 The
STANDARD
 BEARER
 A REFORMED SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE





       Let no one imagine that there is a stop-
    ping of the tide of liberalism, once a
    denomination has set this course for itself.
    Let no one imagine that any given wrong
    decision is going to be the last one, or that
    it is possible for a church-federation to
    exist in a half-Reformed and  half-non-
    Reformed status. There is no stopping until
    the cancer of liberalism has ravaged the
    entire body and the whole structure of the
    churches' confession. Nor are any half-way
    measures of reformation possible. Refor-
    mation is an all-or-nothing matter. It
    involves a complete and wholehearted re-
    turn to the faith of our fathers - no matter
    what the cost  - or it cannot possibly suc-
    ceed. See Page 100.





                                     Volume L, Number 5, December I,1973 1


98                                              THE STANDARD BEARER


MEDITATION


                                   A Call To Thanksgiving

               `0 give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever.
              Let Israel now say, that his mercy endureth for ever. "
                                                                                             Psalm 118:1,2


      Another season has passed . . .                            And special attention should be paid to the object
      The harvest has been gathered in . . .                  of this praise and thanksgiving!
      And we will have been called once more to our              The psalmist is not speaking here of some vague
respective places of worship to give thanks.                  and mysterious being whom he really does not know.
                                                              Nor has he in mind some supreme being whom he
      Many there were who did not heed this call, but         philosophically is forced to acknowledge, but whom
they used the holiday seeking their own pleasure!             he, in his practical life always denies. He is not speak-
      Many no doubt frequented the house of prayer,           ing here in terms of some kind providence, or merely
only to rejoice in the abundance of the things they           of a beneficent governor of the universe, whom he
possess!                                                      deistically daily puts out of his universe, but on the
      What was your response? Was it such that it could       special thanksgiving day is forced to admit. Nor is it
bear away the approval and blessing of God?                   so that the psalmist here would have us understand
      And being assembled in the house of God, what           that his prosperity is due most of all to self and his
                                                              own wise manipulation of things at his disposal, with
did you say?                                                  perhaps a little help of the father of nations.
      0, indeed, when we come into the house of the
Lord, we must say something! And on Thanksgiving                 Not an idol, the figment of his own imagination, is
Day we ought to say something as to the now!                  the object of his praise! The psalmist is not a heathen,
                                                              a deist; he worships not a blind force, a vague super-
      Let Israel now say . . .!                               being who hovers somewhere in outer space. No; the
      Let the house of Aaron now say . . .!                   object of praise and thanksgiving is Jehovah, the only
      Let them now that fear the Lord say . . .!              true and living God, the God of the everlasting cov-
                                                              enant, and the God of his salvation!
      Indeed, we have here an earnest call to thanks-
giving!                                                          0, indeed, He is the Lord Almighty! Sovereign
      Most beautiful and full of meaning is the word          Creator and Sustainer of the universe is He! Who by
"thanks" which is found in this text! It comes from a         the Word of His power called all things into being
word which means literally: to point out with an              according to His eternal purpose! Surely, too, He is
extended hand, and then to praise and celebrate a             the God of providence, Who upholds all things by the
certain benefactor. Incidentally the name Judah is a          Word of His power, and so governs all things that
transliteration of this word, and that name means:            they do His bidding. He it is, Who sees to it that
praise.                                                       nothing is left to chance, but all things, good and bad,
                                                              righteous and wicked, prosperity and famine, rain and
      Now one who does this shows by implication at           drought, angels and devils, yea, all things serve His
least three things. First of all, his deep dependence on      purpose, the glory of His Name; while at the same
his benefactor. He senses that he has nothing of him-         time they work for the good of them that love Him.
self, but he seeks all in his benefactor. Secondly, he
confesses thereby that he has a sense of unworthiness.           But even so, He is not some vague, mysterious
He humbly confesses his forfeiture of all right to the        super-being, so imposing that He forces you against
benevolence bestowed on him by his benefactor. And            your will to serve Him with the fear of fright, and to
thirdly, it implies that he knows his benefactor, and         acknowledge somehow on Thanksgiving Day, if at no
would `praise him for his goodness. He acknowledges           other time, that He ought to be thanked.
that the benevolence he has received came solely                 Jehovah, the I AM THAT I AM, is He Who is the
from his benefactor.                                          object of the psalmist's praises!


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 99


   The perfectly Self-Sufficient One in Himself! The         learned to see that in themselves they are lost and
eternally independent God! Who is in need of noth-           undone, unholy and depraved, but that in Jehovah
ing, and to Whom nothing can be given, not even our          alone is all their salvation and glory. They therefore
thanksgiving as a payment for the things He gives. To        extend the hand away from themselves, and point it
Whom nothing can be added, and from Whom noth-               toward Jehovah, from Whom is all their goodness.
ing can be subtracted. Who always remains what He               0, give thanks unto Jehovah, for He is good!
is, the overflowing Fountain of goodness!                       Not merely give thanks unto Jehovah for the good
   The unchangeable God! One Who is "I AM THAT               things you have received! Thanksgiving is never mere-
I AM" is immutable! The mutable must always say, I           ly a rejoicing in things!
am what I became. But God says, "I am Jehovah, I
change not, therefore ye sons of Jacob are not con-             This does not mean that when we give thanks we
sumed."                                                      are to be totally insensitive with respect to the bless-
                                                             ings received. Fact is, that Jehovah's goodness is re-
   He is Jehovah, the Covenant God! In this Name He          flected in the good things He gives us. Therefore
appeared unto His people, as to none other. With             when we give thanks we count our blessings, naming
them He establishes His covenant. And though they            them one by one, and seeing what the Lord has done.
break it, He always maintains it. And He blesses them        And let us learn the lesson that blessings are not only
with all the blessings of His covenant. They who by          good things, but also what we call evil things, which
nature were not a people. He, Jehovah, by His grace,         God also makes work for our good. In other words,
makes to be His covenant friends. And in that cov-           all things are good when they flow to us from the
enant He bestows upon them His goodness, and His             hand of Jehovah. But we say again, the psalmist is not
mercy, the acknowledgement of which, on the part of          calling us here to give thanks to Jehovah for the good
that people, is true thanksgiving.                           things He has given us. Rather, he points us away
   0, give thanks unto Jehovah!                              from the things given to the Giver!
   The psalmist feels that he cannot adequately give            Give thanks unto Jehovah; for He is good!
thanks alone. Though thanksgiving is indeed personal.           Let that be the contents of your thanksgiving  -
It begins with one's soul. Therefore you hear the            Jehovah is good!
psalmist in another place say, "Bless the Lord, 0 my            This means, first of all, that He is purest perfec-
soul, and all within me bless his holy Name." And in         tion. He is the sum of all perfections. His being is
still another place, "I will offer to thee the sacrifices    pure goodness. And it means, in the second place,
of thanksgiving." And even in the congregation,
thanksgiving is a matter of `each individual, - "I will      that He is immaculately beautiful! He is light, pure
                                                             light, and there is no darkness in Him. He is truth,
praise thee with my whole heart in the assembly of           righteousness, holiness, love, and grace; and in Him is
the upright and in the congregation." "I will pay my         no lie, corruption, or evil. Even to say that He is the
vows unto the Lord in the presence of all his people."       highest Good, might leave room for comparison. But
   Yet the child of God can never really stand alone         Jehovah is the incomparable, the infinitely Good
when he gives thanks. "His grateful heart is greedy of       God. This He is in Himself. And therefore is He also
men's tongues, and would monopolize them all for             the overflowing Fountain of goodness for His people,
Jehovah's glory." It is quite inconceivable that he can      to those who fear Him.
be grateful and hide his gratitude. He must tell others         Understand well, this is not intended to be a cold
and call them to express with him his praise to God.         dogma., and abstract truth, a mere objective fact; but
   Let Israel now say . . .!                                 this is a subjective experience! It is as the psalmist
   Surely in this call to thanksgiving, the ungodly are      expresses it elsewhere: "0 taste and see that the Lord
excluded! The ungodly, according to Romans 1, are            is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in Him."
unthankful. They know God, even to the extent of             True thanksgiving is created and expressed when we
His power and Godhead; but they hold the truth               taste spiritually Jehovah's goodness. And it is always
under in unrighteousness and are unthankful.                 the expression that Jehovah is good.
   Only Israel can give thanks! And Israel is they who          Let Israel now say, that Jehovah is good!
fear the Lord. Israel is Jehovah's covenant people.             The psalmist is not primarily interested in what
Israel is that people whom the Lord forms for Him-           Israel will say when they get to heaven. There he
self; they shall show forth His praise. Israel is Jeho-      knows they will for ever be praising and thanking
vah's chosen people, His redeemed people, from both          God for His goodness. Rather, the psalmist urges us
the Jews and Gentiles, out of all nations, kindreds,         to say something now, that is, in the present evil
and peoples. Israel is that people that overcomes            world where we dwell, in the midst of all the vicissi-
through weeping and supplication, who by grace have          tudes and exigencies of life. Whether our barns are


100                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


full or empty, whether we be in health or in sickness,       been shed. He disclosed His mercy to righteous Noah,
whether we be at war or in peace, whether it be in life      when He saved  him from the wicked world by the
or in death; always say: Jehovah is good!                    waters of the flood. He displayed  His everlasting
       But the question arises: on what basis will we be     mercy when He saved His beloved Israel from the
able to say that Jehovah is good, especially when in         arms of Pharaoh and Egypt by the waters of the Red
the now I experience evil, when all things seem to be        Sea. He remembered  His mercy when He delivered
against me? Won't I then of all times draw a distinc-        His people from Babel's bondage, and resettled them
tion between the evil and the good? Won't I be               in their own land, and visited them in temple and
tempted to rejoice when my way is prosperous, and            sacrifice. The central manifestation of that eternal
won't I murmur and rebel when evil is upon me?               mercy He clearly demonstrated in the cross of Cal-
Won't our thanksgiving die on our lips when our way          vary, when He laid on His only Begotten Son the
is dark?                                                     iniquity of us all, and covered us with His own right-
                                                             eousness through the resurrection of  His Son, our
   The answer is to be found in the repeated assertion       Lord, from the dead. And so unto the end of time as
in the text:                                                 we know it, He will show unto us the goodness of His
   For His mercy endureth for ever!                          eternal mercy, in prosperity and adversity, in war and
   Mercy is that goodness of God, according to which         peace, in health and sickness, in life and in death.
in the midst of all our distresses He pities His regener-    That goodness of Jehovah whereby He purposes
ated and justified people, and desires to make them          through all the changes of time and circumstance to
perfect as He is perfect. Mercy is that unchangeable         deliver us and make us blessed as He is blessed.
desire of Jehovah to deliver from the greatest possible         0, indeed, Jehovah is good!
of all miseries, sin and death, and to make us par-             And His mercy endureth for ever!
takers of the highest good.                                     Give thanks, therefore, 0 people of God, who are
   And this is not simply a passing whim, and in-            as the apple of His eye!
effectual desire that is never realized. Rather, His            Stretch out the hand, and point with the finger,
mercy is for ever. It is as eternal as God is. And in        and exclaim with your tongue,  - 0 Jehovah, how-
history, in the moments of time, He reveals His ever-        great is Thy Goodness!
lasting mercy. He showed it when He sought out our
fallen first parents, Adam and Eve, and covered their          Thy mercy is an everlasting mercy!
nakedness with skins of animals whose blood had                Thanks be unto Thy Holy Name! Amen!


