     The
     TANDARD
     BEARER
l    A  REFORtiED  SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE





           But the man of principle is, first of all, he whose
        heart has beenliberated from the law of sin and death
        by the law of the Spirit of life, freed from the domin-
        ion of the `devil and subjected to God in Christ Jesus
        our Lord. It is he, to be more specific, in whose heart
        God engraved by the power of  His grace the eternal
        principles of  His Word and law, so that they have
        become vital forces within him, motivating him in all
        his life and walk. It is he, moreover, who also has a
        clear and full understanding of the Word of God, as
        revealed to us in the Scriptures. It is he that has "dis-
        cernment ," true wisdom from above, to be able to
        apply these principles of the Word of God to every
        walk and department of life. And it is he, finally, who
       thus knowing God's eternal verities and carrying them
       in his heart and having thus determined upon a cer-
       tain course of action, will never be swayed or influ-
       enced by conditions, by circumstances, by promises
       or threats on the part of the world, but will adhere to
       the course determined by principle, regardless of possi-
       ble or actual results! (See page 157)





                                            Vol. L / Number 7 / January I,1974


146                                          THE STANDARD BEARER


MEDITATION


                             Seeking The Abiding City

                                                 Rev. M. Schipper


                            "For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come. "
                                                                                   Hebrews 13 : 14.


  As a ground or reason for what the sacred writer             Who are we to say what that is? We can only
had written in the immediately preceding context, do        stammer!
the words of our text appear.                                  Surely not like the earthly Jerusalem is the city of
  We are told in the preceding verse, "Let us go forth      God! Beautiful and attractive as that city was for the
therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his            saint of the old dispensation, especially the temple
reproach." And if you question as to whom the               hill, the place where God symbolically dwelt in the
writer refers as being without the camp, then we are        midst of His people  - it was all so imperfect, because
told in verse 12, "Wherefore Jesus also that he might       it was only typical and earthly. To be sure it spake of
sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered            better things to come, but it was soon to pass away
without the gate." The meaning is, that Christ, in          and did, with all its sacred memories and service. Not
order to save His people, was cast out of the city of       so the glorious, heavenly Sion of God!
Jerusalem as refuse. He was forced to suffer without           This heavenly city is most glorious! God is the
the gate; by which suffering also He sanctified, saved      chief joy of it. His presence fills the city and the
His people. Now the inspired writer exhorts those           temple. His blessed, perfect covenant is the very
who are of Christ and saved by Him to identify              essence of all its joy and bliss. Its gates are set with
themselves by going out to Him, and becoming                pearls and precious stones, and its streets are paved
associated with His suffering.                              with pure gold. It is built four-square, the perfect
  And the reason why this should be done is stated          cube. It has no need for the light of the sun, for the
in the text: "We have here no abiding city, but we          glory of God and the Lamb enlighten it. It is the
seek the coming one!                                        antetype of all that which is earthly and passed away,
                                                            the realization of God's eternal plan of heavenly
  As we stand at the threshold of another year, it is       perfection. The gates thereof are never shut, and in it
fitting that we be reminded of this.                        there is no night. Into this city shall nothing enter
  Though we enter a new era of time, nothing else           that defileth or maketh a he. Yea, it  will be a new
has really changed. We are still in the same old world,     heaven and a new earth wherein righteousness shall
in which the wise man of God has said: "There is            dwell.
nothing new under the sun." It is the same old world           The home of the perfected saints! And the saints
which cast out the Christ, and which will force those       are the Lamb's bride, the elect church of God. Loved
who are called by His Name to bear His reproach.            by Him eternally, and chosen by Him from before the
  How fitting therefore to confess what we believe!         foundation of the world. Predestinated they are to be
                                                            conformed to image of God's Son. He is their Head
  Let the Christian pilgrim say:                            and Redeemer. With Him they form one elect body.
  Here have we no continuing city!                             Their Lord suffered for them without the camp
  But we seek one to come!                                  and sanctified them by His blood. Their robes are
  It is, indeed, an heavenly object which the               cleansed of all their guilty stains. They are pure and
Christian pilgrim seeks!                                    white, and crowns of victory are on their heads. Their
                                                            battle is ended. No enemy shall attack them or hurt
  God's city!                                               t h e m   a n y m o r e .   A l l   u n b e l i e v e r s ,   m u r d e r e r s ,
  The heavenly Jerusalem!                                   whoremongers, adulterers, dogs, shall be excluded


