     STANDARD
      BEARER
.     A REFORMED SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE                                           \





4                                         VOLUME L, NUMBER 4,  NOVEMB$i  15,1973  -


  74                                             THE STANDARD BEARER


  MEDITATION                                              F     4





                                            Jacob Justified

                                                     Rev. M. Schipper


                "He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the Lord
               his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them. "                              Numbers 23 : 2 1



        Blessed, indeed,  ,are they unto whom the Lord will     Zippor. God is not a man, that he should lie; neither
 not impute sin!                                                the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said,
        And let no one condemn those whom Jehovah               and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he
 their God justifies!                                          n o t   m a k e   i t   g o o d ?   B e h o l d ,   I   h a v e   r e c e i v e d
                                                                commandment to bless: and he hath blessed, and I
        Such is the truth most beautifully expressed in the     cannot reverse it."
 text to which we now direct attention.                              "He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither
        Jacob-Israel was approaching the promised land,        hath he seen perverseness in Israel . . .  !"
 having been delivered from Egypt, the house of
 bondage. At the moment, they had pitched their                      Here is Jehovah's sovereign perception of His
 tents in the plains of Moab, east. of the Jordan.             people!
 Resting they were from the most recent encounter                    He beholds, but not like a man!
 with the armies of Og, king of  Bashan, and Sihon,
 king of the Amorites, who together were totally                     When man sees, the objects of sight must first be
 discomfitted.                                                  there to behold. When Jehovah sees, He causes the
                                                                objects of sight to be. When man sees intelligently, he
   When Balak, king of the Moabites, with his people            must first be instructed concerning the object of
 observed this destruction, their hearts melted with            sight; it must be explained to him what it is he sees.
 fear. They surmised that the same lot would befall            When Jehovah sees, He knows intuitively what it is
 them. Consequently Balak sent to Balaam, that                  that He has brought into being. When man sees, he
 hypocritical soothsayer, who dwelt in Pethor among             can look only on the outward appearance. When
 his people, that he would come over and curse the              Jehovah sees, He beholds not only the outward
 children of Israel. With rewards of divination were            appearance, but He knows the object of sight as it
 Balak's messengers sent to entice the seer.                    essentially is. His searching eye penetrates into the
        Balaam, so it appears, exudes with "piety" when        inner recesses, and nothing escapes His vision. As He
 he learned of Balak's urgent request. He informs the           by His Spirit searches out the depths of His own
 messengers that he has no answer until he has first            eternal being, so He also beholds all things outside of
 inquired of the Lord what he shall do.                        Himself.
   The Lord  forebade him to go with the messengers,                 0 ,   h o w   i n f i n i t e , and perfect is Jehovah's
 nor is Balaam allowed to curse the children of Israel;        perception!
 for they are blessed.                                           And what is true of His perception with regard to
    Balak, however, is persistent. Again he appeals to         the creatures in general, is particularly true of His
 Balaam to come and curse Israel. This time he weights         perception of His people.
 his request with promises to promote the seer to great              Of this they are taught to echo the refrain of the
 honoyr. And this time Jehovah allows him to go, but           sweet psalmist of old . . . !
 Balaam may speak that only which the Lord shall put
in his mouth.                                                          0 Lord, my inmost heart and thought
   And Balaam  tookup his parable, and said, "Rise up,                    Thy searching eye doth see;
 Balak, and hear; hearken unto me, thou son of                         Where'er I rest, where'er I go,


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                75



        My ways are known to Thee.                         to the plains of Moab live in constant rebellion
     From Thee, 0 Lord, I cannot hide                      against the Lord? And when you review the history
        Tho' darkness cover me;                            of Israel from the moment of their entrance into
     The darkness and the light of day                     Canaan to the time of their captivity, is it not true
        Are both alike to Thee.                            that the Lord through His prophets denounces that
   Jacob-Israel, Jehovah sees!                             people as a stiff-necked and rebellious lot? Does not
                                                           the apostle Peter on the day of Pentecost charge this
   Significantly, as so often in Scripture, these          people with the crime of the ages, saying:  "Ye have
appellations stand together, and always they have          taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain
their own speech.                                          the Just One?"
   Surely this people cannot be divorced from their          No iniquity in Jacob? No perverseness in Israel?
progenitor, Jacob, the twin brother of Esau. He it was
who held his brother by the heel at the time of birth,       Should not Jehovah's sentence of judgment be
to pull him back as it were into the womb of his           changed, and has He not erred in His perception?
mother, in order that he might be born first. From         Should not the conclusion rather be . . .
the moment of his birth Jacob is the heel-holder             Jacob, sinner?
who would wrestle for the preeminence in the things
of God's covenant. What so significantly marked his          Israel, ungodly?
birth also characterizes the whole life of this chosen       Does not Balak have sufficient ground to request
of God. Always struggling to attain unto the things of     that the people be cursed?
God's covenant. 0, to be sure, often in his own              Indeed, such would be the finite judgment of man!
strength, and not always with pure and holy motives;         But Jehovah is not a man, that He should lie!
for more than once he was charged with supplanting,
so that some rather call him supplanter than                 The possibility therefore of Jacob's justification is
heel-holder. But, make no mistake about it,                not to be found in Jacob-Israel, but in Jehovah, the
heel-holder, wrestler he is. At last he even wrestles      God of Israel!
with God, and overcomes with weeping and                     Marvelous grace! Sovereign Lord!
supplications.                                               God justifies the ungodly!
  Hence, the Lord changes his name to that
indicative of victor. "And he (the Lord) said, Thy           But surely this cannot mean that Jehovah, the
name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as     thrice holy God, looks at sin and sinners as it were
a prince hast thou power with God and with men,            through His fingers,  - that He ignores the sinful
and hast prevailed," (Gen.  32:28;  Hosea  12:3,4).        condition of His people. To do so, would be to deny
                                                           Himself, and this is forever impossible.
  Jacob becomes Israel!                                      Rather, He deals with His people's sin and
  He overcomes with the power of God!                      corruption in such a way that He Himself pays their
  He it is whom Jehovah beholds with sovereign             debt, and removes from them their guilty stains, by
perception!                                                blotting them out in His own blood.
  He it is whom Jehovah beholds as righteous in His          The Lord his God is with Him!
holy sight! No iniquity does Jehovah perceive in him,
nor does Jehovah discover any wickedness in Him!             Jehovah identifies Himself with His people in such
Positively, this means that God judges him as being        a way that He takes their place in judgment. He
perfectly justified!                                       attaches Himself to His people in elective love from
  But how is this possible?                                all eternity. And in time He dwells among them in the
                                                           Person of His Son in human nature.
  Does not all that the Word of God reveals
concerning Jacob, and subsequently concerning the            Beholding His people from all eternity in His Son,
people of Israel deny this divine judgment? Can the        He beholds them spotless and clean, perfectly
sin of deception of which Jacob made himself guilty        righteous,' and so He judges them. Never did He see
when he tricked his brother into selling him the           iniquity in Jacob, because Jacob in Christ  was*
birthright be covered up? Can Jacob be exonerated          eternally justified. And this must mean that from
when with his mother they lied to his blind father in      God's point of view the cross is as eternal as Jacob's
order to receive the patriarchal blessing? And when        justification. And therefore also from the point of
we consider the history of Jacob's descendants only        view of time the victory over sin and death was in
from the time of their deliverance from Egypt to the       evidence in this people in Christ, centuries before the
time of our text, was not that history replete with sin    cross was planted on Golgotha's brow.
upon sin? Did they not all the way from the Red Sea          The shout of a king is among them!


76                                             THE STANDARD BEARER



      Not an earthly king, you understand; for Israel has    glorieth, let him glory in the Lord."
no such king at this time. And even when they did               Shall such people be cursed? No never!
obtain a king centuries later, he was only a shadow
that was cast by the King of Israel, Jehovah, their             Shall those who have their sins blotted out and
God in the face of Christ Jesus.                             forgiven, be condemned? God forbid!
      This tumult of a king, Balaam is made to hear!            Even if God has to use a wicked, impious,
      Let all the Balaks of the world understand,  - this    hypocritical soothsayer to express it, let the truth be
people which rests quietly on the plains of Moab, is         loudly and clearly spoken . . .
not a poor defenseless, worthy-to-be-cursed people!
-They' are the people of the living God, whom He                Blessed is Jehovah's Jacob-Israel!
justifies, and whom none may condemn. Not on any                And with their justification they have the right to
basis of righteousness inherent in that people, but on       the adoption of sons, and to eternal life and glory!
the basis of His own righteousness which He                     Blessed Jacob!
sovereignly prepared and manifested in His Son, their
"wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and             Victorious Israel!
redemption: that, according as it is written, He that           Gracious and glorious God!


EDITORIALS

                                           Editor's Notes
                                                 ProJ: H. C. Hoeksema


      GREEN SHEET. Your attention is called to the           Meanwhile, Mr. Hoeksema has accepted the call to
Green Sheet enclosed with this issue. Please take note       our Forbes, North Dakota congregation where he
of the combination book-and-subscription offers on           expects to take up his labors sometime after the first
this sheet. Here is an opportunity to obtain good            of the year. In the third place, you will find in this
Reformed literature and a subscription or a                  issue a special article by Mr. Jon Huisken from our
r.e n e wal-subscription to our magazine at bargain          Theological School Committee. By means of these
prices. If you are looking for gift ideas, here they are!    articles we are trying to keep our readers informed
                         *****                               concerning our denominational affairs. Finally, a
      SPECIAL ARTICLES. In this issue some of our            special word of thanks goes to my colleague, Prof. H.
regular departments have been crowded out by                 Hanko, who is editing the department which appears
several special articles. First of all, we call your         in each issue of this Fiftieth Volume,  The Standard
attention to the Thanksgiving Feature from the pen           Bearer in Retrospect.
of Rev. Rodney Miersma. While we mention this, we                                     *****
wish to make mention of the fact that several of our            ACKNOWLEDGEMENT. Through an oversight, we
ministers who are not staff members have agreed to           failed to acknowledge those responsible for the
contribute one or more articles to our magazine.             anniversary symbols being used throughout this
They are: Rev. R. Moore, Rev. R. Miersma, Rev. W.            volume. They are Mr. Ronald Hanko, a pre-sem
Bekkering, Rev. R. Van Overloop, and Rev. M.                 student at our Theological School, and Mr. Randall
Kamps. We thank these brethren for their willingness.        Meyer of First Church. Thanks!
Secondly, you will find in this issue three articles
about our Jamaica Mission  - one from the Mission                                     *****
Committee, one from Missionary Lubbers, and one                 QUESTION BOX. We have on hand several
from Candidate Mark H. Hoeksema. Mr. Hoeksema is             interesting questions for this department, and your
a 1973 graduate of our seminary who was appointed            editor fully intended to make a beginning in
by our Mission Committee to assist Rev. Lubbers for          answering them in this issue. However, this will have
several months. Mr. and Mrs. Hoeksema will be in             to wait until next time, due to a week-long bout with
Jamaica, the Lord willing, until about Christmas time.       some persistent flu bugs on the part of your editor.


