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



IN THIS ISSUE


               Meditation

                 Seeing Jesus Crowned

               Question Box
                 About Becoming "Human" .Again

          In His Fear

                 Television-A Homogenizing Influence

          Signs of the Times
                 This Is `Reformed' Evangelism?



                                               Volume XLIX, Number 17, June I, I973


386                                                         THE STANDARD BEARER


                            CONTENTS                                                                        THE STANDARD  BEARER
                                                                                  Semi-monthly,   except   monthly   during   June,   July,   and  August.
Meditation -                                                                      Published   by  the  Reformed   Free  Publishins   Association,   Inc.
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  Seeing Jesus Crowned . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .386            Editor-in-Chief: Prof. Homer C. Hoeksema
                                                                               Department Editors:  Rev.   Robert   D.  Decker,   Mr.   Donald   Doezema,   Rev.
Editorials -                                                                   David  J.  Engelsma,   Rev.   Cornelius   Hanko.   Prof.   Herman   Hanko,   Rev.
                                                                               Robert  C.  Harbach,   Rev.   John  A.  Heys,  Rev.   Jay  Kortering,   Rev.  Dale  H.
   A Significant Lecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .389          Kuiper,   Rev.  George   C.  Lubbers,        Rev.   Marinus   Schipper,   Rev.  Gise  J.
                                                                               Van  Baren.   Rev.  Herman   Veldman,   Rev.   Bernard   Woudenberg
   The OPC and the "Free Offer" (3):                                           Editorial Office:  Prof.  H.  C.  Hoeksema
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Meditation

                                            Seeing Jesus Crowned

                                                               by-Rev. M. Schipper

              `But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death,
              crowned with glory and honour, that he by the grace of God should taste death for every
              man. "
                                                                                                                                       ,Hebrews 219
                                                                         i
    But we see Jesus. . . !                                                    for them through His suffering, death, and
    Crowned with glory and honour!                                             resurrection.
    Which He attained forty days after His resurrection                               Also during those days instructing them concerning
 when the Lord Jesus ascended into the highest the things of His kingdom, and the operations of the
 heavens.                                                                      Comforter, the Holy Spirit, Whom He would send unto
    During those forty days He showed Himself alive, them.
 making no less than ten appearances to His disciples;                                And, 0, how they needed that instruction! Were
 thus giving to them infallible proofs that He had not they not to be His witnesses unto the ends of the
 been overcome by death, and that, as the living Lord earth? But how could they be faithful witnesses unless
 He would be with them unto the end' of the world, they themselves understood first the things concerning
 applying unto them the salvation He had accomplished His glorious work of redemption? How necessary,


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  387


therefore, it was that they understood perfectly the still greater heights! He must have all things, also those
meaning, the manner, and the necessity of His coming in heaven, in subjection under his feet. The time must
into the world, and of His saving work accomplished in come when also principalities and powers, angels and
His suffering, death, and resurrection. Moreover, also devils, must be subject unto him.
now they must understand the significance of His              This, the writer to the Hebrews says, we do not yet
ascension into heaven, and unto the Father, whence He see!
would receive and dispense unto them the Holy Spirit,         Now we see not yet all things put under him. . . .
Who would lead them into all the truth, and sanctify          But we see Jesus!
unto them the benefits He so graciously merited, for          We see Jesus crowned! In His ascension and
them.                                                       coronation we see the beginning of an accomplished
  And now, on the last day of the forty, He led them fact. In Him we see the first principle of the high estate
out unto the Mount called Olivet, from which place He the Lord of heaven and earth has destined for the
would take His leave of them and return to the place highest of all His creatures who must reign with Him.
whence He came.                                               Glorious coronation!
  It is concerning this glorious ascension that the text      And be sure that you pay special attention to the
speaks.                                                     fact that it is Jesus Who is so crowned!
  Significantly, in the context the writer to the             Jesus, the Son of God, Who became the Son of Man!
Hebrews had been reflecting on the creation of man,           For He took on  Him the flesh and blood of the
and the resultant high position man sustained in children of men, and became like unto His brethren in
relation to the rest of creation. He was crowned with all things, sin excepted. Not always was He like unto
glory and honour, and placed over all the. earthly His brethren. From eternity He is in the form of God.
creation as king under God. Musing on what the Yea, He is God, the Wholly Other! Supremely exalted
psalmist had said (Psalm 8), the author of this epistle above all creatures, possessing in Himself the complete
quotes from the Psalm, and then shows how the sweet divine nature. The infinite and glorious God!
singer saw only in part the extended glories the Lord         But wonder of wonders, He became man!
had in mind for man. "What is man, that thou art              Paradoxical as it may seem, - God became!
mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest         The Infinite came into the finite. The Eternal came
him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; into the temporal. The Unchangeable became
thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst changeable man, a child of time; while He remained
set him over the works of thy hand. Thou hast put all the eternal, immutable God. He took on Him the form
things in subjection under his feet. . . ."                 of a servant, while He remained in the form of God. He
  Of this glory bestowed upon man by virtue of his became the Son of man on the earth, while He was
creation, our Psalter picks up the refrain:                 simultaneously the Son of God in the bosom of the
                                                            Father.
0 what is man, in Thy regard                                  The Son of God, Who became the Son of,man, also
  To hold so large a place,                                 became a little lower than the angels!
And what is the son of man, that Thou                         Not, as some would interpret, did He become a little
  Dost visit him in grace.                                  .lower than the angels in His suffering and tasting of
In man Thy wisdom hath bestowed                             death. This would be indeed in conflict not only with
  A pow'r well nigh divine;                                 the text itself, but also with the truth expressed in
With honor Thou hast crowned his head                       Psalm 8. As we will see presently, in His suffering and
  With glory like to Thine.                                 death, He is not made a little lower than the angels,
                                                            but He is made the lowest of the low. Then He is made
Thoubast  subjected all to him,                             the most unworthy among men. Then He is made the
  And lord of all is he,                                    Sinner among sinners. Then He descends into the lower
Of flocks and herds, and beasts and birds,                  parts of the earth, being despised and rejected of men,
  And all within the sea.                                   and in His darkest moment even forsaken of God.
  Great and glorious, indeed, was the honour God had Sheer mockery it would be to say that in His suffering
bestowed upon the highest of all the creatures!             and death He is made a little lower than the angels.
  But in all this, so the psalmist noted, man was             Nay, rather, it is m His incarnation, His coming into
nevertheless created a little lower than the angels. He the flesh, that He is made lower than the heavenly
was earthly, while they were heavenly. Paradoxical as creatures. Thus He assumed the position of the first
it may seem, therefore, though man was high, yet was man, who was of the earth, earthy. However, in
he low.                                                     relation to that first man, there was this difference in
  However, God had in mind something much greater position,  - while the fast man Adam could fall, and
for man. As king of creation only that which was did fall from his high estate, the last Adam, the Lord
earthly was subjected to him. He must be exalted to from heaven, would not fall, but through the way of


388                                        THE STANDARD BEARER



perfect obedience would bring that position to its        distinction. Rather we would emphasize here, in the
exalted heights. He would be crowned with glory and       light of the text, that the Son of God, Who became
honour, not as lord over the earthly creation, but as Son of man, came into the world to die. And this
Lord of all, even above the angels.                       implies that His death was substitutional and
  Shall He attain to these glorious heights, He in His propitiatory. He was not a victim of circumstance, ,who
human nature must ascend into heaven!                     was simply overcome by death; but, as the Head
  That place in God's creation, higher than the starry of His people, He laid down His life for them.
fumament, where the omnipresent God is enthroned in         By the grace of God!
the beauty of holiness, and where He is pleased to          He came into the world by the grace of God. He
receive the praises of men and angels, and all His suffered and died by the grace of God. He reconciled
creatures. From before the very eyes of  His disciples the world unto God by His grace. That is the cause and
He is taken up to the right hand of God, where He is the source out of which all flowed.
given a name which is above every name, and before          0, marvelous grace of God!
Whom every knee shall bow.                                  Precious Saviour!
  In that very nature in which He was conceived and         No wonder He is crowned with glory and honour!
born, by which  conceptiqn  and birth He was made a         Not once while He was in the flesh did He think it a
little lower than the angels - in that very nature He is matter of robbery to be equal with God. But He made
crowned with glory and honour such as the first man Himself of no reputation, became all Servant, and
of the earth could not know.                              humbled Himself even unto death, in order to pay the
                                                                            ._                        .  -
  Indeed, we see Jesus crowned!                           penalty of our guilt, and to merit for us righteousness
  With glory. . . !                                       and life. Not once did He, like our first father Adam,
  It is with the  glorv of  Him. the living God, Who bend to the wiles of Satan, and imagine that He could
                       u     I     I
alone is glorious, that He is crowned. And that glory is be God's equal. But in willing obedience He subjected
the radiation of all divine virtues. A foretaste of that Himself to the shameful and bitter death of the cross;
glory the Lord received when in the presence of His while' He lovingly passed under the vials of God's
disciples He was bathed in glory on the Mount of wrath, until God said it was enough. All His wrath
Transfiguration, before the cross. Now  His exalted toward His people had dissipated: and God could see
human nature experienced the perfection of that glory His beloved people once more in perfect righteousness.
at the right hand of God. Then the glory of God rested Therefore God hath so highly exalted Him, and given
upon Him as a crown not only, but penetrated His unto Him a name above every name.
whole nature.                                               0, it is true, we see not yet all subjected to Him!
  With honour. . . !                                        But we do see Jesus!
  When the King of glory entered the gates of               The grace of God which, was given unto Him, He in
righteousness He received all that authority and power turn has given unto us, the grace of faith and hope!
God could give Him, not only as the symbol of victory,      We behold in Him the beginning of our own
but as a reward of merit; the highest honor the `exaltation and the hope of our crown!
creature could receive, - to rule in the Name of God        And' that is enough to tide us over until that day
over all creation in heaven and on earth. And with when He shall return in His glory to give unto us also
power .and authority shall He rule until all is brought the crown of life that fadeth not away!
into subjection under His feet.                             With our eye of faith firmly fixed on Jesus, we shall
  The ground for this coronation lay in His suffering overcome all our present woes, even death and the
of death. Here evidently is referred to not merely the grave. We shall be glorified together with Him.
fact that He had, been overcome by death, but more          And when all shall be perfected, according to the
particularly the fact that He had come into the world plan of God, then He with us shall be subjected unto
to die. We are wont to speak of His passive and active God; in order that God may become all in all.
obedience. We do not wish to quibble about this             Amen!





                 Gift idea? Give good books. G&e RFPA pubficationsf


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 389



 Editorials

                                    A Significant lecture
                                               ProJ: H. C. Hoeksema

   This department is not in the habit of commenting            1. You can obtain a recording on a  7-inch  reel for
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reach as many as possible.                                   pamphlet as soon as possible.
   For this reason, we call attention to the lecture           If you want to understand what Key `73 is all about,
delivered by the Rev. David Engelsma on May 10 at and. want to be instructed as to why Key `73 is both
First Protestant Reformed Church in Grand Rapids on wrong and dangerous,                   take advantage of this
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                         The OPC and the "Free Offer" (3)
                           BASICALLY, A QUESTION OF EXEGETICAL METHOD
                                            (continued from last issue)

   But about this presently. I want to refer to  a few whole of Scripture must prove bhe whole of the system.
quotations from Dr. A. Kuyper and Dr. H. Bavinck.            Also in theology separatism must be  avoi,ded.  It.  is  a
   The latter writes in his Dogmatics, `I, 644-666:          distinguishin.g  mark of many- sects, that they proceed
   "Scripture is the principle of theology. But  Serip- from a  smalt part of  Scrip&re and for the rest leave
ture is no statute  Ibook ;  .it is an organic unity. The it severely alone.  (I underscore, H.H.)  ."
subject-matter for theology, more especially for dog-           This is exactly what the Rev. Zwier does with the
matics, is scattered  ,througih the whole of Scripture. proof-texts for the so-called general  gttiness  of God.
Even as gold out of a mine, so' the truth of faith must He cannot  find a place for it in the Reformed  sy&em.
be delved out of the Scriptures with the exertion of `Bhe texts which he quotes are a few aphoristic  Zoca
all spiritual power. With  u few  loca  probqntia  (wit+ probantia,  which are in conflict not only with a few
a few proof texts, H.H.) on.e can do nothing. (I ,under- otiher texts, but with numerous passages from Holy
score, H. H.) . Not on the basis of a few separate texts, Wnit, and which he cannot harmonize with such funda-
but on `that of the Bible in its entirety a dogma must mental doctrines as  God% righteousness. holiness,
be built; it must evolve organically out of  tihe prin- wratih over sin, predestination,  Iparticular grace, the
ciples  <which are everywhere present in Scripture. cross of Ghrist, etc.                Nowhere do those passages
For, the doctrine of God, of man, of si,h, of Christ, etc., which the Rev. Zwier interprets as teaching God's
is not to be found merely in a few expressions, but is lovingkindness over the reprobate ungodly fit `into the
spread throughout the entire Bible. and that not only current teaching of Scripture. And while, according
ip a few proof-texts, but  also in sundry figures of to Bavinck, Reformed theology refuses to acknowledge
speech  ,and parables, ceremonies and historical narra- a few individuai texts as a basis,for.dogma, and would
tives. No part of Scripture may be  negTected.  The. elicit from Scripture. the  .tru$h of faith  witi exertion

                                                                                  ,..


