                                   he
                             tandard

                                           e a r e r

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


IN THIS lSSUE


                 Assurance of Election

                 News From Jamaica

                 Beginning: Eschatology-In The Old Testament

                 The OPC and the "Free Offer" (3)





                                                Volume XLIX / Number 16 /May 15, 1973


362                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER



                           CONTENTS:                                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER
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Meditation

                                          Assurance of Election
                                                             Rev. M. Schipper
                "Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for If
               ye do these things, ye shall never fall. "                                                                    II Peter i : 16.


   Wherefore . . .!                                                       in direct contrast to that of which the apostle spoke in
   Herewith the apostle connects the exhortation in                       the immediately preceding verse. There he informs us
our text with the preceding context. The text appears,                    that "he that lacketh these things is blind and cannot
first of all, as a conclusion to what the apostle had                     see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged
been speaking of especially in the verses 5-8 of this                     from his old sins." In contrast to this, the brethren are
chapter. There he had exhorted his readers to give                        urged to give diligence to make their calling and
diligence to put on Christian virtues. Those who do                       election sure, for if they do these things they should
this, so he informs us, will never be unfruitful in the                   never stumble as the blind.
knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. And consistent                             Urgent it is, therefore, that we make our calling and
with this they will also give diligence to make their                      election sure!
calling and election sure.                                                     Mark well the order in which the apostle presents
       The rather, brethren . . . !                                       the exhortation in the text!
       In these words the text, in the second place, appears                   It is not: make your election and calling sure; but


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                   363 .



precisely: make your calling and election sure! The and word, out of the whole human race, a church
former is the order of God's counsel and eternal chosen to everlasting life, agreeing in true faith; and
purpose; while the latter is the order of our experience. that I am and forever shall remain, a living member
Obviously it is the latter which the apostle has in mind. thereof." (H.C.-L.D. XXI, Qu. 54).
  Indeed, from God's point of view, that is, from the         Indeed, our election is very sure!
viewpoint of His  decretive purpose, then election            But how, then, is it that the apostle exhorts us to
precedes in the order of our salvation. Such is the make it sure?
order as expressed in Romans 8: `Moreover whom he             No doubt, there are many, also in our day, who will
did predestinate, them he also called . . ." But this is    point to our text as proof that our election is sure only
not the viewpoint in our text, though it is surely the when we make it sure. Arminianism has a way of
background.                                                 speaking of election, and at the same time leaving it to
   Rather, as we suggested, the apostle would have the be something that hangs by the slender thread of man's
Christian brethren come to an assurance of their free will. Deceiving the minds of many, they inform
election as they stand in the midst of the world, and you that God certainly chose certain nations or classes
are beset on every hand not only by the trials of faith,    of people, but the election of the individual depends
but also as they walk still in an evil nature. He would on and waits for the action of his will, or of his faith.
have them to observe their election by its fruits.          We are told that God from eternity chose those whom
Consequently, make sure your calling and election!          He saw beforehand would believe in and accept Christ
  Make sure your election?                                  and His proffered salvation. Your election therefore is
  But how can that be?                                      accordingly conditional, and it depends on your action
  Is not our election sure?                                 whether it will be realized. You must make it sure!
  Is it not eternally and unchangeably decreed in             ,But don't you see, beloved reader, that if certainty
sovereign predestination who are, and who are not of our election depends on man's will, there can be no
God's elect? Is it not plainly declared in the infallible assurance of election whatsoever? Man, whose breath is
Word of God that the names of all the elect are             in his nostrils, whose will is fickle and mutable, can
indelibly inscribed in the Lamb's book of life? Is not never be depended on. If our election rested on such
their number fixed, so that none can be added, and shallow basis, it could never be sure. Thanks be unto
none can be subtracted, and that at last there shall God, our election rests on solid ground,  - the
appear on Mount Zion the one hundred and forty-four Immutable, and Eternal Himself. So that when the
thousand, the sum total of all the elect of God,            apostle exhorts us to make our election sure, this
figuratively speaking? And if, as the Scriptures cannot mean that our election is that which has yet to
plentifully aver, the elect are determined by the           be determined, or that the realization of it depends on
predestinating counsel of the Most High, is it not also us. God forbid that, that should ever be so!
true that these same Scriptures declare: "My counsel          But again, we ask: what then does the apostle have
shall stand, and I will do all my good pleasure?"           in mind? What does he mean when he exhorts us to
  And, of course, the answers to all these questions make our election sure?
are in the affirmative!                                       The answer is very simple. In one word, he means to
  Indeed, there is nothing more sure than that the say: make it sure in your own consciousness. Make
Lord knoweth them that are His, and that no one, or         certain in your own heart and mind that you are one
nothing shall be able to pluck them out of His hand. It of God's elect.
is precisely this truth which gives the Christian the         And is there anything in all the world that you
solid comfort he needs. It is this faith that prompted would wish to be more sure of than that? 0, there may
the Reformed fathers to declare: "Election is the be many things concerning which you might desire
unchangeable purpose of God, whereby, before the            assurance. You may desire to know, especially when
foundation of the world, he hath out of mere grace,         you grow older, whether you will be taken care of in a
according to the sovereign good pleasure of his own         material way to the end. You may desire to know with
will, chosen, from the whole human race, which had          assurance whether your children will continue in the
fallen through their own fault, from the primitive state    faith, and not fall away in the great apostasy of our
of rectitude, into sin and destruction, a certain number    time. You may want some assurance whether you
of persons to redemption in Christ, whom he from            yourself will be able to withstand the fiery darts of
eternity appointed the Mediator and Head of the elect,      Satan when Antichrist comes to his own, when you
and the foundation of Salvation . . ," (Canons I, 7). It    shall be required to endure tribulation such as the
was this faith that moved the church of Christ to           church of Christ has never before experienced. But
declare: "I believe an Holy Catholic Church . . ."; and     when you sum it all up, and try to determine what it is
the author of the catechism to explain: "That'the Son       that you are most desirous to know with unerring
of God from the beginning to the end of the world           assurance, is it not this, that God has chosen you in
gathers, defends, and preserves to himself by his Spirit    Christ Jesus to be an heir of eternal life, and to share


364                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


with Him His blessed fellowship for ever?                     Nay, rather, our calling, though it certainly is
   But again, how shall we make our election sure?          outwardly through the preaching of the gospel and
   The answer very simply lies in the text itself. We inwardly by the voice of God to our heart, whereby we
make our election sure by making sure our calling. This     are translated from darkness to light, is also constant.
is also the reason why calling is mentioned first.          It continues, and in such a way that it makes us to
   Calling and election go together. They are one. They     walk in the way of sanctification, without which no
are so related that the former is the fruit of the latter; man shall see the Lord. Our calling comes to us daily as
and the latter is the ground of the former. When you        we have to struggle with the old man of sin within us,
make your calling sure, you at the same time make           to mortify our flesh, and to put on the new man,
your election sure. You will recognize your election by     created unto all good works. Our calling is to walk in
its fruits in your lives.                                   the midst of the world of darkness as the children of
   Give all diligence, therefore, to make your calling light. Our calling is to be holy as He is holy, to hate
sure!                                                       evil and love the good, to hate the lie and speak the
   Your calling!                                            truth. In one word, our calling is to walk in all good
  Understand well, this cannot refer merely to that         works, which God has before prepared, in order that
initial calling whereby God spoke inwardly to your          we should walk in them. When we are diligent in
heart as He spoke to you outwardly through the              making our calling sure, we will also, in the light of the
preaching of the gospel, according to which calling you     context, be adding virtue to our faith, knowledge to
were consciously translated out of the kingdom of           our virtue, temperance to our knowledge, patience to
darkness into that of His marvelous light. Though, to       our temperance, and godliness to our patience. We will
be sure, your calling had indeed such a beginning, and      not be barren in our Christian life, but fruitful!
was realized initially perhaps in such an experience.         Give diligence . . . !
The Word of God here is not urging us to recall a             That is, desire earnestly, and give it all your
drastic experience you may have had somewhere and           attention!
sometime in your life when, like the apostle Paul, you        And when you do this faithfully by the grace of
were suddenly halted on your way, and your whole life       God, you shall never stumble! Neglect to do this, and
was drastically changed. We are not exhorted here to        you will surely stumble and fall.
simply call to mind a sudden change in our life, when,        Make sure your calling, and two things will happen;
like the Philippian  jailor, through a spiritual            you will come to the blessed assurance of your own
earthquake we were made to cry out: "What shall I do        election, and an abundant entrance into the
to be saved?" It is very well possible that you and I       everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
may never be able to boast of such a drastic                Christ will be given unto you.
experience. And if our calling depended on such an            Blessed Assurance!
experience, then it is possible that we could never be
assured of our calling.



Question Box


                             Some Pertinent Questions About
                               Our Reformed Position (5)

                                                ProJ: H.C. Hoeksema


Question                                                    See Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day 15, Answer 37;
  The final question from my Canadian questioner is         Canons of Dordt, II, 3; and I Tim. 2:6, where we read,
as follows:                                                 `Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in
  "On the other hand, is it not so that the atoning         due time,'
work of our Lord and Savior is `sufficient' for all men?      "These things are deep, and we seem to be on the


                                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER                                                       365


 verge of going beyond the Lord's revealed will, and our                             of the Son of God is the only and most perfect
 finite minds will not be able to grasp and reconcile as a                           sacrifice and satisfaction for sin; and is of infinite
 rational whole (what is for us rational) the Lord's                                 worth and value, abundantly sufficient to expiate the
 absolute sovereignty in electing sinners to salvation,                              sins of the whole world." In my commentary on the
 and our responsibility on the other hand; and therefore                             Canons which appeared some years ago in the Standard
 we must tread very carefully here, and with the                                     Bearer, I pointed out that the subject in this article is
 greatest reverence, or so it seems to me."                                          not  for whom Christ died,  but  the perfection and
 Reply                                                                               infinite worth and value  of  Christ's sacrifice.  In the
    Let me begin by emphasizing my agreement with                                    second place, I pointed out that this article is an
 my questioner: we must  always  tread carefully and                                 answer to an Arminian argument against limited, or
 with the greatest reverence when we deal with God's                                 particular, atonement. When the fathers of Dordrecht
 Word. And to me, this means that one of the                                         maintained particular atonement, the Arminians
 fundamental principles which we must remember is                                    countered with the sophistic accusation that with their
 that Scripture (God's revealed will) is orze, that it does                          doctrine of limited atonement the fathers proclaimed a
 not contradict itself but is perfectly harmonious, and                              limited and stingy God and an impoverished Christ, as
that Scripture interprets Scripture. Hence, we must                                 though the fact that some men went lost was to be
 always seek to understand one part of Scripture in the                              blamed on the poverty of Christ's sacrifice. Now what
light of the whole of Holy Writ. We must also bear in                                did the fathers say over against that? Did they say:
m i n d   t h a t   S c r i p t u r e   i s   "r a t i o n a l , " t h a t   i s    Christ died for all men? Did they say: Christ's death is
understandable. In Holy Scripture God reveals Himself sufficient for all, but efficient only for the elect? Then
to us exactly in such a way that our "finite minds" they would have conceded to the Arminians. But they
may be able to grasp that revelation as one,                                        did say: Christ's death "is of infinite value, abundantly
harmonious whole.                                                                   sufficient to expiate the sins of the whole world." But
   In the second place, therefore, I wish to emphasize                              it is important to note that they emphatically did NOT
that if my questioner intends to set God's absolute                                 say that Christ in any sense died for the whole world in
sovereignty in electing sinners to salvation and our                                the sense of all men. Further, I wrote at that time:
responsibility over against one another, as opposing or                                "A study of the above opinions of the delegates
even as  apparently  contradictory truths, this is a                                (Acts of the Synod of Dordrecht, pp. 420, ff.) is also
mistake. There is indeed an area in the relation                                    very revealing as to the meaning of the statement
between these two which it is difficult for us to                                   under discussion. It means that the sacrifice and
fathom; I have reference to the manner  in which the                                satisfaction of Christ when considered by itselJI that is,
sovereign will of God embraces and controls and                                     apart from God's elective decree and apart from the
directs the rational, moral creature. As to the  fact  of intent and purpose of Christ's death and apart from
this relationship, there is no doubt whatsoever. God's                              the fact that Christ represented in His death only the
sovereign counsel and, will embraces and controls and                               elect, would have been sufficient to expiate the sins of
determines the every action of both the wicked and                                  the entire human race, yea, of several more worlds.
the righteous. Of the children of God Scripture says:                               There is nothing defective in that death itself, nothing
"For it is God that worketh in you both to will and to                              lacking in the value of the sacrifice, that limits its
do of his good pleasure." Phil.  2:12, 13. But also of atoning efficiency to the elect alone; the latter
the wicked it is said: "For a truth against the holy limitation is not due to  a.,limited value of Christ's
child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both  Herod,                                  death, - for His death was abundantly sufficient, yea,
and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of infinite in value; - but it is due to the sovereign
Israel, were gathered together, For to do whatsoever limitation of God's elective will, with which will Christ
thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be                                    was in perfect harmony when He gave Himself to the
done." Acts 4:27, 28. Hence, whatever problems there                                death of the cross. Such is the idea of this statement."
may be as to this matter, the truth itself is very plain:                           [Note: I also treated this question in detail - and with
God's sovereign counsel and will embraces, determines,                              quotations from the fathers of Dordt - in a pamphlet
controls, and directs the responsible (rational, moral;                             available from the RFPA:  The Atonement  of  Christ
thinking and willing) creature. And whatever may be According To Dordrecht. I
said about the responsibility of men in general, or of                                The remaining two references, however, do not
the Christian in particular, we must always remember                                speak of this value and "sufficiency" of the death of
that that responsibility is completely circumscribed by                             Christ. They speak of that which Christ actually
the sovereign counsel and will of God.                                              accomplished in His atoning death. In the Heidelberg
  In the third place, of the references given there is                              Catechism, Answer 37, we read: "That he, all the time
only one which speaks of the sufficiency of the death                               that he lived on earth, but especially at the end of his
of Christ. That is the celebrated - and often misused -                             life, sustained in body and soul, the wrath of God
statement of Canons II, A, 3, which reads: "The death                               against the sins of all mankind: that so by his passion,


