                                    he
                              tandard

                                          earer

A   REFORMEID  S E M I - M O N T H L Y   M A G A Z I N E


I N   T H I S   I S S U E

              Meditation
                 Transfbrmed Into Christ's Image

             Editorial
                 The QPC and Arminianism

             Taking Heed to the Doctrine
                 The Importance of the Preaching of God's Word

             In His Fear

                 The Age of Man





                                            Volume x'LIX/ Number IO/ February 1.5, 19 73


218                                                                THE STANDARD  B~EARER


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From Holy Writ  -
    Pure and Undefiled  IReligion (8) . .  : . . . . . . . . . .235

A Commentary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .238

News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239  & 240


Meditation


                                 Transformed' Into Christ's Image
                                                                       Rev. M. Schipper
               "But we all,' with open face beholding.as  in a glass the glory of the Lord, are charzged in to
               the same image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit o.f the Lord. " II Corinthians 3 : 18.

   Two ministrations there are!                                                             Both ministrations were glorious!
    T h e   o n e   i s   t h e ' m i n i s t r a t i o n   o f   d e a t h   a n d         The ministration of death and condemnation was so
condemnation. The other, the ministration of the                                       glorious that, when its mediator spoke, he was required
Spirit and of righteousness. The first is the ministration                             to cover his face with a veil. And the reason,  - when
of the law, written  and.  engraven  in stones. The second, he received that ministration from the hand of God
the ministration of the Spirit, is written upon the                                    and written by His finger, the glory of God shone on
fleshy tables of the heart.. The first was  .spoken by                                 his face; and not only as he stood in God's presence,
Moses, the mediator of the Old Testament. The second                                   but also for some time later after he had descended
was spoken by Christ,: the perfect Mediator; and after that mount and delivered that ministration to the
Him, by His servants. The first was done away with the people.
coming of the gospel age. The second remains unto the                                       And the glory of the other ministration is the glory
,end of the ages, yea, unto the glorious appearance of of the Spirit of the Lord, Who, having suffered and
Christ in the last day.                                                                died as penalty of the ministration of death, was
                                                             :.


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                     219



 exalted in the highest heavens, and filled with the glory     disfigured, corrupted image. Man always seeks to rob
 of God in human nature.                                       Him of His glory. They tell lies about Him. As once
    But the glory of the latter far exceeds the glory of they  disrobed'Him,  emaciated Him by beating Him with
 the former!                                                   their fists, and causing the sweet lines of His face to be
    The glory that shone on Moses' face was temporary,         obliterated with their spittle, and tore His flesh with
 and only skin deep. The time came when that glory             the nails of His cross; so now, as they describe His
 which reflected in his face faded and disappeared. No         glorious image in the Scriptures, they give a
 longer was it required that he cover his face with a veil,    presentation that in no way even begins to resemble
 though it was true that the veil unto this day, that is,      H      i    m    .
 unto the glorification of Christ, remained upon the                Indeed, the perspicuity of the Scriptures must be
 hearts of them that read the law.                             maintained. In lucid lines the Word of God draws for
    The glory of the Spirit of the Lord, on the other          you and me in indelible etchings the portrait of His
 hand, is everlasting. It is the glory that remaineth, glorious image. In words so clear that a child can
because. that of which -it is the reflection abides            understand them, it defines the delicate lights and
 forevermore.                                                  shadows that show forth the features of His face.
    Fact of the matter is, that the apostle in our text        Beautiful Saviour!
 informs us,  - that with unveiled faces we, beholding as           Indeed, glorious image!
 in a mirror, are transformed into the image of the                 Glorious it is, first of all, because He is the image of
 glorious Lord.                                                the invisible and glorious God! Of God, the all glorious
    Not merely a reflection!                                   One! The  imPressed  image of the Father is He, and the
    But transformation!                                        brightness of His glory. But, secondly, glorious image is
    G l o r i o u s i m a g e !   ,I                           He as the Son  `of God in the flesh, raised from the
    Mark well, the apostle does not say that we actually       dead, and glorified in human nature. So the apostle
 see the Lord! That would be quite impossible so long          speaks of Him in our text.
 as we remain on the earth,  and, He remains in the glory           In His Word we see Him in all the glory of His
 of heaven.                                                    mediatorship. Understand well, as the Scriptures state
    No! We do not see the Lord Who is hidden in the it, no one can see God and live. But when He reveals
 heavens, but we behold His likeness, His image. To see Himself through His Son in the flesh, then we can say
 the Lord, we must wait for the day of His coming. But with the apostle John: "That which was from the
 when He left us` to return unto the Father, whence He beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen
 came when He made His first appearance, He did not            with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our
 leave us comfortless. He left us a likeness of Himself as     hands have handled, of the Word of life . .  ." And
 it is reflected in the mirror of His Word. It is a perfect when He disappeared from the scope of our vision to
 likeness. All the lines of His glorious face appear in this return into the heavens, He continues to be seen; a
 image. Our cameras produce images of ourselves and glorious image He leaves us in His Word.
 our dear ones  almost flawlessly, and we count these               This image we behold as in a mirror!
 images precious. Yet, because they are human                       And beholding it, we are transformed!
 inventions, they are always subject to imperfections,  -           Wonderful transformation!
 the light is not just right, or the object moved as the            As the moon reflects the light of the sun, and we are
 picture was taken, or the film was not of the proper          comforted with the assurance that in the darkness of
 constituency. Not so, however, is the image of Christ as      our night the. sun which seemed to disappear in the
 portrayed in the Word. It `is a perfect, flawless             West has not disappeared forever, but will rise again in
 reflection of the very Christ  iHimself. And the only         the morning in its splendor; so is the Word the
 place where we can behold His image is in that Word, reflection of the Sun of Righteousness, Who will
 the Holy Scriptures. And the whole image is not appear again in the day of His glory as the  glprious
 simply what you see of it in the gospels, or perhaps as Lord from heaven.
 He is beautifully set forth in the book of the                     This glory of the Lord we behold now as in a mirror.
 Revelation, but it must be  seen:in  the entire Bible, that The text suggests that this is a present reality, and a
 infallibly inspired portrait of the Christ.                   constant activity. If we look in the mirror and
    Understand well, and that, too, emphatically, that straightway walk away, forgetting what we saw,
 that image of the glorious Lord does not depend upon nothing avails in all our beholding. The apostle suggests
 the description which men may give concerning Him two things as far as that beholding is concerned: that
 before you can see the perfection of it. That is we do this in this present time, while our glorious Lord
 precisely the trouble, and especially today! Men would is hidden in the heavens; and that we make this a
 not have you see that glorious image except through constant activity, never ceasing to look in the mirror of
 `Cheir eyes, and their evaluation of it. Then, rest God's Word.
 assured, you are bound to see only a horribly                      Added to the activity of beholding is the thought


220                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



that we do this  with'unveiled face. This undoubtedly        transformation does not reside in us, but in the Lord
in  constrast to the children of Israel who could not        of glory Himself!
look on the glory reflected in the face of Moses, and            Even as by the Spirit of the Lord!
they therefore insisted that he cover his face with a            It is the Spirit of God which is given unto Christ in
veil. Not so must the Christian of the new day allow         His exultation without measure; which He in turn gives
anything to bedim the glory of Christ's image unto the church, and thus becomes the Spirit of Christ
portrayed in the Word. Always he must bask in the            Whom  -He sends unto us from the Father. He is the
light of Christ so that not only his face is enlightened, Comforter which Christ promised, Who would abide
but he is transformed, beginning in his heart and in         with us forever, and lead us into all the truth. That
the completion of the transforming                6
                                           proces he is      Spirit which searches out the deep things of God and
transformed in body and soul.                     /          of Christ, and reveals them unto us. That Spirit Who is
  Transformed in  the; image of Christ!                      at the same time the Author of the Holy Scriptures,
  The transformation is entire and permanent!                and Who has seen to it that Christ, the God of our
  -Though it remains, imperfect so long as we  do'not        salvation is fully revealed therein. He it is that from
see Him face to face. Therefore the apostle, speaking glory unto glory transforms us into the glory of the
of this transformation, declares that it is from glory to    L o r d   a s   H e   p o r t r a y s   t o   o u r   d e e p e s t   s p i r i t u a l
glory.                                                       consciousness the image of our glorious Lord and
  We are changed from glory to glory as we constantly        Redeemer.
look upon the. glory of the Lord with unveiled face.             The effects of His power, operating in us as well as
Little by little, slowly but surely, we are changed. in the Word, will be that more and more spiritually we
From glory to glory the glory  .of the Lord is seen in us. will become Christ-like. More and more of His virtues
And the glory of the Lord is always the radiation of will be reflected in us. So that when He shall appear in
His perfections which are communicated to us as we His glory, we then shall be like Him. Now we see Him
behold with unveiled face His glorious image. Indeed, in His glory revealed in His Word. Then He shall see us
it is not yet revealed in us what we shall be, for we as perfect reflectors of His glory.
know that when He shall appear we shall be like Him,            But we all. .  .!
for we shall see Him as He is. But until then, we are           Not just the apostles and ministers who delve into
changed from glory to glory.                                 the Word, and whose calling it is to present the Christ
  Indeed, wonderful transformation!                          of God unto all to whom they are sent!
  However, not by our own power are we changed!                 But the entire church, and every living member
  Nor is it so that we only allow the glory of the Lord, thereof!
reflected in His Word, to fall on us, and so we                 We all shall be transformed into His image!
gradually transform ourselves into His image.                   By the Spirit of the Lord!
  How could that ever be? Surely the power of



Editorial

                      Should, OPs and RPs Unite? (4)

                                                 ProjI H.C. Hoeksema

  By way of review, let me point out that this               Arminian Declaratory Statement which the Bible
discussion was occasioned by a remark on my part that        Presbyterian Church has added to the Westminster
one might have doubts as to the strength of the OPC          Confession. 3) The OPC has given evidence of
with respect to Arminianism. I made this remark              weakness on Arminianism, judging from the Clark Case
because: 1) In our discussion of the proposed OP  -  RI' and from the booklet  T!re  Free Offer of the Gospel,
union we noted that some of the OPC commissioners            written by Murray and Stonehouse in the aftermath of
wanted a stronger emphasis on God's sovereignty in           the Clark Case. 4) Because the Proposed Basis of Union
salvation as one of the improvements in the Proposed         is not strong and specific on this score. These matters I
Basis of Union between the two denominations. 2) The         mentioned in the course of my argumentation that the
historical background of the RPC in the Bible                two denominations are not ready for ecclesiastical
Presbyterian Church would seem to indicate a                 marriage.
tendency to Arminianism in the RPC, judging from the            Then the Rev. John Mitchell, Editor of the


                                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                            221