390                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



of all spiritual powers,  ,&lie Rev. Zwier finds his cerning the person of our Redeemer, w.ho was ordained
strength exactly in these separate texts, understanding from eternity as the head of his own, nor with his
full  well that His entire theory of common grace must work of redemption which was a payment for  the
fall, as soon as he will take pains to compare Scripture guilt of sin and, on the basis of it, liberation. from the
with Scripture.                                                power of  s,in, and  thel'efore necessarily  partioular,  for
   Reformed theolom has: always considered the doc- if it is not particular it could be no atonement for sin..
trine of. particular grace as being the current doctrine          Let me offer ti few quotations in this connection:
of Scripture and never .did Reformed theologians hesi-
tate to interpret other texts, that apparently  tech              "And since it  .is a  matier of complete indifference
general grace, in the light of that current doctrine.          to US whether ourconfession of the truth is in harmony
       But theRew. Ztier refuses emphatically to do this. with what some people please to think of God; and
He  eon&mns  `this method  of. interpretation as ration- since it is our  &le purpose  to see to it that our con-
alistic. And -thereby this method is branded  as.  un- fession  com'pletely   .harmonizes with the  1iz;ing  God
Reformed.                                                      himself  (I underscore, H.H.), as He really is and
       Let me quote one more passage from  Bavinck's exists, `we can and may do nothing else than busy our-
Dog??zuiica t                                                  selves with Holy Writ, which alone knows and says
                                                               and shows who God is and how. He actually is."
   `The. theologian must bestow some mental  tabor                Another quotation :
u&n  &he material he thus obtained. The dogmas are
not  to tidem  verbis,  kata  rheeton  I& kata dianoian           "And if, on the contrary, there is in Holy Writ a
(not  18iterally but in principle and according to their revelation of positive truth as we confess with humble
idea, H.H.) in Scripture ; but they are conclusiones,j?dei     gratitude, then it is not only my privilege, but my
(conchsions of faith,  H-H.): The doctrine  of,  `t`llR solemn obligation to attack your presentation concern-
trinity, of the two natures of Christ, of the atonement, ing the scope of  graice so consistently and persever-
of the sacra,ments, etc., is not based upon a single de- ingly, that it no longer encroaches upon all that is re-
claration in Scripture, but is  ,construed from many vealed to us in those `holy records concerning the
data, which are scattered throughout Scripture. Dog- essence of the Supreme Being.`? p. 54.
mas are a brief compendium in our language uf all the             You see, according to Kuyper, the scope of grace is
Scriptures teach about  ;the subjects concerned. Romish to be determined by what the Scriptures teach us con-
as well as Protestant theologians,, therefore,  -:have  al- cerning the  essense of God. He compares Scripture
ways'inaintained  over against various tendencies, that with Scripture.
insisted upon literal expressions of Scripture,`the right         According to the Rev. Zwier this is rationalism.
of dogmatic theology. (I underscore,  H.H;) . Com-
plete justike, according to them, was done to Scripture,          .ln.opposition to those who would prove the doctrine
not by quoting one single text. literally, but by reflecting . .of general grace from the text in II Cor. 5  :15 ; "And
the entire truth comprised in many texti." I, $65,696. `He died,for all", .he ,writes  as follows :
       Anyone that is acquainted  wit&  Kuyper's  E~~yclo-.       "But even .th.is ,more limi,ted .allegation (that the ex;
paeilie   and that is at home in his Dictaten Dogmatie& pression  in II Cor. 5  :15' refers *to all baptized people,
knows that it would not be difficult to quote similar H.H.) cannot  Abe maintained. For though it be true
passages from his pen. But I would rather show how that every one who belongs to ,the church of Christ, be
he himself applied these principles of Scriptural inter- it only externally, shall be judged by the death of the
pretation. For  this purpose I refer to the well-known Lord and by the holiness of His atoning blood  ; and
fourth volume of the series Uit het Wooed, which bears though the blood of the Son of God concerns such a
the title: Dat De Genade  Particulier  IS.                     one, if he does not repent, so truly that he can only
  On  pages 39-67 of  this work. Dr. Kuyper reasons perish an an apostate and hypocrite ; yet may we never
from some fundamental truths of Scripture to prove draw  the  condusion from this that the apostle of
that the.  Arminian, doctrine of common grace  oannot Christ presented  ,the death of Jesus as being intended
be true, and that, for this reason,  dl Scriptural pas; to be beneficial for such a one personally. The very
sages  .&t seem to teach common grace must also be fact that the apostle addresses the entire  church as
interpreted in the light of these fundamental. truths of elect proves w.ithout  a `doubt that his epistle is directed
S&ipture. The doctrine of general'gra+e is in conflict to the  congregation.in its ideal character, that is, the
tith what Scripture teaches us concerning the deep letter is addressed exclusively to all and every one
corruption. of m&r and his total incapabili$y to accept who essentially and as living members belong to the
the proffered redemption ; is contrary to what Holy ohuroh,  w.i+hout figuring in the least with the counter-
Writ teaches us concerning the unity and veracity of feit, false, and unsanctified elements,' that adhere to
`our God ; cannot be harmonized with the doctrine con- her, wear her uniform, and present themselves as


                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER                                             391


belonging to her." p. 210, 211.                               death. No, she caused death to icome with power. She,
   You see, Dr. Kuyper explains the apparently genera] acted as ruler. And no one resisted her will, And it
expression of II  Car. 5  :15 : "And He died for all"; in is because of this .thai all men died.
the light of the particular. expression in chapter I,            "But after having explained tihis clearly the apostle
verse 1.                                                      continues to declare that it is exactly like this in the
    A clear illustration of the application of this case  elf grace, that grace just as sin has dominion,
method of interpreting Scripture is also found in  p. appears as ruler, and executes her will irresistibly.
214-215 of tihe same work ,where Dr. Kuyper explains For thus we read in verse 21: that as sin bath reigned
the text .in Romans 5 : 18 : "By the righteousness of one unto death even so might grace reign unto eternd life.
the free gift came upon all men unto justification of            "Now, this cannot be true if we suppose that .grm
life," in the light of verse 21: "That as sin  bath even  sas death is extended to all men that are born.
reigned, unto death, even so might grace reign through        For if this were the case we `come to the conclusion
righteousness, unto eternal life by Jesus Christ  our that sin includes all men and results in the death of
Lord". He writes :                                            all; and that grace also  imphes  a:11 men but in
   ~ "The most weighty objection against the  doctrine        such  ,a `way that in reality by no means all, but only a
of particular grace appears for many to be in what small part of them inherit life.                 In  l&at case, sin
Paul wrote in `Romans 5 ~18. There ,we read clearly in reaches its purpose but grace  fai.ls to realize itself.
w.ords  tjhat  seem  to  alloW `only one interpretation: And that means that sin indeed succeeded to ,ru.2.e, but
"Therefore as by the  offence of one, judgment came that grace failed to reign  ;` yea, rather that grace in-
upon all men unto condemnation; even so by the right- stead of ruling over man remained  .dependent  upon
eousness of one ,the free gift. came ,`upon all men unto his will. But this is absurd, for the apostle assures
justification of life". And we do not mean to deny the us directly of the very opposite since he writes tit
fact that this expression : upon nil men in this passage &ace also REIGNS!"
of Scripture is sufficiently emphatic and striking, by a         From this interpretation of  rverse 21 Dr. Kuyper
superficial reading; to mislead the very best and to con- draws the conclusion that the expression "upon all
fuse even him that is most strongly convinced.                men" in ,verse 18 cannot refer to all men that are born:
    "And yet there can be no doubt if we will but                According to Rev. Zwier this method is ration&istic.
carefully study the context in whiah this passage of But it was always followed by Reformed theologians.
Scripture appears, that this confusion and hesitancy             These illustrations could easily be multiplied but I
must gradually be replaced by the most positive  con-         believe that I  ,have abundantly proved  t&at the exe-
eviction that  soulnd   exege$is does not  .permit the appli- getical method of &he Rev. Zwier is not now and never
cation of this term to all men ,that are born.                was the method of Reformed people.
    "To make thig clear to our readers we begin by call-         Bear with me if I have rather  &&orated  upon this
ing.their attention to the closing ,verse of this chapter. `rpoint.  I  am  &mvinced that I am here touching upon
For there sin and grace are onde more contrasted from ahe very essence  uf the Rev.  Zwier's argument. If
the point of view of their  .fruit, and there it is said only he would follow the method of Scriptural interpre-
of sin that its result is death, and of  grace that it is t&ion always applied by Reformed theologians and
the mother of life. But how is the operation of  bolDh relinquish his  tin corrupt method, he  would have to
there represented? Do we read that sin makes an a&no&edge  that his entire argumentation concerning
attempt  to bring death and that grace  tries  &I  work God's general goodness has no basis lin Scripture.
life?            -                                               Al&w me to offer one illustration in proof of  this
    "Not in the least.                                        h$ statement.     In  a latter connection I hope  to.
    "On the contrary,  ,it is said of sin that it  acconi-    examine all the proof-texm adduced by the Rev. Zwier
plishes its fatal  worik irresistibly, that noting can in support of his theory. The `interpretation  which
oppose it, that with authority it  oalls upon death  to the Rev. Zwier offers of R&m 145 ;9, follotiing blindly
appear. And to express this emphatically and in all the Syimd of Kalamazoo, 1924, is ; "The Lord is good to
i& horror tihe apostle- uses the. word reign, to beking all men." Now, let uk interpret the text in Psalm 145
(biileuein) .                                                 aocording to the right  m&hod.  .Then we obtain the
    "Sin.therefore is  mistress,  rules, queen.  She has following :
dominion. Her will could not be resisted. Man was sub4           1. All Scripture teaches  ,always. and everywhere
ject unto her. She intended to bring.death  and no one that God .hates the reprobate ungodly, that He is angry
could oppose this intention.                                  vith them, that His wrath  abideth on  them,  Ihat He
   "It :was not so, therefore; that she merely threatened causes the  ti!ngs of this present time to work  u&o
death  #and tit now, seeing that the operation of man's their destruction,  that he sets them upon slippery
will interposed, she either succeeded or failed to bring places by means of  prslsperity and peace, and that He


                              . .