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  77




                                                      d

                              The OPC and the "Free Offer" (4)

                                 CONTRARY TO THE CONFESSIONS (continued)


   We have been busy, in our recent articles on the         same is true of the doctrine of the calling. The
above subject, evaluating the theory of the "Free           confessions teach plainly the doctrine of irresistible
Offer" in the light of our Reformed confessions.            grace and effectual calling. But the whole spirit of the
Murray and Stonehouse  in. their pamphlet do not            offer-theory militates against the doctrine of effectual
appeal to the confessions at all. In the Clark Case,        calling. Yes, I know, the offer-theoreticians will
which gave rise to the Murray-Stonehouse pamphlet,          loudly claim that they hold to the doctrine of
it was at least attempted (though it was a dismal           effectual calling: as `Reformed men, they  must  do so.
failure) to criticize Dr. Clark on the basis of the         But in the preaching, effectual calling is silenced; and
creeds. We, however, refuse to be bound by the              the "offer" is given the prominence. You see, it
failure of the Murray-Stonehouse pamphlet to appeal         makes no sense to anyone to say that God wills the
to the confessions. It is Reformed methodology              salvation of all and lovingly offers salvation to all
always to look to the confessions  first,  and not to       and at the same time to say that He effectually calls
turn directly to Scripture when testing any doctrine.       only some and brings them to salvation. But there is
Why? Not because the confessions are on a par with          more involved in adhering to the doctrine of effectual
Scripture, but because the confessions contain the          calling, you see, than that it is a doctrine explaining
systematic exposition of what Reformed (or                  the fact that only some heed the preaching and
Presbyterian.) churches believe to be the truth set         believe. It is  Reformed  not merely to  adhere  to this
forth by Scripture. Hence, if we want to know what          doctrine as an  explanation  of men's reaction to the
Presbyterians hold to be the truth of the Word of           preaching of the Word, but to  proclaim  this truth as
God, we look to the Presbyterian creeds; if we want         an integral part of the good news of salvation! And if
to know what the Reformed hold to be the truth of           you hold to the offer-theory, you simply cannot do
the Word of God, we look to the Three Forms of              this. Still more, implicitly if not explicitly the
Unity. And if we want tc  test  any doctrine in             offer-theory must lead to a denial of the Reformed
Presbyterian or Reformed churches, we apply the test        doctrine of total depravity. Why? When you make an
of the confessions  first.                                  offer, this implicitly assumes ability to accept the
  We maintain that if this test is applied to the           offer on the part of those to whom it is made. It
theory of the "Free Offer," it will be discovered that      makes as much sense to offer salvation to a man  dead
the theory is entirely foreign to the spirit and the        in trespasses and sins as to offer life to corpses in the
letter of the confessions. The confessions are              cemetery if only they will accept! And again,
particularistic throughout. They breathe an entirely        remember, please, that this affects the  preaching.
different spirit than that which is breathed by the         Total depravity is not merely a neat theory to explain
doctrine of the "free offer." The theory of the "free       the  necessity of sovereign grace. No, it is Reformed-to
o f f e r " sets aside (though giving lipservice) the       say that total depravity, the doctrine that man is  dead
doctrine of sovereign election and reprobation, and         in trespasses and sins, is  an integral part of the good
sets up a general will of God unto salvation. The           news! Does not our Heidelberg Catechism beautifully
theory of the "free offer" sets aside the doctrine of       stress this when it teaches that to enjoy the only
definite, or particular, atonement; and while in most       comfort in life and death the first thing I must know
cases the "Reformed" proponents of the offer-theory         is: how great my sins and miseries are?
do not dare accept the logical consequence of                 All of the above deserves to be emphasized. In the
universal atonement which follows from their theory,        first place, it renders suspect the entire approach of
yet even in this regard they find it necessary to weasel    the proponents of the offer-theory that they do not
with words. And in some instances (as in the                appeal (and  cannot  appeal!) to the confessions for
infamous Dekker Case, which grew directly out of the        their theory. In the second place, it reminds us of the
offer-theory of  (1924!) the atonement is openly            importance of knowing our confessions. Not only
generalized. Why? Because even a child can                  must ministers and elders know the confessions, but
understand that if Christ died only for the elect, there    also all of God's people should be thoroughly
simply is no salvation to offer the reprobate. The          immersed in the confessions. The confessions should


78                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER



be of the very fiber of our being. We should                      condemn this reluctance of Dr. Clark. In commenting
understand the  line  and the whole  method of                    on  this, Rev. H. Hoeksema wrote as follows in
thinking  of our confessions, not just some individual            Volume 2  1, page 408:
articles to use as ammunition against this or that                       But how superficial is the reasoning of the
theory. And we must learn more and more to  think                     complainants here! Dr. Clark is reluctant to speak of
confessionally.  Then such theories as that of the                    the gospel as an offer and "invitation" in the sense in
"offer" could never gain entrance among Reformed                      which the Arminians, and also the complainants use
people. For the entire theory is out-of-kilter with the               these terms. They understand these terms as meaning
line of thought presented in our Reformed creeds.                     that in the gospel God sincerely seeks the salvation of
                                                                      the reprobates. But the Westminster Confession in the
      Now we turn again to the Westminster Confession                 passage quoted knows nothing of this modern
of Faith. The first article which we quote is of special              connotation of the terms. This should be evident
interest because the term  offereth  occurs in it. We                 from the fact that the word offered is used in the
refer to Chapter VII, 3:                                              sense of the Latine "offert" from obfero, and may be
          Man, by his fall, having made himself incapable of          translated just as well by "present". (Or: set forth. In
       life by that covenant, the Lord was pleased to make a          the Dutch: voorstellen. HCH) But that it was far from
       second (Gal 3:21;  Rom. 8:3; Rom. 3:20, 21; Gen.               the minds of the authors of the Westminster to teach
       3:15; Isa. 42:6), commonly called the covenant of              that in the gospel God is sincerely seeking the
       grace; wherein He freely offereth unto sinners life and        salvation of the reprobate is especially evident from
       salvation by Jesus Christ; requiring of them faith in          the rest of the same passage: "and promising to give
       Him, that they may be saved (Mark 16:15, 16; John              unto all those that are ordained unto life his Holy
       3:16; Rom. 10:6, 9; Gal 3:11),  and promising to give          Spirit, to make them willing and able to believe."
       unto all those that are ordained unto eternal life His         This, then, is the promise of the covenant, the
       Holy Spirit, to make them willing, and able to believe         promise that must be preached: God will give to all
       (Ezek. 36:26,27; John 6:44,45).                                the elect His Spirit. But the complainants are not
                                                                      satisfied with this. They insist that Dr. Clark must
      Now those who hold to the offer-theory in                       preach and teach "that in the gospel God sincerely
Presbyterian circles will be quick to grasp at an article             offers salvation in Christ to all who hear, reprobate as
like this. But they are grasping at straws. Let alone                well as elect."
the fact that the article indeed employs the term                   The Murray-Stonehouse pamphlet and all who hold
"offereth," (though not in  the.current sense), and let           to the offer-theory teach and believe that God is
alone the fact that the article itself by no means                filled with an earnest desire to save all men, elect and
speaks of a  general offer,  but is particularistic, are          reprobate alike.
you going to rest an entire theory, and that, too, a
theory which militates against the thought of the                   To anyone who can read, it is plain that this theory
entire confession upon a single use of the word                   is in irreconcilable conflict with the Westminister
"offereth" in an article which by no stretch of the               Confession, which consistently teaches that God wills
imagination can be said to set forth a  doctrine  of an           to save and does save, and that, too, by sovereign
"offer?" To say the least, this is poor theologizing!             grace, only His beloved elect.
      But let us examine the article. In the old Clark              The former position Reformed believers must
Case  the complainants said that they found it strange            reject and abandon.
that Dr. Clark was reluctant to admit that the gospel               To the latter position they must cling if they wish
is an  offer and an invitation; and they  .appealed to            to be Reformed. For what the confessions teach is
this article of the Westminster Confession to                     Reformed, and that only.



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                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                79


ABOUT JAMAICAN MISSIONS

                                 The Jamaican Field

  Have you ever read one of those magazine stories         Weighing all the facts as reported by Rev. Lubbers,
in serial form with short installments appearing each      and corroborated by his youthful assistant, the
month? Then you will also remember wondering how           Mission Committee, in conjunction with the calling
many chapters were still forthcoming. In fact, some        church, made its combined decisions: to notify our
single chapters were strung out so long that one even      Missionary that we were suspending his work in
wondered when he would be introduced to a new              December; to move all his possessions back home;
chapter. Well, the story of our work in the Jamaican       and, await the evaluation of that mission  tield by the
Mission Field is one such, with parts of chapters          1974 Synod! The Missionary's reply was prompt! We
written in installments. This time we will start           had made him very happy because he felt that his
another chapter. Start, I say, because you will have to    work there was finished, and that therefore his
wait for another installment to see the  end,,probably     presence was no longer required.
written by Synod of 1974.                                    Well may he hear, "Well done, thou good and
  For the preceding chapters we refer you to the           faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."
back numbers of the  Standard Bearer,  the first           Rev. Lubbers had accomplished much. He had also
installment written back in 1963, or thereabouts.          experienced many sorrows, such as seeing ministers
You will remember that emissaries had been sent            and their flocks leaving our communion; and meeting
there two by two. The Reverends Hanko, Harbach,            furtive, secretive opposition, and some quite open!
Heys, Lubbers and the brethren Meulenberg,  Feen-          But his accomplishments also bore much fruit. He
stra and Zwak came and went as mandated by                 had faithfully instructed the people in the Reformed
the Mission Committee. And, in an exciting                 Faith and seen many cleave to this truth. But his
installment, you learned that Rev. Lubbers accepted        monumental work was the Seminary which he set up
the call to be Missionary to the Island! That was in       for the instruction of four young aspirants for the
1970. Those two stalwart souls, Rev. and Mrs.              ministry! He was the entire teaching staff! If we allow
Lubbers, labored diligently in that new field;             you to "peek" into a future installment, you can see
preaching, teaching, exhorting, leading, and not least,    that those four will graduate in November. Candidate
distributing clothing sent from the States. That was       Hoeksema was added to the Staff in July and helped
Mrs. Lubbers' domain, plus accompanying her                the students cram through the courses expected of
husband up those steep hills to locate the well-hidden     them. The Mission Committee co-operated with the
churches.                                                  Staff in sending some fifty dollars worth of books for
  We have now begun a new chapter, one which will          each student as a graduation present.
be "continued in the next issue" of course. This             No, we are not leaving the faithful people in
chapter began with the 1973 Synod, and will have to        Jamaica in the lurch. The Mission Committee has
be finished by the Synod of `74. But as in the case of     decided to send two of their most experienced
the magazine serials we never knew if that chapter         emissaries to the Island in the Spring to evaluate the
would be the last, so again. We cannot look so far         field, to learn what effect our temporary absence has
into the future of this story. The `73 Synod decided,      had upon them; and to provide guidance to the
with Rev. Lubbers' consent, to send our Missionary         Committee and to Synod, so that Synod can make its
back to the Island for another year. The faithful two      own evaluation.
went back, but this time they had company.                   What shall the future installments reveal? Shall we
Candidate Hoeksema and his wife, Ruth, were                try to send another full-time missionary? Shall we
requested by the Mission Committee to assist the           heip them by sending part-time emissaries? How shall
Lubbers duo. The first few letters winging their way       we help them with our financial aid? All those
back to the Committee were somewhat more                   answers will be found in future installments. No more
encouraging than those which came before the Synod         "peeks" into the next issues. You'll just have to wait!
meeting. But soon the tenor of the missives changed.
The six-letter word,  futile,  cropped up very often.              (Continued in the next installment.)
Finally, Rev. Lubbers wrote to ask the committee to
terminate his labors, preferably in December of `73.                      J.M. Faber, sec'y., Mission Committee