Presbyter&z Guardian  (OPC), and himself a rather light of Scripture and the confessions  - something
reluctant advocate of the marriage, wrote to me (Nov.                              which will certainly do none of us any harm.
15, 1972 issue) taking rather strong exception to what                                Besides that, we owe it to the Rev. Mitchell to serve
I had written about Arminianism in the OPC, though I                               him with an answer to his letter. And we also cherish
myself had thought I had expressed myself rather                                   the hope that some of our OP readers will be
mildly when I spoke of having "doubts about the                                    enlightened and strengthened by this study. Hence, we
strength of the OPC over against Arminianism." propose to examine these matters in some detail.
Briefly, Mr. Mitchell strongly insisted "that there is a                              The first object of our examination will be the
sincere and free offer of salvation from God," that this                           Declaratory Statement of the Bible Presbyterian
alleged offer is on God's part "to any and all men," Church, a statement which Mr. Mitchell characterized
and that this is not Arminian. Further, he denied that as consistent Presbyterianism.
e i t h e r   t h e   t r e a t m e n t   o f   D r .   C l a r k   o r   t h e       Before we proceed to this study, however, I must
Murray-Stonehouse booklet indicate any weakness at                                 make a few introductory remarks in connection with
all in the OPC over against Arminianism. Thirdly, he                               the whole matter of RP-OP union and in connection
denied that the Declaratory Statement of the Bible                                 with our attitude toward it.
Presbyterians is Arminian, but asserted that it is                                    The first remark is corrective. In my first editorial
`"clearly in accord with the Westminster Confession of on this subject I suggested that Arminianism
Faith, and is the traditional doctrine of Presbyterian                             constituted one of the obstacles in the path of union.
Churches." Finally, Editor Mitchell affirmed that                                  In the light of Mr. Mitchell's correspondence, however,
`"both  OPs and  RPs. . . would agree that the offer of I am now inclined to doubt this. It appears to me that
salvation is freely extended  to, all  men,.is sufficient for the two denominations are rather well agreed. And I
the sins of all men, but is applied only to the elect who                          also find it difficult to understand how, in the light of
repent and believe under the effectual working of the                              the OPC  pdsition, some commissioners wanted an
Holy Spirit."                                                                      i m p r o v e d   s t a t e m e n t   o n   t h e   m a t t e r   o f   G o d 's
   Now although the Clark Case was treated in detail in                            sovereignty in salvation. If the OPC and the RPC are
the  Standard Bearer  at the time when it was before the                           fully agreed on the matter of an alleged free offer of
Presbytery of Philadelphia and before the General                                  the  - gospel, and even on the Bible Presbyterian
Assembly some twenty-five years ago, and although                                  Declaratory Statement, then they may as well unite in
the Murray-Stonehouse booklet was subjected to                                     their semi-Arminian agreement: I cannot see how any
detailed critique some years ago by the late Rev.                                  further OPC statement could influence the RPC for
Herman Hoeksema, these issues are of sufficient                                    good on this matter. But let them not imagine that
importance that we give them some detailed attention.                              such a union will further the cause of genuine
They have been, and still are, of importance to us as                              Presbyterianism !
Protestant Reformed Churches: for the "free offer"                                    In the second place, I want to assert from the outset
doctrine of the OPC is substantially the same as the                               that, in accord especially with the Canons of
general, well-meant offer of the Christian Reformed                                Dordrecht, we emphatically subscribe to the doctrine
First Point of 1924. Neither the former nor the latter is                          of the general, or promiscuous, proclamation of the
Reformed; but both the OPC and the CRC always                                      gospel to all nations and to all persons "promiscuously
claim that the offer-doctrine  lis  Reformed. The OPC                              and without distinction, to whom God out of his good
should have taken warning from the fact that in the                                pleasure sends the gospel." I say this in advance
CRC this offer-doctrine led  - as we always predicted it                           because I want to forestall such old charges as
inevitably would  - to the general atonement doctrine                              "hyper-Calvinism" and "they believe in preaching
of Prof. Harold Dekker in 1962  - `67, a doctrine                                  only to the elect," etc. These are red herrings of ancient
which the OPC apparently does not want and which                                   vintage. And they are indeed  red herrings!  As I already
led to estrangement between them and the CRC. But                                  made plain in my initial answer to Mr. Mitchell, we
evidently the OPC has not taken warning; and in this                               *believe in the  general proclamation of a particular
failure they are playing with fire, as I hope to point                             promise.  But  ,the latter  - and this we shall make plain
out. True, the OPC does not  admit  to being Arminian; in subsequent discussion  - has nothing in common
and it does not adopt  all of the Arminian position.                               with the idea of a free, or well-meant, offer. The
Then; of course, they would lose all claim to being                                general proclamation of a particular promise is quite in
Presbyterian. But the danger lies exactly in this dual                             harmony with Scripture and the Reformed and
position, this half Arminian: and half Presbyterian                                Presbyterian creeds; the doctrine of a free offer is in
position, which they attempt to take, and that, too, at conflict  with, both. It cannot be harmonized with
a very crucial point: the nature of the preaching of the                           sovereign election and reprobation. It cannot be
gospel.                                                                            harmonized with definite atonement. It cannot be
   Besides, a study of these matters will involve us all                           harmonized with the truth of irresistible grace and
in a kind of refresher course on these matters in the                              effectual calling. It cannot be harmonized with the


222                                                                THE STANDARD BEARER



doctrine of total depravity. And, in Reformed and Confession. You see, if this is the teaching of the
Presbyterian churches, it leads inevitably, first to the Westminster, it is unnecessary to add the Declaratory
silencing of these precious truths, and then to the open Statement. But if it is not the teaching of the
denial of them. But  .it has been our experience that Westminster, it is not legitimate to add the statement.
when we take this position, our opponents inevitably In addition, the Declaratory Statement uses rather
have hurled the aforementioned accusations at us. neutral and evasive language. It does not say, "In
Hence, I wanted to forestall those accusations from the harmony with the Westminster Confession, we further
outset. They are old. They are false. We have heard declare. .  ." or some such thing. For the first
them all before. We will pay them no heed  - unless, of statement, no proof, not even any connection with the
course, they can be proved, and that, too, with Confession, is so much as mentioned. And in the
Scripture and confessions in hand. And if the second paragraph it is merely said,  ". .  .we do not
accusations are nevertheless brought, I will only say, "I regard  our Confession as teaching or implying. .  ." The
told you so," and remind you that this is what the latter is a very strange expression, especially in the
Arminians said to our `fathers already at Dordrecht.                                   light of the fact that the Confession speaks rather
    With that, we turn to the first item, the Declaratory explicitly on this subject, as we shall see.
Statement of the  BPC                                                                    In the second place  - and this is my main point,  -
    First of all, let us get the Declaratory Statement this Declaratory Statement is  in direct  conjlict  with
before us:                                                                             the Westminster Confession. Frankly, I am rather
           In adopting the Confession of Faith this General                            amazed that the Rev. Mitchell could write that "The
       Synod (the first General Synod of the BPC) declares:                            first article is clearly in accord with the Westminster
          First:  its firm and glad belief in the reality and                          Confession of Faith." I am not now referring to the
       universality of the offer of the Gospel to mankind.                             "offer of the Gospel" as such. This also is in conflict
       We believe that Christ's atonement is sufficient for                            with the Confession; but we shall write about this later
       the sins of all, adapted to all, and is freely offered to
       all men in the Gospel. We believe that no man wiU  be                           in connection with the Murray-Stonehouse booklet.
       condemned except upon the ground of his sin.                                    But we ought to note that the Declaratory Statement
          Second:  with regard to the salvation of those                               speaks of Christ's  atonement  in connection with what
       dying in infancy we do not regard our Confession as  -                          is says about the offer. And about the atonement itself
       teaching or implying that any who die in infancy are                            the statement says two things: 1) Christ's atonement is
       lost.                                                                           sufficient for the sins of all. 2) Christ's atonement is
   The question is whether this is in harmony with the                                 adapted to all. Then it goes on to say that Christ's
Westminster Confession of Faith, as the Rev. Mitchell                                  atonement "is freely offered to all men in the Gospel."
asserted.                                                                              Now all this reminds one strongly of the position of
   In the first place, I call attention to the fact that the                           Prof. Dekker. In the early stages of that history he
very  addition  of such `a statement. as this, especially to                           took the position that Christ's atonement is general
such a lengthy and detailed creed as the Westminster                                   (for all and every man) as to: 1) Its sufficiency; 2) Its
Confession, should at least be sufficient ground to                                    availability ; 3) The divine desire. Dekker left one
render the statement  suspect.  I do not know the                                      category in which (at least originally) he deemed the
detailed history -of this statement. In fact, for many                                 atonement limited: its efficacy. The Declaratory
years I was not aware of its existence, until a                                        Statement very evidently tries also to make Christ's
Presbyterian reader-friend once asked me, "Do you                                      atonement  universal in some respects.  In the context
know  ,about the Arminian Declaratory Statement                                        of the general offer of the Gospel, it speaks of the
w h i c h   t h e   B i b l e   P r e s b y t e r i a n s   a d d e d   t o   t h e    atonement as  sufficient  for the sins of all men. The
Westminster?" Thereupon I made it a point to                                           obvious implication is that if it were not sufficient,
investigate the matter. And when I did so, my very                                     there could not honestly be an offer. But neither the
first reaction was: "Where is the `hitch'? Why is it                                   Westminster nor the celebrated Canons of Dordrecht
necessary to add such a statement?" If the Westminster                                 make any such statement. The Westminster Confession
Confession spells out Presbyterian doctrine, if it                                     does not so much as breathe of any such. universal
declares itself on the matters touched on in this                                      sufficiency;..it knows only of a definite atonement, as
statement,  then why is it necessary to  add  - let alone                              we shall show. But also the Canons speak a different
the fact that it is not very Presbyterian to begin adding language. For one  thing, the Canons do not say that
to confessions unilaterally? And knowing that the                                      the atonement was actually sufficient for the sins of
Westminster Confession is very `particularistic, and                                   all, but that- the death of Christ was  "abundantly
sensing a universalistic tendency in the Declaratory                                   sufficierz t to expiate  the sins of the whole world." This
Statement, I immediately became suspicious  .that the                                  is quite different. For, secondly, the Canons are not
Declaratory Statement represents an attempted                                          speaking in the context of a possible general offer; but
compromise, a soft-pedalling, and at bottom a conflict                                 in the article referred to (II, A, 3) they are speaking of
with the stringent position of the Westminster                                         the "infinite worth and value" of the "death of the


                                                       THE STANDARD BEARER                                               223

I

     Son of God." And as can be demonstrated abundantly, man will be condemned  extent  unon the ground of his
     the fathers of Dordrecht (with the exception of the sin." The explicit evidence  is  nit at hand; and the
     covert Arminian, Martinius) had in mind only this, that       presence of this statement needs explanation. But in the
     Christ's death was so valuable `that it would have easily context in which it is found, this is a highly suspect
     covered the sins of the whole  tiorld if necessary,  and,as statement. What is its intent? Is not the Westminster
     one delegation put it, of ten more worlds besides!            clear on God's justice in the condemnation of sinners?
       But the Declaratory Statement says even more: Is this a covert attempt to minimize  original sin?  Or is
     Christ's atonement was  adapted  to the sins of all men. it a veiled attempt, perhaps, to blunt the edge of
     No Reformed man should  ever subscribe to that Westminster's, doctrine of sovereign reprobation? For
     statement. Adapted? What  do& that mean? It means, after all it is also true that a man goes to destruction
     according to Webster, that Christ's atonement was because of God's sovereign decree of reprobation! The
     "made suitable for, fitted  untq, suited to, adjusted to" trouble with this sentence of the Declaratory
     the sins of all men. And again, this must be understood Statement is, at best, that it is vague and partial. I
     in the context of the general offer. The point is, would never subscribe to it as it stands and in this
     evidently, that the atonement could not be offered to context.
     all men in the Gospel if the atonement were not fitted          And the same is true of the second paragraph. I
     unto, suited to, made suitablejfor the sins of all men. know: Rev. Mitchell did not approve the second
       Now as I said, the Westminster Confession knows p'aragraph.  But the second paragraph nevertheless
     only of a definite atonement. And it speaks clear reflects on the tendency of the first. And it only lends
     language on this score. In Par&-aph I of Chapter VIII support to the contention that the tendency of the
     it immediately connects all the work of  Christ with first paragraph is Arminian. For while the Declaratory
     election, as follows:                                         Statement is cautiously negative:  ". . .we do not regard
            It pleased God, in his eternal purpose, to choose      our Confession as teaching or implying that any who
         and ordain the Lord Jesus, his only-begotten Son, to      die in infancy are lost," do not forget:
         be the Mediator between God and man, the Prophet,         1) That it was the Arminians who taught that all
         Priest, and King; the Head and :Saviour of his Church,    infants dying  @ infancy are saved.
         the Heir of all things, and Judge of the world; unto      2) That it was the Arminians who tried to portray the
         whom he did, from all eternity, give a people to be       Reformed as  : monsters, who taught that God cast
         his seed, and to be by him in time redeemed, called,      thousands of innocent infants to hell.
         justified, sanctified, and glorified.                     3) That the `Westminster Confession  very definitely
       What could be more  particulhistic? The Declaratory limits salvation to the elect and consigns the "rest of
     Statement can never be fit into this article!                 mankind" to destruction, according to God's decree to
       But this same chapter also speaks directly of the pass them by. Chapter III.
     atonement,  @ Paragraph V:                                    4) That  the Westminster Confession specifically
            The Lord Jesus, by his perfect obedience and           teaches (Chapter  X, III) that "Elect infants, dying in
         sacrifice of himself, which he through the eternal        infancy, are regenerated and saved by Christ through
         Spirit once offered up unto God, bath fully satisfied     the Spirit, who worketh when, and where, and how he
         the justice of his Father, and purchased not only         pleaseth."
         reconciliation, but an everlasting inheritance in the
         kingdom of heaven, for- all those whom the Father         5) That, therefore, it is contrary to the Westminster
         bath given unto him.                                      Confession to  ,say: we do not regard our Confession as
                                                                   "implying" that any who die in infancy are lost. For
       Here is the Reformed doctrine of particular the implication of the Confession is plain as the sun in
     atonement.                                                    the heavens!
       And this is the only doctrine of atonement which              No, the Declaratory Statement cannot pass muster
     Westminster knows. The Declaratory Statement is at            as a statement in harmony with the Westminster
     odds with this doctrine!                                      Confession of Faith. And if the  OPs and  RPs accept
       There is more fault to find with the Declaratory            the statement, they are as Arminian as the Bible
     Statement. There is that strange statement that "no Presbyterians.