EDITORIAL

                                 Infant Baptism Denied
                        in the Gereformeerde Kerken
                                                Pro5  H. C. Hoeksema


   By this time it is hardly possible to be shocked any      away in the interest of ecumenism, it makes one sit
longer by `news of deviations from the Reformed              up and think - or, it ought to do so - and weep! For
position in the Gereformeerde Kerken  (synodical). It        when something like this takes place, does it not
seems only to be a question of which truth will be the       become plain that nothing distinctively Reformed is
next victim of free-thinking assault  - first by some        held sacred any longer? And does it not become
learned individual or committee, and then by the             plain, too, that once a denomination sets foot on the
official decision of a synod.                                path of error and of doctrinal-freedom, the end can
                                                             only be the denial and forfeiture of the entire pre-
  And yet when such a characteristically Reformed            cious heritage of the faith, and that, too, with pious
doctrine (and practice) as infant baptism is bartered        phraseology and pompous ecclesiastical  pronounce-


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 101


ments - all, mind you, in the name of the very Christ       their life be exhorted unto obedience." (italics added)
Who will only spue such a church out of His mouth.             As De Reformatie points out, the report tries to be
   We had not noticed reports of this development in        even-handed in its proposed pastoral advice. For it
any of the American periodicals which occasionally          also pleads the good right of objections against infant
carry news about the Dutch churches. But in De              baptism. It claims that such objections arise out of
Reformatie  of September 22 the lead article is a           the fact that such people take seriously the Scriptural
report and critique concerning this latest departure.       injunction to conversion and sanctification of life on
rile Reformatie is a paper of Gereformeerde Kerken          the part of the congregation and the individual. And
(Liberated) in the Netherlands.] The article is en-         it asserts that the criticism which is made of a careless
titled, "Infant Baptism - Yes or No?"                       practice of baptism, in which often all who are pre-
                                                            sented for baptism are baptized, is not only com-
   Here is the sad tale, the facts of which we have         pletely understandable but also justified from the
gleaned from De Reformatie.                                 Scriptures. It fails to point out that a wrong practice
   There has been a joint commission of the  Her-           of infant baptism does not justify abandonment of
vormde  Kerk,  the so-called State Church, and the          the principle of infant baptism; and it fails to point
Gereformeerde Kerkerz  preparing a "Concept Pastoral        out that the solution to this problem of a careless
Advice About Infant Baptism." Those who have fol-           baptismal practice is the proper exercise of discipline
lowed developments in the Netherlands will know             in the churches, discipline of leaders and of members.
that the  Gereformeerde Kerken  are busily courting         Instead it takes under its protection the rejection of
the  Hervormde  Kerk,  from which they separated in         infant baptism. And it advises that the churches
1834 and 1886, under De Cock and Kuyper respec-             should accept with full rights of membership those
tively. The leadership of the GKN is hot-bloodedly          who thus reject infant baptism. And they must have
seeking to consummate a remarriage with the  Her-           the strength even to accept such persons as  office-
vormde Kerk. A joint synodical meeting of sorts has         bearers.
already been held, and in various ways the two                 This, mind you, is the duty of the church "which
denominations are working together - all with a view        is really church of Christ in this world."
to eventual reunion. The joint commission on the
matter of infant baptism is part of this movement              It should hardly be necessary to point out that in
toward reunion. Meanwhile, it should not be over-           Reformed churches infant baptism is not optional,
looked that there is something radically wrong when         but mandatory, and that those who make it optional
synodical commissions prepare and synods hand               literally forsake their Reformed basis. According to
down "pastoral advice" on various subjects. The             our Baptism Form, covenant parents acknowledge
pastoral function belongs with the local consistory         "that although our children are conceived and born in
and in the local congregation.  Synodical "pastoral         sin, and therefore are subject to all miseries, yea, to
advice" is a high-sounding phrase for usurpation of         condemnation itself; yet that they are sanctified in
power, a euphemism for "hierarchy."                         Christ, and therefore, as members of his Church
                                                            ought  to be baptized." (italics added) The 74th
   On this joint commission, according to De Refor-         Answer of our Heidelberg Catechism states the same
matie,  the GKN were represented by J.P.C. Boodt,           mandate: "Yes: for since they, as well as the adult,
Rev. H.A. van Bottenburg, Dr. O.C. Broek Roelofs,           are included in the covenant and church of God; and
Prof. Dr. J. Firet, and Prof. Dr. G.P. Hartvelt.            since redemption from sin by the blood of Christ, and
   And what does the learned commission declare?            the Holy Ghost, the author of faith, is promised to
                                                            them no less than to the adult; they  must  therefore
   This: "A church which is really church of Christ in      by baptism, as a sign of the covenant, be also ad-
this world must have the strength to accept in her          mitted into the Christian church; and be distinguished
midst as officebearers also those who have serious          from the children of unbelievers as was done in the
objections against the baptism of little children."         old covenant or testament by circumcision, instead of
   True, the commission is also reported to have testi-     which baptism is instituted in the new covenant."
fied "that we must also emphatically defend in our          The Netherlands Confession of Faith, Article 34,
time the good right of the baptizing of the little chil-    teaches the same: ". . . Ltherefore we detest the error
dren of the congregation." But this "good right"            of the Anabaptists, who are not content with the one
amounts to nothing more than that "little children          only baptism they have once received, and moreover
may be baptized and on the ground thereof may all           condemn the baptism of the infants of believers,


162                                            THE STANDARD BEARER


whom we believe  ought  to be baptized and sealed            be adopted.
with the sign of the covenant, as the children in Israel        And why not? The GKN as a denomination no
formerly were circumcised, upon the same promises            longer care about being Reformed! If the minority of
which are made unto our children. And indeed Christ          Reformed dissenters are ever to move toward refor-
shed his blood no less for the washing of the children       mation, it is high time!
of the faithful, then for adult persons; and therefore
they ought to receive the sign and sacrament of that            Meanwhile, what ecclesiastical hypocrisy! A few
which Christ hath done for them. . . ." (italics added       decades ago, in the 1940s these same churches ruth-
in both quotations from our confessions)                     lessly cast out officebearers in a controversy about
                                                             the covenant of grace and about the meaning of the
   Plainly, therefore, and in the literal sense of the       baptism of infants. Today it can be proposed official-
word, this is a departure from our Reformed basis.           ly to abandon infant baptism by making it a mere
       And it is not a minor departure!                      option both for members and for officebearers - and
                                                             with it to abandon the entire idea of the covenant of
   For implied in this denial of infant baptism in the       grace.
abandonment of what has always been recognized -                Is this not the judgment of God for the ecclesiasti-
along with the truth of God's sovereign grace  - as          cal injustices perpetrated at that time?
one of the chief characteristics of the Reformed
faith: the truth of God's eternal covenant of grace.            And is it not ironic, too, that in these same GKN
                                                             there should be at present a renewed attempt to gain
       If the GKN, therefore, had not previously lost the    ecclesiastical restoration to honor for those who were
right to the name "Reformed," they have done so              so shamefully treated in the  194Os, the late Dr. K.
now.                                                         Schilder and the late Dr. S. Greijdanus? Would not
       But, you say, this is only the advice of a com-       our Lord rebuke the GKN for building the tombs of
mission.                                                     the prophets whom their fathers have slain - except
       This is correct. However, in the first place, this    for the fact that some of the perpetrators of those
                                                             injustices are still living?
should not be minimized. For this advice represents             But there is a lesson in all this. Let no one imagine
the view of those who are officebearers, among them          that there is a stopping of the tide of liberalism, once
some who are theological professors. Do you not see          a denomination has set this course for itself. Let no
that the GKN are lost as Reformed churches when it           one imagine that any given wrong decision is going to
is possible that such advice can even be conceived,          be the last one, or that it is possible for a  church-
much less proposed, by those whose responsibility it         federation to exist in a half-Reformed and  half-non-
is to train future ministers? This simply means that         Reformed status. There is, no stopping until the cancer
the course of liberty of teaching and the course of          of liberalism has ravaged the entire body and the
neglect of doctrinal discipline has been followed to         whole structure of the churches' confession. Nor are
the bitter end. It is now possible for officebearers         any half-way measures of reformation possible.
openly and officially to propose that the churches           Reformation is an all-or-nothing matter. It involves a
forsake their confessions and to flout a key truth of        complete and wholehearted return to the faith of our
the Reformed faith. This is much worse than the              fathers  - no matter what the cost  - or it cannot
errors of men like Kuitert and Wiersinga, who individ-       possibly succeed.
ually and in their own name proposed heretical views.
It means that this cancer has reached the ecclesiastical        This is the lesson of history in general.
vitals.                                                         This is the lesson of the sad history of the  Gere-
   And, in the second place, I do not hesitate to            formeerde Kerken.
predict that sooner or later this advice will also be           This is the lesson which the "concerned people" in
adopted. It may undergo some changes - to mollify            the Christian Reformed Church and other denomina-
the feelings of those who will have objections. And it       tions in our own country must learn to understand.
may pass through a lengthy ecclesiastical process; this
is but part of the method in the madness of the                 This is the lesson which none of us must ever
liberals. It is part of the strategy of the liberalizing     forget !
process. But sooner or later - and couched in learned           Let us be always vigilant! And let us guard our
words that are smooth as butter  - the position will         heritage with our lives!