366                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER


as the only propitiatory sacrifice, he might redeem our             every individual man by His substitutionary death.
body and soul from everlasting damnation, and obtain                Then it means that before God every individual man is
for us the favor of God, righteousness and eternal life."           debt-free, righteous, and therefore worthy of eternal
It is evident that here the Catechism is speaking of the            life. And then it must necessarily mean, too, that every
actual atoning work of Christ, of His propitiatory                  individual man is actually saved and will inherit
sacrifice, and of the righteousness and eternal life                everlasting life and glory - unless it is conceivable that
which Christ merited by His atoning suffering. And                  God will cast some who are debt-free and righteous,
this cannot be understood generally. Permit me to                   covered by the death of Christ, into hell-fire. For,
quote the commentary found in Rev. Herman                           mark well, the text does not say that Christ gave
Hoeksema's  The Triple Knowledge,  Volume I, pp.                    Himself a  possible ransom  for all, nor that Christ's
641-642:                                                            ransom was of such worth as to be  sufficient  for all.
          A word must be said about the statement of the            No,  Christ  actually gave Himself a ransom  for all.
       Catechism that Christ sustained the wrath of God             Hence, if "all" here means "every human. being," one
       against the sins of all mankind, of the whole human          is bound to be a full-blown universalist.
       race. This dare not be understood in the sense that He         But "all" does not mean this, as is very plain from
       suffered and died and brought the sacrifice of               the context. This is the same "all" as in verse 4: "Who
       atonement for every man individually, nor even that          will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the
       it was His intention to do so. Nor may the expression        knowledge of the truth." And the "all" in verse 4 is, in
       that occurs elsewhere in our Confessions (Canons II,         turn, the same as the "all" in verse 1. And if you study
       3) that the sacrifice of Christ is "of infinite worth and    this context, it will be plain that the meaning is not
       value, abundantly sufficient to expiate the sins of the      every individual man, but all kinds, or classes, of men
       whole world," be understood in the sense of general          - including "kings and all that are in authority," vs. 2.
       atonement. Christ suffered for His elect. Them and
  them alone He represented according to the counsel                There is no class of men - not even kings and those in
       of God. For His own, for the sheep His Father had            authority, who at that time frequently persecuted the
       given Him, He laid down His life. He did not suffer          church - who must be excluded from the prayers and
       more than was necessary to redeem them. Not one              supplications of the saints. For there is no class of men
       drop of blood that was shed by the Saviour was shed          which is excluded (as a class) from God's will to save.
       in vain. Those for whom He suffered are surely               For there is no class of men which is excluded (as a
       redeemed and saved. However, also the Scriptures             class) from Christ's ransom.
       employ similar expressions as occur in our Confessions.        And lest anyone imagine that this is merely a pet
       John the Baptist points Him out as "the Lamb of              explanation of Protestant Reformed theology, let me
       God, which taketh away the sin of the world." And            point out that none other than John Calvin offers this
       the apostle John writes: "And he is the propitiation         same explanation, Institutes, Book III, Chapter XXIV,
       for our sin: and not for ours only, but also for the
       sins of the whole world." But these expressions, as          16:         I reply that, in the first place, it becomes evident
       well as similar terms, must be understood organically,              from the sequel of the words in what sense He wills
       rather than individualistically. They refer to the                  this. For, Paul connects these matters, viz. that He
       whole organism of the race, to the elect from every                 wills that they be saved, and that they come to the
       nation, and tongue, and tribe, and not to every                     knowledge of the truth. If they contend that it is
       individual man. After all, mankind, and not a few                   firmly determined in God's eternal counsel that all
       individuals, is saved; but it is saved in the elect. The            receive the doctrine of salvation, what does it mean,
       world is redeemed, but it  ,is the world of God's love,             then, what Moses says: "For what nation is there so
       not every individual man. And it is in that same sense              great, who hath God so nigh unto them?" How did it
       that the words of the Catechism must be understood                  come that. God deprived so many people of the light
       that Christ sustained the wrath of God  against the                 of the gospel, which others enjoy? What is the cause
       sins of all mankind. For those, in whose stead and in               that the pure knowledge of the doctrine of salvation
       whose behalf, He bore the wrath of God, are surely                  never came to some nations, and that others hardly
       redeemed by His blood. Everlasting righteousness and                tasted some dark beginnings of the same? From  this
       eternal life He obtained for them. And what He                      one may readily discern what Paul means. He had
       obtained for them by His suffering, He surely bestows               commanded Timothy to make public prayers for
       upon them by His sovereign grace.                                   kings and magistrates, and while it appeared
  Finally, there is the reference to I Timothy  2:6,                       somewhat absurd that prayers to God should be made
where we read: "Who gave himself a ransom for all, to                      for those whose condition seemed  wellnigh hopeless
                                                                           -
be testified in due time." The question is: can the "all"                       seeing that they were not only strangers to the
                                                                           body of Christ, but also exerted themselves and all
in this verse possibly mean "every individual man?"                        their powers to oppress His kingdom  - therefore, he
My answer is that if this is the case,  then the text                      adds immediately that such prayers are well pleasing
proves too much even for the Arminian. For then the                        to God, Who will that all men shall be saved. By
text  means that Christ paid the ransom, the price of                      which he means to say nothing else, indeed, than that
redemption, and thus removed the sin and guilt of                          He did not. close the way of salvation to any kind of


                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 367


    people, but much rather effused His mercy in such               The conclusion of the whole matter is, therefore,
    wise, that He does not will that there be any class of       that God's grace is always particular, never general.
    people that should not partake of this salvation. The        This is the teaching of Scripture and our Reformed
    other expressions declare, not what God determined           creeds.
    in His secret counsel concerning all, but proclaim that         I have taken pains to answer this series of questions
    remission of sin is prepared for all that apply              carefully and in great detail. My prayer is that these
    themselves to seek it. For if they urge the objection        answers will benefit not only my questioner, but all
    that He is said to be willing to show mercy unto all, I
    will bring against this what is written in another           our readers. As I indicated in the title above this series
    place: that our God is in the heavens and doeth              of answers, these were "Some Pertinent Questions
    whatsoever He will  (F's,  115:3). Hence, this passage       About Our Reformed Position." They go to the very
    will have to be interpreted in such wise that it agrees      heart of that Reformed position  - the Reformed
    with the other, viz. I will be gracious to whom I will       position which, sad to say, is so little known and so
    be gracious, and shew mercy to whom I will shew              widely forsaken in our day. If these lines at all serve to
    mercy (Ex. 33: 19).                                          call us back to and to remind us of that tried and true
  And before Calvin, the great Augustine already                 position, I will consider them successful.
maintained the same non-general interpretation.



All Around Us

                                Christian Witnessing (1)

                                                         Pro.f H. Hanko

   [Introductory Note: The contents of our column this           maintenance of Christian day schools, the support. of
issue are the substance of a speech delivered for a Mr.          various kingdom causes as our Theological School, the
and Mrs. League Meeting held last month. Since the               faithful attendance at divine worship services - all of
speech is concerning a matter which properly belongs             which are means of witnessing in their own right which
to subjects treated in this rubric, we thought it                have far greater effects than we can measure. In all
appropriate to include a written draft in our column.            these things we ought to give humble thanks to our
  The treatment of the subject of Christian Witnessing           covenant God Who has enabled us to perform all these
in this article must not be considered exhaustive. There         tasks to His praise and glory.]
are aspects of witnessing which are not mentioned.                 Christian witnessing is a subject of considerable
There is first of all, e.g., the whole subject of the            interest in our day. There are several reasons for this.
witnessing which is carried on by the Church as a                One such reason is that various movements have
whole. I refer specifically to such work as is being done        emphasized this aspect of the Christian's calling very
by our radio broadcasts, our  Standard Bearer  and               strongly. I refer to, such movements as Campus
Beacon Lights, the programs of our local congregations           Crusade, Youth For Christ; Explo `72, Key `73 and its
in pamphlet distribution, etc. And it would be a                 companion program, Evangelism Thrust. In fact, so
mistake to de-emphasize the importance of this work.             much is this emphasized that it is gradually becoming a
There is also the whole subject of so-called "corporate          substitute for the preaching of the gospel.
witnessing," advocated strongly by some and a form of              This discussion has been carried on within the
witnessing which takes place through various Christian           churches. There has been, for example, a discussion
organizations. This is a subject in its own right which is       recently carried on in The Banner and The Outlook on
not treated within the scope of this article.                    the subject of Confrontation Witness in which one
  The article is intended, rather to concentrate upon            writer went so far as to say: "Confrontation witness is
the individual believer's calling to be a witness; and to        the very essence of the Christian life." This is,
lay down guidelines and Scriptural principles which              however, only one example of many such discussions
ought to be followed.                                            which are being carried on.
  Nor is it our intention to overlook the positive                 On the assumption that Scripture indeed calls us to
Christian witness which' is made constantly by our               be witnesses in the world, the discussion has also been
people and our Churches in the establishment and                 carried on within our own Churches. And the question