224                                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER



All Around Us

                                  : Ecclesiastical Potpourri
                                                                            Prof. H. Hanko

    In collecting items which are important enough to                                      is able to cope with these infectious diseases. And it is
be commented on in this column, one inevitably runs                                        true that there are antibiotics available to cure them.
across news items of various kinds which, while they                                       But the fact remains that the incidence of these
are of some interest, are not really sufficiently                                          diseases is higher than it has ever been. And the above
important to take up space in the  Standard Bearer.                                        figures only give reported cases. There are many who
They get filed away in a drawer and see the light of                                       think the figure would be doubled if unreported cases
day about every two `weeks when it is time once again                                      were added to the totals. God is not mocked. What a
for this column to be prepared. Almost always, when                                        man sows that shall he also reap.
the column is written, they once again go back into the                                        Item  - The National Council of Christian Churches
drawer of the desk to await another deadline. And they                                     (NCC) has suffered something of a decline in recent
accumulate bit by bit into quite an imposing pile.                                         years. This is partly due to the fact that this
Sooner or later there, comes a moment of truth when                                        organization became so deeply involved in all kinds of
one must make the decision either to print them or to                                      social issues that people no longer concerned
throw them in "File 13"; they are cluttering up things                                     t h e m s e l v e s   w i t h   t h e   p i o u s   p r o n o u n - c e m e n t s
beyond that which is tolerable.                                                            p e r i o d i c a l l y   p a s s e d   o u t   b y   t h e   l e a d e r s .   T h e
    Such a moment of truth has once again arrived. It                                      organization was not listened to any more. And there
seemed too difficult to throw them all away. Here they                                     isn't anything which hurts quite so much as to be
all are, put all together into one column. They appear,                                    ignored. But this was also partly due to the fact that
for the most part, with only brief comment.                                                the flow of money was being gradually dried up. The
    Item  - It appears from a recent news item that the                                    NCC was forced to cut its elected staff from 168 in
p r a c t i c e   o f   c o n s c i e n t i o u s   o b j e c t i o n   t o   u n i o n    1969 to 105 in 1972. Its appointed staff was also cut
membership may soon come to an end. A member of                                            from  490 to 303 in the same period.
the Seventh Day Adventist Church, an employee of the                                          In an effort to change its image so as to make the
Watervliet Paper Company in Watervliet, Michigan was                                       organization more attractive to conservatives, the NCC
discharged from his job when he refused to join the                                        decided to alter its preamble at a December meeting in
United Papermakers `Union. He offered to pay the                                           Dallas. The two set side by side read as follows:
equivalent of union dues to a non-religious charity.
The Union refused to permit this. The employee filed                                          Old,  Preamble  - UNDER                      New Preamble  - The
suit against the union, but lost his case in the U.S.                                      THE `PROVIDENCE OF                          National Council of the
                                                                                                                                      Churches of Christ in the
District Court for Southern Michigan and the U.S.                                          GOD communions which
                                                                                           confess Jesus Christ  as Divine             United States of America is a
Court of Appeals for, the sixth circuit. His appeal to                                     Lord and Savior, in order                   cooperative agency of Chris-
the U.S. Supreme Court did not help. By an 8-to-1                                          more fully to manifest one-                 tian communions seeking to
vote (Justice William Douglas was the dissenter) the                                       ness in Him, do now create an               fulfill the unity and mission
Court refused to review the lower court rulings.                                           inclusive cooperative agency                the which God calls them.
   The unions have always hated conscientious                                              of Christian churches of the                The member communions, re-
objectors; and this could be an ominous precedent for                                      United States of America to                 sponding to the gospel re-
all those who hold such a position.                                                        show forth their unity and                  vealed in the Scriptures, con-
   Item  - The sexual freedom which is increasingly                                        mission in specific ways to                 fess Jesus, the incarnate Son
advocated in this country is exacting its own toll. I                                      bring the churches into living              of God, as Savior and Lord.
have figures before me distributed by the Public Health                                    contact with one another for                Relying on the transforming
                                                                                           fellowship, study and cooper-               power of the Holy Spirit, the
Service which show that veneral diseases are  .now the                                     ative action.                               c o u n c i l   w o r k s   t o   b r i n g
most common of all infectious-diseases in this country                                                                                 churches into a life-giving
and are already of epidemic proportions. In the first                                                                                  fellowship and into common
nine months of 1972 physicians reported 573,000                                                                                        witness, study and action to
cases of gonorrhea and 18,000 cases of syphilis. This is                                                                               the glory of God and in serv-
in excess of 2,000 new cases every day!                                                                                               ice to all creation.
    The promise of those who advocate permissiveness
in matters of sex is always that modem medical science                                        The NCC has, however, given public reassurance that ~


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                              225



it will continue to pass its moral judgments on the              Item  - A new law is being tried in Camden, New
social and political issues of the day.                      Jersey. Under certain circumstances, parents are made
   Item  - The World Council  :of Churches (WCC) held        responsible for the delinquency of their children. This
a conference recently in Bangkok. The Conference was         covers particularly such offenses as illegal drinking,
determined to go the way of secularism. Conference           mugging, vandalism, breaking and entering, curfew
planners called for "secular strivings for a fuller human    violations. Parents are to be given a warning first; but
life  ." Efforts were made to give the conference            should additional offense be committed, parents can
proceedings some spiritual character, but these efforts      be jailed for 90 days and fined up to $500.00.
were, for the most part, frustrated. The Conference              The basis' for such an ordinance is the fact that
went on record as favoring support to those who refuse       parents are responsible for their children and should
to pay taxes, refuse to serve in the armed forces, are       know where their children are and what they are
draft dodgers and deserters. According to  The               doing. Whether the law will work or not is a dubious
Presbyterian Journal,  from which magazine we gained         question. But the whole matter underscores the fact
this information, a certain writer is quoted as saying:      that the delinquency of juveniles is certainly, in large
"All the advance publications concerning this meeting        measure, to be explained by the fact that parents have
indicate that the World Council is making a massive          abdicated their God-given responsibility.
effort to reinterpret the classic meaning of salvation so        Item  - Few in this country are aware of how
that `being saved' will come to mean having more food,       extensive demon worship in this country really is. The
more justice, more clothes, more freedom, more               same is true all over the world.  Time  magazine, in a
production, less disease, more brotherhood, more             recent issue, even featured this phenomenon. Some
peace, in short, more  this-worldly  improvements."          points made by  Time  and other news media include
   And this organization `has appeal to certain              the following: "The Satanic Bible" is more popular on
Reformed Churches in this country and abroad!                some college campuses than Scripture. A large number
   At the same meeting, the `Conference decided to           of colleges and high schools offer courses in the occult.
enter into dialogue with Buddhists. The word                 The number of "spiritists" in Brazil alone has reached
"dialogue" as it is increasingly used in our day is an       nearly fifty million. Early in 1971, in a small town,
interesting one. It certainly does  not  mean "to preach     over 450 "ministers of Satan" were ordained. On
the gospel." We shall have to comment further on this        Easter Sunday in 197  1, over 400 gathered in Chicago
term in some future issue.                                   for the purpose of worshipping Satan. In practically all
   Item  - A great deal is being made these days of the      countries, including Russia, demon worship is an
religious convictions of professional sports figures.        increasingly common thing.
Perhaps this is especially true of professional football         Certainly these events, too, are signs that we are
players. Why this should be is difficult to say. We are      nearing the end of the history of the world.
told that Evangelist Tom Skinner, e.g., is the unpaid           Item  - An interesting article in a recent issue of
and unofficial chaplain of the Washington Redskins.          Newsweek  not only tells a good story, but also points
He speaks at pre-game chapel services and gives              out the emptiness of modem psychiatry. The story
spiritual counseling to team members and their               goes like this. A group of five men and three women,
families. Many of the professional teams hold                including three psychologists, a pediatrician, a
Bible-study groups for players and their families, and       psychiatrist, a painter and a housewife, had themselves
many players and their coaches are members of the            committed to different mental institutions by feigning
Fellowship of Christian Athletes.                            insanity. They told admitting doctors that they kept
  What strikes us is that this picture is quite different    hearing voices that said words like "empty," "hollow,"
from the picture presented in the secular press. Here        and "void." Other than the fact that they gave false
we read of players who boast of their exploits in            names, they were completely honest with their doctors
drinking, sex, and even drugs, and who live a life of        concerning all their life history and "symptoms." They
pleasure and sin. Descriptions of games are descriptions     w e r e   a l l   a d m i t t e d   a s   e i t h e r   s c h i z o p h r e n i c   o r
of organized mayhem and brutal and deliberate                manic-depressive. Once inside the hospitals, they were
attempts to hurt permanently players of opposing             completely normal in their behavior and, in fact, did
teams.                                                       all in their power to convince doctors and nurses that
  Whatever may be a correct picture, the fact remains        they were well. But they were unable to be released.
that nagging questions persist concerning the                The more they insisted they were well and normal, the
legitimacy of professional sports in the light of            more the staffs were convinced they were dangerously
Scripture. And, more importantly, all professional           ill. The only ones who realized that they were normal
teams in all sports are guilty of violating the Lord's       were the patients themselves with whom these people
Day. This is flagrant desecration of that which God has      came into contact. One patient said to one of those
made holy. This must necessarily make the Christianity       making the experiment: "You're not crazy, you're a
of these players deeply suspect.,                            journalist or a professor. You're checking up on the


226                                                       THE STANDARD BEARER



hospital." But what was obvious to the other patients                       feel Jesus here." And then, glancing back at the
was not at all obvious to the psychiatrists and staff. It                   musicians, he whispered: "Give me an A flat."
took up to 52 days for. these people to get out. And                       In this way  Newsweek  introduces an article on the
then the only way they succeeded was either by simply latest of American evangelists. The article goes on to
walking away from the hospital or by telling the show in vivid language that there is a comeback of
doctors that, although they were still sick, they were sorts of old-time evangelism and revivalism, although
feeling much better. Their discharge slips read: the old-fashioned tent meetings have pretty much
"schizophrenia in remission."                                           disappeared. Today the successful evangelists are
  It is a remarkable illustration of the fact that                      expert  showmen, and,  Newsweek  assures us, there is
"mental illness" is indeed a misnomer and that worldly big money in evangelism if the game is played right. In
psychiatry is silly as it is useless.                                   fact some evangelists make no bones about it that
          At 9 p.m., a nippy breeze swirled around Atlanta's            money is an important part of their "preaching."
       Civic Auditorium, but inside the air was warm with                      Television, however, will never replace the
       Jesus. Sweaty "A-mens" rose periodically from an                     stand-up evangelist who thrives on personal contact.
       interracial crowd of some 600 middle-aged people,                    One who is indeed thriving is New York's fabled Rev.
       who had waited 90 minutes through preliminary                        Frederick (Reverend Ike) Eikerenkoetter who makes
       sermons  for the night's featured preacher:                          no secret of his love of money. At a recent crusade in
       faith-healing evangelist  David  Epley. Suddenly, the                Houston, the Reverend Ike promised that prosperity
       music swelled as Epley strode onstage, seized the                    would come to those who believe enough in
       mike, expertly looped the cord away from his dark                    themselves to support the spread of his "Science of
       blue trousers and hurled himself into a hymn.                        Living." "I understand green power," the South
       "lam. Jilce a ship. . . that's. . .lost in a storm," he              Caroline-born Ike told some 4,000 mostly black
       sang, and beyond the stage lights the crowd drew                     listeners. "I don't speak black power because I can't
       together like laced boots.                                           spend it. . . I ask that you not give change, but if you
          After twenty  m@utes of Gospel tunes, Epley                       only have change, I'll take it." And he did.
       stepped down into the audience to perform his                       There seems to me to be few things quite as
       specialty  - "miraculously" identifying people and               despicable and revolting as  ,making a show for
       their ailments by a power he calls "discerning spirits."         entertainment of the preaching of the gospel and doing
       He stopped in front of a woman with a wrinkled face              this to make money. Rev. Hoeksema wrote a pamphlet
       and bleached blond hair who was crying softly.                   many years ago (still available) entitled: "Jesus Savior,
       L`O-o-o-o,  honey, you don't need to cry." he purred.
       "Lord bless you, you've got to leave that booze                  and the Evil of Hawking Him." In this pamphlet he
       alone." Leading her up onto the stage, the tall, young           was particularly concerned with the Arminian sin of
       evangelist turned the woman's face to his shoulder               "hawking" Jesus as a common item in the marketplace
       and stroked her hair like a parent with a troubled               of ideas. That "hawking" of Jesus has now become big
       child. "Now, sister," he said, "I'm going to give you            business and part of entertainment. There must be a
       this special prayer cloth and I want you to wear it for          special place in hell for those who commit such
       the next seven days. Oh, Father, help her," he                   horrible crimes.
       prayed. "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus . . . Oh, I feel it tonight. I



Contending for the Faith


       The Doctrine of Atonement (Reformation Period)

                                                               Rev.  H.  Veldman

  Until now we have: been discussing Articles I  - V of                      the pardon of sin and eternal life, and others do not,
the Rejection of Errors of the second Head of our                            this difference depends on their own free  wih, which
Canons, dealing with the atonement of Christ. Article                        joins itself to the grace that is offered without
VI reads as follows:                                                         exception, and that it is not dependent on the special
          Who use the difference between meriting and                        gift of mercy, which powerfully works in them, that
       appropriating, to the end that they may instill into                  they rather than others should appropriate unto
       the minds of the imprudent and inexperienced this                     themselves this grace. For these, while they feign that
       teaching  that God, as far as He is concerned, has been               they present this distinction, in a sound sense, seek to
       minded of applying to all equally the benefits gained                 instill into the people the destructive poison of the
       by the death of Christ,; but that, while some obtain                  Pelagan  errors.