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  103



QUESTION BOX



                              About God's Attributes


                                                ProJ H. C. Hoekema




   I have no less than five questions on hand at the          Zoveth.  When God begets His children, He begets
moment. I will try to answer a couple of them in this         children who are after His image and likeness, con-
issue.                                                        formed to the image of His Son. And because this is
   From a reader in the far northwest comer of our            true, those whom He begets (who are born of  Him)
country comes the following question: "Recently in            will love. If they do not, that is a sure indication that
our Men's Society we discussed Article 1 of the Neth-         they have not been born of Him. For love belongs to
erlands Confession of Faith. In this article God's attri-     the very image of God. Thus, Scripture also calls God
butes are mentioned. The question is: are  all God's          the "God of love," II Cor. 13 : 11.
attributes mentioned in this article? What must we               For a working definition of love as an attribute of
believe about God's love? Is the love of God an attri-        God, I would propose the following, quoted from
bute of God, or are God's attributes in His love?"            Rev. H. Hoeksema's  Reformed Dogmatics:  "The love
Reply                                                         of God is the infinite and eternal bond of fellowship
   First of all, let us get the article before us: "We all    that is based upon the ethical perfection and holiness
believe with the heart, and confess with the mouth,           of the divine nature, and that subsists between the
that there is one only simple and spiritual Being,            Three Persons of the Holy Trinity." For a detailed
which we call God; and that he is eternal, incompre-          discussion, I refer the reader to this same work, pages
hensible, invisible, immutable, infinite, almighty,           103-107.
perfectly wise, just, good, and the overflowing foun:            Finally, I am not quite certain as to the meaning
tain of all good."                                            of the alternatives posed in the last question. Al-
   In the second place, the answer to the first ques-         though I would not phrase it in this way, I could
tion above is: no, all God's attributes are not men-          conceive of answering yes to both parts of this ques-
tioned in this article. Such attributes as God's  Self-       tion: love is an attribute of God, and God's attributes
existence, God's omnipresence, God's omniscience,             are in His love. By the latter I mean, then, that there is
God's holiness, God's veracity, God's mercy, God's            perfect harmony among all the attributes of God, and
love - all of these receive no separate mention in this       that all God's attributes are perfectly  one in Him.
article, Evidently it is not the purpose of this article      This is the truth of God's simplicity. Thus, for  ex-
to be exhaustive in its mention of God's attributes.          am.ple, God's love is eternal and incomprehensible
                                                              and unchangeable and is characterized by perfect
   In the third place, as I have already indicated            wisdom, holiness, righteousness, etc. There is never
above, God's love is indeed one of His infinite perfec-       any disharmony and conflict in God Himself or in His
tions. As Scriptural grounds for this contention, I           attributes as He reveals them in His dealings with the
would point to a passage such as I John  4:7, 8:              creature. This is also emphasized in our Heidelberg
"Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God;        Catechism, which teaches that His mercy can never be
and every one that loveth is born of God, and know-           in conflict with His justice, Lord's Day IV.
eth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for
God is love." Notice that this passage teaches plainly           From this same questioner I received a question
that love characterizes the very nature of God. God           about Isaiah 1, but this will have to wait until next
Himself is love. This is why it is true that he who is        time. For I must also try to satisfy another ques-
born of God, and is, therefore, like God, necessarily         tioner.


104                                            THE STANDARD BEARER





                     About A Christian Philosophy


   From a Grand Rapids reader I received the follow-       specific points of their rather wide-ranging view, I will
ing problem:                                               be happy to answer on these.
   "A question has been bothering me for a long               In the second place, I have grave doubts as to
time, and I hope you are willing to answer this and        whether there is such a thing possible as a Christian
explain a few things for me.                               Philosophy. We speak now of philosophy not in
   "Throughout the history of mankind men have             general, as a kind of view of things; but we speak of it
been raised up who by their thinking and example           in the technical and accepted sense. In that sense, I
have led part of mankind, or perhaps the whole of          am inclined to think that the terms  Christian  and
mankind, in a certain direction and way of life, for       Philosophy  are mutually exclusive. To my mind,
worse or for better. Plato and Aristotle have in-          Philosophy always implies rationalism, i.e., is the
fluenced the Greek people and even following genera-       product of sinful, human reason  - reason not dom-
tions. Marx, Nietzsche, Hitler have molded the lives       inated by God's Word, the Scriptures. As soon, of
of modem men. Hinduism and Brahminism have                 course, as you have Christian thinking and a Christian
molded Asian peoples. My question is this: may man         view of things, you have thinking and thoughts that
establish or make a Christian Philosophy and try to        are dominated by the Word of God and based upon
lead or influence mankind or part of mankind in a          and developed from Holy Scripture. Then you get not
good direction for their general welfare, and call this    philosophy, but Christian dogmatics (Reformed
thinking also a Biblical Philosophy? Some say `yes';       dogmatics, to be specific), a Scriptural theory and
others say `no.' But what is your opinion?"                method of thinking, and so-called Christian ethics, or
                                                           a Christian world-and-life-view. So I would say  -
Reply                                                      without becoming too technical  - that as soon as a
   First of all, I would remark that I could wish for a    would-be philosophy is truly Christian, then it will no
few more specifics. I think there are.some big ques-       longer be acknowledged by the philosophers as being
tions involved here, and questions which are im-           genuine philosophy. But I suppose all the would-be
portant, too, for our understanding of our Christian       Christian philosophers would fall upon me like angry
calling. But my questioner is not very concrete. And       hounds for saying a thing like this.
there is no definition furnished of several ideas men-
tioned. Thus, for example, what is meant by a "Chris-         In the third place,  - and here, perhaps, we are
tian philosophy" or a "Biblical philosophy"? And           getting to the heart of the matter - I will say without
what is meant by influencing mankind in a good             hesitation that a philosophy which proposes to im-
direction and for their general welfare? Does my           prove this present world, to make something of it,
questioner have in mind, for example, the improve-         and to work for the general welfare of mankind and
ment of the ungodly reprobate and the taking over of       to influence mankind in a good direction  - such a
this present world and all its life "for the kingdom of    philosophy is not Christian. I will say without any
God?" I am quite certain that my questioner has in         reservation whatsoever that the Christian has no call-
mind the so-called Toronto Movement, or the                ing to improve mankind, that the very idea of improv-
A.A.C.S. and the philosophy which it promulgates -         ing this present world is an impossible myth, and that
sometimes called Dooyeweerdian Philosophy. And             since the fall it has become impossible to carry out
there is much to be said in criticism of this entire       the cultural mandate, about which the A.A.C.S. talks
movement. In fact, the Standard Bearer has reflected       so much. The Christian has but one calling, and that
from time to time on various publications of this          is to live from the principle of regeneration in the
movement. Now I can hardly enter into a thorough-          midst of this world and in every segment of the life of
going critique of the A.A.C.S. or of Dooyeweerd's          this world. It cannot even be shown that separate
philosophy in Question Box. But if my questioner           Christian organizations are a must for the Christian.
will furnish me with specific quotations and with          That in some instances they are a practical option I


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                           105


will not deny; that they are a  must  I emphatically           Antichrist will take over this world for a time, and
deny. This does not mean, remember, that the Chris-            when the people of God will be allowed no standing
tian has the option to be a part of all kinds of worldly       room because they have not the mark of the beast.
organizations. The latter is impossible for him if he          And the time is at hand, according to Scripture!
lives from the principle of regeneration and antitheti-           Finally, for anyone who wishes to make further
cally. But our calling is to shine as lights in the midst      study of the culture-issue involved in this discussion, I
of the darkness of this present world, Matt. 5: 16, and        would recommend the pamphlet by Rev. H.  Hoek-
to walk as children of light, Eph. 5 :8. But improve           sema,  The Christian And Culture,  available through
this present world and influence mankind in general            our Business Manager.
in a good direction? Impossible; one cannot cure
rotten meat! Moreover, it is a dangerous,  post-                  In conclusion, my questioner is welcome to call
millennialistic  dream to imagine that we can take over        again - with more specifics.
this world for the kingdom of God. On the contrary,               Another question from this same reader will have
we must become prepared for the time when the                  to wait until next time, D.V.


ALL AROUND US

                                    Watergate And The
                                   Fifth Commandment

                                                      Prof. H. Hanko


   It is not the purpose of my brief remarks to enter          American people will be both sobered and renewed."
into a prolonged analysis and discussion of the Water-         (Reformed Journal,  July-August, 1973).
gate fiasco. I suppose that we, who live in a demo-              C.S. Lewis, in essay on "Dangers Of National
cracy, are obligated in some sense to pass judgment            Repentance" discusses the fact that particularly the
on what transpired. But it is difficult to know the            intellectual "youth" of England were fond of engag-
truth of the matter. The news media are not to be              ing in national repentance for the sins involved in the
trusted by any means. Many who are crying the loud-            Second World War. He writes:
est for justice and the impeachment or resignation of
the president are not men whose works can stand the                     The young man who is called upon to repent of
                                                                  England's foreign policy is really being called upon to
light of day. It is all a reminder of the old adage: the          repent the acts of his neighbor; for a Foreign Secre-
pot is calling the kettle black. But my concern is not            tary or a Cabinet Minister is certainly a neighbour.
to investigate in how far the president is guilty of any          And repentance presupposes condemnation. The first
crime, if indeed he is guilty at all.                             and fatal charm of national repentance is, therefore,
                                                                  the encouragement it gives us to turn from the bitter
   Nor do I think it proper to engage in a kind of                task of repenting our own sins to the congenial one of
national self-incrimination and national confession of            bewailing - but, first, of denouncing - the conduct
sin. There are those who write for the ecclesiastical             of others. If it were clear to the young that this is
press who think that the opportunity has come for                 what he is doing, no doubt he would remember the
this. One writes: "The paranoia that led to Watergate             law of charity. Unfortunately the very terms in which
and the black veil of deceit that was subsequently laid           national repentance is recommended to him conceal
upon it bespeak our national sinfulness. The deter-               its true nature. By a dangerous figure of speech, he
mination in Congress and in the Justice Department                calls the Government not `they' but `we'. And since,
to expose this sinfulness to public view and to lable it          as penitents, we are not encouraged to be charitable
as sin bespeaks the grace of God, which, even in                  to our own sins, nor to give ourselves the benefit of
                                                                  any doubt, a Government which is called `we' is ipso
judgment, is healing and redemptive in its effect.                facto placed beyond the sphere of charity or even of
   "It is to be hoped that through Watergate the                  justice. You can say anything you please about it.


106                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER


       You can indulge in the popular vice of detraction         Church and who had become guilty of every moral
       without restraint, and yet. feel all the time that you    and legal crime. "Submit yourselves to every ordi-
       are practising contrition.                                nance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to
                                                                 the king, as supreme; Or unto governors, as unto
   It is this latter which has bothered me in recent             them that do well. For so is the will of God, that with
months. The news media must bear a large part of the             well doing ye may put to silence the. ignorance of
blame. Terribly evil things are being said about the             foolish men." I Peter 2: 13-15. "Honour all men. Love
president; unseemly jokes and cartoons are printed               the brotherhood. Fear God Honour the king." I Peter
almost every day which hold up to ridicule the man               2: 17. And this is, of course, what Paul writes in
whom God has placed in authority over us. It is time             Roman 13.
then to remind ourselves that the fifth commandment
is still in force. Our own Heidelberg Catechism inter-             It has been argued that because we live in a democ-
prets, correctly, the fifth commandment as requiring             racy, the final responsibility for ruling this country
of me that "I show all honor, love and fidelity, to my           rests in the people. From this it is supposed to follow
father and mother, and all in authority over me, and             that since the people have put their president in
submit myself to their good instruction and correc-              office, these same people have the right to take him
tion, with due obedience; and also patiently bear with           from office. Hence, it is perfectly proper for the
their weaknesses and infirmities, since it please God            populace to try the president in the court of public
to govern us by their hand."                                     opinion. Apart from the fact that our Constitution
                                                                 provides the necessary machinery for impeachment,
  It will perhaps be argued that the president has lost          the fact remains that, whether we live in a democracy
the right to claim our "honor, love and fidelity." Two           or not, God has placed the president in office.
things need to be said. There has been as yet no court           Whether God has done this through the majority vote
decision which has found him guilty of any crime. He             of the populace or in some other way, it makes no
has only been tried in the news media and found                  difference. The fifth commandment is not abrogated
guilty. Nothing more. But apart even from that, the              in a democracy.
obligation to honor, love and respect him does not                 We must be afraid of such a violation of the fifth
rest in the determination made by us or others as to             commandment. We live in a lawless age as it is, where
whether he is worthy of this. It rests in the command            the fifth commandment has all but ceased to exist. If
of God. As long as he is president, we owe him this.             we openly flout this commandment in our homes, in
God has set Nixon in the White House. God is ruling              the Church, in our conversations with others, we shall
us through him. We must recognize this by obeying                reap a bitter harvest, for we shall find that we have
the fifth commandment for God's sake. Peter called               planted the seeds of disrespect for authority which
the Church of his day to just this obligation; and he            will grow into an awful harvest of a breakdown of
was writing when Caesars sat on the throne of the                authority in every sphere of life, including our homes
Roman Empire - Caesars who were persecuting the                  and churches.