 392                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



casts  tihem down in eternal desolation. Tahis is the pret the text thus, it. is  not in conflict with the last
current teaching  o# Scripture  ,and not merely deduced part of verse 20; "But all the wicked will He c1estro.v."
&om a single text. Therefore, Psalm 145  :9 cannot All  kin,ds'of  creatures are included in the word  cc.bl of
teach as  soon as  `we understand it in the  l.ight of the verse 9, but the ungodly are excluded.
whole of Scripture, that God is merciful and good to              ln this wise sound exegetical method  will inter-
all men.                                                      pret the text, And thus only :n-e really do understand
   2. Bearing this current teaching of Scripture in .t.he ,word of God.
mind, let us turn once more to Psalm 145. We notice               Lastly, I want to point out that the  exeget.iicai
at once that the  enti.re Psalm speaks  elf God's grace, method of the Rev. Zwier, which was always condemn-
goodness, mercy, longsuffering, and great  lovingkind- ed  b\- Reformed theologians of  every period, is also
ness over His people.     Generation upon generation d,angerous.  In the first place, because it means death
(not, of course, of  ,all men, but  of His people)  &all for all systematic theology. According to  t.he method
praise His  <works and  &.a11 declare his mighty acts. of Rev. Zwier, .w:h.o employs several individual texts to
They  ,shall  abtindantly utter the memory of His great support a certain theory, and refuses to explain  them
goodness (again,  .ower His  `people) and shall sing of in the light of  Dhe whole of Scripture, all true dog-
His  ri.ghteousness.  For  &he Lord is gracious and full matics  h.as simply become impossible. On this stand-
`of compassi,on ; slow to anger, and of great mercy. point one cannot really speak of a current teachiny of
Vss. 4:8. The Lord uphold&h all that fall, and raiseth Scripture. That "wretched human logic" can  never
up ,those tih& be bowed down. He is nigh unto them build up a system of truth. We must be satisfied with a
that call upon Him and will fulfill the desire of  theti concoction prepared  by  "Biblicail theology" that does
that  far Him ; He also will hear their cry and will not care to proceed beyond a literal quotation of Scrip-
save  them. Vss. 14, 18, 19. And if there might  .be tu.re. And' that would be.the death of. our entire Re-
any doubt that by this grace,  dovingkindness, mercy, formed faith and confession. Then there is nothing
and longsuffering of God tihe psalmist refers to God's positive. All unity of view and conception is condemned
people only and not to the reprobate ungodly, note as rationalistic and we have  not,hing  left but a few
then the ccantrast in verse 20 :"`The Lord preserveth all sewrate, and mutually contradictory texts !
them that love Him, but all the wicked will He destroy."         The result must  :be, and  to this  !we call your  atten-
I ask in all seriousness: would it not  ,be extremely tiou in the second place? that the doctrine elf sovereign
strange if in the midst of all this praise of God's grace grace cannot be maintained. It ,J%+s not wikhout good
over His people, we would suddenly find the sentence reason that our Reformed fathers always demanded  so
teaching that God is also gracious toward the ungodly, emphatically that certai.n passages of Scripture must be
as the Rev. Zwier would  hme it? The answer of  a11 interpreted in the light of the whole of the Bible, and
soutnd  interpretation is: that cannot be the right ex- that they did not  heSit.& to tell the opponents of  the
planation of `verse 9, as soon ins it is vie.wed in the li.ght doctrine of predestination, that one or more separate
of the whole of Scripture and in  .the light of its  c~wn texts mean nothing to them. The doctrine of sovereign
context.                                                      grace stands or falls with the method you apply in
                                                              the interpretation of Scripture and if you  follorw the
    3. With all this in mind .we turn once more to verse metihod recommended by the  Rw. Zwier  it certainly
9. And  $hen  ,we  n&ice at once two  %hings. The first must fall.
is that we do not read ah? men ili *he text but merely all       Take, in proof of this statement, for example the
(The Hebrew simply .has : tobh Jebvah Zakkol) . tie text from I Timothy 2 :4 : "God will that all men shall
question, therefore, is to what does the term all refer? be saved". In interpreting this text  just apply the
What is its content? May we as the Rev.  ZCer does method of the Rev. Zwiel.. N'hat do you obtain? The
insert here  indicidzcal  men,  righteous and  ungodlly, following : "The text  clea?ly speaks of  nil  mex,  and
This would be in conflict  I .l. With trhe whole of Scrip- wibh that term you cannot tamper. I  know, indeed,
ture; 2. With the :whole of the Psalm; and 3. With the that Scripture also teaches that He is merciful unto
text itself. An,d in the second place; <we not.e that the whom He will be merciful, and that whom He  :wills
second part of this text  expl:ains, according to the rule He  .harderis. And also this I wholeheartedly accept.
of  Hebrew parallelism, the first part. The Lord is But I also believe just as wholeheartedly  tihe  ,word
good to  ~11,  and His  ten,der mercies are over  al.1  His of Scripture, that God will that all men shall be saved.
works. We explain therefore : the Lord is good to all And all ien certainI? means everybody. You may not
`His works even as over all His works are His  tender attern& to harmonize these two passages  ,with each
mercies . All, therefore, means: all creatures in  the other, for this would be rationalism. I admit that
organic sense of the word, all the works of God, with- these two passages are directly in conflict with each
out haying rei'ereace to all the individuals of a certain other; and I do not understand how they can  .be har-
kind of creatures, as,  f,or instance,  men; If we  inter- monized. But I accept both. God will that only the


                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER                                                             3L93


elect shall be saved ; and he also will that all men shah haberei", noi. is it merely a question of  muntaining
be saved."                                                      one's church. It is the question of the truth, of the
   The reader will admit  that I am doing the Rev. maintenance and development of the  RefoL'ntrd   truth,
Zwier no injustice. The above is the pure application of  ~4GzJr it certainly cannot be said in our day, and in
of his method of  %.-iptural interpretation to a certain our  eount.ry, (and  I  ,may add, in your churches, Rev.
series of texts.                                                Zwier,  a~ you and many others well know) that it
 But the' inevitable result of such  an  interpretation flourishes. In  that truth I am sincerely  inter&,ed, and
of Scripture will `be that the one element of this so- earn~tly  hope  and pray  that also the Christian Re-
called mystery is being  ,abandoned,  and that  nothing formed churches in our country, though they cruelly
remains but the doctrine of general grace and general cast. us out, may ag=ain love and understand and main-
atonement.                                                      tain that Reformed truth.
   And, therefore, I would pray the Rev. Zwier: re-                And,  t.herefore, let the Rev.  Z,wier openly return
linquish this un-Reformed and un-Scriptural method  I from  his, dangerous ways on the which many of his
Confess,  for the sake of the seriousness  .of the  truth readers kill follow .him and depart from the trwt&
that  you departed from the true way, and that you                 Then there may  ptibably be hope for the main-
may  not' so arbitrarily  trtit  tihe holy  Wurd  of God ! tenance of the Reformed truth in our country.
The issue at stake is not the question of  "Recht-



 Question Box

                         About Becoming "Human" Again
                                                  Profi H. C Hoeksema

Question                                                            inside of life. Call the disease segregation, and you get.
   From a reader in the province of Alberta, Canada, I              the division by races. Call it class war, and you get the
received the following request: "What I really would                clash between economic levels. Call it a generation
like to see explained in the Question                               gap, and you get the estrangement between ages. Call it
                                            Box is alI about        sin, and you get the estrangement of man from his
the teaching about becoming `human' again. This is                  home with God. Reconciliation means bringing
something we hear about all around us." Since I was                 together what has been broken, reuniting what has
somewhat in the dark as to the meaning of this                      been divided.  The, root of estrangement is man's
question, I asked for a little more light and for a                 separation from his Creator; the solution is in what
reference. My questioner then  called  my attention to              God has done for His people; "Formerly you were
the fact that this is discussed in some of the recent               yourselves estranged from God; you were His enemies
catechism books of the Christian Reformed Church,                   in heart and mind, and your deeds were evil. But now
and that it is also talked about in connection with                 by Christ's death . . . God has reconciled you to
"Evangelism Thrust" (the Christian Reformed version                 Himself." Alienated, -hostile, at odds, divided, but
of Key `73). And in connection with the latter, my                  now reconciled. This is the message the church has
questioner furnished me with a rather lengthy                       been given.
                                                                       There are many estrangements in life, but the one
quotation from  Who  In The World,  pp. 3 1, ff. This               with the most tragic consequences is to be separated
quotation furnishes a good example of the kind of                   from God.
thing that is meant by this "becoming human again,"                    The answer to it is what God did; andthat is the'
and therefore I will pass the quotation along before I              message the church brings; God was in Christ
answer the question :                                               reconciling the world to himself. And the word is out;
                                                                    since God has reconciled the world - you - in your
         One fitting word to characterize the modern world          hostility and fear, you "be reconciled to God."
      is "fractured." Brokenness is the plague of our time.            But there is another tragic estrangement that
      Things that belong together are separated and camrbt          destroys happiness in human life: estrangement
      get together again. Another, more personally tragic           between people.
      word is "estrangement." People who belong together               Life is meant to be lived together. Human life has
      are. separated. One marriage in four ends in                  to be shared to be human. Humanity really fails to be
      estrangement. This is only a symptom of an epidemic           human as walls of suspicion and hate divide us. None


394                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER


       of us is truly human until those  wslls are broken           faults :
       down and we meet one another in love. This is what              1. The entire notion of "becoming Human again" is
       humanity longs for in its better moment. It is what          sheer nonsense. I am human. I am not an animal. I am
       the `"youth revolt" and the "sensitivity group" fad          not a devil. I am not a stick or a stone. I am human. I
       are all about: people reaching out, grasping for a bit       was born human; I live the life of a human being; I
       of humanness in an inhuman world. What'better time           shall die as a human being. I cannot help being human.
       to bring the message of reconciliation? God's purpose        This is my very nature. Whether in paradise, or in his
       is precisely this: to break down the dividing walls
       between men, to make the social  and racial                  fallen state, or in grace, man retains his human nature.
       differences between them irrelevant to their union as        It is  simply impossible  for him to "become human
       men, to make all men one in Christ. This is what Paul        again," the  reason being that man never loses his
       is talking about. There is no such thing as Jew and          humanity. I realize, of course, that also the writers of
       Greek, slave and freeman, male and female, for you           Who In The World know this, and that by "becoming
       are all one person in Christ Jesus.                          human again" they mean something different. At least,
          In Christ we can stop being &aid of each other,           I think they do. But by talking about becoming human
       stop making a path to success through the rums of            again, and by implying that man who sinned has lost
       other people's lives, stop dividing the human race up        his humanity, they are corrupting the true, Scriptural,
       according to color, race, or status. In Christ, nothing      Reformed doctrine of sin; and they fail to point out
       matters but that we `are free to love and trust each         w'hat the real nature of sin is. For this reason, the
       other because we belong to each other. No wonder,            entire emphasis is upon some consequences of sin,
       then, that Paul says that Christians together form one
       new body. The good news is that Christ dismantled            rather than upon the horrible nature of sin as
       the wall. Once the  wsll was down, nobody had a              transgression of the law of God and upon the total
       special claim on God, and nobody had a reason to             depravity of man's very nature.
       stay apart from anyone else. Now black and white                2. In connection with this shallow perverted notion
       meet on one common single platform, their oneness            of sin, stands a perverted idea of reconciliation. Apart
       in Christ. Young and old can work out their age gap          from the fact, now, that the whole idea of
       within the circle of oneness in Christ. The message is       reconciliation to God is not really explained at all, the
       for today: reconciliation to a fractured world. One          authors of the above quotation should, have been
       word of caution is in order. When the church                 warned by the very references to Scripture which they
       preaches the message of reconciliation, it must also         themselves made that their presentation of reconcilia-
       make sure that it is living the reconciled life together.
       It will be hard for a segregated church to preach the        tion is entirely incorrect. According to those
       message of the broken down wall, since it has built          quotations, reconciliation is an accomplished fact. It
       the wall up again."                                          was accomplished nineteen hundred years ago in the
                                                                    cross.      How, then, is it possible to speak of
                                                                    reconciliation in such a way that it must still be
Reply                                                               accomplished? Yet this is what is done: "What better
  I must confess that I hardly know where, to begin                 time to bring the message of reconciliation? God's
with criticizing corrupt nonsense of this kind. It is so            purpose is precisely this: to break down the dividing
completely foreign to my thinking - and not only to                 walls between men . . ." Still worse, the quotation is
mine, but to any Reformed thought  - that I stand                   guilty of  rank,universalism of the  mpst blatant kind. It
aghast at the fact that this sort of stuff can come from            says that God's purpose is "to make all men one in
a church which calls itself "Reformed," and that I am               Christ." I can only say in reply to this: poor God! For
at a loss as to where to begin with criticism. I can very           all men will never be one in Christ, and therefore the
well understand that my questioner, in some related                 purpose of the God of  this quotation will never be
correspondence, wrote me: "People in our church who                 reached. The God of this quotation is a failure. And
were members for a long time, members in good this brings to mind another fault: statements like this
standing, are asking themselves: were our parents not               ignore completely the Scriptural and Reformed truth
Christians,  because what we hear now is different?"                of election and reprobation, and therefore also, of the
Personally,  I do not hesitate to say - blunt as it may             antithesis between sin and grace, light and darkness,
be  - that if what is set forth in this quotation is                church and world, believer and unbeliever.
Christianity,  then I am not a Christian. The insidious                3. Also in connection with the faulty view of sin, as
aspect of all this lies in the fact  that the name of God           well as the faulty presentation of reconciliation, the
and of Christ is used, that some Scriptural terms, such             above quotation presents a completely foreign idea of
as reconciliation, are used, and that some Scriptural               conversion. That, after all, is what the quotation is
quotations are made, while the whole thought is                     talking about  - putting the thing now in familiar
totally anti-Scriptural and thoroughly humanistic, that             doctrinal terms. Conversion!  A  life of sanctification!
is to say, anti-Christian.                                          These terms, of course, do not even occur here. But
  Permit me to point out just a few outstanding                     the Scriptural and Reformed idea of conversion does