                                                     THE  STANDARD  BEARER                                                            227



   This is a very  fundament@ article, this teaching of recognize these wolves in sheep's clothing. And this
the Remonstrants. And  it!is  &ch a fundamental article means that the preaching and teaching of the Word of
exactly  becau'se  it is so pertinent in our present day God should always be sharply distinctive. The
and age! How true it is that  it is exactly this Arminian preaching of the truth in the church of God should
heresy which is so rampant and  generally3aught today! always be of such a character as  -to emphasize every
   We understand that the word, "appropriating," departure from the Word of God. Always the church
could better be translated,  "ahplying." We must, then, of God must be warned against these heretical
read this article this way: "Who use the difference preachers and teachers. This is a must. Is it not true
between meriting and applying, etc."                                  that our  young people, when making public confession
   Notice, too, that the fathers in this article speak of of faith, promise before the Lord and before His
those who are imprudent  and,inexperienced. These are church that they will maintain the doctrine as taught
the people of God who are easily led astray. And it lies in this Christian church and that they will fight every
in the very nature of the case that we must not be heresy  repugfiant hereto? Indeed, the people of God
imprudent and inexperienced. And the reason why must not be imprudent and inexperienced.
these imprudent and inexperienced people of God are                      We recognize this phenomenon, do we not? It is so
easily led astray is because the Arminians feign that common throughout the ages. These erring "brethren"
they present this distinction in a sound sense. 0, let us mean so well. They do not mean to deny the
never forget: those Arminian teachers are very clever fundamental truths of Holy Writ. Indeed not! They do
and subtle!                                                           not mean to deny the truths of Divine election, of the
   The fathers of Dordt, in this sixth article, speak of atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Scriptural
the difference between meriting and appropriating, or, truth that  the sinner is conceived and born dead in sins
properly, applying. Notice, please, that the fathers do and in trespasses. And they certainly do not intend to
not condemn this distinction as such. We may certainly deprive the people of the Lord of these wonderful
speak of this distinction. Salvation was merited by our truths. But, they warn, we must be careful. We must
Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross.of Calvary. But it is not go  overbbard with these doctrines. We must not
applied by the living God to fhe hearts of all the elect lay too much emphasis upon them. We must not
people of the Lord. The Arminians, however, used this always preach on Divine election (as if this is done).
distinction to instill into the hearts and minds of the We must not forget the Scriptural truth of man's
imprudent and inexperienced their own perverted ideas responsibility. We must not reduce man to a stock and
and conceptions of the salvation and grace of God. block. It is Well and good, they say, that the people of
This is easily understood.  Hoti often this happens, also God are  pres&ved  unto salvation, but we must not fail
today! There are those people of the Lord who are also to stress the truth of  man's perseverance. It is true
imprudent, incautious and  ine,xperienced.  They are so that the work which God has once begun shall by His
naive. They are so ready to accept these heretical grace be fully' done, but it is also true that only he who
preachers and  .teachers in good faith. They are so perseveres unto the end shall obtain the prize, the
hesitant to accuse them of bad and evil intentions. This crown. It is well to bear in mind that God has elected
is especially the case when  th&se erring preachers and His people  fr.om before the foundations of the world
teachers come to them in sheep's clothing, when, and that Christ has died for his own, but we must not
according to the conclusion  of this sixth article, they forget that the gospel must be preached to all creatures
feign to present this  distinctibn  in a sound sense. 0, and that the sinner can hardly be held accountable and
they mean so well! They have no intention of responsible if the gospel be not an offer and he be
undermining and destroying the foundations of the unable to accept it. We recognize these presentations,
church of God, of undermining and destroying and do we not? And when these heretical preachers and
corrupting the truth. They certainly insist that the teachers appear in sheep's clothing, feigning that they
people of God should retain all the fundamental present all these distinctions in a sound sense, then it
principles and truths of the Word of God. These happens only too often that the imprudent and
Arminians are really not so bad after all. They really- inexperienced are quickly led astray; in fact, it will
a g r e e   w i t h   t h e   p e o p l e   o f   t h e   L o r d   i n   a l l   t h e even happen that these imprudent and inexperienced
fundamentals of the Scriptures. They only look at become very angry when these erring teachers are
matters from a slightly different point of view.                      accused of evil intentions and motives. These
   Now it should be evident frdm this expression of the incautious  pkople will only too often defend those
fathers in this sixth article that the fathers do not heretics.
approve of imprudent and inexperienced people of                         Are not the Three Points of 1924 a very vivid
God. This expression certainly implies that we should example of this? The Third Point reads as follows:
not be incautious and inexperienced. We should really                         Relative. to then third point, which is concerned
be very cautious and careful. We should always be on                       with the question of civil righteousness as performed
our guard. We should always be ready to discern and                        by the unregenerate, synod declares that according to


228                                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER



       Scripture and the Confessions the unregenerate,                                        God which He shows to His creatures in general. This
       though incapable of doing any saving good, can do                            L         is evident from the Scriptural passages quoted and
       civil good. This is evident from the quotations from                                   from the Canons of Dordrecht, II, 5 and III, IV, 8
       Scripture and from the Canons of Dordrecht, III, IV,                                   and 9, which deal with the general offer of the
       4, and from the Netherland Confession, Art. 36,                                        Gospel, while it appears from the citations made from
       which teach that God without renewing the heart so                                     Reformed writers of the most flourishing period of
       influences man that he is able to perform civil good;                                  Reformed Theology that our Reformed writers from
       while it also appears from the citations from                                          the past favored this view.
       Reformed writers of the most flourishing period of                                   In this point we read of the favorable attitude of
       Reformed Theology, that. our Reformed Fathers from                                God towards humanity in general. Is this not true in a
       ancient times were of the same opinion.                                           certain sense? Is it not true that the Lord is favorably
   Is it not evident from the authors of this declaration                                inclined towards humanity in general, towards His
o f   d o c t r i n e   t h a t   t h e y   h a d   o n l y   t h e   s o u n d e s t    people as out of every tribe, nation, land and tongue?
intentions? Does this statement of doctrine not declare                                  Do not the authors of this statement declare that God
that the unregenerate, sinner cannot do any saving                                       shows His saving grace only to the elect? And do not
good? Do they not quote from the Scriptures and the                                      the authors of this declaration speak here of the elect?
Confessions, such as the Canons of Dordrecht and the                                     Is it not true, therefore, that this First Point does not
Belgic Confession? Do they not declare that this civil                                   intend to deny this fundamental truth of the Word of
good as performed by the natural man was always                                          God. But, we must be careful. We must not be
taught by Reformed writers, yea from writers of the                                      incautious and inexperienced when judging this
most flourishing period of Reformed Theology?                                            statement. It also speaks of the preaching of the gospel
Besides, we can speak of civil good, can we not? A                                       as an offer to all the hearers of the Gospel. Let us
baker does not have to be a Christian, does he, to be                                    understand one vital thing. We must never judge a
able to bake good, nourishing bread. A man certainly                                     preacher or teacher in the light of the good things he
does not have to be a'child of God to be an efficient                                    sets forth. We must always judge him in the light of the
surgeon or dentist. It is possible, is it not, from this                                 things he declares as in conflict with the Word of God.
point of view to distinguish between spiritual good and                                  We must bear in mind that heretics never retract. They
civil good. Well, this is what we have in this Third                                     will tell you that they mean well, that they have no
Point of 1924. Were not the authors of this Third                                        intention of departing from the Word of God, that
Point motivated in a sound sense when they spoke of                                      they certainly do not intend to deny the fundamentals
the distinction between saving and civil good?                                           of the Word of God. They will also tell you that they
   And what about the First Point of  1924? It reads as                                  were misunderstood, etc. But they will never retract.
follows:                                                                                 And, although we must show them the love of God
          Relative to the first point which concerns the                                 which is in Christ Jesus, we may never compromise
       favorable attitude of God towards humanity in                                     with the truth, and we must be very severe when
       general and not only towards the elect., synod                                    judging them in the light of the Word of God. We
       declares it to be established according to Scripture                              must not be incautious and inexperienced, but very
       and the Confession that, apart from the saving grace                              careful. This is plain, also from the First Point. The
       of God shown only to those that are elect unto                                    Lord willing, we will continue with this in our following
       eternal life, there is also a certain favor or grace of                           article.


Taking Heed  To The Doctrine

   The Importance of the Preaching of God's Word (1)
                                                                         Rev. David Engelsma

               (This is the ,text of a Reformation Day lecture given in Denver, Colorado in November,
                1972, under the auspices of the Church Extension Committee of the Protestant Reformed
                Church of Loveland. The lecture will appear in several installments.)

    In the 16th century, about 450 years ago, there                                      of the apostles to the present day. That event was the
occurred an event which was the most important event                                     Reformation of the Church of Jesus Christ. Through
for good to the  ChurCh  of Jesus Christ from the time                                   the ages the Church had fallen away from Christ and