 368                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


 naturally arises: How can we be such witnesses?              general direction witnessing takes today makes of
   That this is indeed our calling is plain from such         witnessing a substitute for the preaching. Not only are
 passages as Isaiah 43: 10, 12: "Ye are my witnesses,         all Christians called evangelists, but by this
 saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen:           terminology the distinction between the official
 that ye may know and believe me, and understand that         preaching of the Word by an ordained ministry and
 I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither the Christian witnessing of believers is blurred and
 shall there be after me. I have declared, and have saved,    erased. In fact, so common is this becoming that there
 and I have  shewed,  when there was no strange god           are trends even to discard the preaching altogether in
 among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the          favor of evangelism and personal witnessing. This
 Lord, that I am God."                                        danger is to be found in the A.A.C.S. Movement (The
   It is also true that we are not always as faithful in      Association for the Advancement of Christian Studies)
our calling as we ought to be. Nevertheless, I am afraid      with its emphasis on separate Christian organizations.
that we are sometimes tempted to follow the methods           It is characteristic of modern day evangelistic
of modern evangelism. Against this we must be on our          programs. And it is increasingly the emphasis of Key
guard.                                                        `73 programs. I have, for example, before me a list of
The Character of Christian Witnessing                         recommendations to make Key `73 evangelistic
   Before we actually enter into a discussion of our          programs effective in a congregation. In connection
specific calling to be witnesses, we must understand          with the sermon, they include: Invitation from the
clearly what Christian witnessing is. There might be          pulpit to invite unsaved neighbors and friends to  I
some who are impatient with this discussion. I have           worship service. Sermons on how to witness. Short
heard it said, e.g., that we spend so much time in            sermon for children in addition to regular sermon.
discussing the theological *questions involved that we        0 p p ortunity for personal testimonies or personal
never get around to the actual task of witnessing.            co m mi t m en t . In connection with congregational
Whether there is truth to this assertion- or not, the fact    involvement, the recommendations include: allow
is  that  unless  we understand clearly Scripture's           more people more voice in the services to society.
teaching on this subject, we shall go badly astray. This      More involvement for small children. Place in our
is evident, on the one hand, from the fact that much of       service for more expressions of joy and gladness. More
today's witnessing proceeds from a humanistic and             openness of faith and not such a formal setting for
man-centered viewpoint. The subject revolves around           church service. More congregational involvement
what man must do, what man accomplishes, how man              during service. We have also reported before in our
responds, etc. There are any number of expressions            magazine:: how some are advocating a complete
which bear this out. In connection with witnessing,           dismemberment of the present church structure and
one hears, e.g.; such expressions as: "confronting            worship service so that personal witnessing may be
others with the challenge to accept Christ"; "zeroing in      more effective.
on one's prospect";. "techniques for soul winning";             And so we must also discuss the relation between
"pushing for a  decrsron"; "confronting America with          preaching and witnessing.
Christ"; "sharing Christ with all men"; "winning the           If we were to formulate a definition of Christian
world for Christ." I consider all such expressions as         witnessing, we might do so along the following lines:
completely Arminian and thoroughly anti-Scriptural            "Witnessing is the calling of the Church of Christ to
both in their wording and in the theology which they          testify through her members of the riches of the Word
imply. Such witnessing is not the calling of the              of God to those with whom these members come into
Christian and is directly contrary to the Word of God.        contact, believing that God will use that Word
   It is of utmost importance that over against all this      according to His own purpose in Christ."
humanistic emphasis we be theological also in the               There are several elements of importance implied in
matter of witnessing. We must begin with God,                 this definition. In the fast place, we must be clear on
proceed throughout from the viewpoint of God and              the point that God is the only One Who can witness.
His purpose, and end with God alone. Only then will           We mean by this especially two things. On the one
we fulfill our calling.                                       hand, God is the only One Who can witness of Himself.
  On the other hand, we must get straight what is the         He alone can speak of Himself and make Himself
relation between preaching and witnessing. It is              known in all the riches of His own divine being and in
possible, I presume, to get bogged down in this               all the works which He has determined to do. But, on
discussion. Here, too, the complaint is often made that       the other hand, even when God calls us to be His
we have put so much emphasis on the preaching of the          witnesses, God Himself witnesses through us. He gives
gospel that we have, in effect, denied the Christian's        us the spiritual ability to know the truth; He gives us
calling to witness. I do not believe this objection is        the words we must speak. He presents the opportunity
true, but there it is; the complaint is often made.           and occasion for witness. And He alone can make that
c But this subject is important, too, because the             witness bear the fruit which He has intended.


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                    369



  In the second place, God's witness of Himself is           understanding of such a kind that it gives them,
recorded in the Holy Scriptures. He has caused the           through the Word of God, personal acquaintance with
testimony of Himself to be infallibly set down by holy       Christ Himself.
men in His Word. Here then is the standard of all truth         Thus the calling of the Church to witness is a calling
and the only content of our witnessing as well. It is        given to the Church as a whole, but also is the
clear therefore that, when we witness, <we witness of        particular calling of each individual member who
God. This is surely what the passage which we quoted         stands in the office of believers.
above from Isaiah 43 means when it says: "Ye are my          ' And this brings us to the second question of the
witnesses, saith the Lord . . ."                             relation between witnessing and the preaching.
  In the third place, this witness has been entrusted to        It is important to maintain this distinction,
the Church. There is a rather significant passage in         especially when the lines between the two are being
Luke  24:48 in this connection. We read there and in         more and more blurred in our day; and when, in fact,
the foregoing verses: "Then opened he their                  preaching is being abandoned in favor of witnessing.
understanding, that they might understand the                   The distinction is principally between the preaching
Scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written, and      which is the official proclamation of ordained
thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the      officebearers by which God calls His elect people out
dead the third day: And that repentance and remission        of darkness into light; and witnessing which is the
of sins should be preached in his name among all             testifying of each member of the church of the
nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses        inheritance which he possesses in Christ.
of these things." There are some interesting features          There is the closest possible relation between the
about this text. It is true, of course, that this passage    two.
refers particularly to the fact that the preaching of the       First of all, preaching is the spiritual power of
gospel  was committed to the apostles, and, through          witnessing. It is through the preaching that the people
them, to the New Testament Church. But the truths            of God are enabled to be witnesses of God in the
set forth in this passage are applicable also to this        world. Separated from the preaching, true witnessing is
matter of witnessing.                                        impossible. Secondly, preaching and witnessing
  In the first place, it is stressed in the text that the    complement each other. The content of preaching and
apostles' ability to understand the Scriptures was           witnessing is the same. Believers preach through the
dependent entirely upon the fact that the Lord opened        instituted offices in the church, while they witness in
their understanding. Without this work of grace it was       the office of believers. Both are the work of God
impossible for them, and it remains impossible for us        which He performs within the Church. Thirdly,
to know the truth of the Word of God. Secondly, the          witnessing serves the Church and the truth of God.
apostles are, with the understanding of the Scriptures       Witnessing may and can bring to the Church of Christ.
given to them, made witnesses of all the Scriptures say.     Our Heidelberg Catechism speaks of this in Lord's Day
They were, of course, personal witnesses of the events       XXX11 when it explains that the necessity to do good
of the life, death and resurrection of Christ. But they      works is, in part, to be found in the fact that "by our
are called to be witnesses, that is, to testify of these     godly conversation, others may be gained to Christ."
things in their future work. And the point is driven         Nevertheless, even in this connection, the important
home, therefore, that for the people of God to be            thing is that God's name is given constant testimony
witnesses of God and Christ, it is necessary that they       in the world.
possess spiritual understanding of the Scriptures  -                             (to be continued)



Mission News

                                    News From Jamaica
                                                By Rev. G. Lubbers

  Sometimes one lives long enough in the complexity          finger on it, and see the difficulties in proper
of the Jamaica churches to come to the solid perspective. Not only' does he see the difficulties, but
conviction that he has come to the bottom of the             he also sees where the solution lies, if any.
problem from which many difficulties stem; that he             It is the  official stand of the Synod of our
has finally come to the point where he can lay his           Protestant Reformed Churches in America that we


370                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


consider the churches in Jamaica to be indigenous             were so." They were not as the violent in Jesus' day,
churches. Hence, the relationship is not one of sister        WHO TOOK THE KINGDOM BY FORCE. (Matthew
churches where we acknowledge one another's offices,          11) These matters were brought to the attention of the
censures, baptisms etc., but it is a relationship where       brethren on the Meeting of February 6, 1973.
the Churches of the Protestant Reformed community               It was pointed out that there was ample room for
in America send their Missionary with prescribed              misgivings concerning the keeping and fulfilling of the
duties, which he solemnly promises to fulfil. These           promise and covenant transacted on February 19,
duties are prescribed  .in  the  Form of Ordination For       1970 in the presence of Rev. J.A; Heys and Elder H.
Missionaries  in the back of the Psalter, pages 74-76.        Meulenberg; yea, that there was sufficient reason for
This means, if it means anything, that the Jamaica            considering the withdrawal of the missionary from
Churches have voluntarily and by covenant placed              their midst by the Mission Committee.
themselves under this arrangement. They did this when           ,It seems that one matter which was a stimulus for
they signed a document on February 17, 1970 at                the churches hanging on was that before their minds
Lacovia, Jamaica. This agreement reads as follows, "We        was dangling the thought of a new church building. At
therefore subscribe to the attached document as the           any rate the missionary was often contacted for money
constitution of our churches, promising to study the          for this purpose, (with fragmentary plans sometimes)
Church Order  (D.K.0) mentioned therein, and the              even to the point of being abused and badgered. He
three Reformed Creeds, which will become the rules            was accused of breaking promises, of not keeping
and regulations of the churches, and the basis and            promises made by our churches; and that, while we
doctrinal teaching respectively of the churches in this       were trying to get the proper Articles of Incorporation
association and to submit ourselves to further                passed by the Synod of our Churches, the
instruction in these matters by the Protestant                elder-ministers Conference on the island, and finally by
Reformed Churches in America."                                the Jamaica Government. There is much legal work
   On this basis the Jamaica Churches accepted the            with this, far too much for a minister who is preaching,
Missionary of the Protestant Reformed Churches to be          teaching school, caring for the poor, taking care of
their teacher and leader. And the Jamaica churches            correspondence, writing reports, and trying to write
ought. to submit to the teaching of the Missionary not        for the Standard Bearer and for .Beacon Lights. e
merely in a token way, but in earnest purpose, in               It was no little relief to have Rev. and Mrs. Heys
sincerity and in truth. It was therefore the mutual           with us to help bear the responsibilities here. It became
understanding that the primary purpose of the work of         necessary to state honestly.and forthrightly concerning
the Missionary was not to assist in financial matters,        these financial matters: "That the reason for giving
repairing and building churches; it was to teach and          financial aid to the ministers through the years,
help teach in the doctrines of Scripture according to         upwards in hundreds of dollars, was to aid them to
the Reformed Faith, the  Three Forms of Unity.  This          preach the Scriptures according to the Reformed
implies that in many areas of life and Christian ethics it    Faith, and nothing else." It was also necessary to state
should effect a profound reformation!                         that aid given to help build churches and to repair
  On Febraury 6, 1973 a meeting of the Board of               them must not be interpreted as a certain
Trustees was held at the home of Rev. and Mrs.                unconditional agreement by which the Protestant
Lubbers. Rev. J.A. Heys also was present. At this             Reformed Churches promised to give aid and help to
meeting a paper was read, prepared by Rev. Lubbers            each congregation to obtain a new cement-block
and co-signed by Rev. Heys, in which the basic                church-edifice, an ornate structure; that only when and
relationship as stipulated in the former paragraphs was       where the Reformed Faith is truly taught and studied
outlined and discussed. In this paper it was pointed out      seriously will such help be given within definite
that the aim of the covenant at Lacovia (see supra) had       stipulations!
hardly been approximated. Some churches had                     It was pointed out that churches have been given
outright left us and broken covenant, which perhaps           help in good faith and confidence that there is a
they never understood at the grass-roots. These always        sincere resolution to study the Reformed Faith and to
continued to walk in their  Pentecostal-Holiness-             be instructed therein; that where such sincerity is
Arminian ways when the minister and missionary were           evidently lacking, even made a laughing-stock in the
absent. We rehearsed as a "Case Study" in the April           community, such confidence is severely shocked.
15th issue what happened at Hope Hill. Others did not           In consequence of this confrontation with the facts
leave but gave some token fulfillment of their pledge         and evaluation of the situation, the elders pointed out
to study , which was possibly more than could                 that there were really two basic points which should be
rightfully be expected of some illerate and semi-literate     noted. This was because it had been pointed out that
groups. However, they were not as the Berean'brethren         nearly all of the churches would visit on Sunday as a
who "received the word with all readiness of mind, and        church with other groups of churches with whom they
searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things           had visited before covenanting to become a mission