80                                             THE STANDARD BEARER


                                    News From Jamaica

                                                    Rev. G. Lubbers


      At the annual meeting of the Staff of the  Standard      S y n o d   i n s t r u c t s   t h e   M i s s i o n   C o m m i t t e e   i n
Bearer,  undersigned promised to send in some news             conjunction with the calling church to evaluate
from time to time for our readers. I believe that this         carefully the field in the next year to determine by
is not only interesting, but also very important; it is        next year's Synod whether this work should be
necessary that our people be informed of the facts             continued beyond June of 1974." This decision is
and developments in the field. Sometimes this is not           clear and concise; it spells out a definite mandate for
an easy task. One must not lose the necessary                  the Mission Committee to follow, and also for the
objectivity in reporting. And when one is personally           calling church. It seems to me that both this
involved in the happenings, this becomes still more            Committee and the Ecclesiastical Assembly, in their
difficult. On the other hand, only the Missionary,             decision to refer this matter to the Synod of 1974,
who has been in the field for almost four years'               are correct.
running, (since April,  1969), is in a position to write          There is another decision of the Synod which must
knowledgeably on the matters to be reported.                   pass in review at this point. This decision is found in
      There is another reason why it is important that         the Acts of Synod of 1973, pg. 29, Art. 119, which
some news be forthcoming from the Jamaica field. It            reads,  ". . . that Synod instruct the Mission
is the fact that upon my request and upon the reasons          Committee to see to it that the present school work
assigned, the Mission Committee and the calling                for the students be finished this year. Carried."
church (First Church, Grand Rapids,  Mich.) have                  Now both of these decisions were directives in the
decided "to suspend Rev. Lubbers' labors in the                Missionary's request that in December of this year he
Jamaican Mission field in December and to instruct             be honorably discharged from his duties here on the
him to return home with his possessions." Now there            Island.
is room for some reporting by the undersigned on this
important and far-reaching decision. It was also                   To begin on the positive note, it was the conviction
decided  - and that correctly in my judgment  - "that          of the Missionary and also that of brother Mark
any further missionary work in Jamaica, either by              Hoeksema that "the present school work for the four
another full-time missionary or by emissaries will be          students" could very properly and reasonably be
decided by the Synod which meets in June of 1974."             finished by the month of December. School was
                                                               begun on August 1. The data which Synod and its
      This decision does not mean to write off the             Committee had before them concerning the "school
mission field here in Jamaica, nor does it mean that           work" was that these students needed a course in
the Mission Committee or the undersigned consider              New Testament History, that the course in Old
our work here as being an ecclesiastical and                   Testament History needed to be finished as well as
missionary debacle. Such is not the viewpoint of the           the course in Doctrine. The courses in Homiletics and
Mission Committee. On the contrary, the Committee              Hermeneutics, which have been very ably taught by
encourages the brethren here to hold fast to the               Rev. J. Heys were finished. The students needed
Reformed faith, that they retain the name Protestant           practice preaching. It was the certain conviction that
Reformed Church in Jamaica for the sake of the                 the necessary courses have been taught to the
keeping of the unity; advise the Board of Trustees to          s t u d e n t s .   T h e   c o u r s e   c o v e r e d   t h r e e   y e a r s   o f
meet regularly to discuss the well-being of the                instruction in the following branches: Heidelberg
churches; supervise the care of the buildings, and give        Catechism (doctrine), Church History (Ancient and
the Mission Committee reports of their activities. This        Medieval and a bit of Modern), Old Testament
is a rather positive stance. Whether this advice to the        History (in depth), New Testament History (a course
Jamaican brethren is optimistic or lacks realism, the          commensurate to what is given in our own seminary),
future will tell. I believe that this advice is correct. At    Homiletics, and Hermeneutics, and even some
any rate, the Mission Committee does not close the             instruction in music, not to forget a solid course in
field.                                                         basic English and composition. These we consider
      This could only be done by the Synod of our              necessary courses, and we believe that we have given
churches. There is a very important decision taken by          these men the tools and skills to "teach others."
the Synod of 1973, Art. 113, which reads as follows:           These men are making good progress in preaching
"In light of the developments in the Jamaican field             also, and they preach Reformed, Protestant Reformed,


                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER                                                      81



doctrine. In many ways they are young and untried,                possible. There is no need of the undersigned to stay
as is to be expected. But they will be teaching in the            here to referee the churches under the rules and
indigenous Protestant Reformed Churches in Jamaica,               regulations. If the two-fold organization, the Board of
and not in the Protestant Reformed Churches in                    Trustees and the Elders' Conference do not work, it
America.                                                          shows that the churches cannot or will not function
                                                                  as such. . . .
  We hold that we have done what Synod instructed
the Mission Committee to do, namely, to finish the                   We ask you to take steps to facilitate our
                                                                  honorable discharge from the field here set forth
present school work of the students this year. And we             above.
say this with great gratitude to the Lord!                        (*) As a footnote I will add that Article 114 does not
  On a more negative note, permit us to observe that              refer to the labors of this year here, but refers to a
there are no little discouragements, even though there            consideration of work-method "should we continue"
are some positive developments. Synod decided that                after the Synod of 1974.
after careful study it would be decided whether we
should continue our labors beyond the Synod of                   Both the Mission Committee and the Consistory of
1974. There is here not much for me to report. What            First Church have acceded to my request, subject to
I have reported in former articles must stand. I shall         the confirmation and the approval of the Synod, of
here content myself by simply quoting from my                  course.
request (in part) for an honorable discharge. I quote            Now it my earnest prayer to God for these
the following:                                                 churches that they may prosper well. I do not believe
       The task which I undertook when I assumed this          that our leaving here will or can shorten the hand of
   office before the face of the Lord is ended. It is true     the Lord. I commend these churches, ministers, and
   that there is some difference of opinion whether we         students unto the hand of the Lord, Who is able to
   have exhausted the resources here, and whether a            keep them and give them a place among all those who
   "different method" should be used in working on the         are sanctified.
   Island. Article 114 speaks of the instruction of Synod
   to the Mission Committee concerning "method of                I only humbly confess that we have worked
   labor." (*) This evidently refers to the view of an         faithfully, depending upon the Lord's mercies which
   esteemed colleague that we should labor with each           were new every morning. If the Lord in His
   congregation in a catechetical manner, and that after       inscrutable wisdom sees fit to send another man or
   the pattern of what we did here with the students.          men here, more youthful than Mrs. Lubbers and
   Much as I respect the sincere attitude and attempt          myself, I can only gratefully and thankfully praise
   herein set forth, I believe that I should point out (a)     God's Name.
   that I have done this wherever possible for three
   years, (b) that it is physically impossible to                I do not believe that my usefulness in God's
   accomplish this goal when one is in a given church          kingdom has ended. My work has ended here. What
   only once in five or six weeks, and when there is no        the Lord has in store for us I leave in  His hands and
   evident attempt of the people to cooperate. I believe       wait His bidding. We did not go here in our own
   that this would only show up the futility of such           strength, nor do we leave in our own willfulness. His
   intensive indoctrination on the part of the Missionary      Name be praised.
   alone and single-handed. Besides, the very idea and
   genius of teaching students is that these in turn "shall      Meanwhile we are thankful for the presence and
   be able to teach others." (II Tim. 2:2) I believe and       aid of Mr. and Mrs. Mark Hoeksema on the Island.
   hold that here too, my task is ended, and it now falls      Mr. Hoeksema works with vigor in the school. The
   upon the shoulders of the young men, whom we have           students love him very much, as they do Mrs.
   instructed, and upon the shoulders of the Rev. Elliot       Hoeksema. It will be a rather sad day to depart from
   and Rev. Frame.                                             these people here, and particularly from the students
      I do not believe that it should be necessary for me      whom we have instructed these three years in school.
   and Mrs. Lubbers to remain on the Island and to             We also will leave with sadness from the ministers.
   supervise the work indefinitely. Perhaps this is very       Then there are some very good elders which have
   futile too. It is one thing to set up the machinery of      stood in the fray. Nevertheless, we do leave in the
   church government here on the Island, but it is quite       consciousness of the Lord's approval, without which
   another thing, and far more difficult, to have the          we could not leave.
   churches operate within the framework and
   structures. . . .                                             Remember us all in your prayers, and not the least
                                                               these churches in Jamaica, that they may continue in
      If these churches need help, such help can be given      the faith delivered unto them.
   them by sending qualified and knowledgeable men
   here to meet with the Board of Trustees and with the          May the Lord grant the guidance of His Spirit to all
   Elders' Conference at stated times should this be           who must make decisions in His Name.


82                                                THE STANDARD BEARER



                             Two Wise  Meti and a Fool
                                               Candidate Mark H. Hoeksema


      Once upon a time there were two wise men and a            can be said about Jamaica, its people, and the way of
fool. All three were motoring along a road which                life on this Caribbean island. But to speak of the
traversed a mountainous island. The road was a                  various facets of Jamaica in any kind of detail would
dangerous one; rough, narrow, hilly, and winding, it            be to write a book, at the very least. It is my purpose,
was bordered on the one side by the sheer rock wall             however, to attempt to describe briefly the situation
of a mountain cliff, and on the other by emptiness              in Jamaica both in general and as it particularly
ending in the sea far below. The one wise man was               concerns the mission work of the Protestant
wending his way carefully along the road, sounding              Reformed Churches. A general background is
the horn of his car at every blind curve, when he               necessary in order' to understand the religious
noticed that another car had approached quickly                 situation in which the work has been performed.
from the rear and was following him closely,                       The driving in Jamaica as already intimated, is
obviously waiting for a chance to overtake him.                 somewhat hazardous. It may perhaps be best
"Another fool," the wise man sighed to himself,                 described as a combination of playing "chicken," the
knowing that there would not be a safe place to pass            Indy 500, and a demolition derby. Not only are the
for several miles.                                              drivers maniacal  - their one objective is to get there
      Meanwhile another wise man was picking his way            first  - but also the roads are hazardous. With few
in the opposite direction through the pot-holes and             straight pieces of highway and few level stretches, the
fallen rocks. Like the first wise man, he was                   normal dangers are compounded by the narrowness
proceeding slowly and carefully along the narrow                and roughness which are universal characteristics of
road, unaware of the  ,two cars approaching him.                the island. Add to all of this the fact that driving is
      The first wise man approached a sharp bend in the         done on the left side of the road with right-hand-drive
road. The way  was, steeply uphill, and the impatient           cars, and the result is a challenge to any visitor. With
fool behind him was beginning to wear on his nerves.            all of these factors present it is no wonder that the
As if in answer to his wish, the fool pulled out from           fatality rate (and by logical consequence,  ,the accident
behind him, sounded his horn, and began to overtake.            rate) is 11 times that of the United States. An English
Quick alarm rose in the wise man. "He can't see . .  ."         friend of mine on the island recently summed it up
He waved the man back, but the fool, paying no                  rather well: "I say, old chap, it's positively  wicked!"
attention, changed gears and stamped the accelerator              T h e   d r i v i n g   i s   n o t   t h e   o n l y   t h i n g   t h a t   i s
to the floor. The wise man's heart leaped into his              characterized by foolishness. Money, around which
throat, for suddenly around the bend ahead another              most problems revolve, is also the source of much
car had appeared. Visions of spinning cars, sounds of           grief and trouble. The general economic situation is at
tearing metal, and the smell of burning rubber all              present very bad. The government has shown amazing
flashed through his mind in the instant before he               ineptness in most of its financial dealings. Because of
applied his brakes as hard as he could. The other wise          import bans and tariffs many items are "finished," as
man, as alert as the first, also saw the impending              the Jamaicans say  - simply non-existent. Labor
disaster and he, too, jammed on his brakes with all             problems add to the difficulties; not a day goes by
the force he could muster. With tires screeching and            without news of two or three strikes, with the
gravel flying the two wise men slid to a stop almost            workers demanding wage increases of a mere 50%.
alongside each other. The fool, never slowing or                Stealing and theft of every imaginable kind are
hesitating, whipped his car between the other two               widespread. But all of this is hardly surprising when
and bounced madly around the bend. "He who                      one recognizes the general motto of the people: If
hesitates is lost," he chuckled to himself. As the snarl.       you get a dollar today, spend it, because there will be
of the fool's exhaust faded into the hills, the two wise        another tomorrow. In light of all this it is not
men looked at one another, slowly shook their heads,            difficult to understand why foreign investment and
and continued on their respective ways.                         capital are rapidly falling off.
                           *****                                  Political instability is another contributor to the
                                                                island's ills. Politicians prate piously of their
      The little story above is illustrative of the Jamaican    accomplishments when they should have done twice
way of life generally. There are many things which              as much twice as well in half the time. They rave