                                                       THE STANDARD BEARER                                                              229



had become horribly corrupt, even to the point that it the Reformation was Christ's work, and they knew
was selling eternal life for money. The Holy Spirit then that the Reformation was Christ's work by the
reformed the Church, that is, He formed her anew so preaching of His Word. Luther confessed this in his
that once more she appeared as the glorious bride of inimitable way. After the Reformation had taken hold,
Christ. For this reason the name of that great                         Luther looked back and said: "Like a blind mule I was
movement is the Reformation. Let one of those men led by Christ." Again, he wrote: "I simply taught,
who were instrumental in the reformation of the preached, and wrote God's Word; otherwise I did
Church describe what the `Reformation was. In his nothing. And while I slept or drank Wittenburg beer
reply to the letter of Cardinal Sadolet, John Calvin                   with my friends, the Word so greatly weakened the
wrote : "All we have attempted has been to renew that Papacy that no prince or emperor ever inflicted such
ancient form of the Church,  ,which at first sullied and losses against it. I did nothing; the Word did
distorted by illiterate men of indifferent character, was everything. I let the Word do its work." The
afterwards scandalously mangled and almost destroyed Reformation, then, stands as a monument in history to
by the Roman Pontiff and his faction." The man that the awesome power of the Word of God, a monument
G o d   u s e d   t o   b e g i n   t h e   m i g h t y   w o r k   o f   t h e that our age with its miserable underestimation of the
Reformation was Martin Luther, a lowly monk in Word very much needs to see.
Wittenburg, Germany. On the 3 1 st of October in 15 17,                   If you ask the question, "To what purpose did the
he posted on public display 95 propositions, or theses, Reformation take place?" the answer is: In order that
in which he condemned the practices and the teachings the people of God might again have the pure preaching
of the Church regarding the forgiveness of sins, and in of the Gospel. This was the goal of the Reformation.
which he set forth the truth concerning the forgiveness This was the purpose of the Reformers, but more
of sins and righteousness with God. This proved to be importantly this was the purpose of the reforming
the beginning of the Reformation, and for that reason Christ. Also this indicates the tremendous importance
we celebrate the Reformation annually on the 3 1st of of the preaching of the Gospel. Preaching was the
October.                                                               essential thing in the Reformation. It was the power
   To the Reformation, all of Protestantism owes its that did the reforming, it was the goal that the
existence. From the very beginning, the Churches that Reformation aimed to achieve. And when we search
aligned themselves against the deformed institute of the Scriptures we discover that, according to the
the Church, the Roman Church, were called Protestants. Scriptures also, the preaching of the Word has this
They got that name because they protested against the tremendous importance. For this reason it is fitting
evils in the existing Roman institute. Almost from the that children of the Reformation celebrate the
very beginning of the Reformation, however, the                        Reformation by considering anew the importance of
Protestant Churches were divided into two main                         the preaching of God's Word.
branches, the Lutheran Branch and the Reformed                            Preaching is the authoritative proclamation of the
branch (which includes the Presbyterian Churches).                     Word of God by the Church through a man who is
The great leader of the Reformed branch of the                         called by God to the office of the ministry. This
Reformation was John Calvin.                                           includes the preaching to the congregation Sunday
   The Reformation was not only a movement that                        after Sunday; the teaching of the children of believers
built the Church, but it was also a movement that                      in catechism; the exhortation of believers in their
shook the entire world. This church-building and                       homes by the pastor; and the call to those who are
world-shaking movement was not an act of men, not outside the church in the work of missions. Romans
even an act of those great men, Luther, Calvin, Knox,                  10: 13-l 5 describes what the preaching is and what the
and others. They were merely instruments by which preaching does. All that call upon the name of the
the Reformation occurred.: On the contrary, the                        Lord shall be saved. But how can they call on Him in
Reformation was the work of Christ by His Holy                         Whom they have not believed? How shall they believe
Spirit. For that reason the Reformation is an evidence in Him Whom they have not heard? How shall they
in history of the presence of Christ with His Church                   hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach
always, as He said in Matthew  28:20. The Reformation except they be sent? Preaching is the one great labor of
is the fulfillment of the promise that Christ made to                  the Church of Christ. In a certain sense, it is the only
his Church in John 16: 13, that He would give His                      task that the Church has. All of the other activities of
Spirit, the Spirit of truth, and that that Spirit of truth the Church of Jesus Christ stand in service to the
would lead the Church into all the truth. The preaching of the Word. The Church, of course, must
Reformation in history is a proof of Jesus' assurance in also administer the sacraments and exercise Christian
Matthew 16: 18 that the gates of hell shall not prevail discipline, but these things stand in service to the
a g a i n s t   h i s   C h u r c h .   C h r i s t   a c c o m p l i s h e d   t h e preaching. The Church also has a calling to show mercy
Reformation by His Word, by the preaching of  .the by the deacons, but that ministry of mercy is an
Scriptures. The Reformers knew this. They knew that expression of  the mercy of Christ that is preached in


230                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



the gospel. The Church must also establish and                speaks in the preaching. The living, powerful, saving
maintain seminaries. It publishes books and magazines.        Word of God sounds forth and is heard in the
But all of this labor is controlled by the preaching of       preaching of the Word. This is the significance of
the gospel. The great commission of the Church by her         preaching. It is the Word of the sovereign God in Christ
Lord is: "Preach." That is what Christ told the Church        Jesus. It is the Word of God as much as God's own
in Mark 16: 15: "Go ye into all the world and preach          preaching in Genesis  3:15 was God's Word. The
the gospel to every creature." This was the command           preaching is as much God's Word as was God's own
of the Apostle Paul to the young pastor Timothy and           direct speaking from Mount Sinai when He gave the
in him to all pastors in II Timothy  4:2: "Preach the         law. The preaching is as much the Word of God as if
Word; be instant in season, out of season, exhort and         God Himself stood on the pulpit and addressed us.
rebuke with all longsuffering and doctrine." It has           This needs proof, because that is not apparent to our
always been the chief labor of the Church to preach           senses. With our eyes we see and with our ears we hear
God's Word. That was: the outstanding labor of the            a mere, weak, sinful man speaking on behalf of a group
Church in the old dispensation. The Church did that           of other weak and sinful men called the Church. It is
through the prophets. The Church did that through the         to be feared that this very thing is the occasion for
teaching priests and Levites. The Church did that             many in our day to neglect the preaching, to disparage
through believing parents who were to instruct their          the preaching, and to ignore the preaching altogether.
children in God's Word. This was also the labor of the        When they do this, they have a feeling of security
Church in the New Testament. Preaching was the main           because they say, "Well, it is only a mere man speaking
element in the ministry of Jesus Christ Himself. He           anyway. " In fact, it is the risen Christ speaking, and it
went everywhere preaching the Gospel of the                   is true, as some will find out to their eternal sorrow,
Kingdom, we read. This was the labor of His apostles.         that whoever hears the preaching hears Christ and
This is the labor of the pastors that Christ gives the        whoever rejects the preaching rejects Christ. We should
Church for the edification of the Church.                     prove that the preaching of the Word is the very Word
  Preaching, however, had all but disappeared in the          of Jesus Christ himself. That proof abounds in the Old
Church prior to the Reformation. Instead of preaching,        Testament. In the Old Testament the prophets who
the priests administered the sacraments. This was             spoke to the people of Israel spoke in such a way that
regarded as the main work of the Church, in fact,             it was God who spoke through them. That is what we
almost as the only work of the Church. At that time,          read in II Peter  1:20,  2 1 :   "no prophecy of the
the Church was viewing the sacraments, especially the         scripture is of any private interpretation. For the
Eucharist, or Mass, or as we would say, Lord's Supper,        prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but
as the chief means of grace and salvation. That, by the       holy men of God spake as they were moved by the
way, remains the official position of the Roman               Holy Ghost." That is why the prophets always
Church to this very day, as was expressly stated in           prefaced their messages with "Thus saith the Lord."
Vatican II. Not the preaching, but the celebration of         That is why, when Israel rejected the word of the
the Eucharist is the chief means of grace, according to       prophets, God condemned Israel for rejecting  His
Rome. At the time of ,the Reformation, so little was          Word that the prophets carried to Israel. There is
preaching esteemed that even the administration of the        proof that the preaching is the speaking to the Church
sacraments was done in a language that nobody could           by Jesus Christ in the New Testament scriptures. In
understand. What little teaching there was consisted of Ephesians  4:20, 21, Paul says to the Christians at
the legends of the lives of the saints and silly little       Ephesus: "But ye have not so learned Christ; If so be
tales. The Church taught at that time by means of             that ye have heard Him and have been taught by Him
statues and pictures, which were called "Books to the         as the truth is in Jesus." Now, the Ephesians lived and
Laity." The Reformation restored preaching to its             were converted some 25 years after Jesus had gone to
rightful place as the central work of the Church. The         Heaven. Yet Paul says that they heard Jesus and that
Reformers all taught this. Calvin is representative when      they were taught by Jesus. They heard  Him and they
he writes in his Institutes: "Christ has so ordered in His    were taught by Him in the preaching that they heard
Church, that if (the pure preaching of the Word) is           from the mouth of Paul. Through the mouth of
removed the whole edifice must fall." In the Churches         Paul, Jesus spoke to them and taught them. This
of the Reformation, both Lutheran and Reformed,               has to be the case because the truth is in Jesus,
preaching actually occupied this prominent place. In          and if we are to know the truth Jesus must reveal
the time of Luther, in Wittenburg, preaching services         the truth to us. This is also the testimony of I  Thes-
were held several times during the week, as well as salonians 2: 13 where Paul praises the Thessalonian
several times on Sunday, and the same thing was true          Christians "because, when ye received the word of God
in Calvin's Geneva.                                           which ye heard of us, ye received it  not'as the word of
  The reason for the central importance of the                men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which
preaching of the Word is that Jesus Christ Himself effectually worketh also in you that believe." The


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                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                            231



Word that was preached by  :Paul was not the word of          always in the preaching. Our Reformed Confession, the
men, although it seemed so: It was the Word of God!           Heidelberg Catechism, speaks of this when it says in
This is what Jesus Himself teaches us in John  10:27:         Question 54: "The Son of God, from the beginning to
"My sheep hear my voice." We must hear the voice of           the end  of.;the world, gathers, defends, and preserves a
Jesus Christ, and we do hear the voice of Jesus Christ        Church by His Spirit and His Word!"



In His  Fear


                              T h e   A g e   o f   M a n
                                                  Rev. D.H. Kuipev

  Frequently catechism students, when confronted              physically. Nevertheless, what purpose did this
with the fact of the long age to which Methuselah and         relatively long life span serve? There was, first of all,
others attained, express astonishment and wonder.             the necessity to populate the world. From the words in
Without fail little hands stab, the air to ask,  "Why  did    Genesis 5,  ". . . .and begat sons and daughters.  ." we
God make people live so  long?"  and "Why don't we            believe that both in the church and in the world large
live that long now?" Not infrequently adults also             families were produced, so that in the 1654 years
consider these facts, either in society or privately,         between creation and the flood, millions of people
responding in much the same way. These are perfect-           lived on the earth. In  his  fine book  The Flood,  A.D.
ly good questions. As we seek out Scriptural answers          Rehwinkle, fascinated by the population of the
for them, we will discover that time or man's life span,      me-flood world, argues that it could have numbered
being a creature, comes under the providential hand of        anywhere from two to eleven  billion  (p.  24) Although
God. As God's upholding and governing hand touches            this necessarily involves speculation, we need not
time, it shows itself to be, a-redeemed creature by           doubt that the then-world hosted  a.large population,
being a good servant of God and His Church. All               and this was made possible in a relatively short time by
things are good, and work together for good, to those         the great ages which were attained. A father saw not
who share in redemption. Therefore, it follows that           only his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, but he
the longevity of preduluvian man was good, and that           saw his seed to the seventh and eighth`generations!
our present life span is good. Recently, by way of the            In the second place, long life served God's wisdom
Old Year's service, we have all been instructed con-          in that He did not deign to give the Church written
cerning the passing of time. It will be equally in-           revelation until much, much later. The author of the
structive to take a little broader perspective of this        Pentateuch did not come onto the scene until
matter.                                                       approximately 650 years after the flood. In place of a
                                                              written record of revelation, God provided direct
WHY SUCH LONG LIVES?                                          revelation, in which He spoke to men through angels,
                                                              v i s i o n s , a n d   d r e a m s ; a n d   H e   p r o v i d e d   t h e
  The study of genealogies, often passed over in our          circumstances that would insure the passing on of His
family devotions, here shows itself to be profitable.         speech by way of a strong, oral tradition. Father
Genesis, chapter five, gives us one of the numerous           passed on to son the Word which God had spoken, as
genealogies that form the framework of the book. In           well as his own life's experiences. Since it was possible
this precise chronology we find that the average life         for seven or eight generations to live together, this
span was well above 900 years. Adam lived to be 930           i n f o r m a t i o n   c o u l d   b e   t r a n s m i t t e d   e a s i l y   a n d
years, and his successive progeny up to the time of the       accurately. For example, Adam could not only inform
flood had ages of 912,  905, 910, 895; 962, 969, 777,         Seth concerning the temptation, fall, protevangel, and
and 950. One exception to these figures was  Enoch, banishment from the garden, but it was also possible
365, who was not, for God took him. It may be safely          for him to speak of these things to Lamech, the father
assumed that the generations  ;of Cain also lived to these    of Noah! If, indeed, they ever met, Lamech could have
advanced ages.                                                learned what we know as the contents of Genesis 1-3
  Although these numbers stagger us and our children,         directly from Adam; Noah could learn of these same
it ought to be remembered that they represent a sharp         things once repeated by his father!                      -
reduction  in the age of  man, due to the  fall Man had          It would make an interesting family project to
come under the sentence of death spiritually,  *but also      prepare a. bar graph which demonstrated the


232                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



overlapping of generations in the period we are               His specific command to replenish and fill the earth
discussing. On graphing paper list the names of the (Gen. 8: 17, 9:  1, and  11:4). Days of intense suffering
saints from Genesis five on the left hand side of the for the Church of God. Had not the Church been
graph. Along the bottom of the graph indicate time,           reduced to eight living souls at the time of Noah, and
either after creation or `before Christ. With a little care was this not -the purpose of the world in refusing to
the exact time of the birth and death of these saints scatter; That the people was one and all had one
can be determined and: recorded. And it will be clear, language is precisely what constituted the danger for
even to little catechumens, that God's Word was passed the people of God. Revelation 13 with its description
on easily and accurately to many generations.                 of the rising two beasts makes this so clear.

