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



     IN THIS ISSUE

          Editorial
             Key `73, And Then Key `75, And Then???

          Meditation
             Sight To The Blind

          Taking Heed to the Doctrine
             An Open Letter Regarding Christian Liberty

          Feature
             The Seminary Building - Progress Report

          . . . and several others


                                             Volume XLIX, Number 20, September 1, 1973


458                                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


                               C O N T E N T S :   -I  -                                                ,  .:              THE STANDARD BEARER
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                                                                                  Editor-in-Chief: Prof. Homer C. Hoeksema
       Editor's Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .458      Department  Edit&'  Rev. Robert 0. Decker. Mr. Donald Ooezema.  ReY.
       Key `73, And Then Key `75, And Then??? . . . . .459                        O a v i d   J .   En9elsma,   R e v .   C o r n e l i u s   H a n k o ,   P r o f .   H e r m a n   H a n k o .   R e v .
                                                                                  Robert  C.  Harbach.  Rev. John A. Heys, Rev. Jay  Kortering.  Rev. Dale H.
       The OPC and the "Free Offer" (4) . . . . . . . . . . .460                  K u i p e r ,   R e v .   G e o r g e   C .   L u b b e r s ,    R e v .   Marinus   Schipper.   R e v .   Gise   J .
                                                                                  V a n   Baren.  Rev; Herman  Veldman.   R e v .   B e r n a r d   Woudenberg
Meditation -                                                                      Editorial Office:  Prof. H. C. Hoeksema
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       Sight To The Blind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I ... .461       Church News Editor:                         Mr.  Donald Ooezema
Taking Heed To The Doctrine -                                                                                                 1 9 0 4   P l y m o u t h   T e r r a c e .   S . E .
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       An Open Letter Regarding Christian Liberty ... .464                       Editorial Policy:  Every editor is solely responsible for the contents of his
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Editorials                                             Editor's Notes
HELP! A committee from our Staff and from the ,Sorry! Throughout Prof. Hanko's critique of Dr.
Board of the R.F.P.A. is working on plans to observe Berkouwer's book in the August issue the author's
the 50th Anniversary of the  Standard Bearer.  Our name was misspelled. Neither Prof. Hanko nor I caught
fiftieth year begins with the next volume, starting the mistake. In fact, I compounded it by spreading it in
October 1. And plans are to observe this occasion large letters on the cover. Nihil humanum alienum  mihi
throughout the year, building up to the actual est!
anniversary at the end of the year. Volume 50, then,                                                                                    `*I:***
.will be the 50th Anniversary Volume. In connection Be sure to read the Progress Report by Rev. Van
with these plans, the committee has a request for help.                          Baren. I may add that there has been more progress.
Do any of our readers have pictures or other                                     The underground plumbing and heating work has been
memorabilia directly or indirectly connected with the completed. Soon the floor will be poured, and then
Standard  Beare?   and its publication? Pictures of the you will see the superstructure go up. In fact, you will
former editors, particularly of "H.H." and "G.M.O."                              already find a corner of brick up. Just a little anecdote
are wanted: not necessarily formal photographs, but in this connection. My usually precise colleague in his
also some pictures of "human interest." The                                      article made the seminary address 5 101 Ivanrest.
committee wants these for a projected historical series.                         Curious, because I was sure .the address was in the
So if you have.`any pictures or anything else which you 4900-block, I asked him where he got the address.
think might be of interest, send it in, `please! And if Reply: "I was just guessing that had to be it." So I
you wish to have it returned, be sure that your name went to "headquarters, " and I learned that it is 4949
and address is on it. Send these materials to: Prof. H.                          Ivanrest. How about all those 49's! 4949 Ivanrest, and
H a n k o ,   4 6 6 5   J u - L e - O n   D r . ,   S . W . ,   G r a n d it will be ready for use in the 49th year of our
Rapids, Michigan 49504. Please don't wait!                                       churches' existence.


                                                        THE STANDARD BEARER                                                       459


     Key `73, And Then Key `75, And Then?
                                                        Pro5  H. C. Hoeksema

       In his recently published lecture,  "Key `73  - What        again: "Today Australian Christians see the need for a
Must We Say About It?" the Rev. Engelsma made the                  national effort that enlists believers in every city and
point that Key `73 is not only a movement which aims               community  i11  a  cooperative evangelical witness.  `<
at and effects a union of many churches, but that it is            (emphasis added)
not a temporary movement. Writes he:                                  Significantly, it appears that a possible Key `75
            The leaders of the new evangelicalism  who gave us     down under will be the same kind of ecclesiastical
         Key `73 are going to give us much more after 1973 in      hodge-podge as is Key `73. For in his concluding para-
         order to perpetuate and strengthen the union begun        graph Dr. Henry writes:
         in Key `73. For this reason, those in Reformed
         Churches who are opposed to Key `73 but who con-
         sole themselves regarding their church's participation           Early interest in a cooperative  transdenomina-
         in Key `73 by supposing that Key `73 is a temporary           tional evangelistic thrust that enlists both clergy and
         evil are fooling themselves. Key `73 is only a begin-         laity was responsible for the invitation I received to
         ning.                                                         meet with church leaders concerning Key 75 possibili-
                                                                       ties. Since Methodists and Baptists had already de-
       Rev. Engelsma goes on to point out that it is the               clared for worldwide denominational evangelistic em-
purpose of these leaders of new  evangelical&m not                     phases in 1975, and the Salvation Army in Australia
`only to promote "cooperative evangelism," but also                    is now also committed, a Key 75 thrust seems quite
"to further transdenominational evangelical coopera-                   possible. Such proposals could be merged into a con-
tion beyond evangelism."                                               tinent-wide effort that emphasizes a saving relation-
       What I now write is in confirmation of colleague                ship to Christ above denominational relatedness, and
                                                                       maintains continuity with the identifiable Key 73
Engelsma's point that Key `73 is not a mere temporary                  priority for personal evangelism. At the invitation of
evil.                                                                  ecclesiastical VIPs, I ventured 27,000 Eight miles and
       True, this is not evidence that this neo-evangelical            gave thirty-five addresses in seventeen days to clergy
movement plans "transdenominational evangelical                        and church leaders, university students, and local con-
cooperation beyond evangelism." But it is evidence                     gregations in nine cities. Hundreds of churchmen and
that they do not intend at all that Key `73 will be an                 lay workers long for a Key 75 type of evangelistic
isolated effort. There is more in the offing - also more               thrust, and their denominational decision-makers
in the line of so-called "cooperative evangelism."                     seem very open to the possibilities.
       Already plans are being laid and efforts are being             About a week before the above-mentioned article by
put forth for Key `75 - only now in Australasia.                   Dr. Henry was published, we had a visit from brother
       Dr. Carl F. H. Henry writes about this in a recent Wm. van Rij, our agent for the  Standard Bearer  in
issue of Christianity Today (July 6, 1973, page 38). In Australasia, who also tries to keep us informed about
an article entitled "Key 7.5 For Australia?" one can               ecclesiastical developments in New Zealand and
find the same kind of &o-evangelical jargon which Australia. According to his oral report, the proposed
Rev. Engelsma cites in his lecture.' Writing about the             Key `75 movement down under has all the same
younger generation in Australia, Dr. Henry states: ". . .          characteristics as the Key `73 effort. He reported that
they realize increasingly that to gain wide hearing for in New Zealand Dr. Henry was insisting that there
the biblical good news Christians must mount some                  must be co operation for this movement among
kind of cooperative witness. " (emphasis added) And in evangel&x& liberals, and Roman Catholics - even to
his comments on one of the Graham crusades in                      the point, according to friend van Rij, that Dr. Henry
Australia he writes: "The later crusade stimulated no              would have nothing to do with such a Key `75 movement
     fewer than 4,000 women's prayer groups to dedicated unless there would be such three-way cooperation. We
intercession and rallied evangelical forces to                     have not yet seen confnmation of this in writing, but
cooperative engagement.  " (emphasis added) And the idea does not surprise us. In fact, it is quite in



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460                                          THE STANDARD BEARER


keeping with all that we  have seen in the Key `73           ecclesiastical scene.
movement.                                                       And for our Australasian readers, we urge that they
  All of this confirms what the Rev. Engelsma warned also be alert against the siren song of this
against in his lecture.                                      sweet-sounding but deceptive ecumenism. Moreover,
  For our North American readers, let this for their instruction we offer them the pamphlet by
confirmation serve as additional warning that this Rev. Engelsma. Already a large supply of these
neo-evangelical movement is not a temporary, one-shot pamphlets has been shipped to New Zealand. But we
thing, and that no  one.should soothe his conscience will send even more, if requested, also to Australia.
about participation therein by imagining  > that it is       G o d 's   p e o p l e   a r e   i n   n e e d   o f   s o u n d   a n d
temporary. The Key `73 movement is one of the most           well-documented instruction such as this.
deceptive and the gravest dangers in today's

         The OPC and the "Free Offer" (4)
                                            Contrary To The Confessions

  In our second installment on this subject (prior to        1. God wills the damnation of the reprobate; God wills
the section in which we made the point concerning            the salvation of the reprobate.
basic exegetical method) we pointed out the twin             2. God from eternity hates the reprobate, and reveals
contradictions  iti the Murray-Stonehouse pamphlet,          Himself as such; and God is filled with a real
The Free Offer of the Gospel. We pointed out that the        disposition of lovingkindness toward the reprobate,
pamphlet does not only separate between the so-called        and reveals Himself as such.
will of God's decree and will of God's command                  Of the two above statements, our Reformed creeds
(decretive and preceptive wills, or, secret and revealed     maintain exclusively the first half of each. The
wills), but it teaches a flat and impossible                 Murray-Stonehouse pamphlet claims to maintain both
contradiction between the two. This position is basic        halves, but  in  effect  teaches only the second half of
to the whole offer-doctrine of the pamphlet. And,            each.
having made this contradiction, the pamphlet then               And the position of the pamphlet flatly contradicts
proceeds to forget all about the will of the decree and      the confessions. This I will demonstrate in the present
to busy itself exclusively with the contradictory            article. And I will quote especially (for the benefit of
revealed will.                                               Pr e s b y t erians), though not exclusively, from the
  We have already pointed out that this involves             Westminster Confession. My quotations are all taken
Murray and Stonehouse in a denial of the simplicity ot       from the edition published in 1970 by The
God. At this time we shall not belabor this point            Publications Committee of the Free Presbyterian
further, lest we complicate the entire discussion. There     Church of Scotland. To avoid confusion I will
are so many facets to this offer-theology that one runs      designate the chapters by Roman numerals and the
the risk of being side-tracked from the main issue and       paragraphs by Arabic numerals.
of complicating the discussion. Nevertheless, many of           In Chapter III (Of God's Eternal Decree), 2 we read:
these facets are significant, too, and well worth                     Although God knows whatsoever may or can come
discussing. And perhaps at a later date we can discuss            to pass upon all supposed conditions (Acts 15:18; I
some of them. There is, for example, the fact that the            Samuel 23:11, 12; Matt. 11:21, 23) yet hath He not
Murray-Stonehouse denial of God's simple will is in               decreed any thing because He foresaw it as future, or
flagrant contradiction of Calvin (who is often                    as that which would come to pass upon such
incorrectly appealed to and quoted in support of the              conditions (Rom. 9:11,13,16, 18).
offer-theology). And there is the subject of the unity         Murray  zind Stonehouse are shut up to the position
of God's will and of the distinctions between secret         that God is filled with an earnest desire to save all men,
and revealed, decretive and preceptive will - a subject      except up.on the supposed and foreseen condition that
well worth studying. There is also the subject of they refuse to accept the gospel invitation.
so-called "hyper-Calvinism," a subject on which the             In Chapter III, 3,4, we read:
Rev. Engelsma hopes to write in the future under                By the decree of God, for the manifestation of His
"Taking He&d To The Doctrine." But for the present           glory, some men and angels (I Tim. 5:21; Matt. 25:41)
we must by-pass some of these subjects or touch on           are predestinated unto everlasting life; and others
them only incidentally.                                      foreordained to everlasting death (Rom.  9:22, 23  ;
   The twin contradictions which we found in  .the           Eph. 1:5,6; Prov. 16:4).
introductory section of  The Free  Offer  of  the  Gospel        These angels and men, thus predestinated, and fore-
were these:                                                  ordained, are particularly and unchangeably designed,