                                         Key 73  - A Failure

  It seems as if Key 73 has flopped - badly. This is             success are hard put to point out any real and genuine
evident from several considerations. For one thing, no           successes. Mention is made of what was accomplished
one hears much about it any more. The shouting and               in such language as:
the tumult has died - with a whimper. Even though
the year has not yet officially ended the campaign,                    40 million Scripture portions were distributed
almost nothing  is being said about it. For  another              (Denver was among the cities saturated, and more
                                                                    than six tons of-Scriptures were handed out at the
thing, the financial support for the program was so                 35,000-student  University of Toronto). In Quebec,
meager that many important projects had to be                       22,000 French-Canadian Catholics gathered for two
dropped, and the budget was, at last report, still in               "love feasts" that featured preaching and Bible study
the red. Since another evidence of the demise of this               - and an altar call. Success stories were reported
program is the fact that those who claim it was a                   from a number of other communities and from even


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                   107


    the committee's hotel dining room, where a waiter        success falls, upon those who opposed this movement.
    sought to be converted.                                  It would be good if this were true; we gladly would
                          Christianity Today, Nov. 9,1973    assume such blame.
                                                                But leaders are not convinced that the idea should
  This is a far cry from the announced aims of the           be dropped. Already plans are being made to hold
leaders to confront all North America with the gospel        meetings to diagnose the ailments of Key 73, take
in 1973 and to begin a continent-wide revival which          corrective action and proceed on with new plans for
would sweep the land with the fires of repentance            1974 and subsequent years.
and conversion.                                                It would be better if it could be said of Key 73
  The blame is being parcelled out; and it is not sur-       what was said of Jehoram, king of Judah: "And he
prising that a great deal of the blame for the lack of       departed without being desired." II Chron. 2 1: 20.



                         Growth In Private Schools

  An interesting article appeared in U.S. News And           to the fact that nearly 3000 Roman Catholic paro-
World Report  recently concerning the spectacular            chial schools have closed their doors in the last eight
growth of Protestant private schools. Among the              years.
points made by this article were the following:                It is therefore nonpublic schools other than Roman
                                                             Catholic which are multiplying. Some of these private
  Tens of thousands of students are transferring from        schools are not church-affiliated. But many are.
public schools to private schools. The reasons are not       Especially the Lutheran Churches have been adding
only because of integration and forced bussing, but          schools and increasing enrollment in existing schools
also because of academic laxity, robbery, drug abuse,        to keep up with increased demand.
classroom disruption.                                          It is obvious, however, that this growth is not the
  Private school enrollment is, generally speaking, on       result of a growing interest in Christian education,
the decline registering a drop of nearly one and a half      but is merely a reaction against the deplorable condi-
million in the last ten years. But this is primarily due     tions in existing public schools throughout the land.




                                            Order your

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                               Use the  .insert in our

                                  November 15 issue.


108                                            THE STANDARD BEARER





                                           ProJ: H. Hanko


   I think it was our editor who remarked a few                 The men who did most of the writing for these
issues ago that it was extremely time-consuming to           first volumes were Revs. Hoeksema and Ophoff and
look up anything in back volumes of  The Standard            Mr. G. Van Beek. These three men also served as
Bearer. This is not because the articles one is looking      editors. How these men did all the work it is some-
for are necessarily difficult to find  - although this       times impossible to imagine. Revs. Hoeksema and
may also sometimes be the case; for, while there are         Ophoff not only had their own congregations in
excellent textual indices available for back volumes,        which they preached and did the congregational
there is no good subject index. But the reason is that       work, but they both also taught full time in the
one becomes so engrossed in all sorts of interesting         Seminary in those years when the Seminary was just
articles that, before he knows it, several hours have        beginning and when there was a mountain of work in
slipped away and he has not yet found the article for        the preparation of material for the students who were
which he is looking.                                         studying there. Talking a few years ago to one of Rev.
   Such has been my experience also in perusing the          Ophoff s sons, I was startled to hear him say that his
first ten volumes in search of worthwhile articles to        memories of his father in these early years were
reprint. This was most time-consuming: for there             memories of a crack of light shining beneath the door
were so many articles which were worth reading once          of his father's study  - no matter what time of the
again, and there were so many memories which were            night one would get up from bed. It is really no
stirred in paging through these first ten volumes            wonder that in some respects, these men were old
which were written in the years 1924 to 1934. Rather         before their time.
than including in this article a reprint, we have               Two of our readers have sent in a couple of early
decided to give a brief survey of the contents of these      pictures which are of Revs. Hoeksema and Ophoff.
volumes, and try to pick out some of the outstanding         The first picture was taken in the year 1923 at Gun
features of them to give our readers a bit of an idea of     Lake, where Rev. Hoeksema and his family were
what these first ten volumes were like.          I           vacationing. [Editor's Note: Believe it or not, there
                                                             are two editors pictured here. Your present editor is
                                                             the babe in arms in the picture. HCH] The other was
                                                             taken at Tunnel Park near Holland on August 24,
                                                             1938 at a Young People's Outing. On the second
                                                             picture, Rev. Ophoff is the farthest left, Rev.
                                                             Hoeksema is in the middle, and the one nearest the
                                                             camera is Mr. M. Van Antwerpen who served for a
                                                             number of years as janitor in First Protestant Re-
                                                             formed Church.


                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 109


         The material in these Standard Bearers ranges over           Strikingly, however, there was from the beginning,
      a wide variety of subjects.                                  a great deal of emphasis placed on the whole question
         It is not surprising that the earlier volumes are         of Christian education. As early as volume three,
      filled with a great deal of material concerning              articles appear on every conceivable aspect of this
      common grace. There are many important articles              subject. It is possible that we shall have opportunity
      among this material. And it would even be very               to reprint some of the more important articles, but
      worthwhile to reprint some of it. But this is difficult      what is interesting and worth our notice is the fact
      to do because many of these articles were written in         that our leaders very early not only saw the need of
      direct response to attacks which were made by others         Christian education in general, but also the need of
      against the Protestant Reformed Churches and the             Protestant Reformed Christian education. It is doubt-
      stand which these churches had taken in the common           ful if there is one volume of  The Standard Bearer
      grace controversy. They are articles therefore which         which lacks an article on Christian education; and
      are highly apologetic, are filled with names of individ-     there are many which have a large number of articles
      uals, and are dated by the circumstances of the oc-          on this important subject.
      casion for their writing. In reading them, however,             In the year 1927 there first began to appear arti-
      one is impressed with the fact that the early editors        cles which would later become books. Those of our
      clearly saw what fruit common grace would bring              readers who have purchased books from the Re-
      forth in the years to come. They saw how common              formed Free Publishing Association may be surprised
      grace would vitiate Reformed theology. They saw              to learn that the books "Believers And Their Seed"
      how common grace would open the flood gates of               and "Behold He Cometh" were begun already in
      worldliness. They saw how common grace would                 these early issues.
      weaken the Church and bring about a situation                   It was also in the year 1927 that one finds the first
      which, in fact, exists today.                                minutes of the General Classes which were held. Our
         Yet there were many other articles on many other          Churches did not begin to hold Synodical meetings
      subjects. There was positive doctrinal development.          until 1940. Prior to that date all the Consistories met
     There are many articles in which the Reformed faith           at regular intervals throughout the year in a Com-
     is defended strongly, but there are also articles in          bined Classis Meeting. These minutes alone record the
      which the heritage of the Reformed faith is developed        history of our Churches with all their trial and tri-
      and clarified at key points. It is especially in these       umph, heartbreak and happiness.
      doctrinal articles that one already begins to see the
      emphasis which was being placed on the doctrine of              In 1930 the first articles began to appear concem-
      the covenant, a doctrine which was to play such a            ing the theology of Dr. K. Schilder and the history of
      major role in the history of the Protestant Reformed         his movement in the Netherlands. In the Forties and
      Churches and which was to occupy such an important           Fifties Dr. Schilder and his Churches were to play an
      place in the theology of Rev. Hoeksema.                      important role in the history of our Churches. We
                                                                   cannot talk about that now. That is another story.
         There was also a concern for events which were            But it is striking that only six years after the Protes-
      taking place in the world. One can find many articles        tant Reformed Churches began there were events stir-
      which comment on events in the church world and in           ring which would have such great repercussions in
      the history which was being made at that time. It is         later years.
      clear from these articles that the editors firmly be-
     lieved that God's people should be students of their             In 193 1 the whole format of ?Xe Standard Bearer
      times; for without being aware of what was going on          was rather radically changed. It was at that time that
      about them, they would be unable to "redeem the              regular departments were begun. There was an editorial
      times, for the days are evil." It is interesting to note,    department and a department which dealt specifically
      for example, that The Standard Bearer took the time          with the Confessions of the Reformed Churches. Year
     to comment at some length on the Roman Eucharis-              by year new departments were added; sometimes
      tic Congress which was held in 1926.                         some were dropped; but always effort was put forth
         Practical matters also came up for a great deal of        to make the magazine as attractive as possible to the
     discussion. The doctrinal articles stressed repeatedly        readers and to make it speak in a clear Reformed
      that common grace had done damage to the truth of            voice to the ecclesiastical and theological issues of the
      the antithesis. But The Standard Bearer spoke often          times.
     in a positive way concerning the doctrine of the an-             In 1933 an attempt was made to organize branches
      tithesis and how it was to be applied to the problems        of the R.F.P.A. The idea was to organize such branch-
      of life. There are articles on such questions as mem-        es in the Chicago area, in the Pella area, in Sioux
      bership in worldly labor unions, worldly amusements,         County, Iowa, in California, and in Michigan. A kind
      divorce and remarriage, etc.                                 of concept Constitution was drawn up which can be

-


110                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



found on  p. 240 of Volume IX. Although these                 the past years, the editorial staff has tried to enlist
efforts apparently failed, it is perhaps time for us to       laymen to contribute to the paper; but these efforts
think along these lines once again.                           have, for the most part, proved unfruitful. I would
       There is another striking feature about these early    like this article to serve as encouragement to our read-
Standard Bearers. I refer to the fact that laymen did a       ers to give serious thought to the matter of writing
great deal of writing in those days  - far more than          for our paper.
now. This is especially striking because in the early
history of our Churches, the number of laymen who                And so we must close this article.  The Standard
had acquired an extensive education  - something              Bearer has come a long way since these early years.
beyond grade school - was in the minority. Yet their          The format has changed, the nature of the articles has
writings added greatly to the value of our periodical.        changed; the editorial staff has changed; the times
Now there are many more with extensive educations.            surely have changed. But the truth remains un-
Everyone has high school; many have college educa-            changed. And the truth of the Reformed faith as set
tions; many beyond college in graduate work. And              forth in these first volumes is still the truth which
yet we see very little in our paper from people other         appears on today's pages - a truth which we love and
than ministers. This is too bad. From time to time, in        confess. May God keep us faithful to it.