WHY THE GREAT REbUCTION?                                      AGE REDUCTION ACT OF GRACE
  Although this explains the two-fold benefit of                 The conclusion is evident. God sees His beleagured
longevity for the periods 4004-2350 B.C., the question         Church in her precarious situation. He sees that she is
remains, Why has the age of man been so drastically           about to be opposed to the point of extinction. More
reduced? Actually this `is a more important and more          than merely seeing, God  rects! In mercy He sends the
interesting question. All are aware that such a               thundering waters of the flood in order to save eight
reduction occurred at the time of the flood: the              souls and punish the unrepentant world. And in that
average of 900 years was reduced roughly by half.             same mercy He confuses the wicked kingdom of
According to the genealogy of Shem (Gen. 11) we find          Nimrod with strange languages that they might not
the next several generations living to 600, 438, 430,         unite against the Church as present in the children of
and-464 years. However, before we attempt an answer           Shem. The flood and Babel were two miraculous
to the above question; we ought to include another            deliverances for the people of God, and from slightly
fact in our considerations. There was, according to           different points of view pre-figure the final deliverance
Genesis 11, another dividing or halving of life span at       in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
the time of Peleg, the  s,on of Eber. He lived to the age        Simultaneous with these acts of deliverance, the
of 239, and his generations to the ages of 239 and 230.       Lord each time divided the life span of man by two.
From this time on, there was a gradual lessening of age       The result is that the struggling, militant Church is able
until the time of Abraham and Moses, who lived to be          to survive in the world. We can imagine what would
140 and 120 years  resp,ectively. Man's years continued       have happened in those days, and what would happen
to diminish so that we are informed in Psalm 90,              today, if men continued to live to 900 years and more.
verse 10: "The days  ofi our years are three score years      What a frightening thought! What monsters of iniquity
and ten, or if by reason of strength they be fourscore        would the. worldlings become if allowed to practice sin
years, yet is their strength  labour and sorrow; for it is    for nearly ten centuries! What devilishly adept teachers
soon cut off, and we fly away." This condition prevails       they would be for future generations! What inventions
until the present time without significant change.            and scientific achievements would be discovered and
  If such things as oursubject are in God's hands, and        corrupted in the service of Antichrist! Where would
if all God's works are the revelation of wisdom, the          the Church hide? But the Sovereign of heaven and
question is natural, Is there any similarity between the      earth adjusts the ages of men so that they, and their
days of these two reductions, the days of Noah and the        development in sin, serve the central purpose of
days of Peleg? The name Peleg means division. We are          redemption in Christ. The result has been that the
informed in Gen.  lo:25 that he was so named "for in          Church of Jesus Christ, though a little flock, has
                                                              endured. The shortening of life is an act of grace for
his days was the earth divided." This division is again that little but dearly beloved Church!
referred to in Gen.  10:32,  "These are the families of
the sons of Noah after their generations in their
nations: and by these were the nations divided in the         WHAT OF THE FUTURE?
earth after the flood," The  manner of this division of        It must be mentioned that the history of Babel is
nations is explained in Gen. 11: l-9, the well-known going to be reversed. Instead of many nations and
incident of the confusion of tongues in the land of languages there will be one people and one language
Shinar, where the world of wicked men had decided to once more. And there will be one religion. The apostle
memorialize itself with a tower. This occurred at the John saw this in his vision and recorded it for us in
time of Nimrod (Gen.  10:8-10).  There is little doubt, Rev. 13. One world power, one false religion in the
then, that the time before the flood and the time of service of that world power, one way to escape
Nimrod's kingdom were similar to a high degree. They persecution and death. For when the deadly wound of
were periods. during which the wickedness of men was Babel is healed (Rev.  13:3) Antichrist will have the
great in the earth, when every imagination of the             ascendancy. He shall blaspheme God, make war with
thoughts of his heart were only evil continually. Days the saints, be worshipped of all whose names are  ,not
of rebellion against every ordinance of God, including written in the Lamb's book of life, and have power to


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 233



kill as many as would not worship the image of the             again adjust time for the saving benefit of His people.
beast. What then?                                              There is nothing He will not do for those whom He
   God shall see this great tribulation which surpasses        loves. The Church will be saved to the uttermost! And
everything from the beginning of the world to the end.         once saved she will delight to sing with deeper
And with the same love and grace and mercy that has            awareness: -"Oh, the depths of the riches, both of the
not wavered throughout all the ages, God will once             wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are
again touch and control time. For the elect's sake He          His judgments, and His ways past finding out! For of
shall shorten those days. Whether this means He will           Him, and through Him, and unto Him are all things!
cause days to be less than twenty-four hour periods, or        To Whom be glory forever. Amen!"
that He will cause the end of those days to be                   These things, too, belong to our conception of time.
hastened, makes no essential difference. God will once



Voice oj our  Fathers

                           Bblgic' Confession, Article 14
                          Man, Formed Out of the Dust

                                                   Rev. J. Kortering

  Our Belgic Confession describes the creation of man          not wash in them and be clean?" II Kings 5:  11,12. We
in this manner, "We believe that God created man out           read the creation account and learn how God spoke by
of the dust of the earth, and made and formed him              His creative word and the things came into being with
after his own image and likeness, good, righteous, and         a mighty display of power. The sea brought forth birds
holy, capable in all things to `will, agreeably to the will    and the earth brought forth animals. Of man we read,
of God." This follows closely the language of Scrip-           "God formed him out of dust." We might react and
ture. We read, "And God said, let us make man in our           say, why didn't God call forth His mighty creative
image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion          word and with great power bring forth man out of
over the fish of the sea, and  rover the fowl of the air,      nothing? Why  dust?
and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over            Let's observe the following.
every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So            First, God created man as  part  of the creation. If
God created man in his own image, in the image of              God wanted man to live independently from the
God created he him; male and female created he                 creation, he. could have created man out of some other
them," Gen.  1:26,27.  To this is added, "And the Lord         substance, as for example the angels were. God did not
God formed man of the dust of the ground, and                  want man to live on the earth and not be part of it, but
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man         the very opposite. The whole of God's creation is
became a living soul," Gen. 2: 7.                              organically related. The earth holds the sea in its
                                                               bosom. The forest provides a home for the animals.
OUT OF THE DUST                                                The plants take in carbon dioxide and convert it to
  Our reaction to the description of man's creation            oxygen, so essential to life on the earth. The whole of
given in the Belgic Confession might very well be              the earth and its inhabitants are wrapped up in the
mixed. "God formed man out of the dust. . . and                firmament. God created man to be part of this
formed him after his own image."                               creation. Hence, the material for man was dust.
  The material which God used in creating man was                Secondly, we learn from this creative act that man's
dust!  We might be inclined to react as did Naaman the         life is dependent upon the earth. In order for him to
Syrian when told to go wash in the Jordon River seven          live, he needs oxygen, he needs the food the earth
times. He said, "Behold, I thought, He will surely come        produces, he is dependent upon the earth to provide all
out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the Lord         the essential elements for his well-being. This is being
his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover       pointed out'in our day, so acutely, by the problems of
the leper. Are not Abana and Pharpar rivers of                 ecology. We need clean air, water, and earth if we are
Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel, may I          to live  here.`This is our home. The Psalmist expressed


234                                             THE STANDARD BEARER



it this way, "The heaven, even the heavens are the               act of creating man was distinctive. We read that God,
Lord's, but the earth hath he given to the children of           "formed man out of the dust of the ground." Notice
men,"Ps.          115:16.                                       here that dust was not so demeaning that God
   Thirdly, it follows from the above, that we are              would not put His hands into it. We realize that
earthly because of our creation, and therefore we  like         we deal with the wonder of creation. Rather than
it  here. Our space program helps us understand this. poking fun of Scripture's description of it, as godless
We may travel to other heavenly bodies, but it is a             science does, we understand this description to be
hostile environment; it is brown and drab. We have to           God's. He describes in our language the fact that  He
take our own environment with us or we cannot                   did not only speak in creating man, he also acted. He
survive. Wasn't that a beautiful picture of earth taken became more personally involved in this creation. By
from the moon? The earth is our home, it is the most            His own mighty hand he fashioned, out of the dust,
beautiful of the heavenly bodies that God has created. the nature of man, making him of the earth, earthy.
It is colorful, it is adorned in beauty from pole to pole.          Thirdly, the results of this special creative act of
Because God made us from the dust, we enjoy being               God can be seen in man, the most wonderful creature
here. We will do anything to stay alive. Satan may have God made. God intended that man should not only be
said it, but it is true, "Skin for skin, yea, all that a man    part of the creation, but the  king of all creation. So
hath will he give for his life," Job  2:4. Death has to         great was the creative act, that He made man able to
grab us away from this home; we won't volunteer to              reign over all things. This is staggering to contemplate.
leave. Yes, we are of the earth, earthy, I Cor.  15:47.         Certain things indicate this.
  In the fourth place, since the material for our                   God made man able to walk erect. This cannot be
creation was dust, the scope of our perception is               said of any animal. Some may hop about in great
earthly. This does not rule out the place of faith; that        strides, as the kangaroo, others may swing from branch
was included in creation, for God breathed into                 to branch, as the monkey, still others may use all fours
Adam's nostrils the breath of life. We mean by this in amazing speed like the deer, but only man walks
that we cannot understand the heavenly. Who can                 erect. What an insult against God to say that man
fathom eternity, the omnipresence of God, the souls of belongs in the category of animal. He is unique in his
God's people in glory,  `the angels' presence in heaven         place. There is kingly majesty even in his erect
and earth, the ultimate resurrection of the dead? These         disposition.
things are "heavenly" and we are earthly. We believe                Think of man's face. It tells a great deal about the
them by faith, but cannot even picture them in our              man, more than the face of any animal. There is a
minds. This will have to await for the change from              reason for this. God created man to be a human
earthly to heavenly.                                            person.  When God formed man out of the dust of the
                                                                ground, He provided Adam with a nature that would
                                                                enable him to personally enter into covenant
GOD FORMED MAN                                                  fellowship with God. He gave man the faculties of
  Added to the above, we read, "God formed man out              friendship. This included such things as the human
of the dust of the ground." If the material used in             body, the brain and nervous system. This marvelous
creating man might seem to demean his existence,                and complex part of man's creation provided the
certainly this addition would change all that. Let's            necessary tools by which the human mind is able to
consider how this is true.                                      function. The ability to reason, to retain sense
  First, God contemplated the act of creating man               impressions as memory, to recall them in the future, to
before doing it. It was introduced by God speaking              talk intelligently, to listen and understand, all are
with Himself as triune God, "And God said, Let us               included in this creation of man. His face showed it.
make man," Gen.  1:.26. This constituted a definite             Man possesses certain likes and dislikes which are
break in the creative process. Two things can be                influenced by his own will. The face indicates this.
pointed out here. The creation of man was so                    Emotions run deeply within man's body and soul and
important to God that He discussed it with Himself              these are reflected in his face. The human person
before carrying it out. This was unique. It also                communicates by a face to face encounter both in
indicates to us that this was a distinct creative act           relation to the neighbor and God. God made man this
which in no way can  be'connected with the creation of          way.
the animals that preceded it. The creation account                  God also gave man a body with which to work.
does not allow any form of evolution, as if man has his         Certainly one can examine the animal world. and find
ancestry in the animal.                                         many industrious animals. Does not the Bible tell the
  Secondly, God became personally involved in man's             sluggard to visit the ant, Prov.  6:6? The squirrel
creation. We realize this was true of all creation, by          p r o v i d e s   f o r   w i n t e r   a n d   t h e   b e a v e r   n i b b l e s
virtue of the creative voice of God. God personally             industriously to build his dam. Yet, man is altogether
spoke and it was done,. Ps.  33:9. Nevertheless, God's          distinct.  His body is controlled by his intellect and not


                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER                                              235


by instinct. His hand has the skill of a surgeon or the        man capable of bearing God's own image, the second
brute power of the hewer of wood. God made Adam as             describes how God enabled man to actually bear that
the workman in His kingdom. To him was given the               image.
command, "Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the              In our next article we will consider what is involved
earth `and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish          in this image of God in man. In conclusion now, we
of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over             may understand that what is sometimes referred to as
every living thing that moveth upon the earth,"                the "image of God in the wider sense" could better be
Gen.  1:28.                                                    described as man's capability of bearing God's image.
   Now we can understand that man was created by a             By forming man out of the dust of the ground, God
marvelous act of God. He came forth out of the earth,          gave to man all the gifts he needed to function as
yet capable of subduing it. He came out of the dust,           servant king under God. He gave to man his entire
yet he was made the king of all the creation.                  human nature, body, soul, and spirit.
                                                                   When God breathed into Adam's nostrils the breath
THE IMAGE BEARER OF GOD                                        of life, God unified the entire complex life of man into
   To this we must also add that God did more, He also         one human personality. This personality He directed to
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. It was by       Himself, so that by the use of his human nature man
this aspect of man's creation that God lifted man              could glorify God His creator.
above the earth and made him conscious that God                    Little wonder that the church of all ages has
existed and that he was not king in his own right, but         delighted in making this an object of our confession.
king under God, to serve  Himin loving obedience.              To contemplate our origin makes us realize how great
   The Belgic Confession adds, "and made and formed            our God is, and how dependent we are upon Him. We
him after his own image  ,and likeness, good and               do well to conclude with the words of David: though
righteous, and holy, capable in all. things to will            referring to his conception and birth, they apply to our
agreeably to the will of God."                                 original creation as well, "I will praise thee: for I am
   God created man in one act, which in turn is                fearfully and wonderfully made; marvellous are thy
distinguished as having two parts: the first is that God       works, and that my soul knoweth right well,"
formed him out of the dust of the earth, the second is         Ps. 139: 14.
that He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.             We believe that God created man out of the dust of
The first part has reference to the fact that God made         t h e   e a r t h .