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 147


from that city. And God is not ashamed to be called         and removed from place to place. He has no
their God, and He purposes to dwell with them in His        aspiration to build a city in this world, for he tarries
eternal tabernacle.                                         but for a night. He is traveling, always traveling
   An abiding city!                                         toward the city which has foundations.
   That we have here no continuing city, but  we.seek          0, to be sure, many are the temptations that
the coming one, must mean that the one we seek is in         attract him. Many are the signs along the way that
contrast eternal. And the contrast is very sharp.            call out to him to stop and to abide here. The
Nothing in this present world is permanent. The              chambers of commerce have learned how to approach
world and its institutions crumble and fall. Kingdoms       the weary pilgrim with many attractive appeals. They
come, and kingdoms go. Nations rise to the apex of           call their cities by such names as "brotherly love" and
power, but soon melt away before the destructive             "city of warm friends." With ensnaring beauty they
power of another that is greater. Cities rise up over        earnestly attempt to create in the mind of the pilgrim
night, and disappear like the morning dew. And man          the desire for the things of the world. And always
that dwells in them is as destructible as the world and     there is in the old nature of the pilgrim the urge to
its things. He is like the grass which today is, and        listen to these appeals. Like the Pilgrim of Bunyan's
tomorrow is cast into the oven. He is like the flower       Progress, they go through a literal Vanity Fair.
of the field which today blooms, and tomorrow is cut        Indeed, the way of the pilgrim is most difficult. It
down. He passes away and his place knows him no             takes him up rugged heights, and through valleys of
more. Man and the world with its things in which he         suffering, persecution, despair, and even death. It is a
dwells constitute the pageantry of life. They all come      way frought with fears, sloughs and quagmires of sin
up on the stage, do their act, and then disappear           and despondency. Therefore he is often tempted to
behind the veil of death.                                   follow the arrows that point him to a life of ease and
                                                            carnal satisfaction.
  0 how foolish is our depraved nature that entices
us to dig deeply and attempt to build a lasting place          But at heart he is a pilgrim! He is a stranger here as
in this world! How easy it is especially in times of        all his fathers were. He is born from above, and the
affluence to assume the position of the fool who had        life of the heavenly city courses through his spiritual
prospered materially and who said: Soul, thou hast          veins. It is the life of regeneration, the life of the
laid up much goods, take thine ease and be merry!           resurrected Lord. Verily, he has become through
Not realizing that at the end of the day he said this,      grace a citizen of the kingdom of heaven! And so he
his very soul was required of him. Or to take the           longs and hopes, yearns and presses forward, till he
position of  Nebuchednezzar who gloated over his            enters the city he seeks.
amassed greatness, and said: Is this not great Babylon         The pilgrim knows the way!
which I have built? And lo, that very night the city
was sacked and completely destroyed! Even                      His way always begins outside the gate!
Jerusalem, that mighty citadel of David, was left with         It is the way his Saviour showed him! It is the way
not one stone standing upon another.                        His Saviour walked before him.
  Not  so the eternal, heavenly and abiding city! It           Via Dolorosa! The way of sorrows! It leads to the
shall never pass away. It has not destructive forces in     hill of the skull upon which was planted the accursed
it, nor is there any enemy that is able to bring it to      tree, on which cross He shed His life's blood for the
destruction. The city of God shall stand for aye!           pilgrim. There He was despised and rejected of men,
  God's city has foundations! And that means by             and accounted as a thing abominable and a reproach.
implication that no other city has foundations.             In the fountain of blood which He made, the pilgrim
Foundations are peculiar only to the city of God. It        may be washed from all his guilty stains, and from all
only stands securely. Its foundations were laid             unrighteousness; and come away with the clean white
already in  His eternal counsel and plan, and that is as    garments of righteousness, the righteousness of His
sure as God is Himself. And in that same counsel He         Redeemer, the passport into the city which has
of His good pleasure purposed that in this city of          foundations.
immoveable foundations the redeemed of all ages                0, indeed, the pilgrim knows the way! For the
should dwell.                                               light of the heavenly `city has flooded his heart
  An abiding city!                                          through the regenerating grace of Christ. It is the light
                                                            of the Spirit of grace which the Lord first received
  For pilgrim seekers!                                      when He entered the city, and which He in turn pours
  And a pilgrim has no abiding place here below. He         out in the heart of the pilgrim. Moreover, that light
lives in a tent, a temporary abode. It rests only on the    He also sheds in His Word, which serves the pilgrim as a
surface of the earth, is collapsible, easily taken down     `lamp to his feet and a light upon his pathway.


148                                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



   But be not mistaken! That way of the pilgrim does                         no continuing city, but we seek the one to come.
not lead him out of the present world. Nowhere is the                            Confident confession!
pilgrim instructed to flee to some lonely island, or
into isolation in some desert place. The Lord of the                             The one who takes this confession on his lips
pilgrims prayed: "Father, I pray not that thou                               implies plainly that he has no place in the whole
shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou                          world which he will call his own. He explains in no
shouldest keep them from evil." This will of Christ                          uncertain terms that he is an alien in a foreign land, a
t h e y   f i r m l y   unders.tand.  B u t   t h i s   t h e y   a l s o    stranger with no "inalienable rights." This confession
understand, that though they are in the world, they                          does not imply that the stranger may own nothing,
are not spiritually of it. Unmistakeably the way leads                       but when he possesses, he lives as though he possessed
through the world, where he will have to bear the                            nothing. He is not tied to anything that he cannot
reproach of Christ. The pilgrim-servant knows that he                        leave behind at a moment's notice.
is not greater than his Lord. As they hated Him, so he
will be hated. It is a certain way, but also one which                           This is a confession of faith! And they that say
is very precious. So precious it is that he seeks out his                    such things declare plainly that they seek a better
fellow pilgrims, and talks with them of the object of                        country.
their hope. And together they express: We have here                              And they shall never be brought to shame!



EDITORIALS

                     The OPC and the "Free Offer" (5)

                                                   CONTRARY TO THE SCRIPTURES


                                                             Prof H. C. Hoeksema


   As we have already noted, the Murray-Stonehouse                           Reformed churches the creeds are decisive; they are
pamphlet,  The Free Offer  of  the Gospel,  makes                            the criterion according to which any view is to be
absolutely no appeal to the Reformed confessions for                         judged. They. are the standard of what is orthodox
support. This in itself is a bad sign. There are indeed                      and what is not orthodox. For this reason, too, it is
extra-confessional matters, that is, matters to which                        of the utmost importance that Reformed people
the confessions do not address themselves. And on                            thoroughly know and understand their confessions;
such matters it is to be expected that appeal is made                        and therefore it is of the utmost importance that they
directly to Scripture. This is surely permissible,                           be instructed in and according to the confessions
provided that whatever view is developed directly on                         from their youth up. No communion of churches can
the basis of Scripture does not conflict with the                            l o n g   r e m a i n   s t r o n g   a n d   f a i t h f u l   w h e r e   s u c h
confessions even by implication. However, the matter                         instruction is neglected. Let us never forget this!
of salvation, God's will with respect to the heirs of
salvation, the way of salvation, the gospel, the                                 This criticism is all the more appropriate with
proclamation of the gospel  - all these are by no                            respect to the Murray-Stonehouse pamphlet when we
stretch of the imagination such extra-confessional                           bear in mind that it was originally the report of a
matters. The confessions, both of Presbyterian and of                        committee appointed by the General Assembly of the
Reformed origin, speak plainly on these subjects. And                        Orthodox Presbyterian Church, and that therefore
for this reason, it is a bad sign, a negative                                the General Assembly also was guilty of a breach of
r e c o m m e n d a t i o n , when the Murray-Stonehouse                     Reformed methodology in by-passing the confessions.
pamphlet simply by-passes the confessions without so                         This should never be allowed! In Reformed churches
much as mentioning them. This is not Reformed                                a man is guilty of heresy'when he is convicted on the
methodology. And this may well be stressed in a day                          basis of the  confessions;  there is no need to proceed
when the creeds are largely ignored and -belittled. For                      any further. Why? Because all agree to abide by the