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                               83


about Jamaica's problems while sitting on their               without difficulty; such conduct is not likely to
hands; they proclaim panaceas while doing little else         insure the continued good will and good dollars of
than holding pompous official ceremonies; they make           the American churches. Add to all of this the fact
impossible promises while avoiding anything that              that the money given them is often used foolishly by
smells of responsibility. Small wonder then that              the Jamaicans. Saying it isn't "proper" to have a
Communism is making inroads, especially among the             church without windows, they set about with the
poorer masses in the Kingston-St. Andrew area. Some           money meant for other purposes to put expensive
think that the nation is headed for anarchy, If the           louvered windows into a pole-and-tin church building.
present foolishness is perpetuated, they could be             Such windows are not necessary because boards or
right.                                                        pieces of zinc are more than adequate; the people do
   There are many favorable aspects of the island             not come to church when it rains anyway. If the
which could be pointed out: the wonderful natural             whole situation were not so serious one would laugh
beauty of the island, its beautiful bays and beaches,         at the ludicrousness of it all.
its rugged green-covered mountains, its hot and                   All of this foolishness seems to pose an insoluble
humid climate, the slowness of life's pace. But all of        problem. Obviously it is foolishness. Even men in
these cannot balance the nation's ills, a few of which        general realize that it is not possible to look a gift
are enumerated above. And these ills can be traced to         horse in the teeth forever and get away with it. But
foolishness. Foolishness according to the way man             all of this is foolishness in the eyes of God and
measures it, and foolishness according to the way             there.fore  sin. Until the sin-problem is solved, the
God measures it. And unfortunately, the proportion            moneyYproblem  will  contine.
of fools to wise men is not the same as in the little             Moreover, ecclesiastical life in general, both
story. One must search to find a wise man among the           d o c t r i n a l   a n d   p r a c t i c a l ,   i s   c h a r a c t e r i z e d   b y
fools.                                                        foolishness. A general rejection of the Reformed
   Unhappily, though not unexpectedly, what is true           truth has become evident during the years that the
of the island generally is also true of the Protestant        Protestant Reformed Churches have done mission
Reformed Churches of Jamaica. Money is the focal              work in Jamaica. There has been a general refusal to
point around which most other problems directly or            turn from the errors prevalent  ,in the situation which,
indirectly (usually directly) are concentrated. And           existed previous to our  coming here. And there are
naturally the quantity of the money is the major              many serious errors. Holiness thinking is almost
stumblingblock. The Protestant Reformed Churches              universal; with a disproportionate emphasis upon the
in America are a never-ending source of money,                work of the Holy Spirit this form of mysticism is the
according to the thinking of most in the Jamaican             death of solid doctrinal faith. Baptistic influences are
churches. Money for whatever purpose in whatever              very strong, both with respect to the practice of the
location and circumstance must come from one                  sacrament of baptism  - immersion in the sea is
place: America. There are those, of course, who               necessary  - and with regard to the doctrine of:
would attribute such an attitude to the fact that the         b a p t i s m   - "converted" adults are the proper
Jamaican people are socially underprivileged and              candidates. Pentecostalism, which seems to be
financially deprived. There are those who perhaps             world-wide, finds fertile soil in Jamaica because of
would point out that a comparatively rich church              the basic mystical tendencies, and the results are
should be happy to do its duty of sharing with its            predictable, manifesting themselves particularly in
poorer neighbors.                                             tongue-speaking and faith healing. Further, remnants
   But if we listen to the proponents of such views we        of the Old Testament economy can be seen;
are very shortsighted, for we do not account for              foot-washing and fasting in a completely wrong Old
many other factors. One is that the Jamaicans  - our          Testament context can be observed. Finally,  obeah
church people  - are in the habit of asking for far too       has a strong power among the people of Jamaica.
much; they request outrageous sums for unnecessary            Though this form of black magic and witchcraft has
purposes. There is only one name for such an                  been legally outlawed, and though almost none of
attitude, and that is  greed.  Further, there is the added    the people will discuss it, particularly with a foreign
fact of the general ingratitude of the people. Instead        white man, there are unmistakable evidences that
of accepting the gifts from America with the proper           obeah  is very much a part of the lives of the Jamai-
respect and gratitude, they act as if it is all owed to       can people, including those in church.
them. Still worse, they often complain that they have             F r o m   a l l   o f   t h e s e   e r r o r s   t h e   p e o p l e   h a v e
not received as much as they asked for, and  ,are rarely      consistently refused to turn. The wrongs have been
seen wearing the clothes donated by the American              pointed out time and again, and the positive line of
Churches. The proverb which speaks about biting the           the Reformed truth clearly set forth. The people nod
hand that feeds one can be concretely demonstrated            and agree, and then simply go back to their old ways,


84                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER



ignoring what has been said. Though they do this in                        But the situation must be kept in perspective.
what they think is a subtle manner, they do not                        Though most seem to be fools, there  are  wise men.
realize that the emissaries from America are aware of                  The students whose training is almost finished have
their foolish duplicity.                                               shown wisdom; there are elders who are wise; and
      In addition to these doctrinal errors there are many             there are people who have shown wisdom. They are a
practical faults as well. Jamaica as a whole is a                      minority, but they do exist.
matriarchal society, a fact which dates from the days                     Against such a background the decision of the
of slavery. The church is no exception to this. If                     Mission Committee to terminate the labors for the
women are not the outright leaders in the church,                      present is certainly justified and wise. Some would
they are at least the power behind the man who                         perhaps object, saying that there are many Reformed
serves as figurehead. There is continual vying for                     people on the island.. Such need to be reminded that
prestige and leadership within the church, also among                  s i n g i n g   P s a l t e r   n u m b e r s   d o e s   n o t   m a k e   o n e
the officebearers. There is no conception of family,                   Reformed. Some would object that the people must
either in Jamaican society generally or in the church.                 b e   t a u g h t   a n d   c a t e c h i z e d   i n t e n s i v e l y   o n   a
Almost never do families attend church; the father,                    congregational basis. But such an effort would be
the mother, or the children are present  - but never at                utterly impossible for many reasons. There is
the same time, and  usually:not from the same family.                  insufficient time and manpower, distances are great,
There is little formal marriage and a great deal of                    it would be very difficult to assemble an entire
illegitimacy, also among the people of the church. It                  congregation on a regular basis, and perhaps most
is not surprising then that the whole idea of the                      important of all, there is little or no desire on the part
covenant is completely foreign to the Jamaican way                     of the people for such teaching. It is time to leave the
of life. And perhaps most frustrating to one of                        Jamaican churches on their own. Rev. Lubbers has
European-American Reformed background, there is                        labored long and hard on the island. If his work has
so little order in the church. Again, this is a reflection             positive fruit the churches will continue; if there are
of the general social situation, and therefore is                      e n o u g h   t r u l y   w i s e   m e n   t h e r e   w i l l   b e   v i a b l e
understandable. But it is not excusable, for decency                   congregations in the future. If the present foolishness
and good order in the church have been taught                          continues, there will soon be only a memory of the
faithfully. After such painstaking instruction to see                  Protestant Reformed Churches in Jamaica, a mere
such haphazardness is almost more than one can bear.                   footprint upon the sands of time. Only time will tell.
                             *****                                        But even if the churches in Jamaica cease to exist,
      What conclusions are to be drawn from all of this?               this should never be a negative reflection upon Rev.
      I n   t h e   f i r s t   p l a c e , there is obviously much    Lubbers or any of the others who have labored here.
foolishness, both in Jamaican society as a whole, and                  Rather, such an event should be proof that the labors
consequently in the, church, with which we are more                    have been successful, for the two-fold power of the
particularly concerned; foolishness as men count it,                   Word must always be remembered. The work in
and foolishness as God counts it. To be a fool is to                   Jamaica has ended; but it has not been futile. Also
fail to apprehend and to adapt to reality, the reality                 here the Word has had its effect. Whether or not the
of God, His Word, and His truth. To be wise is to                      effect is what we would like it to be does not matter;
apprehend spiritually the truth of God's Word and to                   the Word never returns to God void.
adapt one's life according to it. There are not two                       We as churches must now turn to the other mission
standards of wisdom, one for America and one for                       fields the Lord has opened for us. But we must learn
Jamaica; there is but one standard for all, and there                  from our experience in Jamaica. Of all that can and
are few that measure up to it in Jamaica. Unhappily                    should be learned we cannot speak now. But we must
there are not two wise men  f& every fool. In fact,                    learn. If we do not, then we are fools. If we do, then
one must search to find a wise man among the fools.                    we are truly wise.





                                 REFORMED DOGMATICS, (Second printing). $9.95 postpaid.


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                   85


 FkOM OUR THEOLOGICAL
 SCHOOL COMMITTEE

                            They're Off and Running
                                                     J.  Hz&ken


   The assignment given me at a recent Theological           and in the course of his sermon gave excellent advice
 School Committee meeting was to write for                   - God's advice and truly scriptural advice  - to his
 publication in  The Standard Bearer  a brief summary        new colleague, to the students and to all the people
 of the activities of the committee and the seminary.        assembled there. Advice, which if followed, will lead
 In trying to fulfill this mandate I found that it is not    to much prayer, much hard work, and much blessing.
 easy for a neophyte member of this committee to             The evening was a truly blessed event. An added bit
 write such a summary. There is so much history and          of joy was also brought to the new professor when he
 therefore so much learning and adjusting to do that         welcomed  sizeable contingents from his former
 one scarcely has the time to reflect long enough to         pastorates. For there were not only some who drove
 report in any detail what has happened. It is like          from South Holland, but there were also six couples
 jumping in midstream and not knowing the many               who made the trip from  Doon, Iowa. As Rev. Decker
 curves and rapids that have been passed in the years        put it: the presence of these people and the whole
 gone by. I chose, therefore, not to report simply in a      night certainly did much to ease the pain of leaving
 factual manner but rather to give a rather subjective       his congregation.
 view, my impressions, of what has transpired in the               I think, then, that it can be said without question
 short while that I have been a member of this               that the morale in  the,- seminary  - faculty and
 committee.                                                  students alike  - is high. Professor Decker's presence
   In the first place, we can report one sure thing: the     is an answer to much prayer, and it is, therefore, with
 seminary is off and running for another academic            renewed zeal and eager anticipation that Professors
 year. And, in observing the beginning of this               Hoeksema and Hanko began this year's work. And, in
 academic year one cannot help but be impressed. The         that regard, I want to emphasize that work they do! I
 seminary faculty is a very able trio; they know what        know of no other faculty that works any harder.
 they are doing and they do it well  - in the classroom      Consider for example, that these men teach 18-20
 not only, but administratively as well. It was a            hours per week (mostly at the graduate level). This is
 smooth beginning  - evidence, of course, of planning        a normal load. In a day when college and university
 and hard work.                                              faculties are demanding lighter loads (graduate
   Further, I think it can be said that there has not        faculty members at present rarely exceed 6 hours)
 been a year recently when the faculty and the               we can certainly thank God for ambitious, energetic,
 Theological School Committee began its work with            conscientious men. But quantity is not all for which
 such enthusiasm. We and the faculty were, of course,        we can be thankful. Quality is there, too. One does
 highly pleased and grateful to God that Rev. Decker         not need to talk long with all three professors to
 was led to accept the call to labor in the seminary.        know that they demand a lot of themselves and their
 And, yes, he is off and running, too. His teaching          students. These men demand much of themselves and
 duties began immediately. The now Professor Decker          they produce quality study materials. A recent
 and his family are comfortably settled in the northeast     conversation with a certifying official of the Michigan
 section of Grand Rapids. For those who could not or         Department of Education was evidence of this fact.
 did not attend Professor Decker's installation on           Upon reviewing the seminary curriculum, there was
 Wednesday, October  3, you missed something. This           no doubt in the mind of this official that the
 evening, too, was cause for an increased measure of         Theological School of the Protestant Reformed
 enthusiasm  - for the newly-installed professor, for        Churches was no mail-orderhouse diploma mill. The
his colleagues and for the people present., The              standards are indeed high for both faculty and
 highlight of the evening was undoubtedly the sermon         students.
 preached by Professor Hanko. Professor Hanko chose            Another source of delight to the committee, the
 as his text the well-known words of I Timothy 2: 15         faculty and students, and, I believe, to the entire


86                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



constituency of our churches is the prospect of a new        above all, He has preserved us in His truth, He has
building. For those who live in the Michigan area one        given us the privilege of continuing in the line of the
need only drive up the  Ivanrest hill to realize that        Reformation, the privilege of maintaining the
that building is no longer a dream but is rapidly            Reformed heritage. And, in all of this our seminary is
becoming a reality. The exterior is all but finished         in the forefront. Thank God for its establishment and
and the interior is fast being finished. The furnishings     its continued existence.
have already been bought  - at a tremendous savings,           We need not `dwell long, then, need we, on whether
by the way, thanks to the gratuity of Steelcase, Inc.        the seminary is worth every dime spent on it. Several
through its institutional grant plan. It certainly is not    congregations, the one of which I am a member
hard to imagine being settled in this new plant by the       included, have experienced directly the fruits of the
second semester.                                             training of our seminary. Young men who are
                                                             dedicated to the. true and careful exposition and
      There certainly are many reasons for enthusiasm        exegesis of the Scriptures and who are dedicated to
and rejoicing even in this short while that I have been      the Reformed faith and who are recent graduates of
a member of the Theological School Committee. God            our seminary occupy our pulpits from Sunday to
has been truly good to us and has provided for the           Sunday and thus serve as a constant reminder of the
needs of our seminary: He has given us able and              worth of our theological school. They have been well
dedicated professors, men dedicated to the true and          prepared for the task to which God has called them.
careful exegesis of the Scriptures and men who hold
with might and main to truths of the Reformation;              The seminary is indeed off and running for another
He has given us the wherewithal to finance the new           academic year. The Theological School Committee
building, He has worked within the hearts of our             rejoices in that fact and prays God for His continued
people the willingness to contribute liberally; He has       blessing upon us as we direct this institution and
given us students and continues to call young men as         upon all the personnel of this institution. We trust
is evidenced by three new faces again this year; and,        that your prayers, too, are similar.