F r o m   H o l y   W r i t

                         Pure and Undefiled Religion (8)
                                          An Exposition of the Epistle of James

                                                    Rev. Robert D. Decker

                                  `Chapter 1: I8, Born Again With The Word of Truth
                                              .
  A literal translation of this' verse is: "Having willed         James has been speaking about temptations: how we
it,- he caused us to be born by means of the word of           must consider them, how we must endure them
truth, in order that we  should.be a kind of a first-fruits    through the, wisdom of God which is acquired by
of his created things." Now anyone who says there is           fervent prayer, of the fact that we may rejoice in them
little doctrine in James just does not know what he's          because by them God molds our faith into perfection.
talking about. This text is rich in doctrine as is the         In the immediately preceding context (vss. 13-17)
entire Epistle. Consider that James speaks of the              James emphasized that when we fall into sin as a result
eternal will of God, of the wonder of regeneration, of         of temptations we must not blame God. We are drawn
the Word of truth, and of  i the purpose of God's              away and enticed by our own lusts which bring forth
regenerating us, "in order that we should be a kind of         sin, and sin when it is finished brings forth death. God
first-fruits of his created things." All of these are rich     cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth He any
doctrinal themes which run throughout the Holy                 man: for He is the Father of the lights, with Whom is
Scriptures.                                                    no variableness neither shadow of turning. God is the


236                                                             THE STANDARD BEARER



giver of every good and.perfect gift. Continuing in that                             of the truth the preaching of the Word is clear not only
vein, James now speaks of the good and perfect gift of                               by comparing of Scripture with Scripture, which we
God, regeneration.                                                                   have done, but also by the succeeding context of this
   In the past (not so much today because people                                     verse, which speaks of "receiving the Word with meek-
generally are ignorant of the doctrines of the Word of                               ness and being "doers of the Word and not hearers
God and do not care to know them) a good deal of                                     only." Putting it all together, the idea is that God by
controversy swirled about this and similar texts of                                  means of the Word of truth gives birth to the life of
scripture. The controversy had to do with the question                               Christ in us, calls us out of darkness into His marvelous
as to how regeneration is effected. Some said the new                                light, unites us to Christ by means of faith so that we
birth is mediate; that is, it happens through the means                              daily put off the old and put on the new man, justifies
of the preaching of the Word; while others said                                      us, sanctifies, preserves, and glorifies us.
regeneration is immediate; that is, it occurs apart from                                What is the "word of truth" by which this wonder is
means and is the initial work of the Holy Spirit in the                              effected? The truth is reality overagainst that which is
heart of the elect. This latter is our position. (The                                unreal, the lie. Truth, therefore, is always the faithful
interested reader is referred to a thorough discussion of                            presentation of reality overagainst the lie; and that too,
this whole matter by Rev. Herman Hoeksema in his                                     with respect to all  things:God,  Christ, the Church, the
R e f o r m e d   D o g m a t i c s ,   t h e   s e c t i o n   o n world, the past, present, and future. That means God is
Soteriology.)                                                                        the truth. He reveals Himself as "a God of truth"
   That the wonder of regeneration is immediate is                                   (Deut.  32:4). He is the eternal reality Who is before all
evident when we take `note of the terms involved in                                  things, the Creator, Sustainer of all things. And the
this text and others. The word in the text, "begat he truth of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is revealed
us," means literally "to give birth to." The point is in  Jesus Christ. Christ is the  WORD  which was in the
that life prior to birth is presupposed. This word is                                beginning, which was with God, and which is God. He
used always in the New Testament to refer to birth                                   is the Word by whom all things were made and for
from the womb. In  .other words the term refers                                      whom all things were made, and in whom all things
to life coming to consciousness. Now, a different word                               consist. That Word became flesh and "dwelt among us,
is used by Jesus in His conversation with Nicodemus as                               and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only
recorded in John 3. Jesus says in verse 3: "Verily,                                  begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." (John
verily, I say unto  thee,,Except a man be born again, he                             1  :l-14-cf. also Col. 1) The truth in all its fulness is
cannot see the kingdom of God." The words "born revealed in Jesus Christ, the Son of the triune God in
again" refer to the moment of conception, the very                                   the flesh. He is the reality of all the types and shadows
beginning of life in the womb. This is precisely how                                 of the Old Testament, and He is the reality over against
Nicodemus took what Jesus had said. He responds (vs.                                 all that is contrary to God. "For the law was given by
4), "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No
enter a second time into his mother's womb and be                                    man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten
born?" Jesus then explains that he speaks of a birth of                              Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath
"water and of the Spirit" (vs. 5). The same word used                                declared him. (John 1: 17,  18) Christ said it Himself in
in John  3:3 is also found in that beautiful passage,                                those familiar but profound words: "I am the way, the
I Peter  1:23-25. Here  :the Scriptures speak of "being                              truth, and the life . .  ." (John  14:6).  The Holy Spirit
born again out of incorruptible seed by the living and is the truth. As the Spirit given to Christ, promised by
abiding word." Out of that incorruptible seed life is                                Christ and poured out into the church by Christ, He is
conceived. That's the work of the Holy Spirit of Jesus the Spirit of Truth Who comforts us by bringing to our
Christ, the living and abiding  - that is, the eternal r e m e m b r a n c e   a l l   t h a t   C h r i s t   s p o k e .   ( J o h n
Word, It happens beneath the consciousness of the                                    14:16,17,26;16:13-15)
elect, in earliest infancy or perhaps even at the                                      That truth, that Word of truth spoken by God in the
m o m e n t   o f   c o n c e p t i o n .   T h a t   n e w ,   h e a v e n l y ,    Son and by the Holy Spirit we have in the Bible. The
resurrection life of Christ, which cannot die and apart times in which we live require a word or two about
from which one cannot even see the Kingdom of God, this. The Bible is the TRUTH. It is God-breathed, given
is brought to consciousness by means of the preaching by inspiration. (II Tim. 3: 16) It is the product of God
of the Word. "And this is the word which by the in Christ through His Holy Spirit, "Holy men spake as
gospel is preached unto you." (I Peter  1:25).                                       moved by the Holy Spirit." (II Peter  1:20,21). This
   It is in that broad sense that James speaks of                                    means that the Bible is not in any sense the words of
regeneration in this verse. The seed of life has already men except in the sense that God prepared from
been implanted in our `hearts; and having willed it, the eternity men whom He used by the Holy Spirit  ,as
Father of lights causes'that principle of life to be born instruments through whom His Word was to be spoken
(come to conscious expression) by means of the word and written. The Bible then is not a book that
of truth. That the inspired James means by the Word witnesses to the truth; nor is it a record of man's


                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                           237



     religious experience or encounter with God. The Bible          will create a new heavens and a new earth, a perfected,
,    is the Word of God and therefore the Truth. It is the          redeemed creation in which the elect in Christ will
     whole truth, to which nothing may be added and from            reign to the glory of God forever (Rev. 4; 6: 12-l 7 ;
     which nothing may be subtracted. It is the truth about         7:9-l 7; chaps. 21,22).
     everything; it presents all of reality in its proper              Of that we are the firstfruits. Born again by the
     perspective. And, there is no truth apart from the Holy        Spirit of Christ, brought to conscious faith and life by
     Scriptures. Anything apart from the Scriptures has to          the preaching of the Word of truth we are consecrated
     be the product of the creature; and because the                to God's glory now in principle and soon in perfection,
     creature is fallen and totally depraved, what he               and we are the guarantee that the full harvest of
     produces will  a-lways be the lie.  -By its own testimony      redemption shall surely be realized. What a tremendous
     the Scriptures are that. That means the nature and             wonder that is. That and nothing less is what is realized
     extent of Biblical authority is most emphatically not a        in us by  the,preaching  of the Word of truth.
     question. It's not open for discussion. One either by             That is certain. Certain, because it is God's purpose.
     the grace of the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ  believes  the    The text puts it this way; "Having willed it!" That
     Bible to be the Word of Truth; or lacking the                  word "will" is the same word translated "counsel" in
     testimony of the Spirit in his heart, he rejects the Word      Eph.  1:ll; "who worketh all things after the counsel
     of truth  in  unbeliefi   Here there can be absolutely no      o f   h i s   o w n   w i l l . " T h e   w o r d   m e a n s , .   " t o   w i l l
     compromise. One does not stand `above' the Bible to            purposefully," or, "to be minded to do something."
     determine what is the Word of God in it and what is            That's not our will. Our will is to choose sin. We are
     not. One must approach the Bible in the faith that it is       dead by nature in trespasses and sins. But God having
     the absolute truth of God  I-Iimself.                          willed it causes us to be born with the  .Word of truth,
       By that Word of truth God has-caused us to be born           in order that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his
     initially by implanting the incorruptible seed of the          created things. Having willed it, He chose us in Christ
     resurrection life of Jesus Christ by the Spirit of Christ.     Jesus before the foundations of the world (Eph. 1).
     And by the preaching of that Word of truth God brings          Having willed it, He sent His only begotten Son into
     that principle of life, that seed, to conscious                the world to atone for our sin and merit eternal
     expression; for this living and abiding Word is "the           righteousness and life for us. Having willed it, He raised
     word which by the gospel is preached unto you." (I             His Son from the dead and set Him at His own right
     Peter  1:25) This is the miracle of preaching. The world       hand in heavenly places. Having willed it, He made us,
     may call that "foolishness," let us never. For unto us         who were dead in sin, alive in Christ Jesus  - by grace
     which are saved it is Christ, the power and wisdom of          we are saved. Having willed it, He poured out His Spirit
     God which destroys the wisdom of this world. (cf.              into our hearts. Having willed it, He implanted the seed
     I Cor. 1) It is to the saved the almighty power of God         of the new life in us; and having willed it, He brings
     which awakens within them the knowledge of their sin           that seed to consciousness with the Word of truth
     and sinful natures, leads to godly sorrow `and daily           preached. And having willed it He will finish that work
     repentance, assures of peace and forgiveness, instructs,       of redemption in the full harvest when Jesus comes
     edifies, feeds and nourishes their hungry and thirsty          again.
     souls, and keeps them from falling. This is what                  That is the gospel of redemption. That is the
     happens wherever the Word of truth is preached                 victory. May the Church of Jesus Christ preach then
     faithfully in and by God's church.                             boldly, joyfully, and without shame the gospel. To the
       The text states, finally, the beautiful purpose of our       world that is sheer foolishness. To the saved it is
     being born with the Word of  ,truth: "in order that we         indeed Christ the power and wisdom of God which
     should be a kind of firstfruits of his created things."        destroys the world.
     This is an Old Testament figure. At the beginning of              That is God's purpose. "That no flesh should glory
     the harvest season Israel had to bring the Firstfruits of in his presence. . let him that glorieth, glory in the
     the harvest to the tabernacle (temple) before the Lord.        Lord." For "of him, and through him, and to him, are
     This was symbolic of two things: 1) by bringing the            all things: to whom be glory for ever.  Amen."(I Cor.
     firstfruits the pious Israelite declared that the harvest      1:29,31;  Romans  11136)
     was the Lord's, he consecrated the fruit of the earth to
     the Lord: 2) at the same time he declared by this act
     that God would give the complete harvest. James says
     we are fnstfruits of his created things. Just as the
     entire creation fell under the `curse through the fall of
     Adam (Gen. 3) so the entire creation shares in the
     redemption of the elect race (cf. Gen. 9: 8-l 7, Romans
     8:19 ff.). Out of the fire of  ,God's wrath which will
     destroy the present, cursed creation (II Peter 3) God