                                                                      THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                     149



teaching of the confessions  as the doctrine set forth                                        The first is that both of these pamphlets proceed
by the Scriptures;  and all agree not to militate against                                  from the theory of "common grace" in their
the teaching of the confessions. Hence, it is not                                          argumentation in favor of the "free offer." This is
necessary to judge a doctrine except on the basis of                                       very strange. For so-called "common grace" has
the confessions. It is not necessary to prove over and                                     always been differentiated from "saving grace." But
over again that the doctrine of the confessions is that                                    the "free offer" is supposed to be concerned with a
of Scripture  - unless objections to the confessions                                       will of God unto  salvation.  The theory of "common
themselves should arise by way of filing a  gravamen,  a                                   grace" posits an attitude of favor and blessing on the
charge of error, against them. And it is wrong to                                          part of God toward all men in the things of this
by-pass the confessions either to support or to                                            present time  - for example, in rain and sunshine,
contradict some view that is contrary to them.                                             health and happiness, etc. "Common grace" allegedly
    On this basis it would be perfectly legitimate to                                      has nothing to do with eternity. According to it, a
end our discussion of the Murray-Stonehouse                                                man may very well be the recipient of temporal
pamphlet right now. We have abundantly proved it to                                        favors of God all his lifetime, but be damned in hell
be contrary to the confessions. And if I were involved                                     forever. In fact, it is exactly characteristic of the
in an ecclesiastical process of protest and appeal                                         -theory of "common grace" that it separates between
against the views set forth in this pamphlet, I would                                      time and eternity. Yet, as we said, the "free offer"
insist that the only proper standard of judgment is                                        has to do with salvation and with an alleged will of
the confessions.                                                                           God that the reprobate, as well as the elect, should be
                                                                                           saved.
    However, w e   a r e   n o t   e n g a g e d   i n   s u c h   a n
ecclesiastical process. And besides, the fact that this                                       This we find to be rather striking, we say. And the
pamphlet attempts to appeal to Scripture necessitates                                      question arises immediately: what is the connection?
a review of the Scripture passages treated, in order to                                    "Common grace" is supposed to be by definition a
show that even this attempted appeal to Scripture is                                       non-saving  grace. But the "free offer" by definition
an utter failure. There is not an iota of proof to be                                      maintains a "desire on the part of God for the
found in Scripture for the "free offer" theology.                                          salvation of all," (Murray-Stonehouse,  p. 4). Erroll
                                                                                           Hulse states bluntly: "The subject of common grace
    This also holds true for the recent booklet by                                         is inescapably connected with the free offer. It is not
Erroll Hulse,  The Free Offer,. An exposition o f                                          possible to deal adequately with the question of the
common grace and the free invitation of the Gospel.                                        offer without getting to grips with the subject of
Pastor Hulse is an English Baptist minister. It was                                        common grace." (pp. 4, 5) And when he faces the
rather surprising to find that he at least makes                                           question of the connection between "common grace"
reference to the Westminster Confession (VII, 3) and                                       and the "free offer," he writes, p. 7: "We have noted
to the Canons of Dordrecht (II, 5). Both references                                        that the goodness of God extends to fallen mankind
are faulty. That from the Westminster is only partial                                      as a whole, not only in the provision of fruitful
and taken out of context. That from the Canons does                                        seasons, food and gladness, but in a multiplicity of
not so much as mention the word "offer," but speaks                                        benefits. But does God wish the very highest good for
of the "promise of the gospel" and the fact that this                                      men, the highest blessing being eternal salvation? We
promise "ought promiscuously, and without                                                  say, Yes! The quotation just made from Acts 17
distinction, to be declared and published to all men."                                     shows that common grace finds its fullest expression
Even this article is not correctly quoted; significantly                                   in the provision of a Gospel to be addressed to all
Mr. Hulse omits the limitation, "to whom God out of                                        without exception." But when he writes thus, he is
His good pleasure sends the gospel," - a clause which                                      departing from the definition of common grace as
already contradicts the offer-theory by implication.                                       "non-saving." He is confusing so-called "common
But Pastor Hulse at least refers to the confessions,                                       g r a c e " a n d   s o - c a l l e d "s a v i n g   g r a c e . " T h e
though he does not use them for support of his view.                                       Murray-Stonehouse pamphlet actually does the same
When it comes to the latter, he also appeals to                                            thing, but not quite so bluntly. In writing about
S c r i p t u r e   d i r e c t l y ,   t h o u g h ,   a s   w e   s h a l l   s e e ,    Matt.  5:44-48, Murray and Stonehouse say: "This
erroneously.                                                                               passage does not indeed deal with the overtures of
    Hence, in this section of our critique we will                                         grace in the gospel. But it does tell us something
consider  `the Scriptural evidence adduced by those                                        regarding God's benevolence that has bearing upon  all
who hold to the "free offer" view.                                                         manifestations of divine grace." (italics added)
    There are two rather striking facts about the                                             Those of our readers who are acquainted with the
S c r i p t u r a l   p r o o f s   a t t e m p t e d   b o t h   b y   t h e              First Point of 1924 will recall that the doctrine of the
Murray-Stonehouse pamphlet and by the Hulse                                                well-meant offer was almost accidentally adopted as a
pamphlet.                                                                                  p r o o f   f o r   t h e   t h e o r y   o f   "common grace" ( a