                                             THE  STANDAdD  BEARER                                               395


not occur either. Just compare once all of this             purpose of these social gospelers is to heal a fractured
nonsense about becoming human again and all of this         world. This is the same kind of horizontalism which
emphasis on breaking down the dividing walls of social      the social gospelers began to proclaim already at the
and racial differences, etc., with the way in which our     turn of the century. It is the same horizontal&m that
Heidelberg Catechism describes conversion, or the way       has afflicted the  Gereformeerde  Kerken  in  the
in which our Belgic Confession describes sanctification,    Netherlands. It is a denial of the gospel of sovereign
or the way in which the Canons of Dordt talk about          grace for elect, but in themselves lost, sinners.
conversion. Again, I can well understand that people           Would that Reformed people everywhere would
ask themselves: "Were our parents not Christians,           think for themselves, and do so in the light of Scripture
because what we hear now is different?"                     and our confessions! Then they would never be
   4. The entire emphasis in the teaching of the above      deceived by such religious trash as that of Who In The
quotation is upon the social gospel and upon                World.
horizontalism. Erasing social differences, breaking            Well, these are a few critical thoughts about the
down racial differences, eliminating the generation gap,    matter of "becoming human again." My questioner
warning against segregation - this is the `emphasis in      may write again if I have not made myself clear.
the quotation furnished above. Obviously the whole



All Aroun.d Us

                               Christian Witnessing (2)
                                                  ProJ: H. Hanko

The Calling                                                 they "were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the
  This brings us specifically to the question' of the       word in Asia, (and) after they were come to Mysia,
calling to witness.                                         they assayed to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit
  We must reject out of hand all so-called                  suffered them not." Acts 16:6, 7. It is this same truth
"confrontation witness." Any kind of witness which          which the Canons of Dordt emphasize when they
"confronts man with the claim of Christ," no matter speak of the fact that we must preach to all those "to
what specific form it may take, has no place in the life    whom God out of his good pleasure sends the gospel."
of the Church or in the calling of believers. It is         (Canons II, 5.)
man-centered in its entire approach. It is Arminian in        The principle holds true also for witnessing. It is a
its character with its emphasis on "accepting Christ,"      safe principle to follow, for in following it we follow
"soul winning," "decisions," etc. Indeed, there is an       the direction of God. The question is, of course, how
inescapable element of pride in it all because the          do we know where God is directing us to perform the
emphasis always falls upon "what we shall do for            work of witnessing? The answer to this is, (and it is
God." There is an arrogance and a presumption in this       this idea which I have attempted to incorporate into
which ought to be anathema in the life of the               the definition which I offered above), that we must
Christian.                                                  witness to all those whom Go-d places upon our path.
  If we turn to the positive calling, there are several     The Scriptures also very strongly suggest this. I have
points which we ought to make. In the first place,          reference, e.g., to such a passage as I Peter 3:15: "But
because the preaching of the gospel and Christian           sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready
witnessing are so closely connected, we may expect          always to give an answer to every man that asketh you
that there will be an analogy between the two in            a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and
certain important respects. I refer specifically to the     fear." While witnessing is not specifically mentioned
fact that the book of Acts makes it very clear that God here, we may assume that this "answer we must give of
always directed the course of the gospel in the labors      our hope" is precisely the genuine character of all
of the apostles. God sent Peter to Cornelius and-Philip     witnessing. But, so Peter teaches us, we must give such
to the Ethiopian Eunuch. God directed the church at         an answer to those who ask us. This certainly implies
Antioch to choose Paul and Barnabas and send them that our witness must be directed to those whom God
out to preach the gospel. And, in fact, so closely did places, in His providence, in one form or another, upon
God direct the course of the labors of the apostle that     our path. God puts such people upon our path. God


396                                            THE  STANDARt)   BEARER



brings us into contact with them. And then we can be            The same truth is taught very clearly by Jesus
sure that God wants them to hear the witness to the Himself in Matthew 7:21-23: "Not every one that saith
truth. And God will do the work He intends to be unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of
done. We must remember that witnessing is God's heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which
work. We must not try to take matters into our own is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord,
hands and be wiser than God. We must expect Him to Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name: and in thy
do His work even when He is pleased to use us.                name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many
   The question necessarily arises in this connection wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I
whether so-called door-to-door evangelism is the never knew you: depart from me, ye that work
proper calling of the Church. While, I am not prepared iniquity."
to condemn such door-to-door witnessing, there are              This is not to say, of course, that our witnessing
several points which are worth making. 1) It is almost must not also include speaking the truth. Paul writes of
always fruitless. And this is to be expected, if what I       confessing with the mouth as well as believing with the
have said above is true. 2) If such type of witnessing heart. But the fact of the matter is that any verbal
does meet with success, it is often at the cost of testifying of the truth which is not the fruit of a life of
sacrificing the truth at worst, or, at best, of bringing the antithesis and of a godly walk according to all the
into the church those who are not properly instructed precepts of Scripture, is a sham and a hypocrisy.
in the truth of God  - with the result that the church          In an interesting book by Michael Green entitled
increases her problems with unfaithful members. 3) I          "Evangelism in the  Early  Church,"  the question is
have absolutely no use for making Sunday School an discussed concerning the personal witnessing of the
arm of witnessing or an aspect of evangelism. The idea saints by means of which the Church was spread to
seems to be that, through the Sunday School, children every nook and cranny of the empire of Rome. He
are brought into the Church even if not the parents.          quotes from ancient church fathers and comments
And some even suggest that one can perhaps get at the himself upon the fact that the main witness of the
parents through the. children. This is, it seems to me saints was the witness of a changed life, changed by the
wholly at odds with the Reformed truth of the power of grace. He sums it all up when he says:
covenant  - that God saves His people in the line of "Unless there is a transformation of contemporary
generations. I.e., that God saves  believers  and their church life so that once again the task of evangelism is
children. And this is also the emphasis in the book of something which is seen as incumbent on every
Acts throughout.                                              Christian, and is backed up by a quality of living which
  The whole question arises as to what form our outshines the best that unbelief can muster, we are
witnessing must take. And there is one point here that unlikely to make much headway through techniques of
needs the strongest possible emphasis. The Scriptures evangelism."
certainly point us to the fact that the strongest witness       Thus, by means of a godly life the power of grace is
we make is the witness of our life. This sort of thing is     manifested in us; the attention of unbelievers is
often disparaged and even mocked in our sophisticated         attracted and aroused; the opportunity for witnessing
day. It is mocked as being a dodging of our calling. It is    is given; and the truth of that which we believe is
disparaged as being ineffective. But the Scriptures substantiated.
point us to this nonetheless.
  We earlier quoted the passage in I Peter 3: 15. In this     The Importance Of Witnessing
passage the apostle points us to our calling of being           It is at this point that we must bend every effort to
ready to give an answer to those who ask of us a reason look at things in their proper light. We often tend to
for the hope which lies within us. While surely the glorify door-to-door witnessing and some kind of
emphasis of this passage falls upon our readiness to give personal confrontation. There is a certain glamor about
an answer, it is equally obvious that this answer it that appeals to us. There is a certain zip to it that
presupposes a question. And that question is makes it sound proper and exciting. I fear, however,
concerning the reason for our hope. Now it is clear that there is also an element of pride and self-glory in
that, if wicked men ask a reason for our hope, they are this sort of thing.
prompted to ask such a question because they observe            We must remember, after all, that this is not the
the evidences of our hope in our lives. And the whole         difficult way to witness. It is the relatively easy way.
thrust of Peter's remarks here centers in the fact that The difficult way `is the way of faithfulness to our
we live lives which are constant expressions of our covenant .God in `our own station and calling in life.
hope. That is, we live as pilgrims and strangers in all The difficult way is the way of a faithful covenant
our conversation. This life will be the life of the mother in her home who goes about her daily tasks as
antithesis, and this will raise, in the minds of a virtuous woman cheerfully filling her God-given
unbelievers, startling questions concerning that hope to assignments in the quiet fear of the Lord. The difficult
which we must be prepared to give answer.                     way is for a husband and bread-winner to occupy his


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  397



place at the drill press in the factory or behind a desk        Nathan assured him that his sins were also forgiven.
or in a garage and to be a constant testimony of the            But at the same time, Nathan told David that the
grace of God in his day-to-day labor and in  all his            sword would never depart from his house because he
actions, and speech. The difficult way is the way of the        had given  occasiofi for the enemies of God to
antithesis in a world of darkness and sin, the way of           blaspheme. This happens sometimes in our lives. Our
being pilgrims and strangers in the earth. And this is          lives are occasions for the enemies to reproach the
the God-glorifying way.                                         cause of God. That is the opposite of witnessing. That
   We must never weigh the importance of this in                is horrible beyond description.
human terms. The important thing is not winning souls             Always our witness must be of such a kind that it
for Christ, extolling ourselves because of evangelical          points away from ourselves to God. "Let your light so
prowess, or boasting of numbers of converts and                 shine before men, that they may see your good works
weighing success in terms of decisions. God always              and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Mt. 5: 16.
witnesses; also through us. And He uses that witness as           Then the glory is God's alone. And that is all that
He sees fit.                                                    counts.
   You see, the point is that God alone must be                   Let us, if we would be faithful witnesses, examine
glorified, He must be glorified in his manifestation of our own lives in all respects; then, conforming our lives
His work of grace in the salvation of His Church                to .God and I-Iis Word, we will have opportunity to be
according to His decree of klection.  It is a terrible thing    and will become faithful witnesses to God in this
when this does-not happen. When David confessed his             present world.
sins of adultery and murder to Nathan the prophet,


In His Fear

                 Television-A Homogenizing Influence

                                                   Rev. D. H. Kuipev

  Periodic perusal of a little  magazine  called  T.  V.        ago that television was standardizing Americans  -
Guide provides one an acquaintance-with programming             standardizing our speech, our dress, our attitudes, our
in this medium, as well as with the trends that this            entertainment standards. It has gone beyond mere
programming is taking. It also allows the pastor to ask         standardization  - we're becoming homogenized." I
knowledgeable, even pointed, questions on family                fear Rosten is right. And, therefore, I fear television
visitation. Most import'antly,  this pastor is constantly       viewing, with the exception of newscasts, for which no
convinced that television viewing has no place in the           one really buys a television set anyway.
life of the Christian individual and family. Recently we          There can be no quarrel with the fact that a
have read in our literature that a Protestant Reformed          television receiver is an amazing invention, a miracle of
garage sale of used television sets is not the answer to        wiring. If memory serves correctly, an electron gun at
the problem, but that sanctified control be exercised           the rear of the picture tube peppers the inside of the
over this machine (Beacon Lights, Aug. - Sept., 1972,           screen with electrons, following 511 horizontal
p.  .3), and that removal of these sets need not be             scanning lines, making a picture ten times each second.
advocated, indeed would be virtually impossible                 What a thing, to be able to see things as they happen
(Standard Bearer, vol. 49, p. 94). Although for.  the           anywhere in the world, or even in space! The problem
rest these articles were excellent, I find this  crit&sm        is that this invention is in the hands of the wicked
too gentle and these solutions unacceptable.                    world at its worst. Corrupt unbelief so controls the
  In a recent T.V. Guide the editors were bemoaning             industry that programming today can generally be
the fact that "soft Southern accents, harsh Midwestern          broken down as follows:
twangs, slow Western drawls are all vanishing, being            1.) Mornings, Mon. through Fri. - game shows; inane
replaced by the flat speech of network  netiscasters."              contests in which avarice abounds.
That these unique, sectional differences are cc&ing to          2.) Afternoons, Mon. through Fri. -"`Soap operas"; a
an end is, of course, of little import. What strikes tis as         steady diet of marital problems: infidelity, divorce,
important is the fact that television can accomplish a              abortion, adultery.
change of this kind so unobtrusively. The editorial             3.) Evenings, Sun. through Sat. - Situation comedies,
continues, "Leo Rosten said in these pages some years               mysteries, westerns, and movies in which every