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  371



church of the Protestant Reformed Churches in               Conference recommend to all our congregations that
America. This visiting with other churches is an "old       they visit only the congregations of our own Protestant
Jamaica custom." With many churches being under the         Reformed Churches in Jamaica, lest our people be
control of and being started by certain women, these        misled by the preaching of the lie in other groups; and
women make the arrangements with other women who            that we advise them that when they do visit our groups
also "have a church." Where possible, they flout or         in the interest of mission work, or for this reason have
circumvent the authority of the elders. In view of this     them visit our churches, that they will always insist
the contact with the Pentecostal-Holiness-Arminian          that the services be conducted by our men of the
churches is kept alive. This means that the preachers of Protestant Reformed Churches of Jamaica, regardless
these "outside groups," too, preach on our pulpits, if of where the service is held."
preaching it can be called. It is possibly more a                This decision is to be made known and explained to
harangue than a sermon, a constant repetition of the        all the churches. We should notice that this decision
"Holiness" teaching; justification by free grace rooted     does not say that the visiting with other churches shall
in the atonement on the cross is then not on the            cease. It only speaks of "recommend" and "advise."
foreground. The sinner-saint preaching is not desired,      Perhaps that was all that could be expected at this
where these outside. groups come with their                 stage; it leaves the matter up to the churches now to
"minister," who may be an elder, and who may be a           show what they will actually do. At any rate, they
"leadress" woman in the church.                             have a guide-line and directive. And a missionary rather
  In view of this situation, which is very real and         lives in hope that the Lord may direct the hearts, and
pervasive, it was decided by the Board of Trustees to       that in this way those who are willing and those who
bring, among other matters, two matters to the              are unwilling will come to manifestation.
attention of the Elders-Ministers Conference on April 3,         Implicitly this decision also affects the plans of the
1973:                                                       "leadress women" in the churches. It will "clip their
  1. The matter of our churches visiting other              wings," so to speak. It would seem that if this mild
churches.                                                   decision is not followed, then we come to a place
  2. The matter of women seeking to have an "office"        where the covenant made in Lacovia is broken,
in the church.                                              wittingly and willingly.
  On April 3, 1973 the Elders-Ministers Conference
was held. All the Churches were represented by elders.           At best the visiting of other churches on Sunday is
There were two ministers present. One of the three          really an evil under the sun. For on these days the
ministers sent word that he had broken"-off all his         entire congregation cannot attend the other church,
affiliation with the Missionary and the churches.           either because there is insufficient room on the
Incidentally, he had been severely reprimanded before       mini-bus, or because the individual cannot pay the
his consistory' and before the Board of Trustees for        "fear" (fare). However, the victims of all this become
speaking words of appreciation, and that publicly,          the few who are left behind and the children. The
concerning a very ArminianrDispensational  talk of an       latter then are often left to shift for themselves and
elder (outsider) by saying, "We thank brother Miller        receive neither Sunday School nor Catechism on that
for a message, not a speech, but a message."                d     a      y    .
  The matter of visiting with other groups of churches           And the situation reflects a lack of seriousness in
as a church-group was discussed at length. Every elder      teaching the Scriptures and the Reformed Faith to the
and minister had something to say. Some argued that it      children.
was a good way  -of performing mission work. (sic)               Now this is not written to push "the alarm-button."
Others argued that the Jamaican churches could not          It is written in the interest of a realistic relating of the
give up this custom in view of it being so ingrained in     actual problems on the field. It ought to be
the church-life. Others said that they would go to          remembered that meanwhile we do see fruits in the
other churches, but then insisted that their own            congregations of the preaching, and we have the
minister would be the sole preacher. We ask the reader      students whom we  are. teaching to preach the
to judge of the merits and demerits of these reasons for    Protestant Reformed Doctrine as we understand the
going out.                                                  Three Forms of. Unity. But this too is sowing in teams,
  After much discussion it was finally decided as           and we look for the day that we may rejoice to see
follows in regard to the matter of visiting other           young men stand forth preaching the Word of matured
churches :                                                  men of God. Idle dream? All things are possible with
  "Art. 9  - A motion carried that we as Elders' God!


372                                                       THE STANDARD BEARER



From Our Mission. Comm.ittee


                                                    Mission Musings


   In the days of Joseph there was a famine in the land                      also say, "God has sent us . . ."
of Egypt and surrounding countries. A seven-year                               We are a small denomination, hardly creating a
famine! Enough to destroy the life of man and beast!                         ripple in the church world. But the starving ones are
But God . .  .! But God prepared a "savior of the                            sending to us for grain. From far and near our Mission
people," so-called by Pharaoh, who re-named Joseph                           Committee is receiving requests for our food. From
" Z aphnath-Paaneah." God's chosen people, Israel,                           listeners to our Reformed Witness Hour; from readers
cannot be destroyed by famine; they must show forth                          of our  Standard Bearer  and books and pamphlets.
His praises in all the earth. Therefore God sent Joseph                      From all over the world they send to us for food: from
into Egypt with the express purpose of saving His                            London, from New South Wales, from New Zealand,
people from a slow death by famine. In all this Joseph                       from New Guinea, from Australia, and from Korea.
did not boast of his name and position. He remained a                          Our Mission Committee is sending our ministers to
humble child of God, a servant of Jehovah, who said,                         preach the Word of God to hungry people when they
"God sent me to preserve a remnant . , ."                                    request it. In Maine, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and
   When Joseph's brethren came to him the second                             Ohio. They confess that they are starving for
time to buy grain, the famine was already two years                          wholesome food. They have been forced by that
old. In another five years they would all perish. It was                     dreadful famine to send to Egypt for grain. To Egypt,
then that Pharaoh advised Joseph to invite his family                        the place where God had prepared, and was pleased to
to come to Egypt, to their brother who was the                               preserve, a Zaphnath-Paaneah for His chosen people.
custodian of life-giving food.                                               Oh, it is not pleasant to see our brethren suffer in their
   The parallel of Joseph's history is being realized                        fatherland. No, it causes us deep grief to note that
today. The church is again faced with a dreadful                             brother Calvinists are forced to leave their cherished
famine  - the worst kind: a spiritual famine! The                            domain to seek for food! We are grateful to God - and
people of God are suffering from a lack of the                               profoundly amazed - that we are privileged to be the
preaching of the pure Word of God. That famine is                            purveyors of food for the famished. Like Saul of old,
already  2. (?) years old, and there are still 5 (?) more                    we say, "I am the least of my father's house." But God
years to come, until all life will be destroyed. Seven,                      . . . but God has clearly shown us that He has entrusted
the number of completeness. The people are suffering                         to us to hold forth the bread of life to the hungry. We
from malnutrition, and they know it! Many are                                are convinced that our pulpits are still faithful to the
shopping around for other sources of food. Even                              "Faith of our Fathers." Our ministers, to a man,
Reformed people are shopping in Baptist churches;                            preach the infallible Scriptures in all their purity. We
not that they would like to give up their stand on                           are convinced that God has led us to say with Joseph,
infant baptism, but because they have heard that the                         "God has sent (kept) us to preserve a remnant in the
local minister preaches the Word of God. He still                            earth."
believes that the Bible is the infallible Word of God.                         We invite you, you know you are starving, to send
   The parallel is further evident in that starving people                   to us for grain. And when you will need more, and
are saying to their children, "Behold, I have heard that                     again more, we will advise you, with Pharaoh, "Tell
there is grain in Egypt." And they are saying to one                         your family to leave their fatherland (mother church)
another, "Get you down thither, and buy grain, that                          and dwell with us." The storehouse of God is full.
we may live and not die."                                                    Freely we have received; freely we give.    '
   Further, we believe that our churches have been                             You may address your requests to: J. M. Faber,
p r e s e r v e d   b y   t h e   g r a c e   o f   G o d   t o   b e   a    Secretary of the Mission Committee of the Protestant
Zaphnath-Paaneah to the people of God. We, like                              Reformed Churches, 1145 Franklin Street, S.E., Grand
Joseph, did not choose to be banished from our                               Rapids, Michigan 49507. Home address: 128
fatherland (mother-church); we, like Joseph did not                          Ken-0-Sha Drive, SE., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49507.
seek to be nominated to that office; we, like Joseph,                        Phone: (616) 243-9563.


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 373


     Contending for the Faith


                         Eschatology-In the Old Testament

                                                   Rev. H. Veldman

       We now propose to call the attention of our readers, applicable in our present day and age. The Word of
     the Lord willing, in our discussion of the history of God is always very much "up to date." How true this
     dogma, to that doctrine known as Eschatology. is! Of course, we must understand the times in which
     Eschatology, the last locus of the six loci of our the Scriptures were written, but we must always
     Reformed dogmatics, refers to the doctrine of the last remember that the Scriptures proclaim eternal
     things. Now it is true that this last locus of our principles, applicable to the time when they were
     Reformed dogmatics also treats the future state of the written, but equally applicable to our present day and
     people of God and of those that perish and are lost. age. There is, however, a development of the history of
     Strictly speaking, however, it is the doctrine that dogma as far as the believing consciousness of the
     concerns, not the things that shall be in the hereafter, Church of God is concerned. And it is surely important
     but the last things of this present time and world. It is that we note this and follow this development. After
     upon these last things that Eschatology lays the all, our Lord Jesus Christ has given us the promise that
     emphasis.                                                 He would send forth into His church the Holy Spirit,
       The doctrine known as Eschatology embraces many that He would abide with us forever and that that
     points of doctrine. It calls attention, for example, to Comforter, the Holy Spirit, would lead us into all the
     the return of our Lord Jesus Christ upon the clouds of truth. And He has not failed us! It is, therefore,
     heaven. Must this return of Christ be understood in the interesting and very instructive to be reminded of this
     pre-millenarian sense of the word, the post-millenarian guidance of the Holy Spirit.
     sense or in the a-millenarian sense? One cannot escape      It lies in the nature of the case that this doctrine of
     the conclusion, for example, that the disciples of our the last- things is more clearly set forth in the New
     Lord entertained a pre-millenarian conception of the Dispensation than in the Old Testament. After all, we
     kingdom of Christ and of the Messiah. This is obvious. live in the "last hour." The New Testament,
     This doctrine also calls attention to what is known as inaugurated by the "first" coming of our Lord Jesus
     the Intermediate State, the state of the soul between Christ, His coming into our flesh and blood and
     the death of the body and the final resurrection at'the subsequent glorification at the Father's right hand,
     last day. Do we believe in "soul sleep," or do we speaks directly of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ
     believe that the departed soul exists in a state of throughout the ages. The Old Dispensation is the
     consciousness? Another subject is that of the             dispensation of the shadows. The New Dispensation is
     precursory signs, the signs which precede the coming the dispensation of their fulfillment. Christ Jesus has
     of Christ and are inseparably connected with that come, has united Himself with our flesh and blood, has
     coming. And there are also the doctrines of the           suffered and died and is glorified, is coming upon the
     antichrist, the millenium, the coming of Christ, the clouds of heaven throughout these ages of the New
     resurrection of the dead and the final judgment. What Dispensation. This does not mean, however, that
     is the history of these various doctrines? What has been Eschatology is not taught in the Old Testament. It
     the position of the Church with respect to them? How      surely is! And to this we would call `attention briefly
     has the history of these various doctrines developed before we begin to call attention to the history of that
     throughout the ages? It is, of course, important that doctrine known as Eschatology, the doctrine of the
     we know this. Of course, there is no development of last things.
     doctrine as far as the Scriptures are concerned. The        That the doctrine of Eschatology should be taught
     Word of God constitutes a closed canon. God's in the Old Testament lies in the very  natt&re of the
     revelation, as far as the written Word of God is case. Eschatology refers to the doctrine of last things,
     concerned, is finished. Nothing shall be added to the the things that must occur prior to and in connection
     Scriptures. They are finished and complete. And, with the final coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and His
     incidentally, they are very much "up to date." It is not appearance upon the clouds of heaven. This final
     true that they must be understood in the light of their coming of our Lord Jesus Christ will inaugurate the
     times and this in the sense that they may not be heavenly kingdom of God in Christ Jesus. It will mark