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                   461


and their number so certain and definite, that it cannot      verbatim. And this means that according to the
be either increased or diminished (II Tim. 2: 18;             confession itself, this is revealed truth!
John  13:18).                                                   As a footnote to the above, I want to acknowledge
   Did God have a sincere desire and was He disposed          receipt of two important booklets on this subject.
in His lovingkindness to save those whom He ordained They are opposite in content, and they came to me
to death? If the decree of reprobation was not                from opposite parts of the world. One booklet,  The
motivated by such a desire to save the reprobate, could Free Offer of the Gospel is by Pastor Errol1 Hulse, of
there be such a desire in God in time and in the              England. It was sent to me by one of our readers for
proclamation of the gospel? Moreover, the number of critique. It is sub-titled, "An exposition of common
the elect and the reprobate is determined by what God         grace and the free invitation of the Gospel." This
decreed from eternity. The acceptance or rejection of booklet not only defends the offer-theology, but
the gospel invitation has no effect on this - in fact, has    endorses the position of the "Marrow" men of
nothing to do with this determination, There are no           Scotland. (Incidentally, our ministers will be receiving
conditions attached to this determination. How, then,         copies of this booklet from the same reader-friend who
as Presbyterians, can Murray and Stonehouse in their sent it to me. He only wanted to send it to men "who
pamphlet maintain a conditional desire on God's part          will criticize it.") The other booklet is an excellent and
to save the reprobate?                                        thorough-going critique of offer-theology published by
  I must interrupt the discussion at this point, and          the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Tasmania,
continue the next time, D.V. But let me conclude by           Australia. The title is: Universalism  and the Reformed
calling your attention to the fact that what is quoted        Churches  - A  Defence of Calvin's Calvinism.  The
above is indeed the will of God's decree, but is,             position taken in this booklet is very close to ours. To
according to the Westminster Confession itself, the both of these booklets I hope to give detailed attention
revealed  will of God. Did you notice the Scripture           in the future. I will also try to furnish more
references? These are the official proof-texts which information about the Evangelical Presbyterian
belong with  this confession. I furnished only the            Church, as soon as I receive some promised
references, to save space. A full edition of the              information. These brethren are much in agreement
Westminster Confession quotes all these proofs                with us, and this contact is a promising one.


Meditation
                                 Sight To The Blind
                                                 Rev. M. Schipper

            "And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The
           blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight.
           And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he
           received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way. "
                                                                                              Mark 10: 51,52.

  All the synoptical gospels record the narrative of the Jericho on the way to Jerusalem. It was perhaps a day
miracle, but the accounts differ in two respects. First,      or so before He called Zaccheus out of the sycamore
as to the number of men restored to sight. Matthew tree. And in another day or two He would be entering
tells us there were two men. Second, as to the place          upon the last week of His life upon earth. And sitting
where the miracle occurred. Luke places the miracle as along .the way, and perhaps near the gate of the city,
taking place at Jericho, while Mark informs us that it        were blind men begging. This, we are told, is a
took place as Jesus was leaving this city. None of these      common sight even to this day. Bartimaeus is one of
apparent discrepancies spoil the central importance of these blind beggars. That Mark mentions his name, is
the wonder performed. We are satisfied to accept not so much that he was notorious as a blind beggar,
Mark's account as that of an eye-witness.                     but most likely because this Bartimaeus later was to
  Important it is, for a proper understanding of what become known as a faithful disciple of the Lord. And
transpired, to form, if possible, a mental picture of the as the multitude following the Lord jostled in the way,
scene enacted.                                                and were perhaps even singing His praises, Bartimaeus,
  Jesus and a great multitude are passing out of learning the cause of the commotion, cries out his cry


462                                              THE STANDARD BEARER



for mercy, to which the Lord responds.                     and condition, He is left a spiritual pauper. Even so,
  It is needless to say, that the awful condition of this this does not begin to describe his awful plight.
blind beggar defies description. We who have never           Added to his spiritual poverty is the fact of spiritual
suffered want, can hardly imagine the lowly condition blindness. 0, indeed, not all are physically blind. Most
of this beggar. His poverty lay not only in the fact that of us are quite able to-see in the physical sense. And
he was dressed in rags, but along with this deprivation with the sight of our eyes, the pride of life and the
he bore the stigma of being a poor beggar. Along with flesh is zealously cherished and sought after. One
his lowly condition he was also despised. As so much wonders sometimes whether it were better that we did
rubbish, he sat by the side of the road, hardly noticed, not see so well. But though we see well with our eyes
and if noticed, spurned by the passerby.                   and perceive with our physical senses, each of us by
  Such conditions ought not to have been allowed in nature is stone-blind in the spiritual sense of the word.
Jewry. For the Lord God had commanded His people Unable we are of ourselves to perceive the things of the
to care for the indigent, and never to allow their kingdom of heaven. There is hope for the man that
brethren to come to this .awful plight. But Israel, when knows this.
it forsook God, also neglected His people; and in their      Noticeably, according to the text, Bartimaeus knew
self-centered life each sought his own welfare, not that his plight. He knew that he was poor, naked, and blind.
of others. Consequently, being forsaken of his own His cry is evidence of this. It appears that he also
people, Bartimaeus was left to scramble in the dust for senses that he was in need of mercy, - not merely the
a bite to eat, or a stitch to wear.                        mercy that would cure his physical blindness, but the
  Added to his affliction was the fact that he was mercy that would forgive his sin, which he saw lay at
blind. It is perhaps wrong to say that blindness is the the root of his physical condition. Surely, it cannot be
most serious of physical maladies. Those with other denied that all of the affliction of this life is the gross
afflictions which they consider worse, might challenge result of man's departure from the living God. Blessed
such a statement. Safe it is to say, that only a blind is the man who knows that by nature he is spiritually
man knows the awfulness of his plight, and can blind, a condition much worse than the plight of a man
appreciate the smallness of his world.                     who has to walk with a white cane with a strip of red
  There he sits in his lonely world which is dark and on it. Woe to the man who thinks he sees. There is no
dismal. Few are the faces of the blind that beam with greater blindness than that!
smiles and laughter. Generally their faces reflect the       But notice, too, a most blessed meeting which this
sadness which coincides with the darkness which never blind beggar had with Jesus!
leaves them. He is indeed, an object of pity!                0, the matter was not so simple that all he had to do
  But for Bartimaeus no pity is sent his way. Clothed was cry, and he would obtain the audience he desired.
in rags, his body evidently emaciated by hunger, his There was a serious attempt to discourage him in his
ears pricked for the slightest sound of tramping feet seeking for Jesus. We read that, "when he heard that it
that would bring him an audience to which he could was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say,
cry out for alms to relieve him in his suffering. Such is Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. And
the scene as portrayed to us in the text with its many charged him that he should hold his peace."
context.
   Before we proceed to consider what happened to            The multitude were zealous followers of Jesus in the
this physical wretch, we pause to consider for a way, but little understood the Saviour and the purpose
moment his spiritual antitype. Jesus, you may of His coming into the world. No, we do not consider
remember, on another occasion said: "All things take them all to be constituted of Pharisees whom Jesus
place in parables." That there is such a parable here, denounced as "blind leaders of the blind."
cannot escape our notice. Striking it is, too, to observe Nevertheless they, too, were sorely in need of light.
the fact that especially in Jesus' day, there were so And they followed Jesus, perhaps in the same way
many poor, blind, and sick. He Who was the Light, many will follow a political leader, or attend one who
came into the world of darkness, poverty, and death, has been signally honored in their race. In their
to draw all manner of men to the light.                    estimation the Rabbi must not be disturbed, and surely
                                                           not by one with so mean an occupation as the blind
   Accordingly, Bartimaeus is a picture of man as he is beggar. -And so, they severely rebuked him for crying
by nature, - despicably poor. Verily, the natural man
is clothed in the rags of corruption and sm. He is after the Master, and told him in no uncertain terms
                                                           to keep his mouth shut.
without God, and without hope in the world. True, he
forsook God, his Benefactor, and deprived himself and         Here we have something that happens frequently in
all his posterity of all his original gifts, including the a vivid way even in our day. Here is a sinner who
garments of righteousness. He lost God's image, and knows, by .the grace of God, his sin and spiritual
was banished from His presence, and gropes about in blindness, and at the same time also the deep need of
the darkness of sin and death. Disgraceful is his state salvation as it is to be found only in Jesus Christ, who,


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 463


with this deep sense of need, cries out for mercy. But ordained unto eternal life. Not one helpless, repenting
when he does so, men will turn on him and virtually do sinner may He pass by. Right here, as the promised
what the multitude did to Bartimaeus: tell him to be Messiah, He must also fulfill prophecy. Had not Isaiah
silent. 0, we are not pleading for religious predicted, "And in that day shall the deaf hear the
emotionalism, neither for a surge of fanatical words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see
revivalism. We are not asking for more "Amens" and out of obscurity, and out of darkness." And again,
"Hallelujahs." Personally we are not a little irked by "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the
the superficial emotionalism one sees today, as well as ears of the deaf shall be upstopped." And once more
by the hawking methods of revivalism that is he expresses what is expected of the Messiah, "To
thundered at us by radio and television. To us, much open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from
of it seems to be an attempt to put the sacred things of the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the
religion on a commercial scale. But we are pleading for prison house. And I will bring the blind by a way that
a revival of religious fervor and the dissolving of they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have
religious indifferentism. When a sinner is brought by not known. I will make darkness light before them,
the grace of Jesus to see his sin and the need of the and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto
Savior, we despise the multitudes that would silence them, and not forsake them."
his cry, and plainly tell him to fall back into his            So Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be
darkness and poverty. And this is precisely what the called.
multitude, wittingly or unwittingly, was doing to              Then said Jesus unto him, "What wilt thou that I
Bartimaeus. They understood not the sinner, nor the should do unto thee?"
Saviour.
  On the other hand, one who really understands his            What a searching question this is! The Saviour,
need, as this man did, is not to be silenced so easily. He conscious of His calling to save, draws from the sinner
will allow no obstacle to stand in his way of reaching the cry for salvation, which He had first implanted in
the Saviour. What a wonderful insight this man had!        his heart. This is always the way He saves. We do not
Notice his address: "Jesus, thou son of David, have first sense our need of Him, and then look for Him to
mercy on me." First of all, he knows Jesus, Whose          save. No, we are like Bartimaeus, whom Jesus came to
                                                           meet. And when we meet Him He draws out of us the
name means: Jehovah is salvation, or Jehovah saves. confession of our blindness, of our need. 0, assuredly,
That name means more than a mere appellation to Jesus knew what Bartimaeus wanted even before He
distinguish one man from another. Even though He is asked. Had He not come the Jericho way expressly to
also called Jesus of Nazareth in verse 47, this does not give cure to this blind man? There can be no doubt of
change the fact that the name, given to Him, not by his it.
parents, but by God Himself at His birth, has the              Rabboni, that I might receive my sight!
richest meaning. For when that name was given Him, it          Wonderful meeting, indeed!
was said: "Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall        The Fountain of life and light, of mercy and grace,
save his people from their sins." And the apostle, in      drawing near to the blind and halt, the miserable and
the Book of Acts, declares: "There is none other Name      wretched: And then, with bowels of compassion,
given among men whereby they must be saved."               asking the wretch to express in his own words his need.
  Notice, too, that Bartimaeus is well aware of  His While the blind beggar, pouring out his soul in every
true identity, for he adds: "Thou son of David." That word, replies: "Rabboni, I would see again." There is
means that he was conscious that this Jesus was the nothing on this side of heaven that is more wonderful
royal Son of David Whom God had said would come to than that!
sit on the throne of David forever. He was the                 Wonderful transition!
promised Messiah, therefore, Whom Bartimaeus now               He, casting away his garment, rose and came to
recognized, not by physical sight, for he was blind, but J e s u s !
by spiritual perception of faith. The very Messiah             The beggar drops his rags, and you may understand
Whom the multitudes did not perceive, and Who later here that he dropped everything else of self. He would
was rejected by them, Bartimaeus needs, because he hide behind nothing when he comes to Jesus. That's
realizes that alone in Him is to be found mercy and        the way it must always be, sinner. Not with our own
salvation. A wonderful insight, indeed, this man righteousness, which is but filthy rags. Just come
possessed.                                                 naked, as you are. And then by faith cast yourself at
  Most importantly, notice how David's Son pauses in His feet, and plead for mercy.
the way to call the- blind beggar to Himself. As we            Saved by grace through faith!
suggested earlier, He is on the way to Jerusalem. and          "Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole."
the cross. On that way He must do the work given               Another way to be saved there is not!
unto Him of the Father,  - He must save those                  And faith is a gift of grace!


