and a second printing has been
  broadcast in this area beginning November 5, at                         ordered. We have received many requests for this
  3:45-4: 15 P.M., over WBEV, 1430 AM and 95.3 FM." booklet from outside our circles."
  The November 5 bulletin was accompanied by a                                  1 Another of the paragraphs in the newsletter puts
  newsletter, the contents of which pertained to that these efforts in proper perspective. "While the
  radio broadcast. The part of the letter which dealt with Evangelism Committee was preparing these booklets, it
  the matter of financing was of more local interest, but was our prayer that God would use this humble means
  I'm certain that the remainder could be repeated with to strengthen the faith of His children. Let us rejoice in
  profit in this column. Here it is:                                      the fact that He is doing that! To know that He is
     "Today, for the first time in quite a while, we can answering our prayers is a source of encouragement to
  hear the Reformed Witness Hour. That is good for us us. Our constant prayer is that God may deem us
  as Protestant Reformed people who love the Truth and worthy as a congregation to be used of Him for  His
who want to make use of this opportunity to be                            name's sake."
  edified, instructed, and comforted. It is good also that
  those outside of our churches have this opportunity to                        .Rev. and Mrs. Lubbers expected to leave for Jamaica
  hear the Truth as it is set forth in the Scripture.                     from the Kent County Airport at 7:50 in the morning
     "There is much emphasis these days on witnessing,                    of January 3. We could, using the following lines from
  outreach, and evangelism. The sad part is that, by far First Church's bulletin, "express our thanks to them
  the majority of it is false witnessing because it does not for the fellowship and communion we might enjoy
  make known the Christ of the Scripture. It is also our together these past weeks, and we wish them God's
  calling as a church to be engaged in missionary work, richest blessings as they resume their labors in Jamaica.
  in church extension, and in personal witnessing. Our We commend them to the care of Him of Whom Jesus
  calling is to make known the Christ who is the                          said: `Not even a sparrow falls without the will of your
  revelation of the God of our salvation. The God who Father Who is in heaven.' "
  sovereignly realizes His counsel for His own                                    That same bulletin went on to report that "the Rev.
  glorification and for the salvation of His people. We and Mrs. J. Heys expect to join them a week later for a
  must be thankful for the means of the Reformed five-month stay to assist Rev. G. Lubbers in the work."
  Witness Hour to assist us in one aspect of our calling to               A Holland bulletin also made note of the fact that the
  make known the Reformed Truth."                                         Mission Committee and Synod had requested that Rev.
                          *****                                           Heys return with Rev. Lubbers in order to give
    A newsletter distributed to the members of our                        assistance in the school. Rev. Heys "would be giving
  South Holland congregation indicates that the                           instruction in Scripture interpretation and sermon
  Evangelism Committee there is also continuing to                        construction," as well as, no doubt, serving as guest
  make use of the air waves, for the purpose of                           preacher in various of the churches there. Holland's
  extending our witness. The letter is some three months                  consist ory granted the request, and their pastor
  old already, but interesting nonetheless. The first                     planned to leave for Jamaica from Chicago on January
  paragraph concerns the Sunday afternoon broadcast of                    8.
  one of the church services. According to the                                    Rev. Heys requests that any announcements
  committee, the "radio broadcast continues to be a                       intended for Holland's bulletin be sent to the Church
  blessing to many. It is our desire to improve upon the                  (290 East 18th St. in Holland), or, if still sent to his
  airing of our broadcasts so from now on we will be                      home address, be "clearly marked on the OUTSIDE of
  using announcers chosen from our own congregation.                      the envelope that it is a bulletin announcement.
  A name, too, has been selected for our broadcasts:                      "Otherwise," he adds, significantly, "it might not be
  `The Living Word.' We go forward in the confidence of read till sometime in JUNE!"
  faith that God will bless it `and cause it to prosper in                        In Jamaica, incidentally, Rev. Heys will be staying in
  respect to that for which I have sent it' (Isaiah                       a rented house only a couple of blocks from Rev.
  55: 11)"                                                                Lubbers. Rev. and Mrs. Heys have, on a previous
    The radio broadcast is not the only project of this                   occasion, made an extended stay in Jamaica. Not
  obviously active committee. Their pamphlets,                            without good reason, then, certainly, he adds his
  according to the newsletter, "have had wide                             Jamaican address - Montego Bay, Jamaica, West Indies
  distribution." As evidence of that: "the  Good News                     General Delivery, c/o Rev. Geo. C. Lubbers. Airmail is
  For the Afflicted  booklet is in its second printing."                  17c per half ounce.                                      D.D.