  150                                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER



  supposedly temporal and non-saving grace toward the                                           T h e   s e c o n d   s t r i k i n g   f a c t   a b o u t   b o t h   t h e
  reprobate.) The Synod of  1924~in  its desperation to                                     Murray-Stonehouse pamphlet and the Hulse pamphlet
  find proof for "common (non-saving) grace" appealed                                       is that they cite many of the very same passages of
  to the theory of the general, well-meant offer of                                         Scripture which were cited in 1924 for the theory of
  salvation, and then tried to adduce Scriptural and                                        "common grace." I cannot escape the impression, in
  confessional proof for the latter theory.                                                 fact, that Pastor  Hulse failed to do much homework
      We may well face the question: is there, indeed, a                                    when it came to the exegesis of these passages, but
  connection between the two, in spite of the fact that                                     rather slavishly followed Murray and Stonehouse.
 the theory of "common grace" has historically tried                                        Nevertheless, the passages of Scripture are very
 to distinguish "common grace" as having nothing to                                         familiar to us of the Protestant Reformed Churches;
 do with salvation?                                                                         and we have long ago learned that they lend no
                                                                                            support, in the light of the current teaching of
      Our answer is: Yes! And our reasons are as follows:                                   Scripture, to a theory of "common grace."
     1. We have just cited three instances of those who,                                        Next time, D.V., we shall begin to take a look at
 whether intentionally or somewhat by accident and                                          these passages.
 through ignorance, maintain such a connection.                                                                                *****
     2. In the "Dekker Case" in the Christian Reformed                                          We have earlier referred to an excellent treatise on
 Church during the 1960's this same connection was                                          the subject of the "free offer'.' published by the
 claimed; and there were those who wanted to                                                Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Australia. This
 eliminate any distinction between two different                                            brochure is entitled  Universalism  And The Reformed
 graces.                                                                                    Churches.  It refers to the offer-theology as "modern
     3. The theory of a non-saving grace of God is                                          modified Calvinism." This brochure has many fine
 actually an impossible theory. Logically it is                                             arguments; and we agree with its main thrust of
 impossible to entertain. How can God be favorably                                          opposition to the offer-theory. However, we  find
 inclined toward a man, and at the same time be filled                                      inconsistent  - and ultimately impossible to maintain
 with hatred against him, so that He damns that man                                         - its insistence upon common grace in the following
 forever? Or: what kind of grace is it which lets a man                                     paragraph on page 8: "Lest we be misunderstood
 go lost? Because of this inherent contradiction, no                                        when we deny the universality of the love of God, let
 one can long entertain the theory of a common grace                                        i t   b e   c l e a r l y   u n d e r s t o o d ,   t h a t   w e   a r e   n o t
 of God before he comes to the conclusion that God                                          controverting the fact that God is good to all, for `He
 also wills and desires the salvation of the reprobate.                                     maketh His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and
 T o   b e   s u r e ,   h e   t h e n   s t i l l   f a c e s   t h e   i n h e r e n t    sendeth rain on the just and unjust.' (Matt.  5:45).
 contradiction between this desire to save the                                              Rather, we are concerned with refuting the doctrine
 reprobate and the decree of eternal reprobation. But'                                      which teaches that God's goodness in sending
 that  .diffictilty  is solved, of course, by ignoring or                                   temporal blessings upon all, is indicative of His love
 denying the latter. What is left, then, is rank                                            a n d   l o n g s u f f e r i n g   i n   r e d e m p t i o n   t o w a r d   t h e
 umversalism.                                                                               non-elect, and a desire in Him that they might be
    4. From another point of view, the theory of                                            saved. We maintain that the gospel is given for the
"common grace" and the theory of the "free offer"                                           purpose of separating the elect from the reprobate,
                                                                                            and in the providence of God, in the case of the latter
 are both intrinsically universalistic. They differ as
 respects their ends, their results, their manifestations.                                  who hear it, for their greater condemnation."
 But they have a common origin: a universal favor of                                           To the brethren of the Evangelical Presbyterian
 G o d .   T h i s   i s   e v i d e n t l y   t h e   a p p r o a c h   o f   t h e        Church of Australia we suggest:
 Murray-Stonehouse pamphlet, which nevertheless                                                 1. That apart from this question of the "offer,"
 does not explicitly point to a connection between                                          they should give confessional and Biblical account of
 "common grace" and the "free offer."                                                       this whole idea of temporal blessings  - the traditional
    True, Dr. Abraham Kuyper wanted to distinguish                                          " c o m m o n   g r a c e " theory. We believe they will
 "common grace" sharply as having nothing to do                                             discover it to be incorrect.
 with salvation; and when it came to the matter of                                             2. That they should consider the fact that the
 salvation, he insisted upon sovereign, particular grace.                                   theory of "common grace" itself  - apart from the
 But it seems apparent that ultimately such an                                              offer-theory  - has implications for life which are not
 a t t e m p t e d   d i s t i n c t i o n   i s   d o o m e d   t o   f a i l u r e .      acceptable. This is evident from the devastating
 "Common grace" and the Arminianism of the "free                                            results of the theory both in the Netherlands and in
 offer" have their common ancestor `in a universal                                          the U.S. The theory of "common grace" necessarily
 favor of God which includes the reprobate.                                                 involves one in a denial  .of the antithesis and of the


                                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER                                                     151


antithetical calling of the Christian.                                                   they combat. I am afraid that if they concede
                                                                                         "common grace," they will be helpless to combat the
    3. That they should also consider the close                                          o f f e r - t h e o r y .   '
h i s t o r i c a l   a n d   d o c t r i n a l   c o n n e c t i o n   b e t w e e n       We invite further discussion of this from the
"common grace" and the very offer-theory which                                           Evangelical Presbyterian brethren.