                        The Standard Bearer

                                 In Retrospect

                                         Prof H. Hanko



      The  Standard Bearer  has always been a  doctrinal     the world of sin. Without doctrine a godly walk is
paper. It began that way; it has continued that way          impossible.
until the present. This is very deliberately the path
which  The Standard Bearer  chose to walk. There are           It is not surprising therefore, that we find
reasons for this.  The Standard Bearer  has as its main      innumerable doctrinal articles in the early volumes of
purpose the defense and development of the truth of          The Standard Bearer  already. Many of these articles
the Scriptures. It arose out of doctrinal controversy        dealt with the common grace controversy. This is to
and has always appeared as one periodical intent on          be understood. The common grace controversy was
maintaining and developing the Reformed faith. It            the immediate occasion for the beginnings of our
never has been the view of the editors however that          paper. And the editors went to great lengths to
doctrine is an end in itself. The doctrines of the           expose the errors of common grace, to point out
Reformed faith are precious because they are the             specifically where these errors were in conflict with
knowledge of God Whom to know is eternal life. They          the Reformed faith, to warn repeatedly of the evils
are precious because they are the hope and blessing of       and dangers of common grace both in doctrine and
the Christian. They are precious because they form the       life, and to set forth the truth of God's Word
foundation for the whole walk of the child of God in         overagainst all this.


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 87



  Nevertheless,  The Standard Bearer  was not              prepared as a speech by Rev. H. Hoeksema, and was
exclusively negative. It was always positive. In. this     published on pp. 336-371 in the year 1927. The
article therefore, we reproduce an article which           reproduction below has been sharply edited. In its
appeared in Volume. III and which treats a matter          original form it took up over 5% pages. We have
which is pertinent yet today. It was originally            reduced it considerably. It is entitled:


                                 GOD'S COUNSEL AND MAN'S RESPONSIBILITY

  The thoughts of men have been divided on this            Most High, said our fathers characteristically, is the
subject and radically opposite solutions have been         living  counselling God. We must also call attention to
offered  .of the implied problem. On the one hand          certain attributes of that counsel of the eternal God,
there have been and there still are those that are         that have a direct bearing upon its relation to the
always careful to defend and maintain the freedom          accountability of the moral creature. First of all this
and extol the dignity and majesty of man, regardless       counsel is all-comprehensive. It does not only'imply
more or less of the effect such an attempt would have      the things that are made, but as they are created at
upon their conception of God. On `the other hand           the beginning. Such is the nature of an architectural
there always were those, although they were generally      plan. The architect can probably determine in detail
fewer in number, that were chiefly concerned about         how the structure that is to be raised shall be, but he
thevindication of the sovereignty of God. And it  may      cannot determine what shall become of the building;
be added immediately that generally the former             its history and destiny lies beyond his control. But
brought the indictment against the latter, that they       such is not the case with God's counsel. When
destroyed the responsibility of man, were of a             Scripture teaches us that it is all-comprehensive, it
single-track mind, and that this single track of their     signifies that God from eternity counselled how
thinking ran in the direction of determinism. It is the    things should be created at the beginning, how they
old controversy between Paul the apostle, as he            should develop in time, and what should, be their
develops the truth in Romans 9, and his opponents          eternal destiny. And this must be understood in its
there mentioned; between St. Augustine and Pelagius;       strictest sense. It implies that every creature, great
between Gottschalk and his persecutors; between            and small had its shape and history in this eternal
Calvin and the church; between Gomarus and                 divine decree; that, therefore, nothing happens in
Arminius and between their respective followers in         earth or in heaven, in the light or in darkness, with
our own day.                                               respect to brute creation or to God's moral creatures,
  Nor did I determine upon a discussion of this            but it has all been determined from before the world
subject because I flatter myself and would have you        was. Secondly, I call attention to that attribute of
expect, that a complete and ultimate solution of it        God's counsel, which negatively expressed we call its
may possibly be attained, a solution in the sense that     irresistibility and positively denoted is the absolute
all mysteries connected with it have been cleared          efficaciousness of. God's decree. God is in the heavens
away. It may be well to exercise our mind upon such        and He performs all His good pleasure. Nothing ever
problems as these, if it bear no other fruit than to       withstood His counsel or ever shall be able to thwart
make us humbly confess our insignificant smallness         it. Every drop of rain surely falls according to that
overagainst the eternal One.                               counsel; every sunbeam shoots its golden shaft into
                                                           the wide expanse of space in harmony with God's
  I must remind you of the fact, that the old              decree. Every tree grows, every flower blooms, every
accusation, always brought against people of strictly      heart beats, every child is born and every being
reformed convictions by Pelagians of every color and       breathes its last, every mind thinks and every man
kind, has been revived against us, the indictment          moves, yea every angel sings and every devil rages
already mentioned, that we deny and destroy the            according to this determinate will of God. It is
accountability of the rational creature, more              irresistibly executed in all the wide world. And
particularly of man, because of our presentation of        lastly I want to mention the immutability, the
the truth of election and reprobation. I will answer       unchangeableness of the counsel of the Most High.
the indictment and prove that it is false.                 What is determined from eternity is fixed forever and
I. The Problem As Such.                                    nothing can induce the Lord, whose name is I Am, to
  God's counsel is, let us remind ourselves of it, no      alter His will or to change His mind. With absolute
mere dead plan, even as an architect draws a plan          certainty and unchangeableness the entire course of
with detailed specifications of a proposed structure;      the whole universe, and of every last creature in
but it is the eternal will and mind of God with regard     detail, is fixed from before the beginning of all things.
to all things in time and eternity. The counsel of the       Now, in that whole of the divine, eternal and


 88                                              THE STANDARD BEARER



 unchangeable scheme of the universe and its destiny,          especially with a view to these facts, the problem we
 there are intellectual, moral, rational beings, beings        are dealing with assumes a very grave aspect. For not
 that are responsible, accountable to God and are              only does the question arise and urge itself upon us:
 treated as such. What is a moral being? It is a being         How can God punish His moral creatures, if we must
 with a will, a rational will of his own, a being, who is      believe that even in their sinful deeds they accomplish
 not simply determined, but who in a sense, in some            His counsel, yea, that He is the controlling power in it
 way, also determines himself. He is a being, that not         all? But the other question also follows: How is it,
 simply develops and grows, like a tree; whose                 that God is not the author of evil in its moral sense, if
 movements are not simply determined from without,             He is the cause of all things and, even when wicked
 like that of a stone rolling down the mountain; but           men sin, executes His counsel? Thus we must state
 who acts, who performs deeds of his own choice,               the problem.
 determinately, consciously, willingly and rationally.         II. The Solutions Which Are Offered.
 It is a being that stands in a certain relation to the law
 of God,  .who knows God and His will and who                      Now in attempting to solve this problem, it is
 determines from within his own attitude to that will          destroyed by many, because either the absolute
 of the Most High. He is, therefore, in this respect like      sovereignty of God or the moral agency and freedom
 God, though in a creaturely way and measure he wills          of man is denied. In the one case we lost God; in the
 and thinks and acts, and thus becomes the author of           other we lose man; or they are really both destroyed
 certain deeds, for the which he is accountable to God         by merging them into one.
 because he is a creature. And he is so accountable and           Pantheism must needs deny and destroy all moral
 responsible, that he will be brought into judgment for        freedom and responsibility, even as it denies the
 all he thought and willed and did, and will receive           personality of God and His essential distinction from
 from God according to what he did, whether it be              the universe. According to this conception, God is the
good or evil. The question now arises: How is all this         world itself. The being of God and the essence of the
 possible, if we maintain the all-comprehensiveness            world are one. But while the pantheist derives all
and efficaciousness and immutable character of the             things with causal necessity from the  being  of God;
counsel of God?                                                the reformed man finds the cause of all in the
   There is still another element that must be taken           intelligent  will and  counsel  of a personal God. All
into account if we are to see the seriousness of the           difference between good and evil, all moral
problem. For God did not only freely and with                  s e l f - d e t e r m i n a t i o n   o n   t h e   p a r t   o f   m a n ;   a l l
absolute sovereignty determine all things in His               consciousness of accountability must needs cease, if
eternal counsel, but He Himself also executes that             pantheism were true. Pantheism destroys the problem
counsel and does all His good pleasure. How then can           we are discussing, because it has neither a personal
the moral, rational creature be held accountable, so           God nor a personal man.
that he will receive reward or punishment, according              N o t   o t h e r w i s e   i t   i s   w i t h   a l l   m a t e r i a l i s t i c
to what he has done, whether it be good or evil, if            conceptions. Materialism denies the existence of spirit
God is really the deepest determining cause, by His            as a distinct substance. All is matter, and outside of
almighty will controlling and directing the frail will of      matter nothing exists. Matter is the sole God; that is,
man to His own purpose and end?                                if you wish to speak of a God at all. It is the gospel of
   What makes the problem so serious is, of course,            the flesh, the theology of mammon. Man is only
the existence of evil, both moral and physical. Of             material, not spiritual. The soul of man is not a
course, principally the problem would exist, even if           distinct spiritual being, an entity; what we call soul is
sin never entered into the world and death through             nothing but the sum-total of so-called psychical
sin. For though man never did anything but what is             phenomena, and these are nothing but the results of
acceptable in the sight of the Lord, the question still        his material existence functioning. We have no
would be, how in the light of God's eternal counsel            dispute with materialism on the ground that it
and almighty Providence, this good man could be                teaches that all things occur with necessity; but as we
accountable and receive credit and reward for the              find the necessity of things in the wise and intelligent
good deeds he performed. But the seriousness, the              will of an absolutely good God, materialism finds it in
practical weight and pressure of the problem is                the cold despotism of blind matter. With regard to
aggravated nevertheless by the fact of the existence of        the subject under discussion we may say, that
evil in the world. Men are held accountable for their          materialism has no problem because it has no spirit,
morally corrupt state of their nature and for the              no mind and will, either in God or man. Let us eat
wicked deeds they commit. And because they are                 and drink for tomorrow we die!
held responsible, there is in the world also physical             But the problem is also destroyed in still another
evil, suffering and death as the wages of sin. Now,            way. It cannot exist for all that follow the deistic line