464                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


Taking Heed To The Doctrine
                     An Open Letter Regarding
                                    Christian Liberty
                                                by Rev. David Engelsma

Dear Brother A. M.,                                             First, I will present Scripture's teaching regarding
   Some time ago, I promised you that I would read the Christian's use of alcohol. Then, I will consider the
the books and pamphlets condemning the Christian's arguments raised against any use of liquor. The
use of liquor which you loaned me and that I would teaching of Scripture is clear. Scripture permits the
comment on their contention, shared also by you, that Christian to drink a beverage, wine, which, if taken in
all use of alcoholic beverages is forbidden a Christian. excess, would make one drunk. Scripture nowhere
Included among these materials are "The Christian and forbids the Christian to drink an alcoholic beverage,
the Liquor Traffic" by Sam Morris (Wheaton, Ill.: but it forbids the Christian to be drunken. It should be
Sword of the Lord Publishers,  1951),  "Christ, the most significant to you that never does the New
Apostles, and Wine" by Ernest Gordon (Philadelphia: Testament say to the saints, "Do not drink," but, "Do
Sunday School Times Co., 1944),  and "The Bible and not be drunken." It does not forbid the liquor, but it
the Use of the Word, `Wine"' by Bertha Rachel Palmer forbids the abuse of it.
(Evanston, Ill.: Signal Press, n.d.). I have now had the        In Scripture, the alcoholic beverage spoken of and
time to read these booklets and pamphlets and to permitted to the saints is wine (in the Greek language,
study their argument. I trust that you have no oinos).  Now, I know that those who insist on total"
objection to my answering you by way of an open abstinence maintain that "wine" in the Bible refers,
letter. The question whether a child of God may drink not to wine as we know it today, but to grape juice,
liquor is one in which many have an interest, that is, to a juice that. would not be able to make a
especially,  -because the issue of Christian liberty is man drunk even if he drank a barrel of it at one sitting.
involved, as you yourself pointed out to me.                  But this interpretation of the word "wine" in Scripture
  In brief, the stand of these writings, and the stand is a pure fiction, nothing but a device by which they
which you defend, is that any use of drinks which desperately try to avoid the plain teaching of the Bible
could be abused so that drunkenness results is sinful. that wine, a liquid that could intoxicate if taken in
In other words, you contend that it is sin for a excess, is permitted to the saints. Grape juice simply is
Christian to drink beer, wine, whiskey, or any not wine, not in the usage of Scripture either. Never in
beverage which, taken in excess, has the power to the `Bible does the word "wine" refer to grape juice. It
intoxicate. You condemn the position that, although it always refers to the fruit of the vine which has the
is sinful for a Christian to be drunk, a Christian may in power to intoxicate. We need not chase here and there,
good conscience use and enjoy liquor. Therefore, you from one obscure, secular authority to another, to
are critical of Reformed churches in general and of the discover whether in Bible times "wine" really meant
Protestant Reformed Churches in particular on this            "grape juice." The Bible itself makes plain that when it
point, for Reformed churches do not teach total speaks of wine, it means wine - a drink from the grape
abstinence as part of a holy life, much less blow it up that will make a man drunk if he drinks too much.
as virtually the essence of a holy life.                      Ephesians 5: 18 is conclusive: "And be not drunk with
  The only authority for determining whether a wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit."
Christian must abstain from liquor is Holy Scripture.         "Wine" here is not grape juice, for it is something that
Listing one example after another of the ruin of lives,       a man could possibly get drunk on. "Wine" is an
marriages, and homes by drunkenness has an emotional intoxicating  .`drink, liquor. The apostle does not
effect,, but is not decisive for our question, whether all    command the saints not to drink wine, but he
use of liquor is sinful. One could as well list all the commands  us  not to  get drunk  on wine (or, by
misery that has resulted from the abuse of sex, in order implication, beer, whiskey, or any liquor). The reason
to prove that all sex is evil and that all Christians must    for the prohibition is that in drunkenness is "excess."
totally abstain. Only the teaching of the Bible may be        Literally, the word translated "excess" is "debauch-
the basis for our stand in this matter. For this reason, I ery" or "profligacy." Inherent in drunkenness is disso-
will concern myself only with those sections of the           luteness of life. The saint who becomes drunk gives
books and pamphlets which you loaned me that allege           himself over to the power of his sinful flesh and thus
to give the Biblical grounds for opposing liquor.             sees to it that he behaves himself, whether in thought


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 465


and desire or in deed, as an unsaved man. But Paul's absolutely impossible. This becomes glaringly and
prohibition of drunkenness implies the right of a Chris- painfully evident in the book by Sam Morris, "The
tian to drink wine, an alcoholic beverage. In our drink- Christian and the Liquor Traffic," which we may take
ing of wine, we must guard against becoming drunk.          as representative of all the other books and pamphlets
  This passage shows what the New Testament means defending total abstinence. Although it boastfully
.by "wine" in every case. Jesus made wine at  Cana, advertises itself as "a sledge hammer message," its
according to John 2: l-l 1. Apart from the evidence         efforts to prove that Scripture condemns drinking have
already presented that "wine" in the New Testament all the force of a wet noodle. And since the teaching of
means an alcoholic beverage, how contrary to sound the Bible is the one decisive thing as regards the
interpretation of Scripture to understand "wine" in question whether drinking is sinful, the entire book is a
John  2:3 as the alcoholic beverage, but to explain         pitiful failure. Seldom do I come across such foolish
"wine" in verse 9 as grape juice.                           interpretation of Holy Scripture. Not only do the
  In Luke 7:33,34, Jesus contrasts Himself with John        passages to which he refers not prove what he wants
the Baptist in that John, as a Nazarite, drank no wine      them to prove, but they often prove the very opposite.
(certainly, not grape juice), but Jesus did drink wine,       The proposition which the book wants to establish
so that His enemies called Him a "winebibber." It is as     is this: "The Bible magnifies total abstinence." In
plain as day, from the mouth of the Lord Himself, that      other words, the Bible forbids us to drink alcoholic
Jesus drank the wine that John abstained from               beverages at all. The book claims to give us Biblical
drinking, that is, intoxicating beverage. Although He       grounds for this position. What are these "sledge
was no "winebibber," that is, a drunkard, a wino, Jesus hammer" blows against our use of liquor?
was a "wine-drinker."                                         The first Biblical ground for opposing liquor is the
                                                            statement in Deuteronomy  29:6 that the children of
  The .fruit of the vine which Jesus incorporated in the    Israel drank no wine or strong drink during the forty
Lord's Supper was wine, wine in the only sense              years of wandering in the wilderness. From this simple
Scripture knows of, a drink which invigorates a man         statement of fact the book infers that drinking wine is
and makes his heart glad, a beverage which, if abused,      sinful. That this is an erroneous inference the book
makes one drunk. Therefore, the Corinthians could do        could have learned by reading the first part of the text
exactly that with this element of the sacrament, and        where Moses reminds Israel that they also did not eat
we read in I Corinthians  11:2 1 that some of them bread during the forty years. May we conclude from
wickedly became drunk with the wine of the Lord's           this that eating bread is sinful? At times, God's people
Supper.                                                     abstained from perfectly legitimate activities because
  Also the wine that Paul told Timothy to use in I          of a certain purpose God intended them to fulfill
Timothy 5:23 was wine, not grape juice. It makes no         during that limited period. For example, Israel had to
difference that the reason for the use is "thy stomach's    abstain from marital relationships at the time of the
sake," for the fact remains that the New Testament giving of the law (Exodus 19: 15). Shall we conclude
clearly shows that some use of liquor is permissible.       from this that marital relationships are sinful? This is
This is enough to refute the position of total              foolishness.
abstinence.                                                   The next ground against liquor is Jeremiah 35: 1-14,
  The Old Testament teaches the same things, namely,        God's praise of the Rechabites for their faithfulness to
that by "wine" is meant an intoxicating beverage and their father's command not to drink wine. What the
that this wine was legitimately used by God's people.       book conveniently omits to mention is that the
Genesis  9:21 records that Noah became drunk on Rechabites were also faithful to their father in not
wine. Genesis 14: 18 records that Melchizedek gave building houses and sowing seed. According to the
wine to Abraham after the battle with the kings. There      argument of the book, just as this passage proves the
is no need to list all the passages in the Old Testament sinfulness of drinking wine, so it also proves the
that mention the legitimate possession and use of wine      sinfulness of building a house and sowing seed.
by Israel. Psalm 104:  14,15 blesses Jehovah God for Therefore, no Christian may drink liquor, build a
giving "wine that maketh glad the heart of man." Israel house, or sow seed. This, mind you, is the "sledge
thankfully used and enjoyed this good creature of hammer" against drinking alcoholic beverages. The
God.                                                        correct understanding of the passage has nothing to do
  To sum up, Scripture speaks of an intoxicating with the sinfulness of wine. The Rechabites were
drink, wine, which it is permissible for the saints to use praised for being faithful to their father in all his
and which can be used rightly. But Scripture warns commands, whereas Israel was not faithful to their
against drunkenness.                                        Father's commands.
  How then can anyone defend the proposition that             Another "sledge hammer blow" against drinking is
any and all drinking of liquor is sin on the basis of Leviticus 10:8,9, which the book explains thus: " God
Scripture? The fact of the matter is that this is commanded the priests to drink no wine nor strong


466                                          THE STANDARD BEARER


 drink." This is not even a correct statement of the           Finally, the book appeals to the texts in the
 teaching of the text. The text does not flatly prohibit Scripture that condemn drunkenness. At this point,
 wine to the priests, but it forbids them to drink wine one wonders whether the book is not guilty of
 when they go into the tabernacle ("Do not drink wine deliberate deceit rather than mere ignorance. It is
 nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee when ye supposed to be proving that drinking wine is sin;
 go into the tabernacle").                                   instead, it shows that drunkenness is sin (which no one
   Next, the book proves total abstinence from the fact denies); then it loudly concludes: "See, I have proved
that in the Old Testament and in the case of John the that drinking is sin." In fact, it has proved only that
Baptist in the New Testament the Nazarites were drunkenness is sin (which we have insisted all along is
forbidden to drink strong drink (cf. Number 6: 1-3, the Biblical teaching). The same error is made in the
Luke 1: 15, etc.). It is hard to believe that one who pamphlet, "75 Bible References on Drinking." This
claims to be a preacher of the Word can `handle the pamphlet refers to I Timothy 3:3,8,11,12 and analyzes
Scriptures in such a silly manner. It is, of course, true the texts thus: "Church officers must not drink;
that the Nazarites were forbidden to drink alcoholic neither should their families." Actually, the texts
beverages. It is also true that they were forbidden to condemn drunkenness, not drinking but drinking too
cut their hair. Shall I preach to my young men that not much. These texts are illustrations of the truth that the
only is long hair permissible for men but also that Bible never condemns drinking wine (liquor), but only
cutting their hair is sinful for young men, because the drunkenness. Similar passages are I Corinthians 5, I
Nazarites were forbidden to cut their hair? In fact, the Corinthians 6, and Galatians 5, which the pamphlet
case of the Nazarite proves neither the sinfulness of refers to as condemning drinking. I Timothy 3:3 says
drinking strong drink nor the sinfulness of cutting their that a bishop, or elder, must not be "given to wine."
hair on the part of men. On the contrary, it proves Once more, by the way, it is made clear that "wine" in
both that drinking strong drink was legitimate for the the Bible is not grape juice but wine, for the Bible
ordinary Israelite and that men had short hair. The would not forbid an elder to be given to grape juice.
Nazarites were special servants of God. As such, they The word translated "given to wine" is paroinos and
were distinguished by certain characteristics that set means `addicted to liquor, sitting too long at the wine,
them apart from the rest of Israel. Among these were drinking too much wine.' Similarly, verse 8 declares
total abstinence and long hair.                              that a deacon must be a man "not given to much
   Then, the book appeals to Romans  14:21: "It is wine." What could be more plain? Paul does not write:
good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any "A deacon must be a man who does not drink wine."
thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, But he requires that a deacon not be a heavy drinker, a
or is made weak." The argument of the book is that drunkard.
since Paul says that it is good not to drink wine,             Some effort is made to find in the Old Testament
drinking wine is sinful. At least, the book here admits the prohibition of drinking that cannot be found in the
that it is a mistake to suppose that wine in the New New Testament. Especially Habakkuk 2: 15, Proverbs
Testament was grape juice and grants that wine is 20: 1, and Proverbs  23:29,30 are quoted. But all of
liquor, for Paul would hardly teach that it is good not these passages warn, not against drinking, but against
to drink grape juice. The absurdity of the book's drunkenness. In Habakkuk  2:15,16, the prophet
appeal to this text to prove the sinfulness of drinking condemns the man who makes his neighbor drunk in
wine is obvious. If Paul is teaching the sinfulness of order to "look on their nakedness." Proverbs  2O:l
drinking wine, he is also teaching the sinfulness of speaks of the danger of  misusing wine  and  warns us
eating meat, for he says: "It is good neither to eat against being deceived, i.e., being drunken. Proverbs
flesh, nor to drink wine. . ." If we follow the reasoning    23:29ff. condemns "tarry(ing) long at the wine," i.e.,
of the book, we must conclude that all Christians must       drunkenness. The man described, in the passage is a
not only be total abstainers but also vegetarians. In        drunkard.
fact, Paul is not teaching the sinfulness of drinking          Our examination of Scripture shows that total
wine or eating meat. Both of these activities are            abstinence is a commandment of men, not a
perfectly legitimate. Paul expressly says in verse 20,       commandment of God. Some may think that it is a
"All things indeed are pure." But there may be               good commandment of men, but we Reformed people
brothers in the Church that  .are not yet as strong in       will not permit our consciences to be bound by the
Christ as they should be. These brothers regard eating ordinances of men. This is part of our liberty in Christ.
meats and drinking alcohol as sinful and may be              Only the Word of God binds our consciences, and the
offended when the stronger Christians do these things.       Word of God in the gospel is not a reversion to the
Then, out of love for the brother, not because there is      stifling legalism of Judaism. We will let no man judge
anything sinful in eating meat or drinking wine, the         us in meat, or in drink (Colossians 2: 16). Why should
stronger Christians should give up eating meat,              we who are free in Christ. be subject to ordinances,
drinking wine, or whatever offends the weaker brother.       "touch not; taste not; handle not" (Colossians 2:21)?