I


374                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER


the beginning of that eternal salvation of the people of              We refer,  first of all, to Ps. 72: l-l 1 and 17-19. It is
the Lord, the completion of that salvation which we                   true that this passage undoubtedly also refers to  the
now possess in our hearts only in principle, the                      New Dispensation, but ultimately this will be realized
beginning of that wonderful salvation which eye hath in the new heavens and upon the new earth, as is
not seen, ear  hath not heard, and which could not                    evident from the fact that we read of this kingdom
enter into the heart of man. It lies in the very nature of that it is an everlasting kingdom. We read:
the case that also the Old Testament would speak of                           Give the king Thy judgments, 0 God, and Thy
this final coming of our Lord. The Church of God,                          righteousness unto the king's son. He shall judge Thy
also as in the Old Dispensation, was never without this                    people with righteousness, and Thy poor with
blessed promise of the Lord. Abraham saw Christ's day                      judgment. The mountains shall bring peace to the
and rejoiced. David declares of himself that he was a                      people, and the little hills, by righteousness. He shall
pilgrim and a stranger in the earth. God is one, Christ is                 judge the poor of the people, He shall save the
one, and there is but one church of God throughout                         children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the
                                                                           oppressor. They shall fear Thee as long as the sun and
the ages. And to this one Church of God the one God                        moon endure, throughout all generations. He shall
in Christ Jesus gives but one promise, the promise of                    come down like rain upon the mown grass: as
everlasting and heavenly salvation in the new heavens                      showers that water the earth. In His days shall the
and upon the new earth. And it lies in the very nature                     righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as
of the case, therefore, that the doctrine of                               the moon endureth. He shall have dominion also from
Eschatology, although more clearly set forth in the                        sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the
New Testament, should also be set forth before the                         earth. They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow
people of the Lord in the Old Dispensation. We now                         before Him; and  His enemies shall lick the dust. The
call your attention, briefly, to this revelation in the                    kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents:
Old Testament Scriptures.                                                  the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all
   Generally speaking, there is, first of all, the passage                 kings shall fall down before Him: all nations shall
                                                                           serve Him . . . His name shall endure for ever:, His
o.f Gen.  3:15: "And I will put enmity between thee                        name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men
and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it                       shall be blessed in Him: all nations shall call Him
shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." It                 blessed. Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel,
is true that this passage calls attention to the struggle                  Who only doeth wondrous things. And blessed by His
throughout the ages between the seed of the serpent                        glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be
and that of the woman, between the forces of darkness                      tilled with His glory; Amen, and Amen.
and those of the light and of the kingdom of God.                        In Joel  2:~28-32  we.read this Word of God, which
From this viewpoint, that of the spiritual struggle passage, incidentally is quoted by the apostle in his
between the kingdom of God in Christ Jesus and the                    sermon on Pentecost, as recorded in. Acts 2:
kingdom of darkness and of this world, this passage of                        And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will
the Word of God is surely a key passage. This Scripture                    pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and
describes all history, speaks of whatever happens in                       your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall
this world as an uncompromising struggle between the                       dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And
forces of light and those of darkness. There is no                         also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in
                                                                           those days will I pour out My Spirit. And I will show
mention of any "Common Grace" in this Word of                              wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and
God. But, we also have Eschatology in this particular                      fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned
Word of God. We have here the "Mother" promise,                            into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the
God's assurance to His people of their ultimate victory                    great and terrible day of the Lord come. And it shall
over all the powers of sin and death and darkness. We                      come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the Name
have in this Word of God the Lord's promise of the                         of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and
coming of  the  Seed of the Woman, our Lord Jesus                          in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath
Christ, through Whom we have the victory, centrally as                     said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.
upon the cross of Calvary, and ultimately at His final                   It is evident that this passage in Joel refers to the
return  upon the clouds of heaven, in that wonderful                  day of Pentecost. This appears from the words that the
day when He shall make all things new. Then, in that                  Lord will pour of His Spirit upon all flesh. And the
day, the head of the serpent will be crushed, the                     apostle, referring to what has just happened as
kingdom of darkness completely destroyed, and the                     reeorded in Acts 2: l-4, declares that this is that which
people of God will gain the victory over all their                    is recorded by the prophet Joel. But it is also evident
enemies. This Word of God is surely God's promise of t h a t   t h e s e   w o r d s   o f   the  p r o p h e t   m u s t   a l s o   b e
the renewal of all things in everlasting and heavenly                 understood as referring to the second coming of our
glory.                                                                Lord Jesus Christ upon the clouds of heaven. This is
  The Old Testament Scriptures certainly speak of the                 evident from the fact that the prophet speaks of the
return of our Lord Jesus Christ at the end of the ages.               signs in the heavens, the turning of the sun into


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                375



darkness and of the moon into blood, as occurring also enables us to understand why the prophet Joel,
before the coming of the great and terrible day of the too, speaks of these two comings of the Lord as one,
Lord. We know, for example, that the prophets,               calling attention to the outpouring of the Spirit upon
speaking of the first and second comings of the Lord, all flesh and then also calling attention to the final
often spoke of them as one coming, not seeing, as it         coming of our: Lord Jesus Christ as upon the clouds of
were, the valley between these two distant mountain heaven. The Lord willing, we will continue with this in
peaks, these first and second comings of the Lord. This      our following article.



The Day of Shadows


                                               So Did He
                                                Rev. John A. Heys

  Three very small words.                                    alone, but live by every word that proceeds from My
  Two of them have only two letters. The third has mouth." If the Son of God, when come in our flesh,
only three.                                                  declares to Satan that He must (and will) live by every
  And yet these three small words are a powerful word that proceeds from the mouth of God, how
statement of the love of God in action.                      much more is this true of us, who have fallen away
  Do not read them as though others did a certain from such a walk in Adam?
deed, and so did he. Read them in the  .sense of               The quotation of Jesus does have to do with-the
"according to all that the Lord commanded him, so commandments that proceed from the mouth of God,
did he. " For these three small words are used that way as well as the word of promise. For Jesus says, "It is
in Genesis 6: 22 and are the last three words in the full written . .  ." And He refers to Deuteronomy 8: l-3,
sentence,. "Thus did Noah; according to all that the where we read, "All the commandments which I
Lord commanded him, so did he."                              command thee this day shall ye pbserire to do, that ye
  What he was commanded to do, we find in the may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land
preceding verses. He was to build an ark, and to gather which I sware unto your fathers. And thou shalt
the animals and food, because-God was going to send a remember all the way which the Lord thy God led
flood. God had told him that the end of all flesh was at thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble
hand, for man had corrupted his way on the earth, and thee and to prove thee, to know what was in  thine
the earth was filled with violence; and God was .heart, w h e t h e r   t h o u   w o u l d e s t   k e e p   H i s
ready to destroy the whole earth.                            commandments, or no. And He humbled thee, and
  In New Testament as well as in Old Testament suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna,
language it means that Noah was commanded to live by which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know;
every word that proceeded from the mouth of God, that he might make thee know that man doth not live
and if he would not, he and his family and all flesh by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out
with them would die. We do not live by bread alone, of the mouth of the Lord doth man live."
and those living in that day would lose their lives,           Noah did live by. these words, because Noah lived by
because they were striving to live by bread alone. faith.
Noah's only hope, and our only hope is that we live by         The author of the epistle to the Hebrews expresses it
every word that proceeds from the mouth of God that way in Hebrews  11:7 in these words, "By faith
while we eat our bread.                                      Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet,
  Man again stands, and is presented to us as standing, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his
as king of the whole earthly creation; and it stands and house; by the which he condemned the world, and
falls with him. All the creatures that have in them the became heir of the righteousness which is by faith."
breath of life will perish or be saved with Noah, even as      And after all, there was nothing for Noah to see, and
all rational, moral creatures here below fell in Adam. Hebrews  11:7 speaks of "things not seen as yet."
  And let it be clearly understood that each and every There was the rain, which was not seen as yet, but,
one of us constantly stands before this command of according to Genesis 2:6 "there went; up a mist from
God: "Keep My commandments. Live not by bread the earth, and watered the whole faces of the ground."


376                                            THE STANDARD BEARER


Even then, for the sake of argument, assume that it did       doing. He did not lie. He condemned their evil, told
rain; there surely were no indications that it would rain them that he agreed with God, and that they were
so hard that every mountain and hill would be                 going to be destroyed in the holy wrath of God. God is
submerged. And there would be no sense in Noah's the one Who condemned that world. Noah was no
building an ark in the valley. It ought to be built on more than judge under God. But he was a judge under
the top of a mountain, and not as a boat but as an high God. He condemned their evil and said to himself and
tower.                                                        to his family, "We will. live by every word that
   Besides, there really was no evidence, and Noah had proceeds from God's mouth. We will not walk in evil
nothing but the word of God in regard to it, that God with the evil world. We will by our speech and by our
was going to destroy the wicked. Their eyes stood out         obedience to God's word condemn this world, and in
with fatness. Their violence increased, and their God's name will we pronounce His judgment upon
pleasures of the flesh multiplied. It seemed as though it."
God lost control of the human race. Yea, it even                By faith also he built that ark in the assurance that
looked, as it did to Asaph, as though God did not care.       the animals would come to him. By faith he gathered
Clean hands were worthless, and a pure heart was vain.        food also for the animals in the belief that they would
For prosperity, the joys of life, and even life itself be there with him in the ark. We may be sure that from
seemed to be had by disregarding the words that               the fall of Adam, when man became a corrupt king,
proceeded from God's mouth. To the natural eye it the animals began to fear man, fled from him, even
seemed as though crime did pay, that God paid the             sought to slay him But at any rate, Noah had no
criminal, the violent man, the law breaker with joys          tranquilizing bullets, no equipment to capture huge
and pleasures, and that there was a C`common grace," beasts, and no time to go about trying to collect the
an attitude of favour that He was willing to bestow           various kinds of animals in pairs. He had to build the
upon them in giving them culture and arts and                 ark in the faith that God would bring them all to him,
advancements in material things.                              even as He brought them to Adam to see what he
  Among thousands that did not live by faith it took a        would name them.
rich measure of God's grace, His saving grace, the only         And let us remember the lines which appear in
grace that God has, to believe His Word and to keep           Hebrews 11 in the verse that precedes this one that
His commandments. Consider what Hebrews 11: 7 says            speaks of Noah's faith. The author states that "without
concerning Noah. In keeping God's command, and in             faith it is impossible to please God," so that pleasing
building the ark, he condemned the world. His                 God, walking in love before Him, keeping His
righteous stand, his refusal to practice their evil, his      commandments, living by every word that proceeds
obedience to God's command amid those who walked              from His mouth is found only and exclusively in the
in open hatred of the living God was a condemnation           believer.  Let  us. not talk so foolishly about civic
of their evil, and of them as evil men.                       righteousness  that the unbeliever performs. As God
  You may be sure that Noah did more than build an            commanded so did Noah, and the rest of the world
ark with the very crude tools at his disposal, so crude       outside of his family simply did unrighteousness,
that our most simple tools are vast improvements over violence and lawlessness. At times they may do deeds
what Noah used. We are at the moment on the mission           that look good to man. At times they may fulfill the
field of our churches on the island of Jamaica, and           letter of the law of what God orders them to do, as
here the lawns are still cut, almost one blade of grass at    Jehu did. But to keep God's law means to love Him,
a  time, with a long knife and a long stick, the stick        and to love Him is possible only by faith, and is found
being placed in front of the left leg to stop the knife as    only in the believer.
it is, from a slightly bent-over position, swished across       Speak not a word of praise to Noah for his faith. It
the grass toward the left leg. But even this is more than     was God's gift to Noah, and not Noah's gift to God.
Noah had to cut down thick trees and to shape them            Because Noah had been chosen in Christ from before
for the ark. No wonder it took one hundred twenty             the foundation of the world, and because Christ is the
years to build that ark. No wonder that God said that         Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world,
man's days on this earth would be an hundred and              Noah can and does receive, long before that cross of
twenty years. This is not the span of man's life, so that     Christ is an historical event, the gift of faith to stand
from the nine hundred year span, it will now be cut           over against that wicked world and to live by every
down to one hundred twenty. No, this is the time that         word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
the wicked `world has left before that flood would              And Noah did see Christ. He did not see Him as
come, and the time that it would take Noah to build           clearly as we do today. But he saw salvation in the ark.
that ark.                                                     He saw a salvation that God would give, a salvation
  But as we began to say, you may be sure that Noah           that He promises to those who live by the words from
condemned that world by speech as well as by the              His mouth. And Noah believed in such a salvation, and
deed of building the ark. They asked him what he was          was himself a type of Him Who lived perfectly by