                                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER                                                        89


of thinking. In a sense deism is the very opposite of                                  III. The Proper Conception Of The Matter In The
pantheism. The machine of the world is finished and                                    Light Of Scripture.
now runs according to its own laws and by its own                                        Now, it is not necessary for me in this connection
inherent power; the ship of the world is built and                                     to prove that the Word of God teaches that every
launched and now sails on the wide ocean of history                                    man is responsible to God for all his deeds. The soul
without its builder. You understand, that deism with                                   that sinneth, it shall die. Neither is it necessary to
relation to the will and moral freedom of man is                                       quote the Word of God with regard to the truth of
Pelagianism and Arminianism. It is the exaltation of                                   God's counsel as such, or of the providence of God in
man over against his Creator, the maintenance and                                      general. But I will quote the Word of God to show
vindication of human majesty. Man, in all his thinking                                 that His counsel is executed in and that His
and acting is absolutely free and there is no control or                               providence overrules even the deeds of men, whether
direction or cooperation on the part of God. His will                                  they be good or evil. In other words, I will show that
is as sovereignly free as the will of God. The latter                                  we may not present the matter as if God's overruling
does in no wise determine the former. The absolute                                     counsel and man's responsibility must simply be
sovereignty of the Most High is thus denied. God is                                    placed side by side, co-ordinately; but that the latter
placed outside the doors of His own house and is not                                   is subordinate to the former. I would like to make the
allowed to intervene in the life and acts of him who is                                distinction between God as first cause and God as
now sovereign within that house, the glorious man!                                     author, and maintain, that God is the cause of all
Also on the basis of this view we have no problem as                                   things, the deepest cause also of the deeds of men,
regards the counsel of God and the responsibility of                                   whether they be good or evil, though He is not their
man, but we rid ourselves of the problem by                                            author. This has been in principle always accepted by
discarding God! And this price is certainly too high                                   men of -reformed faith. We may not have two
and precious! I am bold to say, that if in the attempt                                 determining causes of things; to postulate them
to solve the problem we must, lose either, God or                                      means that we fall back into ancient heathen dualism.
man, then let us keep God, and lose little man.                                        It is not true that God is a cause and the devil is also a
   Lastly, to come a little nearer home, I call your                                   cause, co-ordinate with and independent from God;
attention to that view, that is satisfied to leave the                                 but it is thus, that God is also the determining cause
counsel of God and the responsibility of man stand                                     of the devil and of all his works. Let us refer to
side by side as an irreconcilable contradiction, though                                Scripture in support of this. Prov. 21: 1. Certainly, if
in the faith, that what seems contradictory to us, is                                  the Lord turns the king's heart at will, He overrules
not in conflict with each other in God. These speak                                    and directs the issues of that heart, his will and mind,
generally of two wills of God, that cannot be brought                                  his thoughts and all his desires. And if it is true of the
into a higher unity as far as our understanding is                                     king's heart it is equally true of every other heart of
concerned, though this higher unity exists. The will                                   men. What about God's relation to the evil deeds of
of command is related to our responsibility; the will                                  men and devils? It is true, is it not, that in the history
of God's counsel has respect to God's government of                                    of God the devil must obtain permission from the
all things. And these two run parallel as far as eye can                               Lord before he can accomplish his evil purpose? And
see, and all attempts to penetrate more deeply into                                    what does the man of God say when the devil,
this mystery are necessarily futile. We have this                                      through the means of Chaldeans and Sabeans, wind
objection against this prevalent view, that there is in                                and tire, made Job poor and miserable? "The Lord
it not even an attempt to gain a conception of the                                     hath taken away." The devil and his instruments were
r e l a t i o n   b e t w e e n   G o d 's   c o u n s e l   a n d   m a n 's          after all but instruments in the hand of the Lord.  He
responsibility. Nor does it even try to express itself                                 took away! What is the truth of the matter when
with regard to the proper conception of the relation                                   Ahab is about to go to war with the Syrians, and
between the two, though certainly it must be                                           Micah is interrogated as to the Lord's counsel? What
admitted that God's counsel and the moral freedom                                      is the word of the Lord by the mouth of Micah? That
of man cannot be co-ordinated, even though we                                          the Lord sent a spirit of error, a lying spirit into the
should ultimately not be able to reconcile them.                                       heart of the prophets of Ahab to persuade him
Besides, in practice this view often leads to a certain                                through these false prophets to go and fall at
A r m i n i a n   p r e s e n t a t i o n   o f   t h e   m a t t e r .   I t   i s    Ramoth-Gilead! I Kings  22:2Off. Who sends wicked
emphasized, that we have to do with the will of                                        Shimei to curse David? The Lord and none other, II
command; the doctrine of God's counsel is relegated                                    Sam. 16: 10. What do we read of the sons of Eli? That
to an almost forgotten place, and a practical                                          when their father weakly admonishes them because
Pelagianism is the result. It is not infrequently these                                of all their wicked deeds, they hearkened not unto
very people that are  first to ring alarm when in their                                the voice of Eli, because the Lord would slay them! I
 estimation one would seem to over-emphasize the                                       Sam.  2:25. Who hardens Pharaoh's heart, that he may
truth of God's absolute sovereignty.                                                   not listen to the voice of the Lord and exalt himself


90                                                              THE  STANDA RD BEARER



against God? Who makes the heart of wicked Israel                                  agent, the author of his sin, and God's judgment as
fat and their eyes blind, that they may become ripe                                well as his own conscience condemns him. Thus it
for destruction? The Lord, Ex.  8:15; Rom.  1:26, 28.                              was no different with regard to the first sin of Adam
Or turn your attention to that heinous sin by which                                in paradise. There was no external force which made
the Lord of glory was nailed to the. accursed tree.                                it compulsory for Adam to sin against the choice of
What do the Scriptures say of this? The Lord was                                   his own will. It was his own, morally free, act. And
d e l i v e r e d   b y   t h e   d e t e r m i n a t e   c o u n s e l   a n d    thus it is with all the acts of men.
foreknowledge of God to be crucified by wicked                                        The second question that must be asked is:
hands. Acts  2:23, Acts  4:27, 28. On the basis of                                 But  what  then does God determine and how does he
Scripture I can make this first statement, that God is                             so co-operate with men, that they always perform His
the first cause, also when men are moral agents, it                                counsel? To this it must be answered first of all, that
makes no difference whether for good or for evil. Our                              God never intervenes between the will of man and the
God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever He                                  deed. His determining influence does not interrupt
hath pleased. Ps.  115:3.                                                          the action of the will, its manifestation and
      Of course, this gives us a conception of the proper                          execution. In other words, never does the Most High
relation between the sovereign God and man, the                                    so control the deeds of men, that He forces them to
moral agent; but it does not quite solve the problem.                              commit what they do not will to commit or to
Two questions must yet be answered, to see a little                                perform. The thoughts and desires and deeds of men
light on this subject. The first question is: How  can                             remain always their own. God stands behind it all,
man be responsible ? What is responsibility? Does                                  behind the mind, behind the will, behind the heart of
moral accountability presuppose sovereign freedom                                  man, to turn it as rivers of water, whithersoever He
and moral independence? If that is the case, we must                               wills. And secondly, I would answer, that the Lord
come to the conclusion that man is no responsible                                  does this through His Holy Spirit. The manner of this
agent, for such sovereign freedom he never did                                     operation of the Most High is a mystery to us. We
possess, not even before the fall in paradise. Even as                             cannot trace the ways of the Infinite. But this must
for his bodily existence he is from moment to                                      be said, nevertheless, that it is the Spirit of God that
moment dependent on the living God, thus it is no                                  convicts men of sin, and that binds the responsibility
less with his spiritual, intellectual, moral life. He is                           of every man upon his own heart. For that reason it is
always creature. When we assert that man possesses                                 i m p o s s i b l e   t h a t   m a n   s h o u l d   e v e r   l o s e   t h e
freedom, we must add, that in his freedom he is                                    consciousness of his responsibility. God justifies
dependent, utterly dependent. But it is not true, that                             Himself. He justifies Himself  in the cross, both as to
accountability requires an absolutely and sovereignly                              the condemnation of the world and the redemption
free agent. But it does require that man is the                                    of the elect. He justifies Himself in the conscience of
conscious and rational and willing subject of all his                              every man, convicting the world, because they believe
actions, that he does things because he wills them and                             not in Christ and bringing His people to confession
chooses them. A man, consciously and willingly                                     and humiliation before Him. And He will justify
committing sin, or performing what is good, remains                                Himself in the day of judgment, when all deeds of
accountable, no matter how his deeds may be                                        men shall be manifest and irrevocably and undeniably
overruled otherwise, by the counsel and providence                                 be bound upon the conscience of every man. And all
of the Most High. Man is responsible, because he                                   will confess that God is just and overcomes when He
always remains the moral, the conscious and willing                                judges. Only thus may we conceive of this problem,
subject of all his deeds. Judas betrays the Lord                                   though we admit that even so we cannot fathom the
because he wills it. Not for one moment does he feel                               ways of God. For only thus is it possible to maintain
compelled by an outward force, that urges him                                      that God is God alone, that He does all His good
against his own will and choice to deliver his Master                              pleasure. And even with sin and evil, with the devil
into the hands of sinners. Neither, let me add, was                                and his host, we can commit ourselves safely in the
any such external compulsion exerted on Judas. And                                 hands of Him, who only is the cause of all things!
because this is the truth, Judas is the responsible


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                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                   91



SIGNS OF THE TIMES


                         Deviation Breeds Deviations

                                                  Rev. G. Varz Baren


  In the anniversary year of our  Standard Bearer,               Now, that is an extremely serious charge. I would
each writer of this magazine has been asked to devote          remind these brethren, too, that if they are truly
one article which relates the anniversary to the               convinced of what they write (their church is
general theme of his rubric. It has been my task in            "S-I-C-K unto DEATH")  `, they ought to read
various articles to remind ourselves of the signs of the       carefully Rev. 3: 14-22. God's Word there clearly
times about us. One of these signs is apostasy  - and          prescribes the course they are obliged to follow.
with it, doctrinal deviations of every sort. In this           However, my point in giving this quotation is to show
connection it is not difficult to remind again our             that there is no reference at all to the "common grace
reading public that the  Standard Bearer  came into            issue" in their diagnosis. I would not have expected
existence to combat doctrinal deviation, or, more              the writers to have done this, of course. Yet, this
bluntly: heresy. It can be shown, too, how the effects         failure has distorted their diagnosis and suggests, at
of that deviation are seen in current developments             best, only a partial prescription for cure. These would
within the Christian Reformed Church (and others)              allow the root-problem to remain.
both as this has been related to walk and also to                It is refreshing, therefore, to read from some of the
doctrinal positions. I am aware that we are accused of         leaders in the C.R.C.  .the recognition of a clear
relating each step of departure from the truth in our          relationship between the common grace controversy
"mother" church to common grace. And perhaps                   and the present-day Report 44 controversy. Recently,
there have been times in which we were overly                  some have done this in the  Banner.  Though the two
inclined to blame every deviation we have observed in          articles I read on this subject represented thoughts of
the C.R.C. to their adoption of that deviation of              men on the f`opposite side of the fence" concerning
common grace. Certainly there are other factors                Report 44, these made some pertinent comments
which do enter into the problem of doctrinal                   which deserve also our notice  - for both recognized a
apostasy.                                                      close tie between Report 44 and common grace.
  However, it has also been true within our "mother              For our information, I could state that Report 44,
church" that many have closed their eyes and minds             which treats the "Nature and Extent of Biblical
to the real and dreadful effects of the common grace           Authority," was presented to and approved by the
theory within their denomination. Those who are                C.R.C. Synod of 1972. Within C.R.C., this report has
even still aware that there was a common grace                 commonly been presented as  .having an "A" and a
controversy would usually relegate the claims of the           "B" side (supposedly two sides of one coin).
"P.R.`s" to the realm of religious fanaticism.                 Concerning this Report 44 with its two sides, Editor
  Recently, in the  News Bulletin  of the Association          De Koster of the  Banner  wrote a series of articles
of Christian Reformed Laymen (Aug.  1973), these               (before the Synod of 1972 approved the report)
brethren, it seems, relate all of their current problems       emphatically maintaining that "oil and water do not
in the C.R.C. to the Report 44 on the "Nature and              mix." Part "A" of this report presumably presents
Extent of Biblical Authority" adopted by the Synod             the traditional and Reformed position that the Bible
of the C.R.C. in 1972. They write:                             is, in its entirety, the infallible Word of God. About
                                                               p a r t   " B " , how ever, there is much continuing
       Dear Christian friends, the Christian Reformed
    Church is desperately S-I-C-K unto DEATH. The              controversy. Presumably, part "B" presents "biblical
    ACRL has pointed out for a long time definite              revelation" as "an  exclusively  saving revelation" (cf.
    symptoms of the disease. Now it must be said - and         Banner,  June 8, 1973, p. 22). Perhaps this gives a bit
    said very plainly  - that the above-mentioned              of an idea of what the C.R.C. constituency has had to
    symptoms are rooted  iri the deep-seated internal          face. And it is this point "B" segment which, it is
    CANCER of REPORT 44/B which the CRC is                     claimed, opens the door to the denial of Scriptural
    UNWILLING TO ERADICATE.                                    inspiration and introduction of many heresies.