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                                467     1
Christ has freed us from the intolerable yoke of men's rule to keep in order to be saved, another "virtuous"
commandments, whether those of the Pharisees, or abstinence from something pleasurable? Why is it that
those of a Pope, or those of the books which you not drinking and not smoking are exalted to a place of
loaned me. So vital is this principle to us that we preeminence in the Christian life above the ten
would rather have all the ungodly world in a drunken commandments of God? Why is it that many who cry
stupor because of beer, wine, and whiskey than that down woe on smokers go on, year after year, breaking
one child of God should doubt his salvation because he the 1st commandment of the law of God by preaching
disobeys man's commandment not to drink wine.             and confessing a god who cannot by almighty grace
  This, then, is our Reformed position on the saints' save anyone, but is dependent on the supposed free
use of liquor. The believer may drink and enjoy will of man? The first part of a holy life is to love and
alcoholic beverages. The believer may not be drunk. worship the true God by preaching, believing, and
Drunkenness is sin. The impenitent drunkard shall not confessing pure doctrine. The second part is to love the
be saved. Since drug use is precisely the same as neighbor by doing good to him in word and deed. In
drunkenness, drug use is condemned as well. comparison with this, smoking is next to nothing.
Condemnation of drunkenness also includes                    This brings me, dear brother, to the heart of the
condemnation of parties that lead to drunkenness, beer matter. There is something far more important
parties among the young or highball parties of their involved in this discussion than merely the questions,
parents. Nor may one drink for the wrong reason, e.g., "May a German Christian drink a glass of beer on a hot
to drown his sorrows, to obliterate his problems for a summer evening, and may a Dutch Christian puff on a
little while, or to feel joyful when he is troubled with pipe or cigar without jeopardizing his soul's salvation?"
depression. Instead, he should be filled with the Spirit. As I have already indicated, the essential truth at stake
We in Reformed churches need to hear the admonition in our discussion is the liberty of the Christian in
against drunkenness in the preaching, and we need to Christ. That is why I headed my letter to you as I did:
keep this sin out of the Church by the disciplinary "An Open Letter Regarding Christian Liberty." The Life
labor of the elders, just as was the case in the churches in the world of the Christian man is one of freedom.
addressed by the New Testament epistles. By no means glorious freedom. .For it is a life under grace, not under
are we silent on the subject of liquor in our churches. the law (Romans 6: 14). And .as Romans and Galatians
It also belongs to our Reformed position on liquor that show us, this liberty is always threatened by legalists,
if a man cannot use liquor without abusing it, he ought law-preachers, who try to entangle us again in the yoke
to give it up entirely. It is better to go to heaven of bondage. This, we must guard against on peril of our
without liquor than to go to hell with it. But he may soul's salvation. What do I mean by Christian liberty?
not make total abstinence a law for all the Church, This. Christ Jesus in whom I believe satisfied for all my
only for himself. And if we have brothers in the church sins and fulfilled all righteousness for me, so that I am
who are offended by our drinking, that is, weaker free from all sin, death, condemnation, and hell and
Christians who are actually tempted to sin through our from all obligation to do anything to earn salvation.
behavior, we ought to give  up. drinking, just as we The Spirit of Jesus now dwells in me, freeing me from
should give up eating meat if this offended someone. the enslaving power of sin, so that I can and do live a
This `we would do out of love for the brother, not life of obedience to God, although not perfectly. Freed
because we thought drinking a sin.                        from pollution, I am free to serve God. My life of
  You also mentioned smoking to me. It is my holiness to the Lord is not governed by the precepts
judgment that as it becomes increasingly evident that and ordinances of men - my conscience is not at the
smoking is detrimental to health, Christians ought to mercy of this pope who says, "Thou shalt not eat meat
give up smoking, or not to start. The law of God that on Friday," and that lordly Pharisee who says, "Thou
would apply is the 6th commandment, which our art damned if thou eatest with unwashed hands," and
Heidelberg Catechism explains to mean, in part: "that that religious tyrant who says, "If you drink liquor,
I hurt not myself, nor  wilfully expose myself to any you go to hell." It is the law of God that is the sphere
danger. " Of course, smoking would be but one of of the saint; it is the law of God that I obey, the law
many implications of this commandment: over-eating that says, "Love your heavenly Father Who saved you
and being too fat; dangerous driving; hazardous sports; by His only-begotten Son with all your heart and mind
etc. To single out smoking as the one great violation of and soul and strength, and love your neighbor as
the 6th commandment strikes me as odd. When people yourself." And I obey that law out of the motive of
and churches do this, I wonder about their thinking. Is thankfulness for a wholly gracious salvation. I am a
it perhaps the case that in their thinking the free man in my conscious life, too. I am not a slave
prohibition of smoking is not part of the 6th who has a list of "do's" and "don't's" scrupulously to
commandment which the saved Christian is called to observe lest he be punished. But I am a son of God
obey in thankfulness, but that "not smoking" is, in who loves my Father and who freely, joyfully honors j
reality, another ordinance of man, another legalistic this Father with a holy life.


468                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



  This is the Reformed conception of a holy life.            who practice drunkenness and revelliings and the
There  is  a Reformed- doctrine of good works. I am attenda-nt  lusts and lasciviousness. God will judge
convinced that it is the Biblical conception. It is them. When they reveal themselves, as they inevitably
unique. There are other churches that display a certain      do, f a i t h f u l   e l d e r s   w i l l   d i s c i p l i n e   t h e m ,
strictness with regard to the lives of their members, but excommunicating them if they refuse to repent. But the
whose conception of the Christian life smacks of the presence of these abusers of grace and liberty in the
legalism of the Judaizers. They view the Christian life Church is not strange. The Devil always sows tares
as essentially a matter of external deportment; they among the wheat in order, on the one hand, to destroy
emphasize man's commandments, in distinction from the Church with the leaven of sin or, on the other
God's; they present obedience to these commandments hand, to destroy the Church by getting her, in reaction
as a matter of achieving salvation. I think that we to this abomination, to revert to legalism. The Church,
Reformed churches ought to set forth the unique however, may never deny or silence the truth because
Reformed doctrine of holiness and good works more wicked men abuse it. For the sake of God's elect, she
than we have done. Let us have some Reformation Day must proclaim it. They must be and will be saved by
lectures on such subjects as, "The Reformation's the truth.
Doctrine of Good Works," and, "The Reformation's                In conclusion, I can think of no better counsel than
Goal of a Church Zealous of Geniune Good Works."             to advise -you to read and study the third part of
  I grant you that there are some among us who use our confession, the Heidelberg Catechism,                                    for an
our liberty for an occasion to their flesh. These understanding of the Reformed view of the holy life of
damnable antinomians spoil our good testimony as far the Christian. Reading it, you cannot any longer
as others are concerned and make us stink in the entertain fears concerning our eager pursuit of holiness
nostrils of those who observe us from without. These "without which no man shall see the Lord" (Hebrews
enemies within leave the impression that the Reformed 12: 14).
doctrine of liberty is, in reality, only the satanic idea                                                      Cordially in Christ,
of licentiousness. These are the people, young or old,                                                             David Engelsma


From Holy Writ
                  Exposition of Hebrews 111228                                                                                           .
                                                   Rev. G. Lubbers

Hebrews  11:28                                               Me!  (John  5:46) The subject in Exodus 12 is not
  In our text the writer to the Hebrews affords a last Moses at all, but it is Moses' faith in the Christ of God.
glance at what transpired in the land of Egypt. Israel Strictly speaking, the Cross of Calvary was raised up
had been dwelling here for four hundred thirty years. typically in the land of Egypt. Israel comes out of
Now they will be leaving; the LORD will deliver them Egypt by virtue of the love of God which He reveals in
through  redemption  with blood. This will not be the shedding of the blood of the Cross.
emancipation; it will be deliverance from sin and guilt,        This blood of the Lamb in Egypt made a separation.
death and shame, for God's firstborn son, Israel. Had It is blood which is to be shed for the people of Israel,
not God said: Israel is my firstborn son? And had the firstborn son of God. It is rooted in sovereign
Pharaoh not stout-heartedly refused to let God's election of grace, and is the fulfilment of the promise
firstborn. son.go to worship Him, but had kept him in of God to the fathers. There are two kinds of firstborn
cruel bondage?                                               sons in Scripture. The one is the firstborn after the
  In our text here we see the great faith of Moses in flesh. This is the world in its power and splendor. The
preparing the  passover  and the effusion of blood on other is the firstborn after the promise of God. This is
the door-posts. This is the faith which does not draw the church in the Firstborn Son, who is the-Firstborn
back into perdition, but believes unto the saving of the of all creatures as the Firstborn out of the dead. (Col.
soul. It is, faith which looked `to Christ, the Lamb of 1: 15-20)
God, which taketh away the sin' of the world. For let it        In this night all the firstborn of the flesh will die.
not be overlooked or forgotten that Jesus makes the Thus it is announced.by Moses to Pharaoh. It will be
statement concerning Moses that if one believes Moses, the culmination of all the dreadful plagues of Jehovah
one believes in Me, for Moses writes concerning (peri)       God. God is the LORD, and Pharaoh and all Egypt will