NEWS FEATURE


                                       Building Project  -
                         Protestant Reformed Church
                                of Randolph, Wisconsin

                                                   Rev. M. Schipper





       Those of our readers who follow the reports of         request to Randolph's pastor, the Rev. Wayne  Bek-
classical and synodical meetings will have noticed a          kering, for a little information and a picture or two.
request of our Randolph,. Wisconsin congregation for          This brought some results which I would like to share
permission to seek collections in the churches for            with our readers. Perhaps this will also stimulate your
their new building. Perhaps your curiosity was                giving when those collections are announced in the
aroused, as was mine. Not having visited Randolph             various churches: for it is always better, I think, to
for a while, I had no firsthand information as to the         have some idea of the project for which one is giving
progress of their building project. Hence, I sent a           and of the need for help. And our sister-congregation


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                              111


of some 22 families in Wisconsin is in need of help,         building will be finished."
                                                                        -.
and also deserving of encouragement in this under-              Here are a few facts about the building, which, by
taking.                                                      the way, is being constructed on land which the
   Have you ever visited Randolph, tucked away in            congregation foresightedly had purchased along with
the beautiful and rolling farm country of central            their present building. The church building is 74 feet
Wisconsin, not too far from the famous Wisconsin             long and 40 feet wide, with a seating capacity of 200
Dells?                                                       persons (room enough for Randolph to double its
   If you have spent a Sunday at their services, you         size!). Bench type seats, with padding, will be used in
will have to agree, I'm sure, that a new church edifice      the auditorium. The ground floor plan includes a
is a much-needed improvement. For many years - I             large foyer, the auditorium, a storage and work room,
believe that it is since the days that the late Rev.         and a study for the pastor. The basement has a fur-
Henry Kuiper was their pastor - the congregation has         nace room, restrooms, a kitchen, a classroom, and a
been worshipping in the rather uninviting little             large fellowship room.
basement-building which is almost dwarfed, in the               The estimated cost of the building was nearly
accompanying picture, by the completed shell of the          $50,000. -The actual cost of the building is less than
new building. I will not go into detail as to the de-        the estimate, due to the fact that nearly all of the
fects and disadvantages of the old building; I would         work is being done by the men of the congregation. A
rather accentuate the positive. I am certain our             number of the men who are employed in the building
Randolph people will be happy to be out of the base-         trades have given freely both of their time and  taI-
ment in the near future; in fact, their new building,        ents, along with others who have willingly helped in
though it is very simple and serviceable, will represent     whatever way they could. The pastor writes that "a
sheer luxury for them. And let me add: our Protes-           spirit of good cooperation has prevailed, and the men
tant Reformed witness in Randolph, Wisconsin is              have enjoyed working together on the project."
deserving of such a better house of worship!                    While no definite date has been fixed for comple-
   The Rev. Bekkering informs that "on the 5th of            tion, it is expected that the new church will be fin-
June, 1973 the work on Randolph's new church                 ished some time in the spring of 1974.
building began. Since that time the work has prog-              Congratulations, Randolph! We look forward to
ressed very well, although there remains much work           the announcement of your dedication program next
to be done, especially  on the interior, before the new      spring, the Lord willing.


IN HIS FEAR

                                Thoughts On Labor . . .
                Retirement . . . Vacations . . . Leisure
                                                  Rev. D. H. Kuiper


  Today the emphasis is on witnessing. The search is         of God has the opportunity to reveal the power of
on for exotic ways by which the Christian can reveal         God's grace in his life. In our work we come into
his Christianity. The normal methods for doing this          contact with the greatest number of people, usually
are completely overlooked so that the danger is run          people with worldly outlook and practices. No matter
that the testimony of the regular life stands in             what the occupation, farmer, businessman, factory or
conflict with the special things a person sets out to        office worker, there you meet the world and there
do. It is well to stress that rather than demanding of       you meet church members of greatly differing
us extraordinary efforts and methods of witnessing,          persuasions. In these contacts the matter of practical
the Bible lays upon us the demand to be faithful             Christianity comes to a head. Why do you work?
witnesses of God as we do the things we are given'to         How do you perform  your+ labors? What is your
do. It is in the area of our. daily labors that the child    attitude towards your employer, your wages, your


112                                          THE STANDARD BEARER


work and leisure time? More and more industries are          That to be busily engaged is good for man may also
moving toward a four-day work week. Fringe benefits        be shown from the fact that in heaven we are going to
such as retirement and vacation are uppermost in the       be busy. And since there is no night there, we are
workers' minds. And you, what occupies your mind           going to work non-stop forever. Let us not entertain
as you go about your work . . . hour after long hour?      the thought that in heaven we shall lie about under
To what do you look forward? Surely not retirement!        shade trees, strumming on golden harps; or sit around
                                                           banquet tables, eating delicacies. According to our
WORK A GOOD THING                                          place and position in the host of the redeemed,
                                                           according to our capacities, according to the new
  We have been put on this earth to work, and work         names we shall receive, we will spend eternity
is a good thing. That might strike us as strange. To       working. It will not be toil in the sweat of our brows,
the young person hoeing in the garden swimming is a        it will not be work in the sense of our present labors.
good thing. To the father sweating in the factory,         For then all activity will be perfectly directed toward
sitting in the backyard with the sports page is far        God, His praise and adoration. The labor that the
better. The farmer would rather go to a sale than          Christian accomplishes on earth must somehow
clean out the barn. And the minister often times           anticipate that heavenly activity. Surely there are
would rather read a book than go about the difficult       certain features of earthly labor that will pass away:
work of searching out the Scriptures. Laziness             the Bible teaches that we must work if we are to eat,
belongs to our natures. Easily we delude ourselves         we must be gainfully employed so that we can
with the thought that having nothing to do is better       support the ministry of the gospel, mission work, the
than sweating honestly. The remark of the proud            seminary, Christian education. Besides, one reason for
soldier's mother comes back, "He doesn't have to do        working even if we don't need the income is that we
anything. He just sits at his desk all day and drinks      may have to give to him that needeth. But these
coffee." She thought that was good for her son. This       particular reasons will pass away with the present
strange way of looking at toil and labor derives from      heaven and earth.
the fall of man in Paradise. Briefly we ought to
remember that Adam was busy in the garden; he was            Nevertheless, there is a similarity and likeness
placed there to dress the garden and to keep it, and       between what we now do and what we shall perfectly
he had dominion over all the earthly creation. The         do in heaven, a similarity that lies in the direction of
fall, however, altered this matter of labor in two         the labor and the basic reason for performing it.
ways. First, due to the cursing of the ground for          "Whether ye eat, or whether ye drink, or whatsoever
man's sake, the matter of making a living became a         ye  do,  do all to the glory of God." That first of all.
difficult thing (see Gen. 3: 17-l 9). Secondly, man        When we work, get our pay, buy groceries and eat
came under the curse in such a way that he lost the        them with our children, we are to do so with the
image of God and received a depraved nature. The           acknowledgement that God is our Father, that He is
point is that with a darkened mind, an obdurate will,      faithful and good! And then we are to use the
and with impure affections man views labor as a            new-found strength in performing the labors He has
distasteful thing to be avoided. So lazy is he that he     given us in such a way that our very work shows the
must be sent to the ant to consider her ways.              power of His grace in our lives. It is in this way,
                                                           secondly, that we show that "we are God's
  Redemption in Christ makes the child of God a            workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good
willing servant and causes him to take a sanctified        works, which God hath before ordained that we
view of work and activity. In fact, since redemption       should walk in them." As the workmanship of God
touches not only the elect, but creation, time, and        we are to walk in good works. But where ought we to
every other creature, we may say that the whole area       be walking in those good works more than in our jobs
of activity and calling has been set free of the curse.    and occupations? No matter what we do each day, we
Therefore labor is a redeemed creature, a good thing.      labor here and now as citizens of the kingdom of
Perhaps we are not properly aware that the fourth          heaven so that how we work, our attitude while we
commandment teaches this very thing. It is true, the       work, what we do with our gain . . . all belong to our
emphasis of the fourth commandment is that we              calling. And to get back to the idea of witnessing.
remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy. But when         When a child of God so labors, he will be observed by
God says, "Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy        those round about him, and God will use this
work," He is also commanding us to work. The               testimony to bring others to Christ! (Lord's Day
implication is even present that if we are to observe      XxX11)
and fully enjoy the Sabbath, we must work six days.
The man who enters into the enjoyment of the rest          SEVERAL DANGERS
prepared for him by Christ, on Sunday is the-man             There are dangers that present themselves here
who has been faithful all the week long.                   which, if not successfully resisted, will completely


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                              113