92                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER



      Concerning the relationship between Report 44               and return to that Scriptural and Reformed truth of a
and the common grace issue, an interesting article is             single, absolutely Sovereign (special) grace of God
to be found in the Banner, Aug. 24, 1973, by Rev.                 only. Then, I am  colivinced, it will have the answer to
"Lionhearted" Verduin, entitled, "Will the Real                   much of its present difficulties. And it is our sincere
C.R.C. Please Stand Up?". In substance, Verduin                   desire that this should happen, too.
insists that the C.R.C., if it is to remain consistent,              On the other side of the fence stands Dr. James
must "either repudiate Report 44 or repudiate 1924"               Daane. He is a man well acquainted with Rev. H.
(common grace). He is in favor, of course, of                     Hoeksema's teachings and the stand of the P.R.C. In
repudiating Report 44 and maintaining 1924. His                   the past, he has taken many opportunities to
reasoning may seem rather strange, yet he has a point.            repudiate that position. He, too, recognizes a
He writes:                                                        relationship between Report 44 and 1924. Those who
          At  about the time I was in training for the            oppose Report 44, he insists, are really opposing
       ministry in the C.R.C., that church declared that          1924. In the Banner of June 8, 1973, under "voices"
       "over and above" (the Dutch original has behalve) the      (pp. 22,  23), he writes:
       redemptive grace of God there is a non-redemptive
       grace, known as "common" grace. This declaration,                   If the 1973 Synod alters or rescinds its 1972
       so said the C.R.C., it had derived from the Scriptures.         position on the exclusively saving nature of biblical
       Although the C.R.C. did not at that time make this              revelation in order to make room for a Bible whose
       declaration part of its "Forms of Unity" if was very            nature and intent is to both save and to damn, then
       serious about it; it expected people in pulpit as well          its very next decision should be the extension - with
       as pew to abide by it. Some honest souls, unable to             considerable apologies - of a hearty invitation to the
       abide by it, thereupon withdrew, to form a secession            Protestant Reformed Churches to come back
       church. It was seriously meant.. (Did these                     home. . . .
       "withdraw", Rev. Verduin, or were they put out                      The contention that biblical revelation is not
      through suspension and deposition from office?                   exclusively saving but also damning, is a grave and
       G.V.B.)                                                         fundamental error. If the 1973 Synod honors these
         Now, at the end of my ministry, the same C.R.C.               overtures (which request repudiation of Report 44 -
      has declared that the authority of the Scriptures                G.B.V.), the theology of the Christian Reformed
       extends as far, and no farther, than its message of             Church goes back to pre-1924 days. Such action
      redemption. This it declared in accepting the so-called          would not only remove all ground for what 1924
       "Report 44," on "The Nature and the Extent of                   meant by common grace and the well-meant offer of
       Biblical Authority."                                            the gospel, it would also violate the very nature of
                                                                       biblical revelation, and with that the nature of the
         These declarations cannot both be true, cannot                gospel itself. . . .
      both be biblical. If the Scriptures do indeed teach
      that there is a non-redemptive grace, a grace that is                The issue with which these two overtures confront
       "over and above" the grace that issues in salvation,            the 1973 Synod differs in no essential way from the
      then the Scriptures speak authoritatively on at least            issue with which Herman Hoeksema confronted the
      this non-redemptive theme. If so, then in Report 44               1924 Synod. The 1924 Synod disposed of Herman
      the C.R.C. has plunged itself into an inner                      Hoeksema, but the deepest motifs of his theology
       contradiction.                                                  were not wholly eradicated from the Christian
                                                                       Reformed Church. The 1973 Synod has the
      May I humbly suggest, Rev. Lionhearted, er, I                    opportunity and obligation to reject them again.
mean, Verduin, that the "inner contradiction" you
have detected in the C.R.C. is really not (as you                    The C.R.C. Synod of 1973 upheld Report 44 by
claim) between Report 44 and 1924. The inner                      rejecting overtures against that report. The Synod,
contradiction for the C.R.C. is to be found in 1924               e v i d e n t l y ,   h e e d e d   D a a n e 's   a d v i c e   t o   f u r t h e r
itself. Report 44 represents a long step in the wrong             "eradicate" the "deepest motifs of Hoeksema's
direction  towards resolving that contradiction (a step           theology" in the C.R.C.
Verduin evidently does not want to take). The                        Though Daane's conclusions appear the direct
contradiction of 1924 was that it posited the                     opposite of Verduin's, yet Daane has indeed touched
two-level grace (special and common). Report 44 has,              upon the heart of the issue. He recognizes that the
as Verduin detects, dragged even that "special" all the           "well-meant offer of the gospel" of the first point of
way down to the common. Of this inevitable                        common grace necessitates ultimately a Report 44B.
consequence of 1924 we had warned the C.R.C. from                 A "well-meant offer" to every man head-for-head,
the beginning. To resolve this "inner contradiction,"             must imply a biblical revelation which is `"exclusively
Verduin must not merely advocate return to the                    saving and totally redemptive." If one casts out that
two-level grace theology. That would only be a                    idea in Report 44, he must logically and consistently
half-way cure which retains the inner contradiction.              cast out the idea of the well-meant offer too. That
The C.R.C. must repudiate the two-level grace theory              same "well-meant offer," a few years ago, led Prof. H.


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                        93



Dekker to the conclusion that such could only be            from his office  - that would only represent cosmetic
based on a love of God for all men and an atonement         changes. No; rather the C.R.C. ought to get at the
of Christ for all men. Deviation indeed breeds              heart of the matter: to root out that deviation which
deviation.                                                  has bred all these recent deviations  - even if this
  The hope and solution for the C.R.C. is not to rid        means "considerable apologies and a hearty invitation
itself of Report 44, or of its decisions regarding          to the P.R.C. to come back home." Would that not
homosexualism, or of removing this or that professor        be wonderful?



FEATURE


                             Giving Thanks Always

                                            Rev. Rodney G. Miersma


  We are now only a few days from Thanksgiving             thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus
Day, a national heritage. As he has done in the past,      concerning you."
the President of the United States has declared that          From these passages three ideas stand out very
all the citizens of America should pause on the            clearly: 1) that thanksgiving is not a matter of
twenty-second of November to offer thanksgiving to         particular occasions, but must be the characteristic of
God. In response to this tradition most American           our constant attitude, 2) that it is not concerned with
churches will reflect upon thanksgiving in some            some things while others are excluded from the
special way. Many will even  .hold special services on     thanksgiving, 3) that it is the fruit of grace in Christ
this day.                                                  Jesus our Lord. In connection with this national
  But there is something strange about all this. I am      holiday, the Church surely is reminded of the three
sure that there will be many people who will go            g r e a t   t r u t h s   j u s t   m e n t i o n e d .   B u t   b e c a u s e
through the formality of offering prayers and              Thanksgiving Day is national we are in danger of
expressing thanks to God while at the same time they       imagining that on that day, at least, to give thanks is a
have no right to do this, nor should they be so            national affair. That it is something in which all the
hypocritical to imagine that they even can. This may       citizens can participate for all are the recipients of the
sound strong to many, yet this is the Scriptural truth.    "common grace" of God in one form or another. Yet
As can be seen from several passages in Holy Writ,         this is not true on Thanksgiving Day any more than
thanksgiving is a spiritual exercise which only the        on any other day.
believer in Christ can perform. One such passage is
Ephesians 5  :20 where we read: "Giving thanks always          There was a time when the nation, Israel in the Old
for all things unto God and the Father in the name of      Dispensation, was also the church of God. However,
our Lord Jesus Christ." Another is II Corinthians          this is no longer true, for the middle wall of the
4: 15: `For all things are for your sakes, that the        partition is broken down. The church is among all
abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of           nations, but no nation is the church. Thus, even on
many redound to the glory of God." And in                  Thanksgiving Day it is only those within the nation
Philippians  4:4, 6 we read; "Rejoice in the Lord          that are in Christ Jesus that are able to give true
always; and again I say, rejoice. Be careful for           thanks.
nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication          Originally, Thanksgiving Day was instituted as a
with thanksgiving let your requests be made known          harvest feast. Consequently, two erroneous ideas
unto God." Then one more, this time I Thessalonians        concerning this day immediately arise. First, because
5: 16-18 where Paul once more instructs: "Rejoice          it only comes once a year people regard thanksgiving
evermore. Pray without ceasing. In everything give         as a matter for only special occasions. Secondly,


94                                             THE STANDARD BEARER



because with a view to harvest we concentrate on             to be thankful for such things since "to give thanks"
material things, we set aside that which we consider         presupposes that we have received good things, and
evil in order to give thanks only for the good. The          implies that we are conscious of them, that we count
Word of God, however, as we saw in Eph.  5:20, says          t h e m ,   n a m e   t h e m   o n e   b y   o n e .   M o r e o v e r ,   i t
that we must give thanks  always.  This means that           presupposes that we rejoice because of the good we
giving thanks must be characteristic of our entire life      have received and do receive. At the same time it
and walk, every day of our life and every moment of          implies that we know that they are all gifts, gifts of
our existence. It also means that giving thanks must         God, and that we merited none, yea, that we are
not be centered in things, for true thanksgiving is  joy     unworthy of the very least of them. To give thanks is
in the Lord.  This does not mean that we can not and         to point to the Giver of all these good things, and
may not be thankful for  things,  but that in giving         praise his holy name for all the goodness, grace,
thanks for things we may not give thanks for some            mercy and lovingkindness to us, as they become
things and exclude others. It must include everything:       manifest in all his benefits. But to give thanks  in
all our experiences in life no matter what they may          everything  implies more. First that we give thanks on
be, regardless of whether they be pleasant or                the ground of everything, because of everything;
unpleasant according to the flesh.                           secondly, that we rejoice because of everything that
      Specifically, we are thankful for all that is good.    we receive; and finally, that we acknowledge our God
This includes our earthly life and all its gifts and         as the giver of it all.
powers and talents, health and strength to labor, daily          Such giving of thanks for the natural man is
bread, clothing, shelter, prosperity and abundance. In       impossible for he is rich in things, but not in God.
addition there is the home and family, our place in          Consider, for example, the parable of the rich fool.
church among the people of God. And we must not              Here was a man of abundant wealth who did not
forget the rain, sunshine, fertility of the soil, growth     acknowledge the fact that it came only from God. He
of the seed, the grain of the fields, and the fruit of       was rich in the things of this world but not in God,
the trees. But there is also the other side of life          and failing completely to acknowledge the fact that
described by the Baptism Form as "nothing but a              corn is in no way food for one's soul. To such men
continual death" for which we must be thankful.              thanksgiving to God in everything is foolishness, for
Death surrounds  us.on all sides, for there is not only      they are "men of this world, which have their portion
joy, but also sorrow; not only health, but sickness,         in this life," Ps. 17: 14. They are men "whose god is
pain, suffering, and agony; not only abundance, but          their belly, whose glory is in their shame, who mind
also scarcity and want; not only peace, but wars and         earthly things," Phil. 3: 19. So foolish are they that
rumors of wars; there are fruitful and barren years;         they think that their houses shall continue forever.
rain and sunshine, but also hail, fire, and scorching        No, they do not give thanks at all for they rejoice in
heat. All these are included in the exhortation to give      things, never in the Lord. Let us remember that when
thanks. Seemingly it is a paradox. How absurd it             we gather with our families and friends about the
would seem if our President would enumerate all              dinner table on Thanksgiving Day, for a joy in the
these things as ground for thanksgiving! Instead we          a  bundance   of our thanksgiving dinner is quite
hear "Kind Providence has supplied us with an                different from the joy of thanksgiving. A cruel
abundance of good things." Or "the Almighty"                 thanksgiving it would be if measured by the
has filled our barns with plenty, the wheels of              abundance of things, for then it would be only for
industry are spinning. And the war which we wage is          the rich with nothing to say for the poor. The rich
abundant proof that we have not yet reached the              eat, drink, and are merry, for tomorrow they die.
perfection of "the more abundant life." Then he              Hence, they glorify God not as God, neither are they
may end his speech, saying, "In spite of many                thankful.
sorrows and sufferings, troubles and anxieties, there            True thanksgiving is possible only for the believer
are many things to be thankful for."                         in Christ. Does he rejoice in evil, in suffering and
      Yet before we become too critical of one who           pain, sorrow and grief, war and depression? Or does
makes such statements, we must look at our own life.         he by sheer power of his will, set his face like flint
Who of us would give thanks for Viet Nam, the                and show himself victorious over the sufferings of this
Middle East crisis, or Watergate? Which one of us that       present time as did the Stoic of old? Of course not!
has been sick for weeks gives thanks to God for the          How then is it possible to give thanks in everything?
very bed of languishing? And when God comes and              Because he belongs to Christ. Christ is the solution to
takes our dear child from our bosom, do we look at it        this apparent paradox because He is Lord of all. He
in such a way that we give thanks? What farmer praises       was anointed before the foundations of the world to
the Lord for the hailstorm which destroyed his crops         be heir and Lord of all things. Thus, He was and is the
in a matter of minutes? Indeed, it seems paradoxical         Firstborn of every creature and of the dead; and unto