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  469



acknowledge' it; they will bow before the LORD! And the firstborn of God. Still it was a national community
God will save His own firstborn by the blood of in Egypt. They were born a nation in this night. And
redemption.                                                  thus they were formed and called forth in Egypt. And
  Only by faith does Moses perform the will of the they are separated from the Egyptians in this night,
LORD!                                                        that all the world may know that the Lord doth make
                                                             this difference by blood. Here is the wonder of grace!
THE PASSOVER INSTITUTED  (Hebrews 11:28)                       The  passover  was the passing over of the angel of
  There is a difference of opinion amongst destruction, the destroying angel with his glittering
commentators whether the verb in the Greek, which sword. And "when I shall see the blood, I will pass
is  "pepoieeke" should be translated "celebrated" or over, " said the LORD to Moses. And in view of this
"prepared," that is, "instituted." Delitzsch takes the passover  must be instituted.
exception to Lunemann and others that the term                 In the second place, therefore, the  passover  was a
should refer to both the institution and the celebration typical feast celebrating the remembrance of the
of the Passover. According to him it must simply refer Lord's deliverance. It was the Old Testament
to the celebration.                                          Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. In it the Lamb must
  We believe that the term in the Greek must refer to be eaten in which a bone has not been broken. They
both. In the first place, because the verb is in the must not eat Lamb stew, and Lamb chops, but they
perfect tense and indicates completed action up till the must eat the "body." The body must lie before Israel.
present. The aorist tense would have indicated the They must eat it with bitter herbs, reminding them of
once-celebration in Egypt. However, what Moses did in liberty from the bitter service of Egypt, and of their
Egypt reaches across the ages. It is to be an ordinance present liberty in the LORD. They must eat
"forever." This does not mean that the Passover is still unleavened bread reminding them of the bread of
an ordinance in the Old Testament form. This was affliction (Deut. 16:3). The bread must be unleavened,
abolished by Christ at Calvary. It was "forever" in the for all that was of the sinfulness of Egypt must be left
limited sense that is ever indicated in this term when behind as an evil leaven which would leaven their
applied to the typical ordinance in Israel. And, entire lives; putting away the leaven was a token of
therefore, the preparing of the Passover refers not only complete sanctification of life without which no one
to the celebration in Egypt, in that holy night of God, would see the Lord. And this must be reenacted
but refers to the institution of the typical celebration annually as the feast in the beginning of months.
of the Passover also through the ages. It is a picture of      This Passover was instituted by Moses by faith!
our Passover, the celebration of the Lord's Supper up          It was saving faith, justifying faith! It was the faith
till this present day. And it will be such till Christ which is the substance of things hoped for, the
comes upon the clouds, and then we shall eat of the evidence of things not seen. It was faith which
vine, and drink the new wine in the kingdom.                 prepared the  passover  in the land of Egypt, (while
  We must, therefore, distinguish between the Moses is still in bondage); which hoped for the great
passover proper and the later celebration of the event. redemption of the LORD!
Our text refers first of all to the"passover" proper, to
the historic event of the LORD passing over Israel in THE SPRINKLING (EFFUSION) OF BLOOD
the night when He slew the firstborn of Egypt, both of (Hebrews I1 :28; Exodus 12: 6, 7)
man and of beast. This event happened in the land of           The houses of the children of Israel must be safe in
Egypt! Writes Lange of the phrase "In the land of this awful, holy night of the LORD. At midnight the
Qmt," "It is a mark of dominion of Jehovah in the LORD would pass through the land; He would come as
midst of His enemies, that he established the Jewish a thief in the night. And Israel must be watchful unto
community in the land of Egypt, and also the Christian prayer and be hidden safely under the blood which the
community in the midst of Judaism, and the LORD Himself had prescribed. It was to be the Lamb,
Evangelical community under the dominion of the which God told them to prepare, whose blood was to
Papacy. To the triumphant assurance in regard to the be put on the side-posts of the door of the houses and
place corresponds the triumphant assurance in regard on the door-lintel, that is, the upper door-posts.
to the time: the Passover, as a typical festival of            Now either this was the LORD'S way of redeeming
redemption, was celebrated before the typical Israel in this night, or otherwise it is nameless
redemption itself; the Lord's Supper before the real superstition. To the Egyptian this must have seemed
redemption, and in the constant repetition of its foolishness, and to many in Israel perhaps it was a
celebration it points forward to the final redemption, stumbling-block. But to those who believed it was the
which is to take place when the Lord comes." power and wisdom of God. If this way of putting
(Commentary on Exodus)                                       blood on the door-posts was folly it- was surely wiser
  We do not quite agree with the designation of than men; and if it is weakness, it is stronger than men.
"Jewish Community" in Egypt. It was the church of In this night the wise will be taken in their own


470                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



craftiness. But Moses preached redemption in the they do not walk in the thankfulness of redemption
blood; it was to be the blood of a year-old Lamb; it and forget God's Sabbaths, then they also neglect the
was to be without spot or blemish.                        feast of the Passover. At such seasons they do not look
  Israel must take this blood and put it on the door. toward the end of the law, to Christ. They fall back
Each head of the home must thus appropriate this then into perdition and do not press on to the
blood by faith. Moses, too, must put it on his door. salvation of the soul. But when they walk in faith, as
The law-giver cannot save Himself. He must be covered did Hezekiah and Josiah who kept the feast, then they
by the blood of the Lamb. He brings about an also walk in patience, looking for the reward of the
"exodus" out of Egypt, but Christ will fulfil the LORD.
"exodus" at Jerusalem through His death and                 We, too, must have blood on our door-posts. We
resurrection to bring Israel into the promised land. have covenant homes. And salvation is not a mere
And in this faith Moses too takes refuge in this holy personal matter. It is for Israel, for the church in our
night under the blood. He does this with all of Israel generations. We put this blood on our door-post by
by faith.                                                 faith in the blood of Christ. And we are safe under the
  What a sight that must have been, to see all of the blood; we have been saved from wrath. And if we have
thousands of the houses of the Israelites with blood on been saved through the death of Christ, we shall be
the doors! Here is faith which does not look back, but saved much more through His Life.
it looks forward across the ages. How could otherwise       The LORD sent His angel that night over Egypt with
the blood of a mere lamb save Israel. The blood of his destroying sword. Centuries later David saw this
goats, bullocks and sheep never took away any sin. It angel over Jerusalem with his sword. He killed many in
perfected nothing. (Hebrews 7: 19; 9: 9; 10: 1, 14)       Israel in the pestilence, when David had numbered the
  No, this rite of putting blood on the door-post was people contrary to the will of the Lord. Then David
never repeated at later feasts of the Passover. It need makes a sacrifice. And the LORD says it is enough. His
not be. The LORD only passed through Egypt in this mercy is in the way of satisfied justice! Payment must
night of nights. And Israel only needed the protection be made. And the LORD stays the hand of the angel of
of blood and faith in this promised redemption by death. He  may  not enter into Israel's homes. God is
blood. Later they could relate to their children the just! He is faithful. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses
meaning of this feast and could recall what the LORD from all unrighteousness.
had performed for Israel and against Egypt in this          Safe with the blood of the LORD on the door-posts
night. It was ever remembered. in the high-points of by faith!
Israel's faith. However, when Israel's faith wanes and


The Day of Shadows
                                       God's Shut-in
                                                 Rev. John A. Heys

  A shut-in is also a shut-out.                           from out of the ark up to God in heaven, songs of
  Those whom we call shut-ins are confined to their praise were sung to Him, and the telling and
own homes, hospitals, nursing homes, or the like. But, magnification of His sovereignty and tender mercy
when they are believing children of God, they are also    were heard with regularity.
shut out of God's house of prayer, and are unable to        Do we not read that Noah was righteous in this
worship with the saints in the sanctuary.                 generation, and that God saw this? Surely, then, his
  It  `was not so with Noah. God called him to come       righteous conduct continued in that ark and did not
into the ark, and He shut him in that sacred abode        wear thin and wear out during that year and ten days.
where, with his family, he was constantly with the He found grace in God's eyes. And that grace of God
church of God and before God's face. They were not abideth ever. It, before Noah entered the ark, enabled
shut out from the divine services of that day. They him, among a generation whose every imagination of
were shut in that place where alone such worship of the heart was only evil continually, to have a heart
God was to be found. And although we do not read of whose imaginations led him to worship God. How else
such worship services or deeds of worship - and surely will you explain the fact that after that year and ten
there was no burnt sacrifice or slaying of a sacrificial days God brought Noah forth, and that we read that
lamb all that year and ten days  - prayers ascended God remembered him? Surely it was a remembering of


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 471



him in mercy and grace as a righteous man. It was a the form in which we now see him; Consider that we
mercy that faileth never, and a grace that abideth ever have the white; the black, the yellow and even the red
to keep the believer in the way of faith, the righteous races. Now regardless of whether Adam and Noah were
in a way of righteousness.                                 white or black, red or yellow as far as. the pigment in
   And God shut him in with representatives of all the their skin is concerned, man in only one of these colors
living creatures of the earth that creep upon it and of pigment of the skin went into the ark. And it is
have the breath of their lives in their nostrils, so that neither evolution, nor a denial of the truth of the flood
the waters of the` flood would cut them off from this and of the fact that Noah took representatives of all
breath of life, if they were not taken into the ark with the living creatures which creep on the earth and have
Noah.                                                      the breath of life in their nostrils into the ark, to say
   The number of these creatures need not be large, that today we have man in different forms than the
even if we take the instruction to Noah to mean that one he was in when he entered the ark. Not only are
he must take seven pairs of clean animals, rather than there these different races with different pigment of
three pairs plus a seventh animal, as is usually held, the the skin, but there are in the white race blondes and
seventh one then being,a male and prescribed by God brunettes, blue-eyed and brown-eyed people; and look
in order that Noah may have it to sacrifice the day he at the differently shaped noses and ears. There is the
came out of the ark on dry ground.                         Roman nose and the pug nose as well as the strikingly
   There is much in favour of the stand that he was to pointed nose. The eyes of the oriental people differ
take seven pairs of clean animals. There is, first of all, from those of the Occident not in size or shape of the
the fact that the marginal note (in Bibles that have eyeball itself, but in the eyelids. Then there are the
them) tells us that the Hebrew reads "by seven, seven" redheads, the unusually tall, and the dwarfs, and so we
rather than by sevens. The idea then being seven and could go on. These are not a change of species, as
seven, that is, because right after this statement we evolution says of .the animals in their various forms.
read, "the male and his female," seven males and their And there were not, nor did there need to be a large
seven females, Then, too, God tells him to take the number of kinds of animals in the ark.
male and its female and gives no instruction as to what
kind that seventh would be, if there are only three          Having collected them all Noah and his'family began
pairs and one single beast. And surely to have seven to go into the ark seven days before a drop of rain fell.
pairs would insure a supply of sacrificial animals - and It was not a quick dash to the ark when the sky began
Noah has not yet been told that man may eat the flesh to lower and the waters began to fall. They entered in
of animals, for that comes in chapter 9:1-3  - more when it was to the unbelievers such a foolish thing to
quickly than three pairs, after the seventh animal is do and to the believer a wise work of God's grace. By
slain.                                                     faith Noah built that ark to the saving of his family, we
   The point, however, is that even with seven pairs of read in Hebrews 11. By faith also it was that he
clean animals, the number of living creatures, whose entered into that ark when the need could only be seen
breath of life is in their nostrils, and creep upon the by faith. For Noah and his family faith was the
earth, was not great, surely not as great as some evidence of things not seen. And because the eye could
would insist in order to ridicule the whoie account and not see the need for an ark, the eye could not see the
to try to show that this is fiction and not fact. And safety of that ark and God's salvation in Christ. That is
that, mind you, when they are dealing with the works the folly of the world today. They see no sin because
of an Almighty God Who could of nothing create the they have no eye of faith. And then they see no need
whole world! Being limited at the moment to an for the cross and the blotting out of sin. Some in folly
English Bible and a Young's Concordance while on the say that when they get older and death seems
mission field in Jamaica - and with a deadline to meet imminent they will seek refuge in Christ. Faith goes
for the printer, to say nothing of the Editor-in-Chief, into the ark  SNOW! Faith runs to the cross today,
who has been very considerate and merciful - we have because although the world has unprecedented
not the material at hand to give you the exact number prosperity, and the standard of living of man has never
of the animals of the world in their families. But it been so high, and it looks as though man will conquer
ought to be plain to all that many of the present forms this and that disease and make this world a better (?)
of various animals - take for example the dog - were place in which to live, faith sees the wrath of God
not in the ark in that form, but are the result of upon sin, even when in creation there still is beauty
crossbreeding. And rather than weary you with and man has what he calls a good day physically and
technical terminology and statistics - which likewise materially.
we do not have access to at the moment - let it simply       How the world of that day must have laughed when
be brought to your attention that man himself has God shut Noah in that ark on a bright, sunlit day of
since the flood  undergone some striking changes, so the same kind men had seen and enjoyed all their lives.
that man as we know him today was not in that ark in They laughed when he began to build. They mocked