vitiate the Christian's witness. In the sermon on the      kinds of money on ourselves, on vacations and
mount, Jesus places great emphasis upon the                recreational items, but how we pinch the penny when
necessity to seek. the kingdom of God and His              it comes to worthwhile causes; then we can make all
righteousness, and to seek it  first.  Take no thought     kinds of excuses why this or why that does not mea-
for such questions as what shall we eat or what shall       sure up to our standard of giving. And finally, when
we drink or wherewithal shall we be clothed? Those         we allow visions of retirement to dance in our heads,
things belong to pagan concern, but not to the             we deny to one and all that we are on a journey to
Christian's. If a child of God gets entangled with that    another and better country. How our talk can betray
sort of thing, he forgets about `his heavenly              us! So many years and I will retire. And I will retire
destination, he loses his sense of direction, and he       on so much per month and I will do this and this. Can
fails to give a pilgrim witness. "The world is too much    this sort of talk be distinguished from the babbling of
with us . . . getting and spending," said the poet         the rich fool, "Soul, thou hast much good laid up in
Wordsworth. How True! We do not live by bread              store for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and
alone. No man does, but we ought to know better.           be merry." This premature endpoint called retirement
The implications of Jesus' words, spoken when He           may not be the object of our lives.
was tempted by the Devil to change stones into
bread, are that if we are to live we must obey all the     A FEW SUGGESTIONS POSITIVELY
Father's words. There is no life in the way of
disobedience. His way must be followed if we are to           Be content! How the Scriptures celebrate the
experience the blessedness of life.                        spiritual grace of contentment! Natural man supposes
                                                           that gain is godliness. He imagines that he is well-off
   In close connection with this general danger of         and God-pleasing when he continues to gain and
losing sight of our heavenly destination by getting        increase. But such a man is a covetous man and thus
                                                           an idolater, for he serves not God but himself. His
involved with the pursuit of the things of this world
are several other pitfalls. There is the pressing          discontent is found in the fact that riches do not
problem of unionism. Much has been written on these        please but are deceitful. His bread is the bread of
`pages concerning labor unions; it will be sufficient      sorrows and he never finds satisfaction. But godliness
                                                           with contentment is great gain. Does that sound
here simply to point out the following. Membership         strange? Having food and raiment, let us therewith.be
in the labor union movement is out of bounds for the       content. Be content with your job, with your wages,
child of God because it is thoroughly materialistic        with your life circumstances; such a contentment
and avowedly earthly minded; it is membership which
demands of its members the assuming of a yoke              consistently displayed will result in a powerful
which for the Christian is an unequal yoke. And            witness! If you suffer patiently at the hands of an
membership involves each member in terrible                unjust employer, if you avoid petty bickering, if you
violations of the fifth commandment in that it             show you have interests other than wealth and
flagrantly flouts God-ordained authority. The second       pleasure and retirement, you will have an impact on
thing to be observed here is the whole matter of           those around you and they will ask you questions
leisure and free time. The work week is not six days       concerning the hope that is in you.
as it should be, but it is generally five and is going        Secondly, the laboring Christian always prays. As a
towards four. Vacations which used to be only for          youth already he makes a matter of prayer what he
the idle rich are now considered to be the right of        shall do in this life. God knows, of course, what each
every man, every year. And people either retire            one shall do. He has planned our lives with infinite
willingly, or are forced to retire, long before they       care. It remains for us to discover that perfect will,
cease to be productive, able workers. The result is        and the discovery comes about through prayer and
idle time,  and if we know ourselves a little bit that     the study of the Word. Covenant youth, pray about
ought to scare us! It has been said that the Devil's       these things, consider your abilities, consider the
workshop is idleness. When you are busy, one devil         needs of the church for laborers, discuss with your
tempts you; when you are idle, a hundred. Idleness is      parents what is worthwhile labor and what is not.
sin not only because being idle you are not doing          And be sure that the Lord will show you the way!
some positive good, but also because you can never         Then, too, pray as you labor. Pray for your daily
be truly idle. Paul tells Timothy, for example, that       bread, for contentment with your portion, for wise
"the idle wander from house to house, being tattlers       stewardship in respect to the use of the things God
and busybodies, speaking those things which they           has given, for deliverance from the love of money
ought not." But there is more. When people indulge         which is the root of all evil.
in -various forms of inactivity, not only do they harm       Finally, and this ought to be encouraging, labor in
themselves, but they rob the church of their resources     the knowledge that the hour is late and the return of
and earning power. We know how we can spend all            Jesus Christ for His Church is imminent. Do you do


114                                          THE STANDARD BEARER


well and suffer for it? Are you mistreated and do you       our eyes. Our weary pilgrimage shall have come to an
suffer wrongfully? With Christ, commit yourself to          end, and we shall have rest! And even as we have joy
Him which judgeth all things righteously. The time          and peace because we are righteous in Christ, we shall
approaches when all things hidden shall be revealed         be busy in God's house, serving Him and loving Him
and all things done in secret shall be made public.         with all our being. Is that your hope? Let it  be
Then labor and toil, hardship and trouble, pain and         revealed in your present labor.
injustice will all cease. God shall wipe all tears from


STUDIES IN ISAIAH



                Conseque.nces of Israel's Apostasy

                                        (Isaiah 1 : 5-9 >

                                       (Continued from November 1st issue)




  III.  Israel, Incorrigible, Nearly Destroyed in           the cities of Judah. As keepers of a field are they
Judgment. "Your country, a desert! your cities,             against her round about, because she hath been
burnings! a fire! your land  - in your presence (but        rebellious against Me, saith the Lord," (Jer. 4: 16, 17).
beyond your power), strangers devour it, yes, a
desert, as an overthrowing by strangers," (v. 7). This
was accomplished partly in the captivity and fully in         IV. Israel Comforted in the Hope of a Remnant.
the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. Jesus           "Unless Jehovah Tsebaoth left to us one escaped (a
prophesied of this in the words, "Your house is left        survivor; a minority of true believers in the midst of
unto you desolate" (Mt.  23:38). "And left is the           the unbelieving), almost we had become as Sodom
daughter of Zion as a hut in a vineyard, as.a hovel in a    (with only four human beings escaping), and become
field of cucumbers, as a city blockaded," (v. 8). There     like to Gomorrah (which was totally and justly
is such desolation that not a human being is to be          annihilated)," (v. 9). Here God is revealed under the
seen anywhere. It is as we have read in Josephus'           name  Jehovah Tsebaoth.  This is probably an
account of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.          abbreviation, since Jehovah is never in the construct
under the Roman military officer, Titus. The people         state. The Hebrew never has Jehovah of(anything).  It
lie hidden, completely out of sight; the attackers,         is probably an abbreviation of the longest form, "the
laying siege, do not venture into the no-man's-land         Lord (Adonai) Jehovah the God of (construct state)
around the city for fear of snipers and ambushments.        hosts," (Amos 3: 13). Tsebaoth simply means hosts,
This no-man's-land is denuded, like malpais,                but especially in reference to warfare. Jehovah is
bad-lands, lava beds, devastated, both by the besieged      Lord of warrior hosts, as when Goliath, who
themselves, executing burnt-earth policy to leave           represented "the host of the Phil&tines" was opposed
nothing the enemy can use, and by the enemy who             by David "in the name of Jehovah of hosts, the God
cut down all the trees around Jerusalem and suburbs         of the armies of Israel," (I Sam. 17:45, 46). Besides
to leave nothing for the citizenry to use. Jeremiah         the martial idea, it is also the name of the Lord in the
also foretold of the same desolation of Jerusalem.          manifestation of His omnipotence. Psalm 24 reveals
"Make mention of the nations; behold, publish               "the Lord mighty in battle" as "the Lord of hosts, He
against Jerusalem, that watchers (besiegers) come           is the King of Glory" (w. 8,  lo), the former clause
from a far country, and give out their voice  against       reaching climax and higher thought in the latter. The


                                               THE  STANDA RD BEARER                                                  115



name is never found in the Pentateuch, nor in                 age, the world deserves judgment and destruction,
Ezekiel, nor Daniel, nor directly in Joshua or Judges.        and in measure gets its just deserts, the church,
It occurs 12 times in the Psalms, 80 times in                 however small, is always preserved in the world. It
Jeremiah, 14 times in the two chapters of Haggai, and         shall not, in any time, utterly perish. According to
24 or 25 times in Malachi. Jehovah is above all hosts.        chapter 11, the tree of the nation will be cut down to
This includes, (a) the heavenly hosts (Gen. 2: 1; Neh.        nothing but a stump. In fact, only a seed shall remain
9:6;  Isa.  40:26).  "The true  ixplanation  of the name      (Rom.  9:29), out of which a shoot will grow to a
must be derived from the phrase, `the host of heaven,'        Branch. In God's eye, all things are ordained with a
tsebha' hashamayim, " (Oehler). Hence the name is             view to that Seed (Gal. 3:  16), that Branch  (Zech.
one of the most exalting names of God, just as                6:12), and the whole organism He represents. The
Adonai  signifies the highest exaltation of and also          chaff, which in quantity often seems greater than the
complete, absolute subjection to the Lord; (b) the            wheat, is ordained for the preservation of the wheat,
angelic hosts (Gen. 32: 1, 2; Isa. 6:1-5; I K. 22: 19; Ps.    the preferred and chosen. The Lord Jesus himself
103:20, 21; Lk. 2:13); (c)saints (Josh 5:15), and (d)         took comfort in the sovereign eternal purpose of God
sinners (Jud.  4:2; 2 Sam.  10:16; 2 K.  5:l). The            when He prayed, "I thank Thee, 0 Father, Lord of
sovereign Lord of hosts marshals all these hosts to           heaven and earth, that Thou hast hidden these things
fulfill His eternal purposes and to help His people in        from the wise and intellectual, and hast revealed them
need. (See Jud. 5:20; 1 S. 11:8-l 1; 2K. 6: 16-17; Isa.       unto babes; even so, Father, for so it seemed good in
10: 16;  14:24, 27; Acts  4:27-28). This is the               Thy sight." Then in the same vein He comforted His
distinctive name of God for Israel's help and comfort         disciples, "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's
in time of his division and failure. (See 1 K. 18: 15;        good pleasure to give you the kingdom."
19:14; Isa.  1:9;  8:11-14;  9:13-19;  10:24-27;31:4,  5;       There is always, even in the worst times, an elect
Hag.  2:4  - no wonder the church takes comfort in            remnant, preserved in mercy and kept from
the assurance that "the Lord of hosts is with us", Ps.        abominable iniquity, from destroying judgments, as
46:7, 11;  -  Mal.  3:16, 17; Jas.  5:4). Finally,            Noah and his family in the flood, as Lot in the
according to Isa. 37: 16, Lord of hosts means God of          destruction of Sodom. This was done 
the                                                                                                      "unto us," .or
        kosmos, Lord of the universe!                         for US, a clear reference to the elect church, as in 9:6,
  "Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us's very           "Unto us  a child is born,  unto us  a son is given,"
small remnant!" Here is predestination, with its two          and as in Romans 8, "the Spirit himself maketh
parts, election and reprobation. The Lord will utterly        intercession for us, " "if God be for us, who against
devastate the land and destroy the city, yet out of the       us?" God "delivered Him up for us all", i.e.,
general ruin of the whole nation a remnant shall be           according to the next verse, "God's elect." Christ
saved, (Ro. 9:27). As Jeremiah expressed it, "It is of        "also maketh intercession for  us." This truth is
the Lord's mercies that we (the elect) are not                expressed in the words "all things for the elect's
consumed," (Lam. 3 :22). So that, although in every           sakes," (2 Tim. 2: 10).