                                                              Editor's Notes

    SEMINARY DEDICATION. February 1 has been                                                GREMLINS? We haven't determined just who was
set as the date for the Dedication Program for the new                                   at work in the December 1 issue. But somehow the
building of our Protestant Reformed Seminary. Plans                                      names were scrambled, and the Rev. M. Schipper was
are to have the program in First Protestant Reformed                                     credited with the News Feature about our Randolph,
Church of Grand Rapids, and to have open house at                                        Wisconsin church building. He was probably more
the new building, 4949  Ivanrest Avenue, S.W., on the                                    surprised than I was; nevertheless, credit where credit
afternoons of February 1 and 2. We are giving this                                       is due  - in this case, to your editor, not to Rev.
advance notice so that you may reserve the date. And                                     Schipper.
by "you" we do not mean only our Grand Rapids                                                                             o**
readers. We would like to see delegations of visitors
from near and far. This is a once-in-a-lifetime                                             QUESTION BOX had to be omitted in this issue,
occasion, a momentous occasion in our almost 50                                          due to lack of space. We hope to catch up in the next
years of Protestant Reformed history. If at all                                          issue on the two questions presently waiting for an
possible, make the trip, and share the joyful occasion.                                  answer.


                                             Muddled Theologizing  l

   I   f i n d   i t   e x t r e m e l y   d i f f i c u l t   t o   t a k e   t h e     Prof. W. Heyns than to any other. Daane does this
theologizing of Dr. James Daane seriously.                                               again in  The Banner  of December 7, 1973, pp. 6, 7.
   The doctor has been preoccupied of late with the                                      And he devotes about three-fourths of his article to a
claim that Report  36/44  and the Christian Reformed                                     diatribe against Hoeksema's theology, as usual also
decision on the Nature and Extent of the Authority                                       getting in a few licks against Dr. Cornelius Van Til,
of Scripture support his particular brand of theology,                                   and even to an extent putting poor Louis Berkhof
especially his outlandish claim that God revealed                                        theologically in bed with Hoeksema.
Himself "to save men, not to damn them, and that                                            I will not weary the reader with a detailed account
God being this kind of God, revealed himself in a                                        of Daane's latest outburst. There is nothing new in it.
saving revelation." This is, of course, a brand of
universalism. And in order to rescue his view from the                                      My purpose is to explain why I find it difficult to
simple fact that not all men are saved, but that some                                    take the doctor's theologizing seriously.
who come into contact with God's revelation through                                         In the first place, I find this difficult because
Scripture go lost, Daane comes up with the old                                           Daane simply pontificates, without ever proving his
Arminian heresy of conditional reprobation. The                                          contentions. In a way Dr. Daane is a rather able
strange thing is that whenever Dr.  .Daane gets on this                                  writer. He knows how to use words and how to turn a
"kick," he engages in a tirade against the theology of                                   phrase and make a point. He also knows the
Herman Hoeksema. I call this strange because, though                                     technique of drumming his theology into people by
Daane is writing about the thinking of Christian                                         means of repetition. But he never proves what he
Reformed ministers, Herman Hoeksema developed                                            says, never backs up with chapter-and-verse his
almost all of his theology outside of the Christian                                      criticisms of the views of others, and seldom makes
Reformed Church and because his theology was                                             even a semblance of doing so. It is my contention
officially repudiated in 1924 and was contrary to the                                    that sound theologizing and a good theologian expect
prevailing theology in the Christian Reformed                                            no one to accept theology on the mere say-so of the
Church, the theology probably to be credited more to                                     theologian. But this is apparently Daane's method of


I
     152                                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER



     theologizing. And I, for one, cannot accept this, nor                                    infralapsarianism. Perhaps he may fool the unwary
     take it seriously.                                                                       with such a distortion; but he will never fool anyone
         In the second place, I cannot take it seriously                                      who knows the Canons and their history.
     because Daane distorts; and, in view of the fact that                                      In the third place, Daane weasels with words. He
     these distortions have several times over the years                                      does this with the terms "unconditional" and
     been called to his attention, I am afraid that he                                        "conditional" and with the terms "responsive" and
     distorts  deliberately.  Personally, I think he even                                     ` `no n-responsive"  - as though "conditional" in
     distorts Report  36/44  and uses it to ride his own                                      Reformed theological parlance has ever meant the
     theological hobby-horse. Understand, I have no love                                      same as "responsive" or as though "unconditional"
     for Report  36/44. I think it is a poor piece of work                                    ever meant that God does not respond in His grace
     and that it sets forth some bad theology. But I am                                       and mercy and is not moved to compassion toward
     inclined to doubt whether that Report at least                                           His people in their misery. But how, pray, can one
     intended to use the term "saving" as the opposite of                                     take Daane's theologizing seriously if he pours a
     damning. However that may be, when it comes to the                                       content into theological terms which they simply do
     theology of Herman Hoeksema, Daane almost                                                not have?
     invariably distorts and misrepresents. Frequently
     there is a  grain  of truth in Daane's description of                                      And, finally, I cannot take Daane's theologizing
     Hoeksema's theology; but that grain of truth is so                                       seriously because he insists on having the tail wag the
     swaddled in distortions of Daane's own manufacture                                       dog. How tired that poor tail, the Conclusion of the
     that anyone who is acquainted with Hoeksema's                                            Canons, must be getting  - trying to wag the entire
     theology would not recognize it after it has been                                        body of the Canons! Yes, the doctor is still trying to
     through Daane's theological mill. This is the case, for                                  twist the Canons by means of his and Berkouwer's
     example, with Daane's presentation of Hoeksema's                                         distorted idea of the  non eodem modo,  the teaching
     view of God's love and grace and mercy in the article                                    that God does not elect and reprobate "in the same
     I referred to. It is also the case with Daane's                                          manner" of the Canons' Conclusion.
     presentation of Hoeksema in Daane's most recent                                            As stated before, I intend to review Daane's most
     book,  The Freedom  of  God,  which I expect to                                          recent book; and I also expect to expose some of the
     review. Moreover, the distortions are evil: they always                                  distortions which appear in it. I do so, however, only
     tend to make the God of Hoeksema's theology appear                                       in the hope of instructing some of his readers, not in
     as a cold and tyrannical ogre  - just as the Arminians                                   the hope of bringing Daane to see the light with
     tried to do with the God of our Reformed fathers at                                      regard to his theologizing. He seems to pay no
     the time of the Synod of Dordt. And, as might be                                         attention.
     expected, Daane also distorts the Canons, making
     t h e m   t e a c h   a n   u n c o n d i t i o n a l   e l e c t i o n ,   b u t   a      And I cannot take his theologizing seriously.
     conditional reprobation, and that, too, in the name of                                     For it is basically dishonest.