472                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



when he continued to rebuke them and to continue             So often and so easily a, shut-in is inclined to think
with the work of the ark. But one hundred twenty that God has shut him out. And that the shut-in is shut
years is a long time to mock, and they got weary of it out from much of that which this earth can give, we
and ignored him, even separating themselves further will not deny. But the blessed truth, the gospel is that
from him. Even the marvel of his collecting of the God's people are not shut out of the kingdom, and
animals did not shake them; but when he walked into that the God Who shut Noah in that place of refuge
that ark, they revived in their ridicule and mockery. It and covenant fellowship with Himself never shuts us
did seem such a foolish thing to do and such a good       out of His kingdom. Instead He uses our deprivations,
day to waste inside such an unnecessary and dark our sicknesses and diseases, and our death to shut us in
vessel.                                                   the glory of His kingdom for ever. Noah was shut in
   But God shut him in. Let that comfort us whether the sphere of God's love and mercy. He was shut in
we be shut-ins or not.                                    Christ and the salvation that is in Him. And all God's
   Of course, it does not mean that God shut him out dear children who are in distress and pain, and by them
of anything good. Rather does it mean that God shut are kept out of His house on the Sabbath, may know
him out of something very evil. The same word is used and believe that although Noah and his family lost all
in Genesis 19: 10 where we read of the angel pulling of their earthly goods  - and they did, although we
Lot away from the wicked Sodomites and into the seldom think of that and fix our attention on their
house and then shutting the door. It was an act of safety and the protection of their lives in that ark - it
mercy whereby God, Who called Noah to come into all worked out and together for their good. And these
HIS ark, now holds Him before His face in tender present distresses are not that wherein God shuts us
compassion and love away from all the billows and out of a blessing. They are that which He uses to draw
waves of His wrath that will come on those outside of us ever more closely to Himself.
that ark. It does not mean, then, that in some natural       Jehovah does that. It is reassuring to know that God
and literal sense God locked him in that ark. For Noah shut Noah in and that Noah did not shut himself in
was able to open the window and let out the raven. that ark. It is reassuring to the shut-ins to know that
And there is no subsequent statement to the effect God ordered their way into distresses and sickness and
that after a year and ten days God opened the ark for that He has shut us securely in Christ to go through
Noah to leave. We do read that God told him to go         our afflictions (as Noah went through the ark to a new
forth, and Noah went forth.                               world) to that fair land of the promise in Christ. As all
   No, God's shut-in was preserved and protected of Noah's enemies were destroyed by the waters of the
under the shadow of the Almighty. Pea the Hebrew flood while he was shut in that ark, so all of God's
declares that Jehovah shut him in. God did it from the shut-ins together with the rest of the church will have
viewpoint of being Jehovah the Covenant God, the all their enemies destroyed, including that last enemy
unchangeably faithful God of our salvation, the I AM which is death, and forever be shut up in the
Who safely keeps His people and shuts them up in His blessedness of the new creation.
hand out of which no man can pluck them.



                                            All Around Us

                                                Prof H. Han ko

  Because our regular column has not appeared in the arguments over departures in doctrine, but also
Standard Bearer for quite some time, there is a lot of disagreements over membership in the COCU
news to catch up on. Perhaps there is even too much (Consultation on Church Union) talks, and union with
for one column, for the file in my desk where the Northern Presbyterians.
interesting items are stored for future use is jammed.       Several conservative groups have sprung up within
But it does need cleaning out, and so we shall try to the Church who have made an effort to stem the
bring our readers up to date. The various news items
do not-necessarily appear in order of importance.         liberal tide. These conservative groups have united and
                                                          have formed the vanguard in a secessionist movement
SECESslON AMONG SOUTHERN PRESBYTERIANS and are now in the process of forming a new
  For a long time a battle has waged between liberals denomination. Over two hundred congregations have
and conservatives within the Southern Presbyterian already voted to join the new denomination, and there
Church. The issues have been not only concentrated in are hopes that more will follow.


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                          473


   The denomination that is in the process of being few years.
 formed has as its goal the preservation of the historic     NEWS ITEMS FROM THE NETHERLANDS
Presbyterian faith and Church Order as contained               There are several news items from the Netherlands
 especially in the Westminster Confessions.                  that are of interest. They are taken from recent issues
   This  movement is somewhat different from the             of the RES Newsletter.
 course of events in most denominations. There are
 struggles going on in nearly every major denomination         The first has to do with a new professor for
                                                             theology in the Free University.
 in this country and abroad. But in most instances there
 are no efforts made to secede from a parent                        Dr. J. Veenhof of Basel, Switzerland, has been
 denomination which is going the way of apostasy.                designated to succeed G. C. Berkouwer as Professor
 Usually the leaders seem to lack the spiritual courage          of Dogmatics in the Theological Faculty of the Free
 to preserve the heritage of the denomination in a               University of Amsterdam. Dr. Veenhof is the son of
 secessionist movement. The Southern Presbyterians are           Prof. C. Veenhof (emeritus) of the Liberated
                                                                 Reformed Churches (buiten  verband) in Kampen and
 the exception.                                                  is at" present a pastor of the Evangelical Reformed
 CONSERVATIVE VICTORIES IN THE MISSOURI                          Church in Basel. He will begin his duties in the fall.
 SYNOD                                                              Dr. Veenhof earned his degree (cum laude) at the
    The same struggle between liberals and conservatives         University of Gottingen under Prof. Otto Weber. His
                                                                 dissertation dealt with the views of Herman Bavinck
 has been firecely waged within the Lutheran Church -            on revelation and inspiration.
 Missouri Synod. There too the fight was about the                  Prof. Berkouwer retires on June 8 at the age of 70.
 infallibility of the Scriptures, false teachings in the         He has occupied the chair of dogmatics at the Free
 Seminaries and Churches, departure in doctrine and              University since 1940.
 practice which permeated the Church.                               This is the first time in the history of the Free
   Two years ago a conservative was elected as                   University that a man has occupied the position, held
 President of the Synod. During his tenure the battle            both by Abraham Kuyper and Herman Bavinck, who
 concentrated in the struggle to clean house in the              is not a member of the Reformed Churches in the
 Synod's most important Seminary, Concordia. There a             Netherlands. The appointment emphasizes the
 large part of the faculty were accused of teaching views        inter-denominational character of the Free
 contrary to Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions.             University.
                                                                    Observers  find it significant that the successor of
 President Preus launched an investigation which proved          Berkouwer is not a proponent of the `New Theology.'
 abundantly that it was true beyond doubt that                   Dr. Veenhof represents a conservative theological
 Concordia had become a hotbed of heresy. But                    position.
 nothing apparently could be done until this year's            Another article has to do with relations between the
 Synod in New Orleans.                                       churches in the Netherlands and South Africa. It reads:
    At this year's Synod, the conservatives won a solid             There has been a cooling process of recent years
 victory. The votes on key issues were, according to             between the Reformed Church in South Africa
 reporters, divided 55% to 45% in favor of the                   (GKSA) and the Reformed Churches in the
  conservatives. Preus was re-elected to a second term           Netherlands (GKN). Both churches have had close
  even though a well-organized movement had attempted            ties since their origin in the previous century. In
 to dump him. Men of the conservative forces were                recent years doubts have arisen whether to continue
 elected to most key posts within the denomination.              the present relationship of "correspondence." A
 And the way now seems cleared for Preus to pursue his           church in correspondence with another church freely
 goal of cleaning out Concordia Seminary and launching           accepts transfers of pastors and members. The two
                                                                 churches were among those that arranged the initial
 a major conservative counter-attack within the                  Reformed Ecumenical Synod in 1946 of Grand
  denomination to bring the Church back to historical            Rapids, Michigan.
 Lutheranism.                                                       The recent General Synod of the Afrikaner church
    This too is a rather surprising development. Usually         received overtures  fromc a number of regional
 when a denomination has gone as far as the Missouri             assemblies that the relationship now in effect be
 Synod Lutherans, there is no turning back. The way              discontinued. The objections against the Dutch
 downhill is steeper and travelled more swiftly. If Preus        church centered in three areas:
 and the conservatives can effect a genuine return to               (1) The theological views of Professor Harry
                                                                 Kuitert  concerning Genesis and the resurrection and
 historic Lutheranism within the denomination, this              return of Christ, and the  .views  of Dr. Herman
 will be no small accomplishment.'                               Wiersinga on reconciliation. These cause  much
    The liberals however, are already anticipating final         concern in South Africa.
 victory. They are convinced that, if they stay within              (2) The church order which the GKN adopted in
 the denomination, time is on their side and the final           1970 reveals different viewpoints concerning church
 victory of the liberal forces is assured within the next        office, authority, and polity.


474                                                                      THE STANDARD BEARER



           (3) The Reformed Churches  .i.n the Netherlands                                       become a source of concern to me. In order to help
       recently became members of the World Council of                                           ease some of these tensions, I want to explain my
       Churches in opposition to the advice of the RES.                                          own position. While I have not been directly involved
           Within the Dutch Church also persons have                                             in the developing organization of Key 73, I have from
       become unenthusiastic about their relationship with                                       the beginning publicly supported its concept.
       the Reformed Church in South Africa. This                                                    First, as an evangelist, I am interested in
       dissatisfaction stems from the support of the                                             establishing contacts with all men concerning
       Afrikaner church to the racial policy of apartheid in                                     personal faith in Jesus Christ. Implicit in any belief is
       South Africa.                                                                             the right of sharing it with others. The message that
           The General Synod did not adopt the proposals                                         God is Love prompts any recipient of that love to
       that the relationship be terminated on the ground that                                    declare it to others.
       not everything that is possible and obligatory within                                        Secondly, just as Judaism frowns on proselyting
       the "correspondence" relationship to bring about a                                        that is coercive, or that seems to commit men against
       more satisfactory relationship has been done. An                                          their will, so do I. Gimmicks, coercion, and
       article in Die Kerkblad, official organ of the                                            intimidation have had no place in my evangelistic
       Reformed Church in South Africa, stated that within                                       efforts, certainly not in historic biblical evangelism.
       the next three years a careful study will be made and                                     The American genius is that without denying any one
       the matter will be brought to the Synod of 1976.                                          expression of their convictions, all are nevertheless
           In an article in the Dutch Gereformeerd Weekblad,                                     partners in our society. The Gospel's method is
       Professor Herman Ridderbos reflected upon these                                           persuasive invitation, not coercion.
       interchurch developments and urged that for as long                                          Where any group has used overbearing witness to
       as it is possible the present relationship should be                                      seek conversions, the Bible calls it "zeal without
       maintained. "It is no art to be in `correspondence' so                                    knowledge." I understand that it is the purpose of
       long as there is no cloud in the sky and it is limited to                                 Key 73 to call all men to Christ without singling out
       presenting friendly addresses to each other's Synods,                                     any specific religious or ethnic group.
       and to transferring members and granting pulpit                                              Thirdly, along with most evangelical Christians, I
       exchanges. But fellowship between churches is only                                        believe God has always had a special relationship with
       then tested for its authenticity and strength when                                        the Jewish people, as` St. Paul suggests in the book of
       both parties have reason for criticism. -Another                                 .        Romans. In my evangelistic efforts I have never felt
       advantage is that as long as the churches remain in                                       called to smgle out the Jews as Jews nor to single out
       c o r r e s p o n d e n c e   w i t h   e a c h   o t h e r ,   v a r i o u s             any other particular groups, cultural, ethnic, or
       misunderstandings can be removed in the mutual                                            religious.
       exchange and all sorts of unjust criticism can be                                            Lastly, it would be my hope that Key 73, and any
       corrected." . . .                                                                         other spiritual outreach program, could initiate
BILLY GRAHAM, KEY 73 AND THE JEWS                                                                nation-wide conversations, which would raise the
  Key 73 has come under some criticism because it                                                spiritual level of our people, and promote mutual
was concentrating its zeal upon Jews to work for their                                           understanding.
conversion. This was especially distasteful to Jews
themselves and seemed to be at odds with -the general                                        EVOLUTIONISM A THEORY IN TENNESSEE
ecumenical spirit which prevails in today's churches.                                          Following what has happened in the public schools
  To answer the critics Billy Graham issued a public in some parts of California, the Senate of the state of
statement which was not only intended to be a defense Tennessee voted to require all books dealing with
of Key 73, but which also had a great deal to say about human origins to label evolutionism. as a theory. The
the nature of Key 73, its evangelistic methods, and Senate also agreed that other theories of origins should
Billy Graham's own carefulness in maintaining a proper have equal space in textbooks, including the account of
and acceptable ecumenical approach. The statement the Scriptures. The idea is not to forbid the teaching of
reads:                                                                                       evolutionism, but to give all views equal time and leave
           The reports about a growing misunderstanding in                                   the actual decision up to the student. There are similar
       Christian-Jewish relationships over Key 73 has                                        movements being started in other states.