238                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


                                                         A
                                        Commentary
  As to reprobation, I  ,know that many greatly dislike       they extort wicked edicts from the ignorant and the
this doctrine  - that some are rejected, and that yet no      slumbering, as though it were in the power of men, by
cause can be found in themselves why they thus                babbling about things unknown, and by barbarously
remain disapproved by God. But there is here need of          mixing all things together, to thrust God as it were
docility and of a meek spirit, to which Paul also             from his celestial throne. This is horribly monstrous,
exhorts us, when he says, "0 man, who art thou who            and ought to be detested by all; for it would be better
answerest against God?" (Rom. ix. 20.) For were it            that all the empires of the world should be swallowed
lawful to investigate the cause, surely Paul, who had         up in the lowest depths, than that mortal creatures
been taken up to the third heaven, might have showed          should raise themselves up as it were into heaven, and
us the way; but he is here silent and drives us away          attempt to penetrate into the secret things of God.
from the indulgence of a bold and an over curious             But, however, when the whole world either assail this
spirit. Since the Holy' Spirit by the mouth of Paul           doctrine by barking, or seek to subvert it by threats
restrains the presumption of men, that they may not           and terrors, or when all in various ways manifest their
dare to go beyond  thisstep   - that God hardens whom         rage, and when they roll thunders who seem to
he wills and rejects whom he wills, why do men leap           themselves to be very powerful, it behoves us to hold
beyond this, except they wilfully seek to carry on war        fast this doctrine, that God alone is the author of our
with God? and yet they pretend modesty, and under             salvation, because he has been pleased freely to elect
this  pretext  they seek to bury the doctrine of election;    us, and also that he possesses power'over al-the human
we ought, they say, to speak soberly of mysteries. This       race, so that some, according to his will, are elected
last sentence I allow fully; but what is our sobriety but     and some are rejected, and that he ever acts justly, and
our docility? that is, when we embrace what God               holds secret the cause both of election and of
declares in his word, and never allow ourselves- to           reprobation. But it is no wonder that we are so blind,
investigate more than `what he teaches us. But they           for we are stupid by nature, nay, blind altogether; and
would extinguish God's word; nay, they dare openly to         were we angels, it would be still our duty reverently to
pronounce blasphemies against God, and to find fault          regard the manifold wisdom of God, which no human
with the Spirit, who has spoken by the prophets and           m i n d s ,   n o , not even angelic minds, can fully
the apostles.                                                 comprehend.
  We indeed see that there are many devils who preach
modesty, when their object is to suppress the light and                   John Calvin, Commentary on Malachi 1: 2-6
this chief doctrine, the main basis of our salvation; and           (From: The Twelve Minor Prophets, V, 481-482)


                 WEDDING ANNIVERSAR Y                                     RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
   On February 7, 1973, our dear parents,                       The Ladies Aid Society of the Hull Protestant
           MR. AND MRS. BERT BRANDS                           Reformed Church expresses sincere sympathy to one
celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.                    of our members, Mrs. Frank Vogel, in the loss of her
  We are thankful to. our covenant God for having father
spared them for each other and for us, and we pray                            MR. ARIE BOMGAARS.
that God may bless them further in the way that lies            May she  find comfort in the following words of
ahead; and as the days approach when their earthly            Scripture,  - "For we know that if our earthly house of
pilgrimage shall end, may they enjoy the peace which this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of
alone can be found in Him.                                    God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the
                                                              heavens." (II Cor. 5: 1).
                                  Their grateful children:                                       Rev. J.  Kortering, Pres.
                                Mr. and Mrs. Evert Brands                                  Mrs. H. J. Blank&poor, Sec'y.
                                Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Hop
                                Mr. and Mrs. John Brands                         ANNOUNCEMENT
                              Mr. and Mrs. Egbert Gritters      Classis West of the Protestant Reformed Churches
                                                   Harold     will meet in South Holland, Illinois, on March 7 at
                              Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Brands 8:30 AM. Delegates in need of lodging should notify
                              Mr. and Mrs. Robert Brands South Holland's clerk of their need.
Edgerton, Minn.                          20 grandchildren                           Rev. David Engelsma, Stated Clerk


                                                         THE STANDARD BEARER
I                                                                                                                                 239


                                 NOTICE!!!                                           RESQLUTIONOFSYMPATHY
        The new Clerk of the Hope Protestant Reformed                     -The Choir of the Hudsonville Protestant Reformed
     Church of Isabel, South Dakota is:                                 Church wish to express their Christian sympathy to
                              Mr. Jake Reichert                         one of their members, Judy Holstege and to her
                                  Box 106                               family, in the sudden loss of their father and husband
                       Isabel, South Dakota 57633                                     ANDREW HOLSTEGE.
       The new Treasurer is:                                               It is our prayer that they may find comfort in God's
                              Mr. Emil Streyle                          Word.
                                   Box 32                                  "For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and
                       Isabel, South Dakota 57633                       whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live
                                                                        therefore or die, we are the Lord's." (Romans  14:8).
                              INMEMORIAM                                                                          Ben Wigger, Pres.
        On January 17, 1973, our covenant God took unto                                                      Donna Kuiper, Sec'y.
     Himself our beloved wife, mother and grandmother
                          LILLIAN A. ZWAK,
     at the age of 70 years.                                                        RESOLUTIONOFSYMPATHY
       "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His
     saints. " (Psalm  116:15).                                            The Ladies Society of Hope Protestant Reformed
                                                   Mr. Harry Zwak       Church of Grand Rapids, Michigan, expresses their
                                    Mr. and Mrs. Otto Kamminga          heartfelt sympathy to one of its members, Mrs. William
                                        Mr. and Mrs. Robert Burt        Kamps, her. husband and their children in the sudden
                                         and 11 grandchildren           death of their son and brother
                                                                                         WILLIAM KAMPS. JR.,
                 RESOLUTIONOFSYMPATHY                                   at the age of  ,18 years.
       The Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Society of the Hope Protestant                May our  `convenant God comfort the bereaved in
     Reformed Church of Grand Rapids, Michigan, would                   their  sorrows and grant them His peace.
     like to express to our fellow  Imembers, Mr. and Mrs.                "Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall
     Harry Langerak, Mr. and Mrs. Chuck Kalsbeek and Mr.                sustain thee: He shall never suffer the righteous to be
     and Mrs. John Cleveland, our heartfelt sympathy in the             moved." (Psalm  55:22).
     sudden loss of their brother                                                                      Rev. R. Van Overloop, Pres.
                        WILLIAM KAMPS JR.                                                            Mrs. David Meulenberg, Sec'y.
       May our covenant God heal their broken hearts and
     may they look for that day when the Lord will raise
     the dead in the glorious resurrection.                                         RESOLU~IONOFSYlMPATHY.
                                      Mr. Dewey Englesma, Pres.           The Hope Choral Society wishes to extend its
                                        Mrs. Cal Kalsbeek, Sec'y.       sincere sympathy to three of its members, Mr. and Mrs.
                                                                        John Cleveland and Mr. Chuck Kalsbeek in the deaths
                 RE~~LUTIONOFSYMPATHY                                   of their brothers and brothers-in-law
       "The Ladies Aid Society of the First Protestant                                       GEORGE KAMPS
     Reformed Church extends their heartfelt sympathy to                                             and
     one of our members, Mrs. G. Stadt in the loss of her                              WILLIAM KAMPS, JR.
     husband,                                                             May our Covenant God comfort them and grant
                         M                                              them His peace.
                           R.  GERRIT  STADT
       May the God of all grace comfort and strengthen her                "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away;
     in her sorrow.                                                     blessed be the name of the Lord." (Job  1:21).
                                         ; Mrs. T. Newhof, Pres.                                            Mr. Cal Kalsbeek, Pres.
                                             Mrs. C. Pastoor, Sec'y.                                         Janis  Huizinga,  Sec'y.


                                       News From Our  Churched
       The 1972 Protestant Reformed Teachers' Convention                because the Convention concerns itself with something
     is hardly recent enough to be considered "news." Nor is            which is, for our churches, of no less importance than
     it, strictly speaking, "from our churches." But we'll the instruction of children of God's covenant.
     include it under the above caption, anyway, since                    I have before me several school publications which
     information concerning it does not stale with age, and             devoted space to that convention. One is a newsletter

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


240                                             THE STANDARD BEARER

from Adams. It reads  ai, follows:                             many, practical suggestions as to how to augment the
   "The teachers spent  ,an enjoyable and profitable two basic writing program of the summer *workshop."
days in South  Hollancl: last October. This convention            After the sectionals, according to  The Ledger,
was unique in the history of our schools in that there Loveland's school paper, "the entire group again met
were no less than  seven  schools represented there. In in  praise to God for the privilege of having been
addition to the four eastern schools, the faculties of together to discuss the matter of covenant instruction
Doon,  E d g e r t o n , a n d   L o v e l a n d   w e r e   a l s o   i n and to fellowship with those who work for a common
attendance. Mr. Fred Hanko, in a little reminiscing, cause.:" And, to return  to Polaris,  "after singing a few
recalled that, at  the first Protestant Reformed Psalter numbers, Mr. Fred Hanko, the new president of
Teachers' Convention, there were in attendance 12 the Teachers' Institute, closed the meeting with prayer.
teachers, from two schools. `We have indeed,' he said, The 1972 Teachers' Convention had ended and now
`been richly blest.' "                                         the teachers dispersed again to their various fields of
   The  Polaris,  Doon's: seasonal publication, included a labor, thankful and happy for the opportunity to meet
rather complete coverage of the Convention. "Early together in the unity of God's Word."
Thursday morning, October 26," the article began,                                   **********
"approximately forty-five Protestant Reformed                     Then, we have another welcome contribution from
Teachers met together in South Holland. Our two day our Business Manager. Read on:
convention began with the singing of several Psalter              The members of the Radio Committee of our
numbers. A thrill of joy and anticipation was                   Reformed Witness Hour often wonder if many of the
experienced by all as the harmony of the song recipients of the printed copies of the radio messages
reminded us of our harmony of purpose in the high take the time to read the printed sermons after they
calling of instructing God's covenant seed."                   receive them. Is it worth the time, effort, and expense
   The  Polaris  then made mention of the keynote involired to print and distribute the printed copies?
address, delivered by Rev. R. Decker. He spoke about Well,, excerpts from only two of the many responses
the task of the Christian school teacher, from the point received should  set their minds at ease. It certainly  IS
of view of Psalm 8. `The reality of the covenant of worthwhile!
grace, he said, is the basis of the Christian school. We          First one comes from (of all places) Tasmania,
are the covenant  peoljle of Jehovah. The promise is to Australia. Addressed to the Reformed Witness Hour it
us and to our children; God says, therefore, to parents, reads: (in part) as follows:
"these are My children. Bring them up in My fear. Out             "Dear Brethren, I want to say how much I have
of their mouths have I ordained strength." And this is appreciated the sermons which have been sent to me in
the task, also of  teachers. The excellency of the name the past years.
of Jehovah, which is revealed in all His  woiks, must be          "The emphasis which is placed upon the Sovereignty
brought to them, in all the subjects taught. God says to of God is most refreshing in these times when, on all
teachers, "It is your task to train My children to be sides,! God is represented as a pathetic being who is
soldiers of the cross of Jesus Christ, in  the battle of completely at the mercy and the will of the creature."
faith,"                                                           The writer of this letter then asks permission to
       Topics of other meetings held throughout the day reprint the copies for distribution to members of his
included "Teaching Bible, "."Basics  of Elementary and church in their "humble" magazine.
Intermediate Science," and "The Responsibility of a               The second letter comes from an eastern state of our
Teacher. " That  evenirig, as we learn from  Polaris,  "all country.  It reads (in part)  - "Dear Friends, Herewith a
the teachers were fed a delicious meal by the South small contribution to the Reformed Witness Hour.
Holland Ladies' Auxiliary and afterward were Unfortunately, we are not able to get the sermons over
privileged to listen  to'Prof.  H. Hanko as he spoke to us our radio station, but we do appreciate very much
on `The Teacher as  Co;unselor.". . .                          receiving the printed copies regularly. . . The sermons
       "The next morning, the teachers again assembled of the Witness Hour remind me of my dear father's
together; this time to. discuss the work of the summer sermbns, and I am so happy to receive them. I recently
workshop on `Writing.' After a joint meeting in which passed my 80th birthday. I also am happy to have the
many practical suggestions as to how to augment the Standard Bearer,  and I read it from cover to cover."
the basic plan of the workshop was presented, the                 The Radio committee welcomes all response,  fr'om
teachers split up into three sectionals: one for               both the listeners and the readers. We thank our God
elementary, one for intermediate and one for junior for the privilege of sending out these radio broadcasts
high and high school teachers. The sectionals provided and the printed pages.                                          D.D.