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                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER                                                           153



ALL AROUND US

                         Is The Reformation In Favor
                                      Of Ungodly Movies?

                                                       Prof. H. Hanko



   It is a moral truth which is inescapable that once           to render a play which includes this language, but to
one gives himself over to sin, one sinks deeper and             ban it forever from the College.
deeper into sin's mire until he is held fast by sin's             However this may be, the article makes some
chains. God is not mocked. He punishes sin with sin.            interesting assertions about the nature of the play and
It is also a moral truth that when a church opens the           the  role which Luther and Calvin played in the
door, be it ever so slightly, to sin, the result is that        Protestant Reformation. The gist of the review seems
the door opens wider and wider as sin rushes into the           to be  that Calvin and Luther were doing the same
church and engulfs her.                                         thing the play does. The reviewer writes:
   I was reminded of this by a recent article which                      Even if cognitive dissonance could have occurred
appeared  in  the  Chimes,  a student newspaper of                  during "Death of a Salesman," the speech department
Calvin College. Evidently, the Thespians, Calvin's                  stands in direct violation of the idealogical roots of
dramatic club, recently put on a play entitled "The                 the Reformed Protestant tradition when it puts the
,Death of a Salesman." This play, written by an                     college's dramatic offerings through the strainer of
unbeliever apparently, had a great deal of obscene                  agreeability before producing them on-stage. Had
and blasphemous language in it. Before giving the                   Calvin or Luther bowed to a fear of cognitive
play, the speech department of Calvin watered down                  dissonance between their beliefs and those of the
the language so that the obscenities and blasphemies                majority of their contemporaries, the Reformation
were substituted with other expressions. According to               might have been stillborn.
the article in  Chimes,  this was done on the grounds of           It is true, of course, that Luther and Calvin did not
"cognitive dissonance" which, roughly translated,               give any regard to any negative reaction to their
apparently means, "the negative reaction that a                 teachings by their contemporaries, and did not worry
Calvin audience would have to taboo words" which                unduly about the "impact" of their teachings  pn the
"would obscure the impact of the play for the typical           "typical" listener. But this was because of the fact
viewer, rather than amplify the meaning."                       that they bowed with complete submission to the
   Chimes  reviewer takes a very dim view of this. He           Word of God and were concerned only about
writes :                                                        faithfulness to His Scriptures. They feared God and
                                                                were not afraid of the might of Rome, nor of the
            The language used in the recent Thespian            power of the empire. Would that Calvin College was
    production of "Death of a Salesman" was appalling.          so interested in faithfulness to the Scriptures. Then it
    Appalling not because it was violent, brutal, obscene,
    or forceful, but rather because it was watered              would be understood that Scripture forbids any
     down. . . .                                                blasphemy and all unclean speaking. But the reviewer
                                                                goes on:
            . . . The speech department chose, through the
     emasculation of (the) language, to partially                        It is futile to draw a distinction between Luther's
     emasculate (the main character), and finally,                  95 theses and "Death of a Salesman" because they
     emasculate the play.                                           both stand as powerful statements of God's truth:
                                                                    Luther's theses as clear ecclesiastical exposition and
   Now, maybe this is true. I have no way of telling.               Miller's play as a shattering, tearing expose of man
Perhaps it could be argued that the obscene and                     groveling in his weakness before the height of his
blasphemous language in the play was such an integral               infinite potentiality. Calvin's speech department no
part of the play that to take it out and substitute for             more has the right to suppress the full truth of (the
-it "watered down" language, destroyed the play                     main character in the play) than did the Roman
itself. The solution to the problem is, of course, not              Catholic Church to persecute Martin Luther.