                         KNOW THE STANDARD, AND FOLLOW IT. READ THE STANDARD BEARER.


                                                           THE  STANDARD  BEARER                                                                                  475





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  Feature
                                The Seminary Building
                                                            A PROGRESS REPORT

     "We have begun building!" Our last report anticipat- its approval.
  ed such a beginning of this article. And it is true. Not a                          Synod began meeting the following day, and later in
  great deal can be seen yet of the building, but progress the week dealt with this question of the Seminary
 *ought to be fairly rapid in future weeks.                                     building and its cost. Unanimously, Synod approved
     But before speaking of building progress, we ought the figure and instructed the Theological School
  to go back a bit. The "Blue-Ribbon" Committee had Committee and the "Blue Ribbon" Committee to
  completed the work toward acquiring the seminary proceed with construction. Needless to say, the action
. building site and had instructed the architect to com- of Synod was very encouraging for both of these
  plete the blueprints. All this was finished not very long committees.
  before our last Synod met on June 6. The next step                                  Synod took further action. It decided to authorize
  was to submit the plans to the various contractors for the Theological School Committee to borrow from
  their bids. Then the total of the lowest bids would be surplus Synodical funds at  5% interest, to borrow
  added up, and we would know what the cost of build- from other sources if necessary, and to conduct annual
  ing would be. We waited with some trepidation for the drives in our churches till the Seminary Building is
  figures to come in.                                                           completely paid for. One striking thing: Synod intends
    A special meeting was called by the "Blue Ribbon" that all these funds be raised through voluntary
  Committee to discuss the results of the bids. On June contributions. The "easy way out" would have been to
  5, after the Synodical prayer service in Hudsonville, lay assessments on all the churches for this building.
  the Theological School Committee and the "Blue Rib- After all, the money comes out of the same pockets
  bon" Committee met. There were some long faces at anyway. But in raising the money on a voluntary basis,
  that meeting. A member of the "Blue Ribbon" Com- each can give according to his ability, and all can show
  mittee admitted that he had not slept much the night their real and personal interest in our seminary. Nor
  after the bids were totalled. He felt that somehow the have the members of our churches failed in our
  "Blue Ribbon" Committee had let down the Theologi- expectations, but have far exceeded them. Who would
  cal School Committee and our Synod too. The Synod have thought a year ago that by now we would have
  o f   1 9 7 2   h a d   a p p r o v e d   t h e   e x p e n d i t u r e   o f received an average of $132.00 per family for this
  approximately $105,000 for building and land. But cause (in cash and pledges)? Each church will be
  this was the estimated cost for the old building site hearing more about the annual drive shortly.
  next to Southeast Church. A new site would involve Building Progress
  the committee in added expenses. Inflation would                                    The week after Synod took its decision to proceed
  increase the cost of the building. We had discussed how with building, the ground on the site was prepared for
  much above the figure Synod had approved we could construction. Several weeks later, the foundation was
  go - yet remain within the intent of Synod. We were laid; later yet, the cement walls were poured to the
  ready to proceed if the figure were only reasonably ground level. At present, electrical and heating work
  above the $105,000. But the figure the "Blue Ribbon" is being done before the cement floor is poured.
  Committee submitted went beyond what they and we                                    There have been a few delays. There will likely be
  anticipated. Hence, the long faces.                                           some in the future. But the picture looks bright. Much
    The figure?  $153,000.00. We had only one of the materials for the building has been purchased
  alternative. We would present the figure to Synod for and only waits the time for its need when it will be


476                                          THE STANDARD BEARER


delivered to the site.                                       The committee is agonizing over this now.
  The Theological School Committee also had the                On borrowed money, as everyone knows, interest
opportunity recently to purchase much of the must be paid. And interest rates have gone up greatly
necessary furnishings at only a fraction of its retail just the past few months. The churches can be saved a
cost. This included tables, desks, 70 stacking chairs for great sum of money if we have cash on hand. We
the assembly room, and much other equipment. We are would like to suggest, therefore, that those who can do
indebted to Steelcase, Inc. of Grand Rapids for the so, pay their pledges as soon as possible. Those who
opportunity of obtaining all this equipment.                 intended to contribute, but for some reason have been
  When will the building be finished? No one dares putting it off, we urgently need your help NOW. If
make a firm commitment. However, there seems every each of our families and working young people and
reason to believe that we will begin using the building individuals contribute an average of $150.00, we will
by the beginning of the second semester of the school be able to meet all of our commitments. We have
year (mid-January) - and perhaps sooner.                     received so much from the Seminary God has given us
  Take time out, if ycju are in the vicinity of the site, during the past 50 years; now in a tangible way we can
to visit. The location is at about 4949 Ivanrest, S.W. show a bit of our gratitude by providing a building
One can drive directly up to the point of construction. where professors and students can labor with joy.
We can assure you, you won't be disappointed.                  We do want to thank the generous giver. We have
Finances                                                     already received far more gifts than we had believed
  At present, we have $106,43 1.69 in cash, assets, and possible only a year ago. Our present plea for
pledges. This represents some $14,500 above the sum additional funds is not meant to suggest stinginess on
reported in the last article. We are much encouraged by the part of our people. Hardly so. Only, now that we
this. We have  $74,630.19 in cash and assets, and have come so close to the reaching of our goal, we can
$3 1,801.50 in unpaid pledges.                               only think that a little additional help from each of us
  Now for some of the hard facts. By the end of this will put us "over the top."
year, we will have to raise virtually all of the
$153,000.00. If we subtract our present assets, we             Before long, we do hope to present to you the plans
arrive at the figure of $78,370.00 to be borrowed (of for the dedication of our new Seminary Building.
this amount, $31,801 is already pledged, $46,569 is Watch for these. We would like as many of you present
yet to be raised). The committee will have to find as can possibly come.
sources from which it can borrow this sum (part of                               The Theological School Committee
which can be borrowed from Synodical surplus funds).                                         fby Rev. G. Van Baren)


Studies in Isaiah
                             Isaiah's Prophetic Vision
                                                Rev. Robt. C. Harbach

            The vision of Isaiah, the son of Amotz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in
            the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
                                                                                              (Isaiah 1: 1).

  I. The Nature  of  the Prophecy.  The above verse heaven, "prophecy of the Scripture," which was not
forms the title to the whole book of Isaiah, and is ever brought by the will of man, but holy men of God
certainly understood as such in the words of the writer spoke that sure word of prophecy as carried along by
of II Chronicles 32 : 3 2. "It is called a vision, not from any the Holy Spirit (II Pet. 1:  19-21). What the vision
use of the corporeal sight (II. Cor. 12: l-4), but because signifies then is a  prophecy;  prophetic vision is
of the clearness and evidence .of.the. things.revealed.".
            ._  .-  `.  -                                    intended, divinely inspired Scripture. Receiving the
The Lord-many times did reveal himself to the physical vision by supernatural inspiration, he was awake,
eye, as we know from II Pet.  1:16-18; Gal.  l:ll, 12; "having his eyes open," and objectively "heard the
Jn. 6:69; I Jn. 1: 1; Acts 4:20. But we have a revelation words of God," and "saw (with the eyes of his mind)
from God which is "also a more sure word of the vision of the Almighty" (Nu.24:4), and came not
prophecy" than that spoken audibly and visibly from with his own conceptions or ideas. For "the Lord came


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                   477



down. . .and He said, `Hear now IMY words. If there be God's elect, for "to them pertain the oracles of God."
a prophet among you, I, the Lord, will make myself Also it is a means of reproof and correction in
known unto him in a vision. . ."' (Nu. 12:5f).               righteousness, for Judah and Jerusalem are chosen (Ps.
  The name Isaiah means "the Salvation of Jehovah," 78:65) and principally righteous in Christ. God is
and is synonymous with Joshua,  Hosea, Jesus and known in Judah, His tabernacle is in Salem (Ps.
Elisha (My God is Salvation). The very name of the 76-1,2); therefore judgment must begin at the house of
prophet serves to declare the subject of his message God. Written in evil days and times of apostasy, it is
and ministry, and reveals the truth that Jehovah intended for the comfort of God's people, for even in
provides the Savior for Judah and Jerusalem who such times it is intended that "the children of Zion joy
would come and save them. The last part of the name in their Ring."
is Jah, who is the God, author and director of history,        III. The Date  of  the Prophecy  was in the time of
who has made the goal of history the salvation of a these four kings of Judah.  Hosea and Micah were
people, and the restitution of all things. Jehovah is the    contemporaneous with Isaiah and these kings (Hos.
Eternal God, who is, who was and who is to come, the         1: 1; Mic; 1: 1). Uzziah's fifty-two years was the longest
Beginning and the End (he arche kai to telos). Isaiah reign so far in Judah, being second only to that of
was the son of Amotz (Strong), and only ignorance of Manasseh's. There were elements of both a David and a
the language connects him with the prophet Amos Solomon in him. Like David, he was exceedingly
(Borne up).                                                  strong, had a great army, and was a great
  The vision or prophecy was given  "concerning administrator; like Solomon, an eminent agriculturist
Judah" or (bearing)  upon  Judah and Jerusalem. The and engineer. For he built Elath, raised up forts,
thrust of the book bears strictly upon Judah and fortified Jerusalem, manufactured armor and devised
Jerusalem, therefore, not, indeed, upon a natural Israel missile weapons. His reign began well, honoring the law
restored to an earthly Canaan, but on God's covenant of God. But great prosperity proved too much of a
people, the children of Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem temptation for him. Through pride he forgot whose
(so plainly identified in Heb.  12:22,23), the Israel of servant he was, intruding upon the office of priest and
God, the  qahal Jehovah,  church of the Lord. the sacred precincts of the temple to burn incense. But
Everything else in the book is subservient to that the stroke of leprosy drove him from the attempt.
subject. We may see here concentric circles, with              Jotham, in sixteen years, contributed many material
Jerusalem at the center, Judah in the circle around it, improvements, building cities, castles, towers and
Israel in a wider circle, and the heathen nations housing developments. Spiritually, he was weak, not a
forming the outer circle. There is the familiar figure of reformer, nor a leader of the people, who were very
the organism of the reprobate shell encircling the elect corrupt. In his tenure the Ammonites were put down,
kernel. The Lord speaks through the prophet first of but Pekah, king of Israel, and Rezin, King of Syria,
all to Judah and Jerusalem, and then speaks of others, began a conspiracy against him. But he died and passed
other nations, only for Judah and Jerusalem's sake. on his troubles with these two to Ahaz.
The book is laden "with many allusions throughout to           Ahaz also reigned sixteen years, but the spiritual and
the coming of the Messiah, to the conversion of the moral decline of the kingdom which began with
Jews under the gospel, to the destruction of the Rehoboam now came to the lowest it had ever been.
enemies of the Church. . . and the final triumphant Open apostasy prevailed. Images of Baal and heathen
perfection of the Church. 1                                  altars on the high places were among his flaunted evils,
  II. The Subject  of  the Prophecy.  Judah represents topped off with his abominable practice of sacrificing
the two tribes, Judah and Benjamin, and is particularly his children to Moloch,  burning them in the Valley of
mentioned as a tribe from which the Messiah should Hinnom. Since the Lord in His just judgment punishes
come. Jerusalem is mentioned because the Messiah sin not only in eternity, but in this life immediately,
would appear there, and from there the gospel would wrath upon Ahaz came swiftly and terribly. The
go into all the world, and because it is a type of the kingdom of Israel, itself almost expired with its last
above Jerusalem, the true church. The book contains gasp, brought him to terrible defeat. The Syrians, hard
prophecies of the New Testament church, of the pressing him, drove him  from. Elath on the Gulf of
distinctively gospel age, and of the coming of Christ, as Akabah, depriving him of the rich commercial traffic
well as prophecies concerning the calling of the with India. Simultaneously, the Edomites and the
Gentiles, the destruction of national Israel, the Philistines were a thorn in his side. When he tried
preservation of the spiritual remnant, the destruction conciliating the king of Assyria, he found from that
of antichrist and the New Heavens and New Earth. quarter no help but rather more distress. These
Emphasis is then upon these two tribes, the ten tribes calamities blinded and hardened him more. He
or Ephraim receiving emphasis in the prophecy of sacrificed to the gods of Damascus and shut up the
Hosea. Isaiah's prophecy, as "all Scripture, is given by house of the Lord. If his reign had not been cut off by
inspiration of God, and is profitable for teaching" his early death at the age of thirty-six, the kingdom of