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                              377


EVERY word that proceeded from God's mouth, as mouth of one of His servants in the sanctuary? Do you
the Lamb without spot or blemish. For the Spirit of rob and steal and lie and cheat to get this earth's
that Christ was in him and worked in him both to will goods, and place these above the knowledge of a
and to do of God's good pleasure.                             salvation in the blood of Christ, and a seeking of the
  And you, the reader of these lines, do you by words kingdom and the things of the kingdom, with the
and deeds condemn the wicked world that is rushing assurance that God will take care of you and give you
toward a destruction of fire? That may not be one all the earthly things you need to reach the blessedness
hundred twenty years away. It may come much sooner of His kingdom?
than that. But are you with that world living by bread          Can it be written on your ,gravestone,  "As the Lord
alone? Do you shove aside God's law in order to get commanded, so DID he?" Blessed you are. Yes, blessed
bread? Do you strive to get this world, its bread, its you aye, as well as blessed you shall be. For the ability
pleasures and its luxuries by joining that world, being to live by the words that proceed from God's mouth is
one with it, approving instead of condemning its evil a blessing, and it assures us that even as Noah and his
practices and godless ambitions and  actions? Do you family were saved from the ungodly world and its
bow before the idols of gold and silver, of money and destruction, so we shall be saved from the judgment of
land? Do you desecrate God's Sabbath because there are tire to come. For what God promises so He does. So
pleasures of the flesh that can be gotten on that day by did He in Bethlehem. So did He at the cross and
radio and television, for example - that you will miss through the empty grave. So will He do in the day
if you live by the words that proceed from God's when Christ returns.
mouth, also those that proceed from Him through the



The Voice of Our Fathers


                             The Fall of Man into Sin (1)
                       The Belgic Confession, Article 14

                                                 Rev.  J  Korteting

   The second sentence of Article 14 of the Belgic the Bible, as the explanation for sin and death in the
Confession begins with the conjunction, but! This world. By doing this they clearly part company from
places the sentence and subsequent thoughts in those who would do otherwise.
contrast to the former one. Thus it is. Having                   We have quoted previously from The Naked Ape by
expressed the truth of God having created man in His Desmond Morris in dealing with the question of man's
own image, our fathers add, "But being in honor, he animal origin. We now quote briefly once again to
understood it not, neither knew his excellency, but demonstrate that these evolutionists equate sin with
willfully subjected himself to sin, and consequently to man's animal past. Hence we read, in connection with
death, and the curse, giving ear to the words of the man's urge to fight,
devil. For the commandment of life, which he had                       If we are to understand the nature of our aggressive
received, he transgressed; and by sin separated himself           urges, we must see them against the background of
from God, who was his true life, having corrupted his             our animal origins. As a species we are so preoccupied
whole nature; whereby he made himself liable to                   with mass-produced and mass-destroying violence at
corporal and spiritual death." The contrast has to do             the present time, that we are apt to lose our
with man's fall into sin.                                       objectivity when discussing this subject. It is a fact
                                                                  that the most level-headed intellectuals frequently
THE FALL, A HISTORICAL FACT                                       become violently aggressive when discussing the
   There are only two possible explanations for the               urgent need to suppress aggression. This is  .not
presence of sin in the world. The one is rooted in                surprising. We are, to put it mildly, in a. mess, and
godless evolution, the other in divine revelation. In this        there  is  a strong chance that we shall have
article, our Reformed fathers express that they agree             exterminated ourselves by the end of the century.
with the historical account of the fall as recorded in            Our only consolation will have to be that as a species,


378                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER


        we have had an exciting term of office. Not a long          development of the human race, as connected with the
        term, as species go, but an amazingly eventful one.         plan of redemption. (4) We find that both in the Old
        But before we examine our own bizarre perfections           and New Testament the facts here recorded are
        of attack and defence, we must examine the basic            assumed, and referred to as matters of history. (5)
        nature of violence in the spearless,  gunless,  bombless    These facts underlie the whole doctrinal system
        world of animals.
  He then goes on to demonstrate that there are two revealed in the Scriptures. Because Satan tempted man
                                                                    and led him into disobedience, Christ came to destroy
reasons for animals to fight, to establish their him and redeem his people from his dominion.
dominance in a social hierarchy, or to establish their
territorial rights over a particular piece of ground.                 In this Reformed tradition, we agree that God
These animal instincts are still in us; hence we have created Adam and Eve. As we said before, man (used
aggressive drives to fight. There is no room in this kind generically here, not distinguished from woman) was
of thinking for sin against God and death as created good in God's image. He now listened to an
punishment for sin. Consequently, man's hope of the actual serpent which came to him as Satan's
future is to continue his social evolution and become a mouth-piece; Eve fell first and gave to her husband and
better social animal. This means he must make he ate. All this happened in the Garden of Eden, which
adjustments to prevent self destruction and instead God had created.
build a lasting social order.                                       UNKNOWN EXCELLENCY
           We must somehow improve in quality rather than in
        sheer quantity. If we do this, we can continue to             In explaining how the fall came about, the Belgic
       progress technologically in a dramatic and exciting          Confession declares, "But being in honor, he
        way without denying our evolutionary inheritance. If        understood it not, neither knew his excellence, but
        we do not, then our supressed biological urges will         willfully subjected himself to sin and consequently to
        build up and up until the dam bursts and the whole          death and the curse."
        of our elaborate existence is swept away in the flood,
        page 241.                                                     With this expression, our fathers deal with the difficult
       Man's salvation .is seeing himself as he is, a fragile question, how could Adam, a perfect creature who was
animal with a precarious past, working to overcome made in God's image, ever be tempted to fall into sin.
this and to deal honestly with it. Salvation is not in If man was given the capacity to bear God's image, and
Christ; it is in man himself. As Reformed believers, we through creation actually reflected God, how could
recognize the importance of holding to the doctrine of that man even fall into sin? How could perfection
creation not only, but also to that of the fall of man. produce disobedience?
       To hold to this doctrine, we must also reject the              The answer suggested here is this; that man did not
attempt to make the Genesis account of the fall a understand his honor nor know his excellence, but
teaching model. A myth, or allegory. This attack from willfully sinned against God. We notice:
within the sphere of Reformed churches is a rejection                 First, the confession speaks of both honor and
of the historical record of Genesis 3 and a sell-out to excellency. These two ideas are closely related. Honor
evolutionism.
       The Belgic Confession states briefly and in child-like has reference to the'high office which he possessed. It
submission to the Word of God, "Man willfully is the esteem one holds for a position of trust in which
subjected himself to sin, and consequently to death, he has been placed. The office which Adam held was
and the curse, giving ear to the words of the devil." that of prophet, priest, and king all combined in one.
This was a historic event that was occasioned by the He was made the prophet with whom God could speak
devil coming to Eve in the serpent, tempting her, and and have conversation, the priest by whom the whole
followed by the fall of Adam into sin.                              earth was consecrated unto God, and as king, he was
       Charles Hodge in his Systematic Theology, Vol. 2, servant-ruler under God. Adam should have recognized
gives five reasons why we should receive the account of this high calling and honored the office by faithfully
the fall into sin as a historical fact. (1) From internal exercising the duties of that office. Excellencies refer
evidence: when contrasted with the mythological to the various qualifications which Adam possessed,
accounts of the creation and origin of man, as found in which enabled him to be faithful in that office of
the records of early heathen nations, the difference is
at once apparent. The latter are evidently the product honor. He had knowledge, wisdom, love, holiness,
of crude speculation; the Scriptural account is simple, righteousness, authority, power, etc. which enabled
intelligible, and pregnant with the highest truths. (2) It him to function in the position of honor.
forms an integral part of the book of Genesis, which is               Secondly, the confession states, "he understood it
confessedly historical. (3) It is not only an integral part not (honor) neither knew (his excellency). This does
of the book, but an essential part of Scriptural history not refer to some ignorance of Adam, which was an
as a whole, which treats of the origin, apostasy, and inherent limitation in his ability to use his excellencies


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 379


in the service of his honorable office. If this were true,      Now, we can look back and see things that Adam
we might be tempted to say Adam fell by ignorance or could not understand or know. In the words of John
increated necessity. Because he was created in the Calvin, Institutes Book II  (l), "When reflecting on
image of God, he possessed all things necessary to obey what God gave us at our creation, and still continues
God's will and serve God in the sphere of creation. He graciously to give, we perceive how great the
was able to be God's prophet, priest, and king.               excellence of our nature would have been had its
                                                              integrity remained, and, at the same time, remember
  Rather, this lack of understanding and knowledge that we have nothing of our own, but depend entirely
was directed toward the opposite side, namely sin. on God from whom we hold at pleasure whatever he
Adam could not understand the consequence of has seen it meet to bestow; secondly, When viewing
disobedience and weigh this overagainst his honor and our miserable condition since Adam's fall,  ,aU
excellency. Adam knew his calling, he knew what confidence and boasting are overthrown, `we blush for
disobedience would involve, but how could he know shame, and feel truly humble. For as God at first
what the sentence of death would really be like? He did formed us in his own image, that he might elevate our
not have the ability to place these two alternatives minds to the pursuit of virtue, and the contemplation
beside each other and conclude that his honor and of eternal life, so to prevent us from heartlessly
excellencies far surpassed anything the devil might burying those qualities which distinguish us from the
offer to him. For this reason the devil came to him lower animals, it is of importance to know that we
with the temptation, "Ye shall be as gods, knowing good were endued with reason and intelligence, in order that
and evil." It was the lie, but it tempted'man enough to we might cultivate a holy and honourable life, and
cause him to disobey God's command by causing him regard a blessed immortality as our destined aim. At
to desire something which he thought might be greater the same time, it is impossible to think of our primeval
than God had given to him.                                    dignity without being immediately reminded of the sad
  Because of this, there is added the fact that man           spectacle of our ignominy and corruption, ever since we
"willingly subjected himself to sin." He was not              fell from our original (condition?) in the person of our
tricked; he was not forced; he was tempted; and first parent. In this way we feel dissatisfied with
through this temptation he sought to attain something ourselves, and become truly humble, while we are
God had in mercy kept from him, viz., the knowledge inflamed with new desires to seek after God, in whom
of sin. The devil enticed him with the offer of each may regain those good qualities of which all are
something better, "ye shall be as gods." Man in pride found to be utterly destitute." This leads us to seek
sought that, and thereby willingly rejected God and salvationin Jesus Christ.
went after Satan. Through this act of disobedience,             The true significance of heaven will be that we will
man learned to know evil. The heartache of sin and evil know good and evil, only then truly as God, to know
is written upon every page of history. The man that the good and love it, to know the evil and hate it.
chooses Satan over against God delights in the evil and Against the background of sin and its consequence, we
hates the good. This is what brings him into bondage. will enjoy the true liberty of the soul set free: not able
The terrible abyss of death becomes the lot of to sin anymore, only able to serve God faithfully
everyone who says "yes" to the devil and "no" to forever.
God.                                                            Our God is abundant in mercy.