154                                                              THE STANDARD  BEARER



   S o   t h i s   b l a s p h e m o u s   a n d   o b s c e n e   p l a y   i s        church and the community with "Death of a
comparable to Luther's theses! And that because                                         Salesman" and every art work like it, in their
Luther wrote concerning indulgences and their evil                                      entireties, without fear that our financial magic
while the main character in Miller's play was too                                       carpet might suddenly be jerked away. If Calvin keeps
weak to attain the height of  his infinite potentiality  -                              telling the CRC and itself only what both want to
which, presumably, means that he was too weak to                                       hear, it will lose all hope of being the uniquely
                                                                                        dynamic and inquisitive center of learning it has the
become God. And on that grounds, to cut out                                             potential to be and will finally cease to serve God end
blasphemous and obscene language is to persecute                                        the,church altogether.
those who write such stuff. So Calvin College was
jpersecuting Miller, I guess; and perhaps the audience                                This is what happens when the door is opened to
as well. But there is more:                                                         ungodly amusements. It is true that  this is only a
          The most disturbing implication of what the                               review by a student and not an expression of general
       speech department did to "Death of  a,Salesman",                             sentiment within the church. But the fact remains
       however, is not that the action portends a regression                        that the College and the Church permit this kind of
       into Roman Catholicism, but that it points to Calvin's                       stuff to be published without rebuke and answer.
       maddening timidity about confronting itself and the                          And it is also true that the agitation of today is often,
       Christian Reformed community with the true fabric                            if not always, the ecclesiastical position of tomorrow.
       of reality, be it unsettling or unassuring . . . .                           This is the way it has gone with the entire question of
   Now the moral to the story . . . .                                               the film arts. First, attendance at the movie was
   By treating the play  this way Calvin College has,                               forbidden; then the controls were relaxed and
according to the reviewer showed that it lacks the                                  members were encouraged to attend  "godd movies"
courage to confront people in the same predicament                                  and to develop a distinctively Calvinistic concept of
as the play's main character honestly. It has failed to                             the film arts. But now every movie is reviewed in
"grapple with them successfully." And so it has                                     ecclesiastical periodicals, and often. these movies are
denied itself the possibility of finally coming to love                             judged favorably. Now the cry is being made for the
them.                                                                               showing and acting of movies and plays whicli are
                                                                                    thoroughly evil  - and that under the guise of being in
          Both Calvin and the Christian Reformed Church                             harmony with the Reformers.
       need to realize that their only hope of being
       completely and honestly in touch with God's reality                            Sin is never anything to toy with. It is a cruel
       is to put complete faith in God. Calvin will have to                         monster which brings those who serve her into its
       muster the courage to go ahead and challenge the                             dreadful bondage.




               Dissent In The Gereformeerde Kerken

  The following article appeared in the latest RES                                     moderamen in January.
Newsletter:.                                                                              The Synod also received an appeal from five
         (Lunteren, the Netherlands) Talk among the                                    ministers asking for an `unambiguous rejection' of
       "Verontrusten" (The Concerned in the Reformed                                   five points pertaining to the `new theology':
       Churches in the Netherlands (GKN) of conducting
       separate church services prompted the Synod to                                     1) the view of Scripture that sees God's Word as a
       deliberate on how to maintain dialogue with them in                            human testimony of a past religious experience;
       order to preserve the unity of the church. Sentiment                               2) the theory of evolutionism which attempts to
       was to go with them the extra mile. However, it was                             explain the origin of life and men without reference
       pointed out that if they did start to conduct separate                         to Go d's creative power and which denies the
       services, it would be difficult to initiate dialogue on                        historicity of Adam and Eve;
       the Synodical level because Synod would be obligated                               3) Dr. H. Wiersenga's view of redemption;
       to assert the church order which condemns the
       proposed action. Most of the Synod, however,                                      4) the political gospel which horizontalizes faith
       favored suspending any such formal action and                                   and the Kingdom;
       instead called for cor&nuing  discussion. The Synod                                5) the view of the church which would admit on
       decided to invite The `Concerned to meet the                                    an equal basis those who adhere to no confession.


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                           155



       The appeal claimed that anything is better than      church order." They obviously have no right to do
    allowing the churches to continue on their present      this, for they have violated it with impunity
    course of confusion and error.                          h e r e t o f o r e .   B u t   t o   a s s e r t   i t   m i g h t   f o r c e   t h e
                                                            "Verontrusten" to see that secession is the only
  It might be the best thing that ever happened to          s o l u t i o n   t o   t h e   p r o b l e m   o f   a p o s t a s y   i n   t h e
the "Verontrusten" if Synod would "assert the  ' Gereformeerde Kerken.



FEATURE
                                              Philosophy
                                                  In The
                                      Light Of Scripture

                                                Rev. Wayne Bekkering



  In a sense I must apologize for presuming to write           A factor that adds still more confusion to the
an article concerning philosophy since I am no              whole subject of philosophy is that there is a true
philosopher, nor have I studied much philosophy, nor        philosophy and a false philosophy. In each one of the
do I have much appreciation for the whole subject of        above stated uses of the term "philosophy" we need
philosophy. At the same time, however, I have given         not condemn them all as false, but ask the question,
some time to answer for myself the question  - "What        "Is the reference to true philosophy or false
is philosophy and what place may it have in the life        philosophy?"
of the child of God?" The reason, then, that I write
this article is out of a hope that our readers may be           In order to determine what is true philosophy and
benefited by it and deepened in their desire to make        what is false philosophy we must turn to the
the Word of God their only rule for faith and life.         Scriptures. Many times both in the Old and the New
                                                            Testament Scriptures we read of wisdom. Since
  Part' of the problem in understanding the subject of      philosophy is the love of wisdom we must look more
philosophy is getting a clear hold on the meaning of        closely at the idea of wisdom in the Scriptures. Both
the concept. The word "philosophy" is used in so            in Psalm 111: 10 and. in Proverbs 9 : 10 we read "The
many ways with so many shades of meaning. The first         fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." Notice
and most basic meaning can be derived from the root         that wisdom is connected with the fear of the Lord.
idea of the word. The word "philosophy" literally           The only way, then, to enter into wisdom's way is by
means love of wisdom. Secondly, we can get a                the way-of the fear of the Lord. The implication is
glimpse of the idea of the meaning of "philosophy"          that without the fear of the Lord there is no true
from the fact that originally philosophy involved           wisdom. This Word of God gives us the criterion by
itself in a study of being as being, that is, of the        w h i c h   w e   m u s t   d e t e r m i n e   w h e t h e r   o r   n o t   a
existence of matter and of man and of all things. It        philosophy is true or false. A love for wisdom that
inquired into the ultimate cause of all things and          proceeds out of the fear of the Lord is true
asked "what is the purpose and destiny of all things."      philosophy; on the other hand, a love for wisdom
Thirdly we may notice that later philosophy                 that does not proceed out of the fear of the Lord is
concerned itself with the application  ,of accumulated      false philosophy.
knowledge to the problems of man. In the fourth
place, in our attempt to ascertain the meaning of              The word "philosophy" occurs only twice in
philosophy, we should also notice that the term             Scripture. Once in Colossians  2:8 and once in Acts
`  ` philosophy" is used to denote the underlying           17:18.
principles of any discipline or field of study, for            In the context of Colossians  2:8 the apostle Paul
example, the philosophy of education.                       teaches the Colossians that in Christ are hid all the