47%                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



Judah may well have come to an end when Israel did.            Here a quotation from John Calvin is much in point.
As it was, Judah lasted 150 years longer than Israel.        "All the servants of God ought carefully to. . consider
   With Hezekiah and his twenty-nine year reign came how patiently they ought to submit to their condition,
revival to Judah. A man of faith under Isaiah's how hard and difficult soever it may be, and ought not
inspiration, he wholeheartedly set out to restore the to reckon it a disgrace that they must endure many
entire religion of Jehovah as delivered to Moses. He and severe trials. . .It is indeed a very severe trial when
called the people from the whole length of the they perceive that by their manifold exertions they are
kingdom of Israel to the restored  passover  at doing no good, and imagine that it would be a
Jerusalem. He removed the high places, the images, the thousand time better to relinquish their post than to
groves, the brazen serpent. He trusted in the Lord his labor so long in vain. . .Call to remembrance how
God and clung to Him. The great historical event of his Isaiah, whose labors were numerous and extensive, had
reign was the clash with Sennacherib of Assyria, one of little success, and how Jeremiah continued for fifty
the greatest warrior kings of ancient times. He enjoyed years to cry aloud to the people, though the result was
victory over the Philistines. Israel was taken captive in that they became more and more rebellious, and how no
the sixth year of his reign. He rebelled against Assyria, difficulties could turn them aside from their course.
appealed to the prophet Isaiah for counsel from the We, too, ought to proceed in the discharge of our duty,
Lord, prayed in the house of God for deliverance and and patiently endure every kind of annoyances. . . The
was delivered by the Angel of the Lord who struck unshaken firmness and unbroken courage with which
dead 185,000 of the Assyrian army. Becoming ill, he he persevered ought to excite all the servants of God to
recovered under Isaiah. Foolishly, he showed his imitation, that they may never bend or turn aside from
treasures to the Babylonians, and when Isaiah the right path." 2
prophesied of the Babylonian invasion and captivity, 1 Manual of Bible History, Wm. G. Blaikie, T. Nelson
Hezekiah cared little. Thus in Judah there were some           & Sons, Longon, 1886, 3 16-17.
marks of reviving, as under Asa, Jehoshaphat, Uzziah, 2 Calvin's Commentaries,  Associated Publishers  &
Hezekiah and Josiah. Yet there was but little                  Authors, Grand Rapids, Mich., Vol. 3, Isaiah, p. 3.
reformation. God was destroying the earthly kingdom.



                                              Book Reviews

                                                 Pro.f H. C. Hoeksema

Calvin's New Testament Commentaries (Torrance                  A few informative notes may be in order. The
Translation),  Vols. I, II, and III  (Harmony of the Harmony of the Gospels was the last of Calvin's
Gospels, plus James and Jude); Wm. B. Eerdmans Commentaries to be written. Calvin wrote on all of the
Publishing Co., Grand Rapids,  Mich. ; each volume New Testament, except II and III John and Revelation.
$7.95. Reviewed by Prof. H.C. Hoeksema                       Volume I (336 pages) covers Matthew l-10:42;  Mark
  The publication of these three volumes marks the           l-9:41; and Luke  l-14:33. Volume II (320 pages)
completion of the New Testament section of the new           comments from Mark 6: 12 and Luke  9:6 through
twelve-volume set of the Torrance Translation. The Luke 19: 44. And Volume III (352) comments from
Eerdmans Company is to be congratulated on their Matthew 21:lO;Mark  1l:ll;and Luke 19:39, through
publishing of such a set as this.                            the end of the  Synoptics. In addition, the com-
  Calvin needs no special recommendation. Anyone mentaries on James and Jude are included with
who is building a library of sound and dependable            Volume III. Perhaps it should be noted that this new
commentaries should think first of Calvin. And even          set is not arranged so as to be compatible with the old
though I personally could not and cannot see a dire          set  - just in case any reader might be considering
need and a great benefit in a new translation,               filling in an old set with volumes from this new set.
nevertheless I can only be happy about the                     The volumes are neatly and attractively published
perpetuation of the exegetical heritage handed down          and appear to be well bound. And in today's market,
from Calvin. Moreover, I can understand that some will the price is not exorbitant. Recommended for your
benefit from the modernization of the language in this reference library.
translation; and, in so far as I have checked up on these
three volumes, the translation appears to be a good The Five Points Of  cizlvinism, A Study Guide,  by
one, comparing favorably with the Pringle translation. Edwin H. Palmer; Baker Book House, Grand Rapids;


                                                  THE STANDARD  ~~/+;ik                                               479
                                                                  -2 ,


     Mich.; 109 pages, $1.95 (paper). Reviewed by Prof. H.       with limited atonement, as well as by an extremely
     C. Hoeksema.                                                unsatisfying treatment of the contradiction between
       This little book is a rather traditional treatment of the the two. And, to say the least  - and more could be
     Five Points of Calvinism. By this I do not mean to say      said if a detailed critique were to be written  -  the.
     that in many of its parts the book is not orthodox. But     chapter entitled "The Great Mystery" is hardly useful as
     the book is rather prosaic. It does not sparkle. It lacks a study guide. This treatment of God's sovereignty and
     dynamic.                                                    man's responsibility would be confusing to anyone
       There are some good points. One of these is that it seeking guidance.
     furnishes explicit Scriptural proof in many places. It        To sum things up, it simply does not work to
     also points out where Calvinism and Arminianism             "hedge" in maintaining Calvinism. One is either a
     differ.                                                     consistent Calvinist, or he gets himself into trouble by
       The book is badly marred, however, by its insistence      "hedging."
     upon common grace and "relative good" of sinners in            Sorry, but I cannot go along with the jacket-claim
     its treatment of total depravity. It is marred by its       that this book is "ideal for group and class use as well
     insistence upon the "offer of the gospel" in connection     as for individual study."



                 RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                                         RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
       The Board of the R.F.P.A. extends its sympathy to           The members of the Senior Mr. and Mrs. Society of
     the family of                                               the Southeast Protestant Reformed Church of Grand
                        MR. JOHN BOS,                            Rapids, Michigan, hereby express their sincere
     one of our board members, who was taken home to Christian sympathy to Mrs. John Bos and her family in
     glory so unexpectedly, and also to our fellow board the death of her husband, and their father,
     member, Mr. Richard Bos, his brother.
        "I know, 0 Lord, that Thy judgments are right and
     that Thou in  faithfuhless hast afflicted me." (Psalm                             JOHN BOS
     119:75.)
                                    Mr. John Kalsbeek,  Pres.       May our covenant God comfort them by His Word
                                     Mr. Don Knoper, Sec'y.      and Spirit.
                                                                    "For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he
                 RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                          shall stand at the latter day upon the earth."
        First Church Choral Society of Grand Rapids, Michi-                                                  (Job  19:25)
     gan extends its sincere sympathy to one of our mem-                                       Mr. C. Lubbers, President
     bers, Mrs. Mary Bos, and to her family in the sudden                                        Mrs. Peter Faber, Sec'y.
     loss of their husband and father,
                          Mr. John Bos
        "Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sus-
     tain thee: He shall never suffer the righteous to be           Classis West of the Protestant Reformed Churches
     moved." (Psalm 55 : 22)                                     will meet in Loveland, Colorado on Wednesday,
        May the God of all grace so comfort and strengthen       September 5, 1973 at  8:30 A.M., the Lord willing.
     them in the assurance of His promises.                      Delegates in need of lodging should'notify the clerk of
                                   Mr. Edward Ophoff, Pres.      the Loveland consistory of their need.
                                    Miss Pat Looyenga,Sec'y                           Rev. David Engelsma, Stated Clerk



                                  News From Our Churches
                                                     August 14, 1973
        If we were to choose from this page one single news Illinois, congregation, has accepted the call to serve as
     item to be that of the greatest significance for the third professor in our seminary. The possibility of a
     churches of our denomination, it would probably be pre-seminary program in our school during the
     this, that Rev. R. Decker, pastor of our South Holland,     1973-1974 school year, rested with that decision. The
I

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


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER


fact that the Lord has provided for the need, must of July through the months of August and September.
certainly be an evidence also of His blessing upon the He planned to be there alone during the first month,
labors there.                                                and be joined by his wife during the second.
                          *****                                Rev. Veldman returned from New Jersey the last
   At the time of this writing, Rev. Heys is considering     week of June. Rev. Van  Baren made a short visit to
the call to serve as Home Missionary, Candidate              Midland Park, New Jersey, in order to preach there on
Hoeksema the call to serve as pastor in our Forbes           Sunday, July 1. Professor Hanko and his family left for
congregation, and Candidate Joostens in our Jenison that state on the 6th of July. The professor preached
congregation.                                                in Fair-lawn (in the Patterson area) on the remaining
   Candidate Hoeksema, as you know, is currently             four Sundays of July. He was followed by Rev. and
laboring, at the request of the Mission Committee,           Mrs. Schipper, who planned to carry on the work
with Rev. Lubbers in Jamaica. He and his wife left           during the month of August.
Grand Rapids on July 18, were met in New Orleans by            On July 25 the Mission Committee considered a
Rev. and Mrs. Lubbers (who had spent an apparently           request from five families of the Patterson area to be
fruitful week in Houston), and accompanied them on           organized as a Protestant Reformed Church. The
the last leg of the journey to Montego Bay, Jamaica.         request was granted, and the time for organization was
Candidate and Mrs. Hoeksema plan to remain on the            set for the last part of August or the first part of
island for a period of up to six months.                     September when Rev. C. Hanko arrives in New Jersey
   Before the Hoeksemas had been two weeks on the            to succeed Rev. Schipper. The two will together
island, they were involved in an automobile accident.        officiate at the organization services.
Mrs. Hoeksema, according to the August 5 bulletin of           According to an August 5 bulletin, the Mission
First Church, "incurred some cuts on the forehead and Committee also received a request for assistance from
leg which required stitching, but she was able to come       five families in Houston, Texas. They asked that one of
home afterwards." The incident occurred on a Sunday          our ministers meet with them and hopefully begin
afternoon, when they were returning home early               working with them. The Rev. D. Engelsma was asked
because of the cancellation of evening services due to       by the Mission Committee to investigate and preach
heavy rains.                                                 there for three Sundays.
   That physical stress has been the lot of our                From a Hudsonville bulletin, this: "May the Lord
missionaries in Jamaica has been plain from past bless these labors to the gathering of His church unto
experiences of Rev. and Mrs. Lubbers, and also, we           the Day of the Lord."
understand, of Rev. Heys. During the time that the                                    *****
pastor of our Holland Church was working in the                The absence of various of our ministers has worked
Mission field, he suffered a hernia while changing a tire    something of a strain on the pulpit supply during these
on his low-slung compact station wagon. That was on vacation months. From Hudsonville's bulletin of July
February 10. In July he submitted to corrective              29 we read that "Because of the shortage of ministers
surgery in the Holland City Hospital. It is well that we at present, our service will begin at 11 o'clock this
heed the exhortation, found in First Church's bulletin,      morning. Next week, the Lord willing, we will be on
that we "remember our missionaries in Jamaica before. our regular schedule. Rev. Hanko will preach in
the Throne of Grace. "                                       Holland at 9:O0." From Grand Rapids' Hope Church
                          *****                              bulletin: "Due to a lack of supply, our second service
  When will Rev. Harbach get back? Where is Rev. next Sunday will be at 2:00 P.M." And, from a
Schipperf! Has Rev. Hanko left yet? If you've had as         Southeast bulletin: "Because of the shortage of pulpit
much difficulty as I, during the past few months, supply for July, the pastor will be preaching three
trying to keep track of the whereabouts of our times today. After the evening service he will be
ministers, you'll probably appreciate a short review of preaching at Faith Church at 7:30 instead of the usual
those activities, gleaned from July and August church 7:00 o'clock service. Rev. R. Van Overloop  will aiso be
bulletins. Rev. I&per, who had gone to Philadelphia at preaching three times. He will take an unusual
the adjournment of Synod, returned to Pella during afternoon service at Faith."
the week of July 8. The work in Pennsylvania was then          There is, yet, one other pulpit supply which is
taken up, a couple of weeks later, by Rev. Harbach,          worthy of note. Seminarian Arie den Hartog spent the
whose visit ,was expected to extend from the last week summer months in Forbes, North Dakota.
                                                                                                                  D.D.