398                                              THE STANDARD BEARER


         commandment is explicitly and brazenly broken. and it doesn't bother so much; then we pretend we
 4.) Saturday mornings  - one cartoon after another, don't hear it. That's precisely how we get
         which even the world calls "witless, heartless, homogenized! If we hear such language and do not
         charmless, tasteless and artless."                   jump out of our easy chair and snap the program off,
 5.) Sat. and Sun. afternoons - sports, sports, sports. A we  sin!  The whole matter of dress is influenced by
         person can, and millions do, sit for five hours in a what film performers wear; how else do you account
         stretch and watch their heroes (?) perform.          for the fact that our young people run around like
 6.) Newscasts and special news events  - there is no bare-footed waifs, dressed in outlandish denim
         denying that this is something T.V. can do well.     costumes, and even immodest bikini bathing suits? By
 7.) Late night, every night  - movies until the wee now we are into the second generation of this, so that
         hours.                                               parents run around this way! Entertainment and sports
 There is no way in which we can discuss television are forced upon us in such a way (it really doesn't take
 viewing apart from programming. Let no one say, it's a much force, does it?) that we begin to think that the
 good invention  aiid can be used  aright; it's an fortunes of the Tigers, the White Sox, the Twins, and
 indifferent matter. Our subject must be considered the Dodgers belong to our heritage. And we are told
 within the framework of program contents. We are blatantly not to be content with such things that we
 concerned with television when the switch is on.             have, but that we must have this appliance, this new
   Let us get back to Rosten's idea that through the auto, this tool, and this convenience! In fact the whole
 influence of T.V. the people of this country are medium is based upon the ability of advertising to sell.
 becoming homogenized.. When something is And we buy. It isn't long and we are dissatisfied with
 homogenized it is of the same or uniform composition, what we have, and begin to think of reasons why we
 quality, or characteristics throughout. Apply this to a must get a new car or a camper or a new suit. And then
 large constituency of people, and the idea becomes there are the "educational" programs that will teach all
 that millions of people, throughout the land, the children of the nation the same things in the same
demonstrate a sameness, a uniformity as far as their way. I would be ashamed before God if my children
 characteristics and attitudes are concerned. were taught to count and to say the ABC's by the
 Homogeneity in such things as milk and peanut butter immoral performers of Sesame Street and The Electric
 is fine. When it is applied to people, people-in the Company. But they have their effect. Witness the fatit
 midst of which are found  God's people,  it is that even in Christian schools there must be .al.l kinds
 pernicious; it is frightening, it is a great evil under the of cartoons and puppet shows, and witness the fact
 sun.                                                         that certain Sunday School papers teach the Word of
   That it is so frightening lies in  the fact that the God through the inouth of a dog!
 Devil, through television programming, is able to work         Every sin in the world cannot be laid at the door of
 almost imperceptibly and unnoticed. He can television. The newspapers, books, and magazines also
 accomplish the homogenizing of peoples who are have this same far-reaching effect. But they do not
radically and basically different, in a wide range of begin to compare as a homogenizing influence simply
 areas, almost without their noticing of it. That's why because, on the whole, people don't read that much
 many who i-ead these lines will disagree, will defend anymore. T.V. has won the attention of the masses. It
themselves in this practice. They are not even aware of makes a multi-sensual appeal to the mind. It's almost
 what is happening to them!                                   as if the Apostle Paul had an inkling what the church
   That his homogenizing  .effect is so pernicious is would be faced with when he wrote what is found in
found in the fact that viewers are influenced in all their    Romans  12:2, "And be not conformed to this world;
attitude and outlook; there is no area of life that is not but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,
dramatized, commented upon, or in which instruction that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable,
is not given. God's institution of martiage is mocked and perfect will of God." It is our calling to fight this
(last week a movie was shown nationally  entit  leg           homogenation, this cornforming process. God has
 "How to Save a Marriage - And Ruin Your Life" . . . a called us out of the world of darkness into His
farce about marital infidelity and divorce in suburbia).      marvelous light; and we may not be conformed to, or
Attiludes concerning authority and submission are be entangled with, former things. How is the church
treated in such a way that rebellion Is encouraged. The the light of the world, when she looks and speaks and
language that is used in almost every program ought to        acts like the world? How can she show forth, the glory
vex the soul of every child of God. It is blasphemous         of her covenant God when she busies herself. with
and profane, it is filthy, it is foolish and inconvenient. those things which He abhors and which He curses
When such language is used in our presence, the Bible         everyday? Our reasonable service is to present our
teaches us to rebuke the person. What happens when a bodies (all the life that we live in and through the
movie star, a comedian, a talk-show host, does so? At body) living sacrifices, holy, acceptable unto God.
first we maybe flinch a little; then we get used to it,       When a person watches present television


                                                       THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                    399


programming, and when he allows his children to do                          It is not impossible to live without television; many
so, there can only be one conclusion: he does not take do. It is not unfair to'your children if they do not have
the matter of sanctification of life, seriously, nor does i t ;   i t   i s   a n   a d v a n t a g e   t o   f a m i l y   l i f e .   I f   a
he do well for his children. These things are not said television-addicted home be purged of this terrible
vindictively, nor are they said from some lofty perch.                   disease, the members of that family are going to
They are said out of a loving concern for the spiritual re-discover the deep joys of family relationships, the
well-being of God's people, for the welfare of our value of reading and discussion, and that on the way of
precious little children, and in the prayer that God's faithfulness, God commands His blessings.
glory may not be dimmed nor denied in our lives.

                                                                                                                                         -


From Holy Writ

          Exposition of the Book of Hebrews (11: 24-26)
                                                             Rev. G. Lubbers                                                      .a-

   The writer to the Hebrews here lets a second teaching of the Word of the promise. Later, in
instance of challenging and conquering faith pass in Pharaoh's court he was taught in all the learning of the
review. In the former verse we noticed the faith of Egyptians, Moses is a good and convincing example of
Moses' parents in hiding him for three,months  when he the proverb, "Train up  (catechise) a child in the way
was born because they saw that he was a goodly child; he shall go: and when he is old, he will not depart from
he was beautiful before God. This they saw and it." (Proverbs 22 : 6)
apprehended in faith, as the substance of things hoped                      Now the writer to the Hebrews shows that Moses
for, the evidence of things not seen.                                   did not make this resolve to  leavi: the rights and
   Now the writer turns to the faith of Moses himself. privileges connected with being a son of Pharaoh's
Three  things are stated of the faith of Moses.. In our daughter behind till after he had reached a ripe and
present passage mention is made of the faith of Moses matured state of mind. (Calvin) It was not a decision
and his resolute purpose not longer to be affiliated of adolescent and fickle youth, but he had reached
with the house of Pharaoh. That required faith. Next maturity. He had been schooled in all the teachings of
the  writei- will speak of the fearlessness of Moses in the Egyptians. He had absorbed as a great student,
executing the judgments of God over the mighty brilliant and precocious, all that the Egyptians' schools
Egyptian king. That, too, was faith in God, faith in the and teachers offered. He had studied languages,
unseen God. And, thirdly, Moses' faith reached across literature, history, philosophy and the religions of the
the ages when  be instituted the  passover and the nations. He knew that Jehovah-God was not in all their
shedding of blood. He looked in faith to the Cross on thoughts. And he felt that he was a stranger in a
Calvary, the greater Passover to be slain.                              strange, kingly palace; it must have been a matter of
   We have so much need of studying these instances of `much thought. Did he not come to the conclusion that
faith, lest we become weary and do not run the rade "God was going to deliver Israel," His people, through
with patience, a race which is often long, arduous, and the instrumentality of Moses. Was he-not that "goodly
full of disappointments.                                                child" which had been taken from the waters for a
                                                                        special divine intent? After much prayer he had
A TIME FOR DECISION IN MOSES LIFE (Hebrews resolved in'humble faith and trust that there was only
11:24)                                                                  `one course open to him.
   When Moses was a little lad, he had been brought to                     The time has come for him to leave Egypt, leave it
live in the house of Pharaoh and had been adopted as a behind once-and-for-all! He cannot be a son of
legal son, with all the Egyptian rights and privileges. Pharaoh's daughter any longer. He has faith as the
However, when he was hid in his parents' house, he substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things
must have received the rite of  circumdision.  He was not seen.
ingrafted into the commonwealth of Israel. He was not MOSES CROSSES HIS "RUBICON"
a stranger to. the commonwealth of Israel, nor was he                       Irrevocably Moses decides to leave the house of
without hope and without God in the world. He had                        Pharaoh's daughter; when Moses goes to see his
been first under the sign of the covenant and the                        brethren' it is not to pay them a  casutil visit, an


400                                              THE STANDARD BEARER


inspection-tour to ascertain their condition. He knew that Egypt could offer was sinful pleasures. Is Egypt
all about their condition; he had seen it from the not the house, too, of spiritual bondage? If Moses left
perspective of an Egyptian prince for well-nigh forty Egypt, renounced his status as a son of Pharaoh's
years. This time it will be a differentvisit.              daughter, that hfe, too, was behind. What would await
  Just how it would all turn out Moses did not know. him if he joined Israel, his captive and ill-treated
He walked in faith, did he not? He would join them as people? He would cast his lot with them and be
the Lord's deliverer, he resolved. In this he was correct, ill-treated with them. That full implication' of sharing
although the manner and time of this deliverance was the lot with Israel Moses faced in faith, and he ihose it.
not made known to Moses. But one thing was sure: The verb in the Greek emphasizes that he chose this
return to Egypt he would never. He refuses to be called fou himseZ$ He was not making a choice for others; he
a son of Pharaoh's daughter. He disdained and knowingly made this choice in relationship to himself.
disowned the very thought. Forty years in Egypt had           He took up the cross of suffering evil with the
not made him an Egyptian. All the learning of the people of God. He said, "Thy God is my God." He
Egyptians could not alter the teaching of Jochebed, his returned to his people, to the people of God for whom
Israelitish mother. In the house of  Amram and there remaineth a Sabbath-rest. This people is the
Jochebed the seed of the Word had been sown by the people of God's choosing, a royal priesthood, a holy
Lord in his heart, and it was coming to fruition in nation, a peculiar people, called out of darkness into
Moses' life. The very thought of being such a son must God's marvelous light. They are the people of the
perish.                                                    promise. Princes and princesses of God are they, the
  It is time for action! He will say farewell to the sons and daughters of Abraham and Sarah unto whom
Egyptian court. It meant: never to return. Just how is the promise to go forth from Egypt with great
this would work out Moses does not know. He sees an substance, spoiling the Egyptians! (Gen. 15 : 13-l 5)
Egyptian smiting a brother of his, an Israelite. Is he not What glorious faith of self-denial, leaving all in Egypt,
the deliverer chosen by God to deliver Israel? Well, knowing that he had a better and an enduring
then let the act be the expression of his sincere substance.                 CL-i
resolution: he kills the Egyptian. It raises his hand
against the throne of Egypt. It is insurrection, to be     FAITH'S ACCOUNTING IN MOSES' DECISION
sure, but is there not a cause? This seals Moses' (Hebrews 11: 26)
determination to depart from Egypt, to be called             Faith does a bit of accounting. It compares values.
legally a son of Pharaoh's daughter no more.               Does not the Lord Jesus say, "Seek the things above
  Moses has crossed the Rubicon.                           where Christ is?" And are we not often told not to
  Never shall he return to the former status of life. have any "cares" about what we shall eat, or what we
Better an outlawed son of Pharaoh than to be guilty of shall drink? Does not the Lord Jesus say: where your
the blood of the people of God.                            treasure is, there shall your heart be? (Matthew  6:21
                                                           f.f.) We must not seek treasures upon the earth, where
MOSES' EITHER-OR CHOICE (Hebrews II:251                    moth and rust corrupt and where thieves break
  Did not the Lord Jesus say, "He that is not against through and steal. One cannot serve God and
us is for us?" (Luke  9:50.) And, again, did not the Mammon, for one will either hate the one or love the
Savior say "He that is not with me is against me; and other. It is an either-or situation. But here faith has its
he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad?" own ratiocination; it chooses unerringly. It always
(Matt.  12:30) Moses, too, was before this either-or seeks out God, does it not?
situation. It was either the pleasures of Egypt for a        So it was in the case of Moses. Faith was such that it
season, or choose to be afflicted with the people of made a proper evaluation concerning what constituted
God, to suffer the reproach of Christ. That was exactly true riches. The affliction of Christ was the true riches
the position of the Hebrew Christians in their day, even for Moses' faith. This affliction is perhaps the affliction
as it is thus for us in our day. We are to take up which Christ also endured. The question may be asked:
Christ's cross and. follow Him. For a servant is not how could Moses endure the sufferings of Christ when
greater than his master. In the world we shall have He was not yet come? Well, dear reader, Christ says to
tribulation, the tribulation of Christ. But we can be of the unbelieving Jews of His day, "Before Abraham
good cheer. Christ has overcome the world, also the was, I am." (John  8:58) And if Christ was before
world of Sodem  and Egypt!                                 Abraham, He was also before the days of Israel in
  Moses understands that his choice has far-reaching Bgypt's bondage. He was there with them as the
implication. He had, on the one hand, the pleasures of "Seed" ,of Abraham. Because of Him, the head, Israel
sin. This may mean sinful pleasure in general. It is called "my first-born." Does not Hosea say, "Out of
possibly refers to the sinful life of the Egyptian court, Egypt have I called my.son?" (Hosea 11: 1; Matt. 2: 15)
with its women, music, and wine; it debaucheries and This son was Christ, the head of His people. And for
loose living, a life of sinful and easy refinement. All the sake of Christ Israel suffered. The same