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THEDAYOFSHADOWS



                                          Safely Home

                                                           02
                                                Rev. John A. Heys




  On leaving home for any reason one always desires         that peak that today is called Mt. Ararat. It came to
a safe return. No matter how eager one is to go on a        rest in the region that is called "the mountains of
journey to some distant land, or to go and visit some       Ararat."
nearby beauty spot, or even to visit a relative or               But what a hazardous place for the ark to come to
friend, one always has deepest in one's soul the desire     as the waters began to recede! Why did it not come to
to return safely at home.                                   rest in the plain of Shinar? Should it have come to
  The minute the car drives off the yard, the               rest on the steep slope of a mountain, the whole ark
moment the bus leaves the curb, the train leaves the        could have slid to a crashing halt, killing many if not
depot, the ship leaves the dock, or the plane leaves        all of its occupants. Or it could have come to rest in
the terminal, one departs in the hope of a safe arrival     the midst of a thick woods, and granted that the trees
and of a safe journey home.                                 might have been dead - although God did preserve
  We need not doubt, therefore, that Noah and his           them as well, though they were under water for a
family, when they went into the ark, even though            long period of time - this could have tipped the ark
they had implicit trust in God, yea because they had        over and given it anything but a safe landing. Or,
such implicit trust in God, looked forward to a safe        drifting along, it could have come to a submerged
return to the dry land, which was their home, the           peak that would have destroyed it, as so many ships
minute they walked into the ark.                            have been destroyed by hidden icebergs.
  It was wonderful to be safe in that ark while all              But no, this cannot be. The God Who sent the
those around and outside of that ark were perishing         flood to save Noah and his family by the waters of
because of the flood. Yet this ark is not where they        that flood gently set it down in a clearing that was
belong forever. The hand of God that fed and kept           level, even though it was high in the mountains. It
them without sickness and disease `for a year and ten       "rested" on the mountains of Ararat. Is there not
days in the ark is the hand that created them to live       something reassuring in that little word? It did not
on dry land.                                                come to a jarring stop. It did not bang down on the
                                                            hard rock. It rested.
  And here again we come across such a simple
statement that is so full of meaning. It is that which           Its work was finished. That ark had safely brought
we read in Genesis  8:4, "And the ark rested in the         Noah and his family from the old world to this new
seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month,         world. And we foolishly try to find that ark today.
upon the mountains of Ararat." Think it through             Let us beware lest we try to worship the creature.
once. The ark came down in some mountainous                 And you may be sure that had the ark been found,
country. The whole region is called "the mountains          pieces of it would be worshipped and cherished today
of Ararat," and the ark did not necessarily rest on         as though they were holy and had some magical


                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER                                                        117


power in them. God in His wisdom kept that ark                        moved. In this they were also conscious of the hand
from the hands of men who would worship it instead                    of God's providence and grace.
of the God Who caused it to protect His Church and                       For not only did they, the day they entered the
to usher them into the new world. It is Christ, of                    ark, look forward to a safe journey in it and safe
Whom that ark was a picture and shadow, that we                       arrival in the new world, they also looked forward to
must worship.                                                         such an arrival in a new world. They knew that they
   He finished His work of justifying us before the                   would not spend the rest of their lives in the ark.
judgment seat of God, and then He rested. He is still                Hebrews  11:7 says that Noah being warned of God
working. our sanctification and glorification. But He                by faith prepared an ark to the saving of his house.
cried in triumph on the cross of having finished  the                By faith, then, he saw safety in the ark, in a time
work that blots out our guilt. And it is exactly on the              when by faith he saw a flood which was not as yet.
basis of this that now He is performing that work of                 But by faith he also looked forward to living on the
making us holy and of preparing glory for us and of                  dry land once more. About this he had no doubt.
preparing us for that glory. Worship Him as He now                   That whole ark full of land animals made no sense, if
rests at God's right hand, enjoying not only the                     they were not to return to their habitat.' The wood
finished work of having paid for our sins by His                     that surrounded those who were inside that ark, had
blood, but also of His own glorification as our Head.                grown on the dry land and had protected them from
Andlet the remains of that ark - if indeed they are in               water which would have taken away their life, were it
a condition after all these years that would clearly                 not for that ark that was constructed on the dry land
indicate them to be the remains of the ark  -  rest                  and out of the timber grown on the dry land.
quietly where they are. Let us look to the Christ and                   Noah therefore was aware of God's intent to bring
away from the types and shadows, which have served                   him back home to his natural habitat, and he likewise
their purpose, lest we fall into idolatry ourselves.                 knew, when the ark rested on the mountains of
  For Noah, however, it was not such a simple thing                  Ararat, that he must patiently wait until God had
that, when the ark rested, he and the animals came                   assuaged the waters to the point where there was
out and entered into their new home. There still was                 room and a place for him and the animals to live. And
a patient waiting period required. They undoubtedly                  to ascertain the moment he first sent out a raven and
were aware at once that the ark settled on that                      a dove. He had opened a window which God had
mountain and was no longer adrift. They were                         instructed him to put there while he was building the
consci&s of stability again and that the ark no longer               ark. The proportions of that ark are a bit of the





      Although, therefore, I thus affirm that God did ordain the Fall of Adam, I so assert it as by no means to concede
      that God was therein properly and really the author of that Fall. That I may not, however, dwell extensively on this
      great point now, I will only express it. as my view, belief and sentiment, that what Augustine so deeply teaches on
      this matter was fulfilled in God's ordaining the Fall of Adam: "In a wonderful and unutterable way that was hot
      done without the will of God (says he), which was even done contrary to His will; because it. could not have been
      done at all, if His will had not permitted it to be done. And yet He did not permit it unwillingly, but willingly. "
      The great and grand principle, therefore, on which Augustine argues cannot be denied: "That both man and apostate
      angels, as far as they were themselves concerned, did that which God willed not, or which was contiary to His Will;
      but that, as far as God's overruling omnipotence is concerned, they could n6t, in any manner, have done it without
      His will." To these sentiments of the holy man I subscribe with all my heart. I solemnly hold that man and apostate
      angels did, by their sin, that which was contrary to the will of God, to the end that God, by means of their evil
      will, might effect that which was according to His decreeing will. "

                                                                                -John Calvin
                                                                                The Eternal Predestination of God
                                                                                pg. 127


118       '                                    THE STANDARD BEARER



wisdom of God, and not of Noah. And the design of            .However, the arrival at their destination, their coming
the door which God closed upon Noah, and of this             to their new home did not take away an awful
window which Noah used to let forth the raven and            awareness that they were the only human beings in a
the dove were divinely determined and given to Noah.         new world which they had to explore without the
  Diverse these birds certainly were. Much is made           help of natives who knew the land.
today of the hawks and the doves, the former being              Contrast all this with that of which it all is a type,
figurative language of those who are war-minded,             and see how much more wonderful the reality is than
and the latter as a figure of those who are all out for      the shadow. In Christ we are all safe - and will be
peace, often at any cost. But here the idea is               safe when the judgment of fire comes upon this earth
specifically between the flesh-eating birds and the          - and will surely arrive in not a new world but a new
plant-eating birds. There is, of course, a difference in     creation. Though the body may be in the grave much
size and strength as well. But the two, wisely chosen        longer than a year and ten days, and even longer than
again by God and not by Noah, except as God put              a millenium and ten decades, it will ultimately enter
the idea in Noah's mind, serve to relate to Noah the         the new creation, as well as the soul, which enters
rapidity or slowness of the abating of the waters.           into the presence of God the moment of death. There
  The raven never returned. Being the carnivorous            may be a violent death. There may be visible the
bird that it was it found food in the form of the            death struggle that so often occurs as the body
carcasses that still floated upon the waters. And not        reluctantly gives up the soul. But that soul gently
being particular where it rested its feet, it found no       comes to rest in the glory of heaven. There will be no
need of going back to the ark. The dove found not            jarring entrance and landing. As the ark rested
only no food but also no place for her foot. She is          quietly upon the mountains of Ararat, the soul of the
quite particular where she sets her foot down and            child of God swiftly but gently floats to an
welcomed the comfort and food of the ark. And God,           immediate and delightfully comfortable place in the
Who had created this bird with its nature, used it now       glory of heaven. And we can only wonder at the
to keep Noah informed as to the condition of the             tremendous surprise and contrasting jubilation that
earth upon which he belonged. God moves in a                 shall in the twinkling of an eye be experienced by the
mysterious way His wonders to perform. Weakest               child of God who comes there, after a painful or
means fulfill His will, mighty enemies to still. And         violent death.
when God moved the dove, after being let go one                We will arrive in no world that manifests God's
week later, to pluck off an olive leaf and to bring it to    wrath and the curse, but into a realm that speaks of
Noah, He gave Noah the sign for which he had been            His love and radiates blessedness. Just read Revelation
looking. And he waited patiently `seven more days            21 and 22. For that land we are headed. There we
and then removed the covering of the ark and looked          will arrive as surely and as gently as Noah and his
and saw the dry ground.                                      family arrived in the new world.
   What mixed emotions he might have had are not               And you will not feel lonesome. Nor can you
recorded. Certainly there must have been a sense of          possibly be lonesome there. You will be received by
joy at seeing the dry land again after all those weeks       God's holy angels and be with Christ and with the
of confinement. But there certainly was also a sense         host of the other saints. Human words can never
of sadness and even of loneliness. How different the         express all the wonder of such an arrival and of such a
world looked! For, even though he embarked on                life. By faith we can see it darkly in the Scriptures as
his journey from a sin-cursed harbor, his ship had           through a glass. But the face-to-face enjoyment is
now come to the end of its journey in a land that            surely coming. And for every child of God there is a
clearly showed the effects of God's mighty wrath and         safe journey to that home. As the waters of the flood
its destructive powers. It may have been a                   saved Noah and his family from the world of enemies,
breathtaking view which Noah saw from out of the             the fire of the day of Christ will separate us forever
ark and before he abandoned ship, but it certainly           from the enemies of the church and bring us also to
was a different world. The land may have been richer         that phase of our salvation.
because of the upheaval of tons of rich sea-bottom             Let us change the prayer in the hymn to a
soil through the flood, when the fountains of the            confession of faith:
deep were opened up, but this was only a reminder of                 Jesus Saviour pilots me
the wrath of God that had sent that flood.                           Over life's tempestuous sea;
  And here they were, eight souls in a big world!                    Unknown waves before me roll,
They had had to live with each other in close con-                   Hiding rock and treach'rous shoal:
finement for a year and ten days. And that may                       Safer, though, I could not be -
have had its problems, for they all had their flesh.                 Jesus Saviour Pilots me.


                                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                   119


                                        News From Our Churches
    News which has, apparently,. appeared in all of our                         recall, stopped there briefly while enroute to Jamaica
 church bulletins is that the Mission Committee, in a                           last July. Subsequent to that visit, the Mission Com-
joint session with the Consistory of First Church,                              mittee decided to investigate further in that area. The
 "decided to suspend labors of Rev. Lubbers in                                  result has been that, beginning with Sunday, Septem-
 Jamaica in December until the 1974 Synod meets."                               ber 30, several of our ministers have spent consecu-
 The bulletins noted that "Rev. Lubbers feels that his                          tive three-week periods in Houston. The first of those
 work there is finished and therefore his presence is no                        visits was made by Rev. Engelsma, the second by Rev.
longer required." One bulletin gave the added infor-                            Kuiper, and the third by Rev. Kortering. That would
 mation that Rev. Lubbers plans to arrive in the states                         bring us through Sunday, November 25. Because, as
 on December 11. Another noted that the Mission                                 Southeast's bulletin pointed out, "the nature of this
Committee intends to "send two emissaries to the                                work demands that there be continuity," our efforts
island in the Spring to evaluate the field. . . . The                           in Texas will be carried'on further by Rev. Schipper,
emissaries will report their findings to the Commit-                            who has been requested by the Mission Committee to
tee and then they can come to Synod with a proposal                             spend the first three weeks of December there.
concerning future labors in Jamaica."                                              In other news, we find that Professor Hanko spent
    Rev. Moore, we understand, intended to preach                               the first week-end of November in Maine "upon the
two Thanksgiving Day sermons - the first in Doon at                             request of the congregation there." Rev. Engelsma
8:45,  and the second in Hull at  10:15. This sort of                           has declined the call extended to him by our church
sister-church cooperation came about on account of                              in Prospect Park, New Jersey. Rev. Lanting, inciden-
the absence of Hull's pastor, Rev. Kortering, who was                           tally, preached there on the last two Sundays of
busy in what appears to be the most promising of the                            October and the first of November. Rev. Van Baren
labors being conducted by our churches in various                               declined the call from South Holland.
parts of the country. We refer to that in Houston,                                                            *****
Texas. Reports are that as many as eighty individuals                              You might be interested in knowing that the recent
have attended the morning services. And, according                              Seminary Fund Drive has brought the total cash and
to a Hudsonville bulletin, "fourteen families have                              pledges, as of October 3 1, 1973, to  $122,222.98.
requested further labors there." According to another                           Outstanding pledges amount to approximately
account, "each one who has been there has given a                               $28,000. The October 31 total, by the way, suggests
very favorable report." Those who have been there                               an average per family contribution, throughout our
include, first of all, Rev. Lubbers who, you perhaps                                                                            (continued on back page)



                           ANNlVERSARt'                                                                  IN MEMORIAM
   On December 10, 1973, the Lord willing, our dear parents, MR.                   On Thursday, November 8, 1973, it pleased our Heavenly Father to
AND MRS. WILLIAM FEENSTRA, will celebrate their 25th wedding                    take to eternal glory our very dear husband, father, grandfather and
anniversary.                                                                    great-grandfather MR. PETER BYKERK at the age of 70 years.