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                       95



                                  News From Our Churches

                REPORT OF CLASSIS EAST                       Park, New Jersey, Protestant Reformed Church was
                           October 3, 1973                   evidence that God has given us fruit upon the mission
                Hudsonville Prot. Ref Church                 labors in the eastern states.  Classis experienced a busy
                                                             session but the remark was made by more than one
   Classis East met in regular session on October 3,         delegate that the work of this session was such happy
1973 in Hudsonville. The churches were each                  work compared to the work of some of the prior
represented by two delegates. Rev. R. Van  Overloop          sessions of  classis.
led the  classis in opening devotions; Rev. H. Veldman           The delegates  ad examina  from  Classis West, Rev.
presided over this session.                                  J. Kortering, Rev. D. Kuiper and Rev. G.  Laming,
                                                             were, of course, present for the examination of
   Those who attended the October session will no
doubt count this day as being well spent. The                Pastor-elect Joostens and were given advisory  vote.
                                                             Their presence added to the joy of the day.
delegates and visitors were eyewitnesses of the
covenant faithfulness of God. They saw in the                    As most already know, Candidate Joostens
examination of Candidate Meindert Joostens that              successfully passed his examination and now already
God cares and provides for His church; He continues          is Rev. M. Joostens. He has taken up his labors in our
to supply us with undershepherds. The presence of            Faith Prot. Ref. Church in Jenison, Michigan. It can
the delegates from the newly organized Prospect                                                                 (continued on back page)


(continued from pg. 94)
Him and by Him were all things created. As such He                                Resolution of Sympathy
is the Head of His body, the Church, for which He               The Southwest Senior Young People's Society wishes to express its
came in the fulness of time to realize their                 sincere sympathy to two of its members, Dawn and Rhonda  DeJong,
                                                             and to their father in the recent loss of their mother, and wife,
redemption by taking upon Himself their sins upon                                     MRS. RUTH DEJONG
the accursed tree, carrying them away forever. But              "But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory
death could not hold Him; He was raised by God,              by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect,
justifying Him and us in Him. And at the appointed           stablish, strengthen, settle you. To Him be the glory and dominion
time He shall take us to the heavenly tabernacle             forever and ever. Amen."  (I Peter 5: 10,  11)
where we shall see Him face to face.                                                                               Mr. Jim Schipper, Pres.
   Therefore, to belong to Christ means that He is my                                                              Cindy Buiter, Sec'y
Lord in everlasting love for we were in Him when He
died and was raised and are now in Him by faith,                                    Wedding Anniversary
looking for His return. That is why it is possible for           On November 18, 1973, the Lord willing, our parents, MR. AND
us to give thanks in everything, for to belong to            MRS. RAYMOND VAN TIL, JR. will celebrate their 25th wedding
                                                             anniversary. With them, we thank God for His grace toward them in
Christ does not only mean redemption and comfort             years past, and are thankful for the covenant love and instruction they
during this life concerning my sins, but also that what      have given to us. We pray that they may continue to experience God's
seems evil in this present time is in reality good.          blessing in the years ahead.
Consider the following: "For all things are ours,                Children: Mr. and Mrs. Robert Van Til, Richard, Mrs. and Mrs.
whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or        Marvin Berkenpas, Jr., Raymond, Marilyn, and 4 grandchildren.
life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all
are yours; And ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's," I                                 Denominational
Cor.  3:22, 23. Also, "And we know that all things                           Fiftieth Anniversary Committee
work together for good to them that love God,"                                               NOTICE
Rom.  8:28. That is why we give thanks in everything,            All churches and organizations who have been contacted by our
always, for our joy is in the Lord. Then, with the           committee, please send in your material immediately. We are beginning
prophets of old we can confess "Although the fig tree        to compile the history and prepare the anniversary book.
shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines;          We request all churches and schools to send in a  black and white
the  labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall    picture of your building. A glossy snap shot will do, preferably a 5  x 7
yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the           enlargement.
fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I            We appreciate your cooperation in making our anniversary booklet a
will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my        meaningful part of our celebration.
salvation. The Lord God is my strength," Hab.                                                                  Rev. J. Kortering, Sec.
                                                                                                               P.O. Box  248
3: 17-19.                                                                                                      Hull, Iowa 51239


 THE STANDARD BEARER
          P.O. Box 6064
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506





96



be reported that the pastor-elect gave good account                                     THE STANDARD BEARER
of himself both in the preaching of his sermon based              Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July, and August.
on Psalm  65:4 and also in the several hours of                   Published by the Reformed Free Publishing Association, Inc.
                                                                     Second Class Postage Paid at Grand Rapids. Mich.
questioning in the loci of dogmatics, in the                  Editor-in-Chief: Prof. Homer C. Hoeksema
knowledge of the confessions and scripture, in                Department Editors:  Prof. Robert  D: Decker, Mr. Donald Doezema,
                                                              Rev. David J. Engelsma, Rev.  Cornellus Hanko, Prof. Herman Hanko,
                                                              Rev. Robert C. Harbach, Rev. John A.  Heys, Rev. Jay Kortering, Rev.
controversy, and in  practica  - an exhausting but            Dale H. Kuiper, Rev. George C. Lubbers, Rev.  Marinus  Schipper, Rev.
                                                              Gise J. Van  Baren, Rev. Herman Veldman
assuredly most rewarding day for the  classis and the         Editorial Office:  Prof. H. C. Hoeksema
examinee.                                                                           1842 Plymouth Terrace, S.E.
                                                                                    Grand Rapids.  Michiqan  49506
      Following the examination of Candidate Joostens,        Church News Editor:         Mr: Donald  Doezema
                                                                                          1904 Plymouth Terrace, S.E.
classis busied itself with routine business. The usual                                    Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506
                                                              Editorial Policy:  Every editor is solely responsible for the contents of
committees were appointed and reported. Rev. J. A.            his own articles. Contributions of general interest from our readers
                                                              and questions for the Question-Box Department are welcome. Contri-
Heys and Elders W. Clason and T. Nelson served on             butions will be limited to approximately 300 words and must be neatly
                                                              WYitten  or typewritten, and must be signed. Copy deadlines are the first
the Classical Appointment Committee.  Classis                 and the fifteenth of the month. All communications relative to the
                                                              contents should be sent to the editorial office.
honored requests from Prospect Park and from  Classis         Reprint Policy:  Permission is hereby granted for the reprinting of arti-
West (for help in supplying South Holland). The               cles in  OUT magazine by other publications, provided: a) that such  Ye-
                                                              printed articles are reproduced in full;  b) that proper acknowledgement
following schedule was adopted for these churches:            is made; c) that a copy of the periodical in which such reprint appears
                                                              is sent to  O~Y  editorial office.
PROSPECT PARK: November 11, 18, 25  - J. A.                   BUSineSS   Office:   The Standard Bearer
                                                                                    Mr. H. Vander Wal, Bus. Mgr.
Heys; December 2, 9 16  - R. Van Overloop; SOUTH                                    P. 0. Box 6064
                                                                                    Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506
HOLLAND  - October 21  - C. Hanko; November 18                Business Agent for Australasia:Mr.  Wm. van Rij
- H. Veldman; December 9  - R. C. Harbach;                                                          59 Kent Lodge Ave.
                                                                                                    Christchurch 4. New Zealand
December 16  - M. Joostens; December 23  - M.                 Subscription Policy:  Subscription price,  5i.00 per year (55  00 for
                                                              Australasia). Unless a definite request for discontinuance is received, it
Schipper.                                                     IS assumed that the  subscviber wishes the subscription to continue with-
                                                              out the formality of a renewal order, and he will be billed for renewal.
                                                              If  you have a change of address, please notify the Business Office as
      The finance Committee of Elders J. Van  Baren and       aarly as possible in order to  avord the inconvenience of delayed  deliv-
                                                              sry. Include your Zip Code.
G.  VanDenTop reported expenses totaling $620.34.             4dvertising Policy:  The  Standard Bearer  does not accept commercial
                                                              advertising of any kind. Announcements of church and school events,
Deacon C. De Groot was appointed to thank the                 anniversaries, obituaries, and sympathy resolutions will be placed for a
                                                              63.00 fee. These should be sent to the Business Office and should be
ladies of Hudsonville for their catering services.            accompanied by the 53.00 fee. Deadline for announcements is the 1st
                                                              Jr the  15th  of the month, previous to publication on the  15th  or the
      A subsidy request for aid through December 1974         1st  respectively.
                                                              3oond   VO/Umc%:  The Business Office will accept standing orders for
was approved for Prospect Park.  Classis approved             sound  copies of the current volume; such orders are filled as soon as
                                                              aossible  afteY completion of a volume. A limited number of past  vol-
subsidy of $1,740 without a pastor and $9,888 with a          lmes may be obtained through the Business Office.
pastor.  This- request has been forwarded to the
Finance Committee of Synod for final action.                                                  0        0       0
      In other business, the reports of the stated clerk                                      CONTENTS
and Classical Committee were received, the term of
the present stated clerk  W=as extended for another
three years, the church visitors were given another             Jacob Justified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
three-month extension, and the Randolph Church                  Editor's Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76
was given permission to contact the churches of                 The OPC and the "Free Offer" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Classis East for collections for their  new church              The Jamaican Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79
building.                                                       News From Jamaica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
  After the questions of Article 41 of the Church               Two Wise Men and a Fool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -82
Order were asked and satisfactorily answered.,  classis         They're Off and Running . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
adjourned until its January  3rd, 1973 (Thursday)               The Standard Bearer in Retrospect. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
meeting which will be held in Southeast Church. Rev.            Deviation Breeds Deviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
C. Hanko closed the session with prayer.                        Giving Thanks Always . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
                                  Respectfully submitted,       Consequences of Israel's Apostasy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
                                Jon Huisken, Stated Clerk
                                              Classis East