                                                         THE STANDARD BEARER                                                     401


persecution, and for the same reason, came upon must flee and live for forty years in Midian. And it will
Christ and upon Israel of old. And this Moses saw. He be a life of loneliness. But this loneliness, too, is
deliberately chose the affliction of Christ.                         affliction of Christ in a very acute form. He will name
  He chose it as  tithes. He chose it as being greater his son Gershom. He was a stranger in  Midian, little
riches than all the treasures of Egypt. All that the world understood by his wife, as to the basic rudiments of
can offer, the lusts of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, serving the Lord. However, he has another son whom
and the pride of life, Moses rejects. Thus he sallies forth he calls in faith Eliezer, God is my help! Such was faith
in faith. He leaves Egypt; he refuses to be called a son in Moses as it conquered the world.
of Pharaoh's daughter any more.                                        Well may the Hebrew Christians and we take notice of
  He is  a son of Jochebed and  Amram. Aaron is his this Moses, the man of God. He will pray: "And let the
brother, and Miriam his sister, and he is  .an Israelite beauty of the Lord our God. be upon us, and establish
true.                                                                thou the work of my hands, yea, establish thou it."
  Yes, he killed an Egyptian. He pays the price and





                                This Is `Reformed' Evangelism?
                                                           Rev. G. Van Baren

   One of the signs of the last  da$ is the apostasy                       phone any of these groups and find out how you
within the churches. I have reminded you of this in                        can join in a Bible Study group.
past articles. To my mind, this remains one of the                       Then you can meet with people just like you, in a
clearest signs that the return of our-lord is at hand.                  - smaller home group, or -in a Church- or even by
  In this connection, I would call your attention once                     yourself through a free Bible Correspondence
more to "Key 73" and its progress in our city of Grand                     Course,
Rapids. I fear the danger of overdoing opposition to a                     to learn more of Jesus Christ . . .
                                                                           and His Salvation. . .
certain project as this - yet so much of what I see is so                  and His Love . . .
disturbing that I believe it necessary td point it out and                 Just for you!
warn against walking in this road to apostasy.                                              Your neighbor, through God's Love
Key 73 meets the people of the neighborhood
   Part of the  plan of "Key 73" is to go out, two by                  The reverse side of the letter lists the participating
two, to visit the homes of the neighborhood. In some churches, including Lutheran, United Methodist,
cases, the "two" represent individuals from different Reformed, Roman Catholic, Christian Reformed,
denominations who approach a home together Wesleyan, Assembly of God, Free Methodist, Church
(practical ecumenism, I suppose this would be called). of Christ, Mennonite, Episcopal, Congregational, and
The Northeast Area of Grand Rapids was canvassed Salvation Army.
last March 11. Two pieces of literature were given out:                It's shocking! Imagine that I, Protestant Reformed,
a letter and brief pamphlet. The letter reads as follows:            would come to a home with such a letter and invite the
         Hello.                                                      occupant to "telephone any of these groups and find
         We are your neighbors.                                      out how (to) join in a Bible Study Group." Could I
         We are glad that we can share this story of God's           suggest that my only interest is that they go to some
            Love with you. This Love has meant so much to            study group, even  Rotian  Catholic or United
            us, that we want to share it with others.
         Will you please take time to `read about it? We hope        Methodist, and there to learn about Christ? And not
           you will do it today.                                     only I, as Protestant Reformed, would be unable to do
         Hundreds of Christians in the Northeast &ea of              this conscientiously before God, but I dare to say that
            Grand Rapids have promised together to share the         no sincere Reformed man could.
           story of God's Love. And this. is the way we ha;?,          Besides, the letter is openly Arminian suggesting
            chosen to do it.                                         that the salvation and love of Jesus is "just for you,"
         Would you like to learn more about this Love?               that is, every neighbor to whom this letter is sent. Now I
         If you do, check the list of participating groups of        can conceive of a Methodist or Lutheran and similar
           Christians on the opposite side of this sheet. Tele-      churches saying this. But can any Reformed group say


402                                                        THE STANDARD BEARER


that in light of the Canons of Dort to which these all can see it. It's that sort of Arminianism for which the
subscribe?                                                               Synod of Dort met in 16 1.8-19 in the Netherlands and
World Home Bible League materials                                        which cast out from the church those who refused to
  The little pamphlet submitted with the letter was renounce that vicious error. Here are a few of the
produced by the World Home Bible League (Box 11,                         things written:
South Holland, Ill. 60473). As I understand it, this                            God's love in Jesus Christ. is so strong that if we
League is an independent organization composed                               accept it and return our love to Him, we will live
                                                                             forever . . .
largely of Reformed and Christian Reformed men                                  God is offering you His transforming love right
whose avowed task is to produce cheaply and in many                          now. The most tragic thing you could do is to refuse
languages Bibles for distribution throughout the world.                      it and not return love to Him. Accept His
I think such was and is a commendable effort.                                transforming love!
However, this League has expanded its "ministry" in                             Bray this prayer: Jesus, I have sinned. I ask you to
producing "Bible Correspondence Courses" as well as                          forgive me. I accept your love for me, and I believe
publishing pamphlets and the "Living Bible" under                            that you will love me forever. Send your Holy Spirit
their own title, "The Greatest is Love." (A review of                        into my life to make me love you. For your sake,
this paraphrase of the Bible was given `in the Standard                      Amen.
Beaver, Vol. 48, pages 81 and 111.)                                        But what do our Reformed creeds declare? I point
  Now one might be inclined to rejoice that a to but two articles of the Canons of Dort, the Third
hodgepodge of churches as represented in N.E. Grand and Fourth Heads of Doctrine (articles 12 and 14):
                                                                                And this is the regeneration so highly celebrated in
Rapids Key 73 movement is willing to use literature                          Scriptures, and denominated a new creation: a
produced under the auspices of an organization of men                        resurrection from the dead, a making alive, which
of Reformed persuasions. One would expect that the                           God works in us without our aid. But this is in no
literature produced by such a group would be soundly                         wise effected merely by the external preaching of the
Reformed, or at the least (if such is possible), not                         gospel, by moral suasion, or such a mode of
opposed to Reformed faith. But what a disappoint-                            operation, that after God has performed his part, it
ment! One reads the little pamphlet, entitled: "Love,"                       still remains in the power of man to be regenerated or
with shock and disbelief. This is the sort of thing pro-                     not, to be converted, or to continue unconverted; but
duced by "Reformed" men, in an organization con-                             it is evidently a supernatural work, most powerful,
trolled by "Reformed"' men, to be distributed by                             and at the same time most delightful, astonishing,
"Reformed" (and other) churches???                                           mysterious, and ineffable; not inferior in efficacy to
  First, the. pamphlet quotes from the "Living New                           creation, or the resurrection from the dead, as the
Testament." This is not a translation of the Bible, but a                    Scripture inspired by the author of this work
                                                                            `declares; so that all in whose heart God works in this
-paraphrasing of it. Why is this done? Don't they want                       marvelous manner, are certainly, infallibly, and
the Bible? So very obvious it is that the reason for this is                 effectually regenerated, and do actually believe.
to introduce Arminianism as though it were Scripture!                        -Whereupon the will thus renewed, is not only
In several instances this is clearly seen. Some of the                       actuated and influenced by God, but in consequence
following texts are quoted (underscoring added):                             of this influence, becomes itself active. Wherefore
          Remans                                                             also, man.is himself rightly said to believe and repent,
                    3:22, "God says He will accept us and                    by virtue of that grace received.
       acquit us - declare us not guilty - if we trust Jesus                    Faith is therefore to be considered as the gift of
       to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in this                God, not on account of its being offered by God to
       same way, no matter who we are or what we have                        man,, to be accepted or rejected at his pleasure; but
       been like" (Cf. K.J.V.: "Even the righteousness of                    because it is in reality conferred, breathed, and
       God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and                    infused into him; or even because God bestows the
       upon all them that believe: for there is no                           power or ability to believe, and then expects that
       difference.")                                                         man should by the exercise of his own free will,
          John 11:25-26,  "Jesus told her, I am the One who                  consent to the terms of salvation, and actually believe
       raises the dead and gives them life again. Anyone who                 in Christ; but because he who works in man both .to
       believes in me, even though he- dies like .anyone else,               will and to do, and indeed all things in all, produces
       shall  live again. He is given eternal life for beheving  iii,        both the will to believe, and the act of believing also.
       Me and shall never perish. Do you believe this?" (Cf.
       K.J.V.: "Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection,                 There was a time, years ago, that ministers and
       and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were             leaders in the church would be suspended and deposed
       dead, yet  sh& he live: and whosoever  liveth and                 if they repented not of their error of Arminianism. But
       believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?")~          today this is being produced by men of "Reformed"
   This same Arminianism sticks out like a sore thumb                    persuasion, approved by synods of Reformed churches,
throughout `the entire brief pamphlet. It's so obvious,                  and distributed ecumenically by all sorts of
that even a child (with any sort of Reformed training)                   denominations. None (or at best: very few) object. The,


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                     403



difference is no longer discerned. Many seek to "serve        Arminianism so pervaded Reformed churches that
Christ" by spreading such spiritual poison throughout         Jesus can be openly "hawked" in this way? Is there no
the land.                                                     more a Reformed sensitivity? How are the mighty
                                                              fallen and the strong ones turned from the proper field
Shame on those yet known as Reformed!                         of battle!
  That this sort of thing finds such wide-spread                 I can only encourage our own people: Protestant
approval in Reformed circles can only indicate how            Reformed people, hold fast by grace to your Reformed
very far the churches of Reformed persuasion have             moorings - even though before long you stand alone
departed from their confessions. Is there no more             as those who still love the truths of Scripture as
opposition to this sort of "evangelism" within the            maintained by John Calvin and taught in the Reformed
Reformed circles anymore? Has ecumenism so taken              confessions!
over that churches no longer recognize what is their             With all the evidence of rapid apostasy, how very
proper calling in the light of Scripture? Has                 clear it is that,,"the Lord is at hand" (Phil. 4:5).