   We are thankful to our Heavenly Father for keeping them in His                  "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints." (Psalm
loving care these many years.                                                   116:15).

   We pray that God will continually bestow His grace upon them in                                                                    Mrs. Peter Bykerk
their remaining years.                                                                                                             Mrs. Winnie Saurman
   Their grateful children:                                                                                                 Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Bykerk
                                                  Lawrence Alan Feenstra                                                       Mr. and Mrs. Arie Bykerk
                                               Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Baker                                                  Mr. And Mrs. Cornelius Bykerk
                                              Mr. and Mrs. David De Jong                                                          Miss Lubertha Bykerk
                                                       Steven Neal Feenstra                                                            15 grand children
                                                                                                                                   5 great-grandchildren

                          IN MEMORIAM
   The Men's Society of the First Protestant Reformed Church of
Grand Rapids, Michigan, mourns the loss of its faithful Bible leader and
President, PETER BYKERK, who passed  ,away Thursday afternoon,                                        Have you made use of
November 8.1973.

   His firm confession was - "I have fought a good fight, I have finished
my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a                      the "green sheet" in our last issue?
crown of righteousness. . .  ." II Timothy  4:7,8a.

                                                 Chas. Pastoor, Vice Pres.
                                                        Art  Bult, Secretary

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





     120
I
     own seminary building. That's really wonderful, it
     seems to me. Wonderful it is too, that quite a number                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER
     of contributions (some of them considerable) have                 S e m i - m o n t h l y ,   e x c e p t   m o n t h l y   d u r i n g   J u n e ,   J u l y ,   a n d   A u g u s t .
                                                                        Published by the Reformed Free Publishing Association,  l,nc.
     come from outside our denomination.                                    Second Class Postage Paid at Grand Rapids,  Mich.
                                                                 Editor-in-Chief: Prof. Homer C. Hoeksema
                                                                 Department Editors:  Prof. Robert D. Decker, Mr. Donald Doezema,
                                                                 R e v .   D a v i d   J .   E n g e l s m a .   R e v .   C o r n e l i u s   H a n k o .   P r o f .   H e r m a n   H a n k o ,
                             *****                               R e v .   R o b e r t   C .   H a r b a c h .   R e v .   J o h n   A .   Heys,   R e v .   J a y   K o r t e r i n g ,   R e v .
                                                                 D a l e   H .   K u i p e r ,   R e v .   G e o r g e   C .   L u b b e r s ,   R e v .   M a r i n u s   Schipper,  Rev.
                                                                 G i s e   J .   V a n   Baren,   R e v .   H e r m a n   V e l d m a n
                                                                 Editorial Office:  Prof. H. C. Hoeksema
       The past couple of  months has, as has become                                              1 8 4 2   P l y m o u t h   T e r r a c e ,   S . E .
                                                                                                  G r a n d   R a p i d s ,   M i c h i g a n   4 9 5 0 6
     somewhat customary at that time of year, seen a             Church News Editor:                           M r .   D o n a l d   D o e z e m a
                                                                                                               1 9 0 4   P l y m o u t h   T e r r a c e ,   S . E .
     goodly number of public lectures  ,sponsored  by our                                                      G r a n d   R a p i d s ,   M i c h i g a n   4 9 5 0 6
                                                                 Editorial Policy: 
     various churches. In South Holland, on October 15,                                              Every editor is solely responsible for the contents of
                                                                 h i s   o w n   a r t i c l e s .   C o n t r i b u t i o n s   o f   g e n e r a l   i n t e r e s t   f r o m   o u r   r e a d e r s
                                                                 a n d   q u e s t i o n s   f o r   t h e   Q u e s t i o n - B o x   D e p a r t m e n t   a r e   w e l c o m e .   C o n t r i -
     Rev. Kortering spoke on "Biblical -Evangelism." In          b u t i o n s   w i l l   b e   l i m i t e d   t o   a p p r o x i m a t e l y   3 0 0   w o r d s   a n d   m u s t   b e   n e a t l y
                                                                 written or typewritten, and must be signed. Copy deadlines are the first
     First Church, on October 25, Prof. Hanko lectured on        a n d   t h e   f i f t e e n t h   o f   t h e   m o n t h .   A l l   c o m m u n i c a t i o n s   r e l a t i v e   t o   t h e
                                                                 contents should be sent to the editorial office.
     "The Gospel and the Free Offer." On November 16             Reprint  PO/iCy:   Permission is hereby granted for the reprinting of arti-
     he delivered that lecture in Randolph. On that same         c l e s   i n   o u r   m a g a z i n e   b y   o t h e r   p u b l i c a t i o n s ,   p r o v i d e d :   a )   t h a t   s u c h   r e -
                                                                 printed articles are reproduced in full;  b)  that proper acknowledgement
     evening, Rev. Engelsma was speaking in the Loveland         Is made:  c) that a copy of the periodical in which such reprint appears
                                                                 is sent to our editorial office.
     Community building. The topic of his "Reformation           BUSheSS  office:  The Standard Bearer
                                                                                                  Mr. H. Vander Wal, Bus. Mgr.
     Day lecture" was, "The Reformation and Good                                                  P. 0. Box 6064
                                                                                                  G r a n d   R a p i d s .   Michiqan  49506
     Works." That program was sponsored by  the Love-            Business Agent for  Austral&ia:Mr.   Wm.  van  Rij
     land Church Extension Committee, which noted that                                                                      5 9   K e n t   L o d g e   A v e .
                                                                                                                            C h r i s t c h u r c h   4 ,   N e w   Z e a l a n d
     "the emphasis will be on the necessity and obligatio;l      Subscription Policy:  Subscription price, $7.00 per year ($5.00 for
                                                                 Australasia). Unless a definite request for discontinuance is received, it
     of the believer to do good works, something which is        iS assumed that the subscriber `wishes the subscription to continue with-
                                                                 out the formality of a renewal order, and he will be billed for renewal.
     not the replacement of grace but rather the fruits of       I f   y o u   h a v e   a   c h a n g e   o f   a d d r e s s .   p l e a s e   n o t i f y   t h e   B u s i n e s s   O f f i c e   a s
                                                                 early  a s   p o s s i b l e   i n   o r d e r   t o   a v o i d   t h e   i n c o n v e n i e n c e   o f   d e l a y e d   d e l i v -
     it. The lecture will be advertised in the Loveland,         ery. Include your Zip Code.
                                                                 4dvertising Policy:  The  Standard Bearer  does not accept commercial
     Longmont, Fort Collins, and Greeley newspapers, in          a d v e r t i s i n g   o f   a n y   k i n d .   A r i n o u n c e m e n t s   o f   c h u r c h   a n d   s c h o o l   e v e n t s ,
                                                                 snniversaries.  obituaries, and sympathy resolutions will be placed for a
     addition to announcements over KLOV." ~.                    8 3 . 0 0   f e e .   T h e s e   s h o u l d   b e   s e n t   t o   t h e   B u s i n e s s   O f f i c e   a n d   s h o u l d   b e
                                                                 sccompanie'd,   b y   t h e   $ 3 . 0 0   f e e .   D e a d l i n e   f o r   a n n o u n c e m e n t s   i s   t h e   1 s t
       The Reformed Witness Committee (of  Doon,                 3r  t h e   1 5 t h   o f   t h e   m o n t h ,   p r e v i o u s   t o   p u b l i c a t i o n   o n   t h e   1 5 t h   o r   t h e
                                                                 1st respectively.
     Edgerton, Hull) sponsored a series of lectures in Hol-      Sound  Volume:  The Business Office will accept standing orders for
                                                                 Dound   c o p i e s   o f   t h e   c u r r e n t   v o l u m e :   s u c h   o r d e r s   a r e   f i l l e d   a s   s o o n   a s
     land, Minnesota. On October 17, Rev. Lanting spoke          p o s s i b l e   a f t e r   c o m p l e t i o n   o f   a   v o l u m e .   A   l i m i t e d   n u m b e r   o f   p a s t   vol-
                                                                 lmes  may be obtained through the Business Office.
     on predestination. The antithesis was the subject of a
     speech by Rev. Moore on October 24. And, on                                                                     0              0              0
     October 3 1, Rev. Kortering lectured oil the Reforma-
     tion. The committee also planned to sponsor two lec-                                                             CONTENTS
     tures in the public school auditorium of Sioux                 A Call To Thanksgiving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .98
     Center. On November 12, Rev. Engelsma was to                   Infant Baptism Denied in the Gerefonneerde Kerken . .lOO
     deliver his address on. Key 73, and on Dec. 3 Rev.             About God's Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103
     Kortering will speak on "Biblical Evangelism."                About A Christian Philosophy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104
                                                                   Watergate And The Fifth Commandment . . . . . . . . . . .105
       Just a little further back is the series of lectures        Key73-AFailure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .106
     sponsored by the Reformed Witness Committee of                 Growth In Private Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .107
     Grand Rapids Hope Church. The lectures were held in            The Standard Bearer  in Retrospect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108
     the Coopersville High School auditorium qn the eve-           Building Project. - Protestant Reformed Church
     nings of September 20, October 4, and October 18.                   of Randolph, Wisconsb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .l 10
     For the first in the series, Rev. Van Overloop  spoke          Thoughts  on Labor . . . Retirement . . .
     on "The Organism of the Truth." The topics of his                    Vacations . . . Leisure ........................111
     second and third addresses were "The Relationship             Consequences of Israel's Apostasy (Isa. 1:5-g):.                                                                           .f :;t
     Bet  ween the Truth and Life," and "The True                  Safely Home (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..? ............... .
     Church."                                                      News From ijur Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .119
                                                       D.D. L