Editorial
                      The OPC and the "Free Offer" (3)
                          BASICALLY, A QUESTION OF EXEGETICAL METHOD


  In our previous editorial on this subject we pointed "ultimately" because it is not - for a Reformed man -
out the fact that from the outset the position of "The        merely a question of Scripture, but also, and first of
Free Offer of the Gospel" involves its proponents in all, a question of the creeds. This, by the way, is
flagrant contradictions concerning God's will and something that is singularly ignored by the authors of
concerning His attitude toward the reprobate.                 "The Free Offer of the Gospel." Nevertheless,
                                                              ultimately it becomes a question of what Scripture
                                                              teaches on this score. This is plain also from the
  Ultimately, of course, this whole question becomes `attempted appeal to Scripture in the booklet under
a question of what Scripture itself teaches. I say discussion.


 380                                          THE STANDARD BEARER


   And this question is basically a question of exegetical competent, so that after years of study he cannot even
method.  Does Scripture contradict itself?  Does understand that one who has no more than a quarter
Scripture present mutually exclusive truths? Does of an oun,ce exegetical brains could accept such exege-
Scripture posit doctrines which stand diametrically sis. Although I am not acquainted with the standard-
opposed to one another? There is one method which weight of a normal  exegeticial brain, I take it that by
holds this position: the method of appealing to isolated this somewhat haughty and contemptuous figure of
proof-texts. There is the Reformed method, however, speech the Rev. Zwier intends to convey to his readers
which denies this: it is the method of presenting the the opinion that our exegetical work is far below nor-
current teaching  of Scripture, or, the method of mal. We have attempted to explain how the Rev.
allowing Scripture to interpret Scripture.                   Zwier could  arr'ive at such a contemptuous  jud,gment
   Recently, in connection with this matter of the "free about our interpretation of tihe Word of God. And we
offer" and also in connection with the  questidfis           came to the conclusion that there exists a deep and
currently being treated in  Question Box;  I  have been fundamental difference  Ibetween his conception of the
impressed anew with this matter of exegetical method.
   And rather by coincidence, in connection with our proper  exegetical-.method and our own. What I con-
Dutch Reading Class at seminary, I came across a sider  exegesis  according to the proper method he
thorough treatment of the question of exegetical brands. as a distortion of the text to suit. our awn no-
method in the series of articles which the late Rev. tions; and, on  *he other hand,  mwhat he  offers as exe-
Herman Hoeksema wrote in answer to the late Rev. gesis of Scripture is, in our opinion, not worthy of the
Daniel Zwier's writings on "God's General Goodness." name.
Fortunately, these articles were also translated into the       It is `imperative, therefore, that we, first of all,
English language and published in a brochure entitled, give ourselves  account of this fundamental difference.
"God's Goodness Always Particular." And because this            l&e difference does not, as the Rev. Zwier seems to
chapter on exegetical method is very  agpropriate with thinl, consist in this that he simply lets Scripture
a view to our current discussion, we are presenting it in speak for itself, while I impose my preconceived dog-
this and the next issue of the  Standard Beaver.             matic  notions upon the text of  Holy Writ; but rather
[Incidentally, this 267-page brochure is now out of in this, lthat the Rev. Zlwier proceeds on the assumption
print  - just in case any of our readers should think of that interpretation of  a'yL  in&~i&unl  text,  apart from
obtaining it. ]                                              i&s  conne&ion  with the current teaching of the  Bi'ble,
  Here follows the first installment of the chapter          is interpretation of  Scripture;  while I am convinced
referred to.                                                 that the Word of  Gud is one organic  whole that pre-
                                                             sents us with the same  teachiqg throughout, and that,
    In "God's `General Goodness", XV the Rev. Zwier for this very reason, one may very well explain a  cer-
mites concerning our explanation of Ps. 145 :9: "Yes, t&in text in the  Rible  without interpreting Scripture ;
esteemed reader, this proof is so utterly weak, that that the  whole of  Soripture must be. taken into con-
for years it was a riddle to me, that one who possessed      sideration when we interpret any particular passage,
even a quarter of an ounce exegetical brains could per-      so that, in other words, every text is expIained accord-
mit himself to be convinced of it".                          ing to  the  reguk.  Scripturae,   the current teaching of
    He writes this in the erroneous imagination that the Bible.
                                                                The entire  Scrilptural  foundation on which the
we explain the text as meaning  trhat "the Lord gives Rev. Zwier attempts to build tie superstructure of his
good gifts to all", or  "that the Lord is good to all His doctrine of `~God's General Goodness" consists of a few,
elect, and Hi-s tender mercies are over all things in the a very lfew individual passages of Scripture that super-
realm of redemption".                                        ficially appear to support his view, but his interpreta-
    Where, in any of our writings, he finds these inter- tion of  iwhich stands  dilrectly opposed, not only to
pretations of that text, he fails to mention,                several other very clear texts of the Bible, but to the
    But about this later.                                    continuous teaching of Holy Writ. He is very well
    Before I enter into these details, and before I sub- aware of this conflict. He admits it. But he  cypenly
mit the exegesis of various texts by the Rev. Zwier refuses to make the &tempt to explain Scripture in
to criticism, I must refer to another, deeper and more its own light.
fundamental difference between him and myself, a                In this chapter I shall show first of all, by means of
difference that determines our several exegetical re- a quotation from his articles,  rthat the Rev. Zwier is,
sults. There is here a fundamental difference with re-       indeed, laboring according to this method ; secondly, I
spect to the method of ex`egesis. It is this difference hope to prove that tihis method of exegesis is cert&nly
that explains  why our  inierpretation  of certain  pas- not Reformed ; and, t,hirdly, I will call attention to the
of Holy Writ impresses the Rev. Zjwier as utterly in- great danger of following this method.


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                     381


   First of all, then, a quotation from the Rev. Zwier's I, therefore, misunderstand; let me examine my inter-
articles. He writes (God's General Goodness, XVI) : pretation of both these series once more in order that
   "Let us now attend to the second argument the              I may come to a correct understanding of the true
deviating brethren usually adduce in explaining this teaching of the Bible on this point. But this he em-
passage of Scripture.                                         phatically refuses to do. He does not even want to
   "Does not Scripture teeoh us clearly, so they ask, make an attempt, to put forth the least effort to ex-
for instance in Psalm 73 and Psalm 92, that all the plain the Bible in its own light. It is even his avowed
good gifts which the non-elect receive, are but so many opimon  that such an attempt would be rationalistic !
means whereby the Lord realizes His eternal counsel of And the result is that he arrilves at the conclusion that
reprobation? In Psalm 73 Asaph first stares himself both are true. God's yen is also nay!
blind on the fact that the ungodly prosper and  the               He might have found sufficient reason to review his
righteous suffer in this world. He cannot understand exegesis of the one "series" of texts in the light of
why the ungodly hawe .peaoe and increase their sub- the other, in Psalm 73 . For, that Psalm teaches us
stance in the world, Iwhile he is being chastened all &he     plainly that Asaph labored under the illusion that God
day and plagued every morning. But when he enters is good and gracious to the ungodly in the things of
into God's sanctuary, he beholds t,he same things in a this present life only as long as he did not view things
different light, in the light of God's counsel and pur-       *in their  p.rope'r  ,light!    He discovered his mistake c(s
pose with all these things. Now he notes that this            soon as he viewed the same things in the light of the
peace and prosperity of the wicked are nothing but            reu1it.y of  God's  cou?zsel! How natural it would  hav-e
slippery places, on t,he which they are set. by God in        been for the Rev. Zwier to draw the conclusion that he
order presently to fall into eternal destruction.             also labored under the same illusion as did the psalmist
   "In Psa1.m 92 the same thought is expressed more           of old, and that he misinterpreted the one "series" of
strongly when it .is said that all the wioked grow as texts only because he did not view them in the proper
the grass and all uhe workers of iniquity do flourish,        light, and that he would Ihave to change his exegesis
that  they may be destroyed forever. And note the             the moment he studied these texts in the light Asaph
little word thnt, which here denotes the purpose of the       received from the sanctuary of God !' But in spite of
Lord.                                                         all this the Rev. Zwier refuses to interpret Scripture
   "Hence, thus is their conclusion, all the good gifts       in its own light.
wihich the Lord bestows upon the non-elect, He gives              Wlhen he meets with a "series" of texts that plainly
them in His wrath and great anger. Ex,pressions  as teach that God's grace is always particular, while His
are found in Ps.  145:9  and Acts 14  :16, 17 must  be        wrath abideth on the ungodly even in this present life ;
interpreted in harmony with this.        How, then,  can      and, on the other hand, finds passages that superficially
one so interpret these texts t.hat they speak of a favor-     appear to teach that God's grace is common and
able disposition in God toward the ungodly?                   general, {he simply leaves them stand side by side, in
   "Our answer to this question is very simple: Be- glaring contradiction with each ot.her, and says: both
cause  Swipture teaches  u.s this.                            are true!
   "We do not attempt in a rationalistic manner to                It is this method of interpreting the Bible which I
interpret  these  two series of Scriptural passages in        do not accept. I am deeply convinced that this method
harmony Iwith each other".                                    must needs lead to.a distortion of the meaning of Holy
   Let this one  il!lustration from the Rev. Zwier's          Writ. It  ,does not lead us to the true Word of God.
writings suffice.                                             Word-interpretation is no  Scripture-interpretation,
   According to him, we are dealing here with two even though it may  superfilcially  appear to be such.
"series" of Scriptural passages that stand in direct-op- Interpretation of individual texts is no interpretation
position of each other, so that the one text teaches us of the Word of God, although both for the writer and
the exact opposite from what is.taught in the other, and      for the reader it may represent by far the easier
they are mutually exclusive. In the one "series" we are method to follow. It is witrh this as it is with many
taught, according to him, that God in bestowing the a sermon; that are praised as ivery clear and convinc-
things of the present life upon the ungodly is merciful       ing. They explain every word of a certain text.  But
to them ; in the other that, even in the bestowal of these    they fail to explain the text in the light of the whole
things,' .he hates them, i,s filled with wrath, an,d pur- of Scripture. And because of this such sermons are
poses to  ,cast them down into destruction. Now we            unworthy of the name: "ministry of the Word of
might expect that in reverence to Holy W&t the Rev. God".
Zwier would reason as follows : Both cannot be true ;             I wholeheartedly condemn this method.
botil the Scriptures cannot `teach, for in that it would
flatly contradict itself; one of these series of passages         How thoroughly unreformed the doctrine of  "com-