The Day of Shadows

                           Righteous In This Generation
                                                 Rev. John A. Heys

  The Hebrew has a short verb,  riplonger than our Noah that he has been given the right to enter into that
verb tfgo," that can be translated either as come or go.      sacred court where God has chosen to .reveal Himself as
In fact in Genesis 7:1 it is translated as come, for there    our covenant God. Noah had no such right. The fact
we read, "And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou              that he built the ark did not give him such a right. The
and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen          Roman soldiers nailed Jesus to the cross on which He
righteous before me in this generation." Then in verse        blotted out the sin of the world, but this did not give
7 it is translated as go, for we read, "And Noah went         them the right to that -pardon. And even though Noah
in, and his sons, and his wife, and his son's wives with built that ark in humble submission to God and by
him into the ark, because of the waters of the flood." faith, that still did not give him the right to come into
  There is, however, quite a different point of view the place of God's blessing. Noah did not enter either,
from the "go" expressed in the "come." To come until, in the words of Genesis 7: 1, God, in effect, said,
always suggests motion toward an individual or object.        "Noah, you may now come into MY ark." After all is
"Go" makes one think of departure from a person or said and done, it is God's ark, not Noah's.
object. And we ought to appreciate the translator's             Thus it always is, for salvation also includes the right
choice here in Genesis 7: 1. God calls Noah to come to be saved. We need to be saved from our lack of right
into the ark, and He does not order him to go into the to be saved. This is the first prerequisite  - and then
ark. God calls `Noah to approach Himself, for He has one which only God can and does fulfill  - of our
first come into that ark, sanctified it, and established it salvation. Never must we .forget that before man lost
as the place where for one year and ten days He would all the joy and glory andObliss of .paradise, he lost his
dwell with Noah and his family, and as the place from right to remain there. And did God not drive him away
whence He would dispense His mercy and grace. In and place angels with a flaming sword. to testify in no
that sense the ark served in the same capacity that the uncertain terms that man had  no- right anymore to
tabernacle and temple served in later years. This ark come and live where God communes in love with man?
was also God's house, a forerunner of the tabernacle And does not Revelation 22: 14 exactly teach that we
and temple, a picture of things to come. Thus the must receive the right again, when John writes,
words, "Come thou . . . into the ark" are prophetic of "Blessed are they that do His commandments, that
the words of Jesus in Matthew 25:21, ".`. . enter thou they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter
into the joy of thy Lord."                                    in through the gates into the city?" The right must be
  The phrase, "Come thou," then, is not merely a given us. We do not have it. We cannot buy it, and have
command, an order given to Noah (and God's not,even the right to buy it, if it were for sale.
commands to His people are never mere commands,                 What folly, really, to tell every man you meet that
but directives of love) but it is also a testimony to         God loves him, and that he may be saved. How


404                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


contrary to the word of God from Genesis 3 onward to through Noah's deeds. Do we not read in Ephesians
preach to all who hear as though they have a right to 2: 10 we are God's workmanship, created in Christ
have salvation "offered" to them, and as though one Jesus UNTO good works, which God hath before
may extend an "invitation" to come and be saved to ordained (prepared, or made ready is a better
all the descendants of Adam. According to Romans translation) that we should walk in them?
5: 12-19 all men have, by the offense of one, namely,          Noah was a sinner. Noah had no right to be changed
Adam, come under condemnation. By one man's into a saint. He, too, became a sinner in Adam. On him
disobedience many, in fact all men, were made sinners.       also condemnation fell. Death passed also upon him, so
By one man sin entered the world, and death by sin. that as a spritually dead man he could not do anything
And to say that all men have the right to be given a that God would call righteous. But the righteousness of
"chance to be saved" is to deny that condemnation, to Christ was imputed to him because he was chosen in
deny that death came upon all men, and then spiritual Christ. And because he was created in Christ Jesus as
death as well as physical, It is to deny that all men God's workmanship - not his own - unto good works,
have become sinners. For sinners have only one right: to the life of Christ was given him to enable him to do the
go to hell! Sinners have the right only to death and have    works of righteousness. For Christ's sake Noah had
forfeited every right to life and salvation. The con- been given the right to become righteous, and being
demned criminal may receive a pardon from the gover- born again as the fruit of that right, he did walk in
nor, but he has actually no right to ask for it. He who      righteousness. Redemption by the cross and
killed has no right to ask that his ownlife be spared. Much regeneration by the Spirit explain that Noah was
less with God does the rebel have a right to be given a      righteous in this generation.
"chance" to escape the wages of sin.                           The text does not state that only Noah was
  Notice, then, that God calls Noah to come into His righteous in this generation. And yet that is certainly
ark and into His covenant fellowship, because He has the idea. Only Noah and his family did God see to be
seen Noah to be righteous before Himself in this righteous in Christ in the days wherein Noah was
generation. The righteous God will not give the right to building the ark and preaching righteousness. However,
enter His house and kingdom to an unrighteous person.        the expression "this generation" means more than the
The narrow way and the strait gate into the kingdom is men of Noah's age. It does mean that. But it also
righteousness.                                               means that in the line of fallen Adam and his
  Let it also be noted that Moses speaks here of Noah        descendants God has seen Noah to be righteous. The
being righteous before God. That a man appears               distinction, then, is not simply between Noah and
righteous before other men means little. We must all         those born from fifteen years before or after the year
appear before the judgment seat of Christ, not of men.       that he was born. Then Moses would have written "in
And though all men judge us to be righteous and God          your generation." But the distinction is between Noah
judges us to be unrighteous, we still go to hell; and and the fallen human race, the generation of fallen
instead of hearing God say "Come dwell with Me in            men. At the time of the flood God saw Noah to be
heavenly glory," we will hear Him say, "Go away from righteous, although the whole generation (the whole
Me into everlasting perdition." Men may laud us and          circle we may also translate) from Adam onward had
our works to the sky as "civic righteousness." We may fallen into sin and unrighteousness. This does not rule
be `praised of men and still be damned of God. The           out righteous Adam, Abel, Seth and Methusaleh, but it
all-important question here is not what men say and          declares that although man fell from his righteousness,
think of us. Instead it is whether God calls our works       and the corrupt stock brought forth nothing but a
righteousness. And that means not simply that they           corrupt offspring, here by God's grace is a man that is
conform outwardly to the law, nor simply that men            righteous in Christ. God sees that, and therefore He
are benefited either materially or even spiritually by calls him to come and enjoy the blessings of His
these deeds, but whether they were performed by a            covenant.
love toward God that wants His name to be glorified.           That gives us comfort today.
  That God saw to be in Noah's deeds. And this God             We are still in that corrupt generation whose seed
saw to be in Noah because He put it there Himself.           was planted in paradise in the fall of man. God created
God never finds anything out. That would mean that man good and planted a good seed from which a good
for a time He did not know it. It would also mean that       tree would have grown. But that seed died spiritually,
there is from time to time an increase in the knowledge      and Satan planted a corrupt seed which thrives and
of God. It would mean that for a moment at least He          produced, a vigorous, productive plant that brings forth
was ignorant, lacked certain knowledge. And the man its fruit  !in rich abundance, a very prolific plant that
that talks that way is himself ignorant of God's             fills the earth. The particular generation to which we
unchangeable, infinite glory. No, God saw in the works belong  - and without a doubt our readers belong to
of Noah the righteousness which He gave Noah to              different generations of grandparents, parents and
exercise, and which eternally He decreed to manifest         young adult children of these  - is certainly


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                         405


unrighteous. It always is and always has been, since the sees Noah a branch in Christ, the Righteous Vine. And
fall of man. No righteous generation has sprung up that is also our hope. Engrafted into Christ both Noah
since that day that man ate of the forbidden fruit. Weli    and we are seen to be righteous.
could John the Baptist call them a "generation of              And in the moment of the threat of imminent
vipers" in Luke 3: 7. For spiritually they are the destruction of the whole world by fire, we have the
offspring of the Viper himself, Satan, the evil one.        same peace and assurance that Noah had. We shall be
   What hope is there for us that God will see us as safe, and we are safe. When the fire falls, we will have
righteous in this generation? Is there really any hope? been called into the ark of God's love. And through
Indeed, for Noah had nothing that we do not have. His Word as applied by His Spirit God calls to us every
That is the beauty of the Word of God when we read it day, and particularly in the preaching, "Come thou out
correctly. Noah had no righteousness in himself. He, as of the destruction and condemnation of the world into
we pointed out, belonged to that corrupt generation My covenant fellowship, and live with Me in glory."
that came into being the moment man sinned. We who             How true it is that there is no condemnation to
are branches on that same tree, and he who was an those that are in Christ Jesus. Noah was, and he
earlier branch upon it, have the same common root, escaped the punishment the world suffered. We are
namely, fallen, corrupt Adam. God therefore cannot also in Him by God's grace and will escape the
see righteousness in Noah, because God Himself is a judgment fire.
righteous Judge. And He can see it in Noah only #as He

Contending For The Faith
                    Eschatology-In The Old Testament
                                                Rev. H. Veldman

  In our preceding article we began to call attention house of our tabernacle is dissolved. The Old
to the doctrines known as Eschatology. And we began Testament Scriptures, however, also teach this truth.
this series of articles by calling attention to this We read in Proverbs  14:32: "The wicked is driven
doctrine as set before us in the Old Testament. We away in his wickedness: but the righteous hath hope in
concluded this article by quoting from the  Old: his death." We may note that the righteous has hope in
Testament Scriptures in connection with the return of his death. And in Ps. 73~24  we read: "Thou shalt guide
our Lord Jesus Christ upon the clouds of heaven and as me with Thy counsel, and afterward receive me to
occurring at fhe end of the ages.                           glory." The psalmist does not teach us in this passage
  The. doctrine of Eschatology also calls attention to that the Lord will guide us with His counsel, and
what is known as the Intermediate State, the state of afterward, much later, receive us into glory. But it is
the soul between the death of the body and its clearly the thought of the inspired writer that as soon
resurrection in the last day. Now it is certainly true as the Lord shall have finished guiding us with His
that the Word of God does not lay emphasis upon this counsel He at that very moment will receive us into
phase of the believer's salvation. The Scriptures glory. The Scriptures surely teach the doctrine of the
emphasize our state of final glory in the new heavens Intermediate State, does not teach a doctrine known as
and upon the new earth. It is true, however, that the "Soul-Sleep."
Word of God does teach this intermediate state in very        On the doctrine of the antichrist, as held before us
clear language. This is true of the New Testament. In in the Old Testament,  w'e read in Daniel  8:5-12 and
the parable of the rich man and Lazarus the rich man 11:40 ff.:
opens his eyes in torment and Lazarus is translated,               And as I was considering, behold, an he goat came
immediately upon death, into Abraham's bosom. To                 from the west on the face of the whole earth, and
the murderer upon the cross Jesus addresses the                  touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable
comforting word that he would be with Christ that               horn between his eyes. And he came to the ram that
very day in Paradise. And in II Cor. 5: 1 we read: "For         had two horns, which I had seen standing before the
we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle            river, and ran unto him in a fury of his power. And I
were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house              saw bim come close unto the ram, and he was moved
                                                                with choler against him, and smote. the ram, and
not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." And the           brake his two-horns: and there was not power in the
striking thing about this passage, in connection with           ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the
the question whether our souls are translated                   ground, and stamped upon him: and there was none
immediately upon death into glory, is the truth that            that could deliver the ram out of his hand. Therefore
we  have  this building of God as soon as the earthly           the he goat waxed very great: and when he was