 382                                         THE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R



mon grace" is may be gakhered  from the fact that it from the sequel of t.he words in what sense He wills
can be maintained only on Che basis of an exegesis of this. For, Paul connects these matters, viz. that He
the Bible that  Iproceeds according to this erroneous wills t,hat they be saved, and tihhat,  they come to the
method of interpretation. When I write only on this knowledge of the truth. If they contend that it is
basis I assume that the Rev. Zwier this time offered us firmly determined in God's eternal counsel that all re-
his ,very best to prove the theory of "commorl grace".          ceive the doctrine of salvation, what does it mean,
    This method of interpreting the Bible was never then, what Moses says: `For ,what  nation is tihere so
accepted as correct by those ahat Ibelieved and defended great, who hath God so nigh unto them?' How did it
the truth of ,&xl's absolute predestination, but was al- come that God deprived so many people of the light
ways condemned by them as in conflict with the *unity of the gospel, \#hieh others enjoy? What is the cause,
of the WoTd of God.                                             that the .pure knowledge of the doctrine of salvat.ion
    On the other hand, it was always applied by the never came to some nations, and that others hardly
Pelagians, Semi-Pelagians and Arminians.                        tasted some dark beginnings df bhe same? From this
    Already that arch-opponent, of trhe doctrine of sov- one may readily d,iscern what Paul means. He had
ereign grace, Julian,  urged against the doctrine of commanded Timothy to make public prayers for kings
Augustine the objection that the Scriptures in such and magistrates, and while it appeared somewhat ab-
passages as e.g. I Tim. 2 :4 (this last text is also ad- surd that prayers to God should be made for those
duced by the Rev,  Zwier, following the example of whose condition seemed wellnigh  hopeless-seeing that
the Synod of 1924, to sustain the doctrine of "common they were not only strangers to the body of Christ, but
grace") plainly teach that God wills that all men slhall also exerted themselves and all their powers to oppress
be sarved and is merciful to all men. But what does the His  kingdom-trberefore,  he adds immediately that
great church-father answer the  ,heretic?  He speaks such `prayers are well pleasing to God, Who will that
of  t.hree (possible explanations of I Tim.  2:4,  *viz. : all men  shall  Abe  sarved. By  w.hich he means to say
1. That the  Iword  all in  the text means all of  [whom nothing else, indeed, than tihat He did not close the
God wild t/hat they shall bi saved, xfor it is certain that way of salvation to any kind of people, but maoh rather
no one can be saved contrary to Hiswill. (Enohir. 103). effilsed His mercy in such wise, that He does not will
2. All classes of people are meant, not all individual that there be any class of people that should not par-
men. 3. All that  will1 be saved by virtue of the new take of this salvation. The other expressions declare,
will  infiused by God (C.J. XXII, 2). And how did not what God determined in His secret counsel con-
Augtistine arrive at these possible interpretations? cerning  a,ll, but proclaim that remission of sin is
Simply by explaining them in the light of the ex- prepared for all that. apply tihemselves to seek it. For
pression in Scripture to which he refers very frequent- if they urge the objection that He is said to be willing
ly, and whiah is also quoted by CaEvin in & similar con- to show mercy unto all, I will bring against this what
nection, that God is in the heavens and doeth all His is written- in another place: that our God is. in the
good pleasure, and that, therefore, if God  hath per- heavens and doeth whatsoever He will (Ps. 115 :3).
formed all He willed, He certainly cannot have willed Hence, this passage will have to be interpreted in such
what He did not ,and does not perform. And for this wise that it agrees with the other, viz. I will be gracious
same reason he explains  tihe goodness of God  that to whom I *will be gracious, and shew mercy to whom
leadeth  us to repentance, mentioned in Rom. 2:4, as I will shew mercy (Ex. 33 : 19). (I underscore, H.H.) .
referring only to the elect:  @em praedestinavit ad-                The above is a Ivery clear illustration 0.f the method
d&t.  (Cf. Dr. Polman: De Predestinatieleer etc. p. of interpretation applied to the Word of God by Calvin.
98).                                                           First he refers to Deut. 4:7 to show that God sover-
    If the Rev. Zwier had lived in the days of Augustine eignly determines who shall come to bhe knowledge of
he would, no doubt, have taken sides with the heretic the truth' and wIho shall not receive that knowledge, in
Julian, and would have remarked that one who possess- order then, in  pthe light of that truth  to interpret I
ed but a quarter of an ounce exegetical brains would Tim. 2:4. And if the opponents still object that Scrip
not permit himseIf to be led astray by such exegesis!          ture clearly teaches that God will show mercy to all,
   But we prefer by far the method followed  by he repl,ies that such expressions must be explained in
Augustine.                                                     the light of others, such as Ps. 115:3 (often appealed
   John Calvin follows the same method as Augustine. to also by Augustine), and Ex. 33 :19.
Also he was confronted more than once by his op-                    The Rev. Zwier must have nothing of this method
ponents by the text from I Tim. 2:4. And how does he of explaining Scripture. He considers it rationalistic.
reply to this objection? He writes (inst. Book III, cap.       He differs principally from Calvin. (I say 2s-)-incipally,
XXIV, par. 16) :                                               for he that applies a wrong method of interpret.ation  to
   "I reply that, in the first place, it becomes evident       Scripture must needs distort  tihe foundation of the


                                                                                         /
                                                THE  STANDARD   BEAjRkR                                                 383


truth and exposes himself to every wind of error).               He will give a heart of flesh, ,while He leahres to others
He refuses to compare Scripture with itself; especially their heart of stone (Ez. 36 :26). It is true, that if He
to interpret those texts that superficially considered           were not ready to receive all that invoke His mercy,
appear to teach "common grace" in the light of the               bhis other declaration would be made void: Turn ye
many others that plainly teach tihe very opposite. He            unto me, and I will turn unto you (Zach. 1:s) ;- but I
insi,sts that he will maintain both. And presently, if           say that no mortal will turn to God than he whvm
he does not relinquish this fatal method, he `will be            God h,as first drawn. And if, indeed, man's conversion
forced by the power of trh.at "wretched human logic" to hinged on h.is own good pleasure, Paul would not say
discard one of the trM'o contradictory propositions, and         (1.1 Tim. 2 :25) : if God per-adventure will give them
have nothing left  .but "common grace". And if him-              repentance".
self can remain sufficiently inconsistent to avoid this             From this you may notice that Calvin consistently
danger, his readers surely will draw the conclusion foPows the same method of interpretation. He ex-
that God's grace is always cammon.                               plains trhe Scriptures in their own light, and does not
      Allow me to refer to one more illustration from hesitate to explain apparently "general" texts in the
the same paragraph of Calvin's Institute :                       light of those that clearly teach God's particular-- grace.
      "They appear to bring us into greater difficulty by            DKJ not object to this that Calrvin in the above quota-
opposing to our view bhe passage in Peter (II Pe. 3 :9)          tions is dealing Iwith saving grace, whi.le the Rev. Zwier
*hat God does not will that any should perish, but will          writes about tie non-saving goodness of God. For t~his
receive all unto repentance. But how to untie this               has nothing to do with bhe point in question. I am not
knot we learn immediately from the second member of              criticizing as yet the contents of Ztiier's teach.ing, but
this  ,declaration  ; for by this wil,l to receive unto re-      only his method of interpreting the Bible.
pentance may  be understood no other than is  ta:ught                And, this method is itself un-Reformed.
everywhere  in  Scripture.  (I underscore, H.H.) . In-               Let the Rev. Zwier but apply tihe same methud  to
deed, repentance is in the hand of God; it is proper,            those passages of Scripture that have reference  to
therefore, that we ask Him whether He will br.ing all            "saving grace" and his interpretation will certainly
to repetitance:  seeing He promised that to some few
                                     .._  _                      be Arminian.                               (to be continued)





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THE STANDARD BEARER
       P.O. Box 6064                                         j .
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506       -    -
                                News From  bur
384                                             THE STANDARD BEARER

   Because of the Classes Reports in the last two issues decision that Rev.  Schipper spend some time with a
of the Standard Bearer, a considerable amount of news group of people in that state.
for this column has been accumulating - so much so,               From Grand Rapids' Hope Church's bulletin we
in fact, that I hardly know where to begin. The flurry learn that a congregational meeting was scheduled for
of news concerning current mission efforts of our May 4 to call a home missionary, to labor specifically
churches is certainly of special interest at this time, so "in the Philadelphia area of the eastern United States."
perhaps I should begin with that, and see what space
yet remains for other items.                                      A couple of other bulletin announcements could be
                          **:**                                quoted, yet, to give a better understanding of what is
   From a February bulletin from Isabel we read of really happening in the different areas in which our
that congregation's efforts to "spread the light of the churches have been laboring. From that of First
gospel in yet another way than by the regular Church we quote the following: "A report, via phone
p r e a c h i n g   o n   S u n d a y . "   A c c o r d i n g   t o   t h e to the clerk, from our pastor informs us that he
announcement, "plans are now underway to air over conducts worship services twice each Sunday, with a
the local radio station, KOLY, thirteen  15-minute             catechism class on Sunday mornings. He also held a
sermons provided by the Mission Committee and the Good Friday service as he would have had at home. He
Loveland consistory. The Lord willing, this will begin meets with a group each Thursday evening, discussing
as soon as a time slot is made available that is favorable the Neth. Conf. and intends now to discuss with them
to both the station and us."                                   the Antithesis in the area of Christian Living - a real
  A news bulletin distributed to members of issue with them as they understand Christian liberty
Southeast's congregation, tells of further use of the versus the things of the world . . . Most of his evening
an-ways. Part of it reads as follows: "Our Radio time is spent visiting various families, discussing our
sub-committee, in conjunction with the Reformed doctrines as they are embodied in our Confessions and
Witness Hour Committee, has made a contract for one as they relate to our walk in sanctification. Rev. Van
year to broadcast our Reformed Witness Hour program Baren expects to be back home May 8, and we gather
over WXUR  - Media, Pennsylvania. This station is that he will be eager to take up his labor of love in our
located on the outskirts of Philadelphia - has AM  & midst again. He appreciates our prayers in his behalf as
FM frequencies - and covers a highly populated area he works in Philadelphia . . ."
where there are over a million potential listeners. The           Rev. Veldman has long since completed his six-week
cost of this station is $54.00 per half hour, and stay in Florida, but it should not be inappropriate to
broa.dcast time is 3:00 - 3:30 P.M. Sunday afternoon. add a few lines about that work, taken from
The Mission fund of our churches will bear half of Southwest's bulletin of March 18. It included excerpts
this expense, and Southeast Church the other half. . . from a letter the consistory had received from Rev.
   "We are informed that there is some good response and Mrs. Veldman. Here they are: " . . . The Sundays
already, and this broadcast will greatly assist the man of Feb. 25 and March 5 were spent by preaching in a
we will have working in this area. As you must already Holiday Inn to some twenty-seven persons, ten of
know, Rev. Engelsma spent several weeks in which were not members of our denomination.
Philadelphia. Rev. Van  Baren is there now as Beginning March 11, services will be held in the chapel
follow-up, and Rev. Kortering will be going there for of a funeral home . . . Several contacts have been
the summer months we are told."                                made and much literature has been distributed . . . A
  This same Southeast newsletter made mention of man from Winter Haven has requested us to preach
the fact that, while Rev. Engelsma was working in there to about 60 souls, some of whom live there
Philadelphia, "he also made substantial contacts with permanently. We are both well and enjoying this work
people in New Jersey." As a consequence of those very much. It is so wonderful to witness of our truth
contacts, a group of people there has requested that to others."
our Mission Committee send a man to engage in                     That last line of Rev. Veldman's is a good one with
further work among them. Rev. Decker, subsequently, which to close our news for this issue. These contacts
was released by his consistory to spend the four and apparently "open doors" are exciting and, of
Sundays of May in that area.                                   course, heart-warming. Information concerning them,
  In  .further developments, which seem to be therefore, is likely to appear elsewhere in this issue. I
occurring with such rapidity that it's difficult to keep hope that what's on this page is not too repetitive to
.up with them, a request from Maine has led to a be of interest.                                                      D.D.