406                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER


       strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up       we auote Isaiah 25 : 5-9:
       four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven.                 Thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers, as
       And out of one of them came forth a little horn,                the heat in a dry place; even the heat with the shadow
       which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and              of a cloud:. the branch' of the terrible ones shall be
       toward the east, and toward the pleasant land. And it           brought low. And in this mountain shall the Lord of
       waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast            hosts make unto ail people .a feast of fat things, a
       down some of the host and of the stars to the ground,           feast of wines on the `lees, of fat things full of
       and stamped upon them. Yea, he magnified himself                marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. And He
       even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily            will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering
       sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his                  cast over all people, and thevail that is spread over all
       sanctuary was cast down. And an host was given him              nations. He will swallow up death in victory; and the
       against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression,         Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and
       and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it                the rebuke of His people shall He take away from off
       practised, and prospered . . . And at the time of the           all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it. And it shall
       end shall the king of the south push at him: and the            be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have
       king of the north shall come against him like a                 waited for Him, and He will save us: this is the Lord;
       whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and                we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in
       with many ships; and he shall enter into the                    His salvation.
       countries, and shall overflow and pass over. He shall         In addition to this, the coming of Christ is also held
       enter also into the glorious land, and many countries       before us upon the pages of Holy Writ in the Old
       shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his      Testament. Of course! He, Christ, is the Hope of the
       hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the             people of God throughout the ages. It lies in the nature
       children of Ammon. He shall stretch forth his hand          of the case that His coming into our flesh and blood
       also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall        should be held before the people of the Lord from the
       not escape. But he shall have power over the treasures
       of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things     beginning of history. Many passages can be quoted in
       of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be       support of this :.?ming of our Lord. We could Tefer to
       at his steps. But tidings out of the east and out of the    Psalms 22, 69,  `89 and 110. Then, there are passages
       north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth        such as Isaiah  53, Numbers 24: 17-l 9 and Malachi
       with great fury to destroy, and utterly to take away        3: l-6.  The passages, however, which we wish to quote
       many. And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace      are Isaiah 7:14,9:6 and 59:15-21:
       between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet                Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign;
       he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.              Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and
                                                                       shall call His n&e Immanuel . . . For unto us a child
  We will not call  attention to these passages in any                 is born, unto us a son is given: and the government
detail. A vivid description of the antichrist in the New               shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be
Testament is recorded for us in Revelation 13. In these                called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The
passages of Daniel, however, the Old Testament                         everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace . . . Yea, truth
prophet speaks of him. Daniel surely refers to the Old                 faileth;  and he that departeth from evil maketh
Testament type of the antichrist in chapter 8, verse 9,                himself a prey: and the Lord saw it, and it displeased
where we read of the little horn which waxed                           Him that there was no judgment. And He saw that
exceedingly great. This is Antiochus Epiphanes, that                   there was no man, and wondered that there was no
Old Dispensational monster of iniquity, who ravaged                    intercessor: therefore His arm brought salvation unto
                                                                       Him; and His righteoustiess, it sustained Him. For He
the holy land, the land of Palestine, desecrated the                   put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet
temple and the holy place, offered swine's flesh upon                  of salvation upon His head; and He put on the
the altar of the Lord, during whose reign many of the                  garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with
people of the Lord fled into distant lands. He is the                  zeal as a cloke. According to their deeds, accordingly
Old Testament type of the antichrist.                                  He will repay, fury to His adversaries, recompence to
  The `"millenium," too, is held before us in the Old                  His enemies; to the islands He will repay recompence.
Testament Scriptures. Notice, please, that we place the                So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the
w o.r.d, millenium, i n   quot,ation  m a r k s .   T h e              west, and His glory from the rising of the sun. When
premillenarians view this peace reign as occurring upon                the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the
this earth, before Christ's final coming upon the clouds               Lord shall lift up a standard against Him. And the
of heaven. We believe that this reign of peace shall                   Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that
                                                                       turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord. As
occur in the new heavens and upon the new earth.                       for Me, this is My covenant with them, saith the
Now, however, we do not intend to call attention to                    Lord; My Spirit that is upon thee, and My words
this in detail. We merely wish to show that the Old                    which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out
Testament Scriptures. speak of it. We could- call                      of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor
attention to what we read in Isaiah 1 l:l-9. This                      out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord,
passage is familiar to us. We do well to read it. But now            from henceforth and for ever.


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                                                                            .?,I,
                                                                       i     ii,
                                                                                         v
                                                    THE SiiNDARD BEARER               `I'.  *                                        407
                                                                                       s,.

  Then, there is also this beautiful passage from the          precursory sign, wars and rumours of wars characterize
prophecy of Isaiah, chapter 6 1, the verses 1-3:               the entire Old Dispensation. We are surely acquainted
       The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me; because          with the wars that were fought throughout the Old
    the Lord hath anointed Me to preach good tidings           Dispensation between the Israel of God and the
    unto the meek; He hath:sent Me to bind up the              nations of the world. The emnity between the seed of
    brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives,        the woman and the seed of the serpent marks the ages
    and the opening of the prison to them that are
    bound; To proclaim the acceptable `year of the Lord,       of the dispensation of the shadows as preceding the
    and the day of'vengeance of our God; to comfort all        coming of our Lord into our flesh and blood. David
    that mourn; To appoint unto them that  moum.irr            was forbidden to build the Lord an house because he
    Zion, to give' unto them beauty. for'ashes,. the oil of    had shed much blood. How the nations of the world
   `joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit     and of darkness'fumed. and raved against the people of
    of heaviness; that. they might  be. called trees of        the living God! And these wars and  rumours of war
    righteousness, the planting of the Lord,,that .He might    continue throughout the New Dispensation.. Of course!
    be glorified.                                              The' coming of Christ can spell only disaster for the
  The precursory signs, the.signs that accompany and           wicked world. And it;is for this reason that His coming
symbolize the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, are             throughout the ages is marked by these wars and
also. held before Us in the Old Testament. We have rumours of war. But, we will continue with this in our
already called attention to kntiochus  Epiphanes, -that        following article.                               r
Old Testament type of antichrist. Besides this

                                                        `
                                                         ,                                                           :




               WEDDING ANNIVERSAR Y                                                  `WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
  On June  11,1973 our parents,                                  bn June 8, 1973 the Lord willing, our beloved
              MR. & MRS.. PETER KOOLE                          parents,
celebrate their 25 th `wedding anniversary.-                                MR. AND MRS. HENRY MEULENBERG
  We thank our faithful God for having kept them for will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. '
each other and us that together they might share in our          `We are thankful to  .our covenant God for having
covenant upbringing.                                           spared them for each other and for us, and we pray
  May God continue to bless them together as they that God may  biess them further in the way that lies
walk their journey here below.                                 ahead. As the days approach when their earthly
                     Their children                            pilgrimage shall end, may they enjoy the peace which
                                                                                                                             _.
                         Lawrence                              alone can be found in Him.
                         K e n n e t h   '                                            Their grateful children;
                         Kathleen                                                             `Mr. and Mrs. Gerrit Bol
                         James                                                                   Mr. and Mrs. David Meulenberg
                        -Ronald                                                                  Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Meulenberg
                        T i m o t h y                                                            Mr. and Mrs. John Bos
                                                                                                 Mr. and Mrs.. Henry P. Meulenberg
                                                                                                 Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Meulenberg
               WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                                                               Mr. and Mrs. Jack Feenstra
                                                                                                   25 grandchildren
  .On June 8, 1973 the Lord willing, our beloved                                                   2 great-grandchildren
parents,
        REV. AND MRS. MARINUS SCHIPPER
will celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary.
  We thank our Heavenly Father for preserving them                                                   N O T I C E
for each other and for their covenant love and                   Classis East of the Prot. Ref. Churches will meet in
guidance they have given us. Our prayer is that God            regular session on Wednesday, June 27th (the first
will continue to bless them in their remaining Wednesday in July is July 4th), at the First Prot. Ref.
pilgrimage together.                     1                     Church, Grand Rapids, Mich. Material to be treated in
                     Mr. and.Mrs. James Schipper               this session must be in the hands of the Stated, Clerk at
                     .Mr. and Mrs. Paul Schipper               least ten days prior to the convening of this session.
                     Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Schipper                                                                          Jon Huisken
                     Mr. and MrqEdward  Langerak                                                                            Stated Clerk
                        12 grandchildren.                                                                                   Classis East


                                                                                                  ..a:
                                                                  3             :      :     .
THE STANDARD BEAKER                                     ;.             .-.
          P.O. Box 5064                                                       .LI:-
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49505

408                                         THE STANDARD  BEARE,R


                                  News From Our Churches
  Mr. Vander Wal, our business manager, has                     It's not often that those 800 seats are filled, but it
submitted a couple of contributions for use in this happened again a couple of weeks later, when, on,May
column "when space allows." We enjoy those                    10, Rev. Engelsma presented a lecture entitled, "Key
contributions, but . . . space didn't allow, in the last 73  - What Must We Say About It?" The start of the
several issues; so to make certain I don't neglect them program was delayed for about ten minutes, while the
any longer, I'll place one at the beg&&g this time.           ushers tried valiantly to find places for everyone - first
  `Some months ago the Board of our  Standard in the 800 seats, then on 175 folding chairs which were
Bearer  began a  `lo for 2' subscription drive.  This set up as the church was filling, and finally;when those
means that any NEW subscriber can obtain ten were filled, on the floor and in the coat racks. Rev.
forthcoming issues for only two dollars. What a success Van  Baren, the chairman of the meeting, in his
this campaign has proved to be! Almost 250 interested introductory remarks noted that, "the fact that you
persons have responded to this offer! Of course, not all are here, and in such goodly numbers is evidence that
of these people have become permanent subscribers, the subject is of interest and concern to Reformed
but over 50 respondents to the offer have taken out people. We trust," he continued, "that you will be
yearly subscriptions to our magazine! Indeed an instructed, blessed, and guided by God's Word with
amazing outcome! Response to this offer has been respect to this topic."
received from 21 states, and also from several                  Tape and cassette recordings were made of that
countries, including Canada, Australia and even Korea. "instructive and powerful message," and by week's
We thank all those cooperating, and- responsible for end, more than forty requests were received from
making this effort a success."                                individuals desiring to obtain a -copy. That's another
  The covers of Randolph's Sunday bulletins have evidence, it would seem, of that "interest and
recently been including a "Sketch of Our Proposed concern." Copies of the recordings can still be
New Church Building."                                         obtained, incidentally, from Mr. Henry Vander Wal,
  And, in further building news, the Consistory of whose address appears under "Business Office," on the
Faith Church in Jenison reports- having rented a first page of this magazine.
parsonage. Members of the congregation have been                A couple of additional items from bulletins will
working with the Building Committee to prepare the probably run this column off the back page, but we'll
house for occupancy. "The bedrooms upstairs have risk it. The first comes from Southeast's April 29
been paneled, and work has started on installing tiled bulletin: "The Lord willing; Rev. & Mrs. Schipper plan
ceilings. Downstairs the walls have been prepared for to leave Wednesday morning for Skowhegan, Me.
painting and work has begun on the difficult job of There is a small Orthodox Presbyterian Church in
refinishing some of the woodwork."                            Cornville, a short distance from Skowhegan, where
  And, for still another building project, we turn to Rev. Schipper will be preaching the four Sundays of
Southeast's April 29 bulletin. "We are informed that May, and lecturing and visiting during the week."
the deed to the Seminary property has been signed by            The second is from South Holland (May 6): "Rev.
the `proper parties - the plans for the building will be R. Decker arrived in Patterson, New Jersey,
checked out by the architect  - and that possible Wednesday. He spent two evenings studying the
ground opening may take place the first of June. It Canons with fifteen adults from the Patterson area.
behooves everyone of us to give thanks to God that, Today, he plans to preach in the morning and in the
after some 49 years of existence, our Seminary will evening and to conduct a Bible class in the afternoon.
have a building of its own."                                  He also plans to begin Catechism class there studying
       Something rather unusual happened at First Church the Heidelberg Catechism and Essentials of Reformed
the other day - folding chairs had to be brought out Doctrine. As he proclaims the truth of God's Word in
to accommodate an overflow crowd. Bulletin New Jersey, the Pastor covets the prayers of the
announcements had encouraged our people in the congregation here in South Holland."
Grand Rapids' area to come out for the Mass Choral              After a May 4 Congregational Meeting in Hope
,Program, featuring the combined voices of the choirs Church of Grand Rapids, a call to serve as home
from First, Hope, Hudsonville,, and Southwest missionary to labor in the Philadelphia area was
Churches. "You won't," the announcements read, extended to Rev. Decker.
"find a better way to spend Easter Sunday evening               I was right. This news is a little long. The
with your family and friends." Many agreed, Editor-in-Chief will please take note and adjust the
apparently, for First's large auditorium was filled from length of his editorials accordingly.
stem to stern.                                                                                                    D.D.