156                                                               THE STANDARD BEARER



treasures  of wisdom  and knowledge. He also tells                                   clouded with confusion because it did not begin in
them that "as ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord,                                the fear of the Lord, and can not and will not arrive
so walk ye in him." Paul warns the Colossians in  2:8                                at the true answers to life's most basic questions.
t o "Beware lest any man spoil you through                                              Philosophy is, practically, the religion of  the
philosophy and vain deceit . .  ." Christ is presented                               unbelieving scholar. He bends all his efforts in the
by the inspired apostle as the ground and fountain of                                seeking of a solution to the problems of man. He does
all wisdom and knowledge. Christ Jesus is the object                                 that, however, apart from the objective authority of
to  which the faith and love of God's people must be                                 the Word of God. Man, to him, is the measure of all
directed. The people of God are instructed to be                                     things. This can also be seen from an evaluation of a
philosophers in the sense that they love Christ who is                               late professor of philosophy at Yale University, G. T.
the wisdom of God. It is obvious from Colossians  2:8                                Ladd.
that when the apostle Paul warns the Colossians
against philosophy that he warns them against false                                           For "first philosophy" investigates being as being;
philosophy. That this is true is seen from the fact that                                 it inquires into the first principles and ultimate causes
                                                                                         of things; and thus it renders possible the knowledge
in verse eight philosophy is further described as "vain                                  of that absolute principle which presupposes nothing
deceit," that is, that philosophy is empty and                                           more ultimate than itself. The peculiar characteristics
misleading.                                                                              of philosophy are thus held to be its certainty,
   The word "philosophers" appears in Acts 17: 18 in                                     universality, independence, supremacy and a kind of
the context of which the apostle Paul is disputing                                       divine character. This last characteristic makes it
with the Jews in Athens, a city wholly given to                                          worthy of honor even by Deity itself.1 )
idolatry. In verse eighteen, we read "Then certain                                   That philosophy is the religion of philosophers can
philosophers of the Epicureans and of the Stoics,                                    further be seen by the quasibiblical quote from the
encountered him. And some said, What will this                                       seventeenth philosopher Frances Bacon. "Seek ye
babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter                                   first the good thing of the mind and the rest will
forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them                                 either be supplied or its loss will be  felt."21
Jesus and the resurrection." Now we cannot say that
all philosophy is condemned by the Scriptures, but                                     The truth is that philosophy is vain deceit.
we can certainly say that all false philosophy stands                                Philosophers are men who are ever learning and never
condemned. We must notice in that connection that                                    able to come to the knowledge of the truth. The
philosophy as a whole stands in a very unfavorable                                   worldly philosopher is supposedly seeking truth
light from its use in Scripture. In both its occurrences                             through wisdom but through their wisdom they do
philosophy stands as the antithesis of the truth.                                    not arrive at the knowledge of the truth of God as it
                                                                                     is contained in the Scriptures.
   Philosophy in the commonly understood sense of
the word, that is, the use of man's reason in the                                      Since philosophy and theology are so similar in
service of man, and to the glory of man stands                                       subject matter and yet so diverse and opposite in
opposed to the revelation of the truth of God in                                     their approach and conclusions the question may be
C h r i s t   J e s u s .   P h i l o s o p h y   i n   t h a t   c o m m o n l y    asked "Can a Christian be a philosopher or study
understood sense did not have its beginning in the                                   philosophy?"
Church. Rather philosophy established its  .principles                                 My answer to that question is that a Christian may
and mode of operation outside the Church and apart                                   study philosophy, but he may not be a philosopher.
from the Word of God.                                                                To be a philosopher implies that one adopts the
   Even though it is true that philosophy stands                                     approach and the basic rules of operation of men
opposed to the truth of God, nevertheless, it has                                    without the fear of the Lord. This, of course, a
always beep closely connected with religion. The                                     Christian may not do. He must begin, proceed  and
reason for that undoubtedly comes from the fact that                                 conclude in the fear of the Lord, and then he can be
both philosophy and theology have involved                                           sure that he is in the way of wisdom, the love of
themselves with very similar subjects. The object of                                 which is  true philosophy.
the study of both philosophy and theology are the                                      A Christian may, however, profitably study
so-called basic issues of life; the origin, purpose and                              philosophy. We must explain, however, that a study
destiny of all things. The similarity between the two                                of philosophy is not necessary in order to come to a
disciplines stops there, however. The basic questions                                complete understanding of the truth of God. Nor
of life; in the case of theology, are answered simply                                must we think that one who has studied philosophy
and clearly through the revelation of God in His                                     has a private insight into the truth. The Bible is
Word. On the other hand, in the case of philosophy                                   entirely adequate to make us wise unto salvation.
there have been almost as many answers given as                                      Nevertheless a study of philosophy can aid one in the
there are men to give them. Philosophy, therefore, is                                understanding of history and of the influence that


                                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                      157



philosophy has had on the church. Calvin says in that                            Ages when philosophy was considered by the
connection "And I do not forbid those who  are                                   "theologians" to be their handmaid, and logical
d e s i r o u s   o f   l e a r n i n g   t o   s t u d y   t h e m   ( t h e    argumentation, their sword and lance. This mixture
philosophers).31  In another place Calvin writes                                 of philosophy and theology was called Scholasticism.
         All philosophers were ignorant of this
     transformation, which Paul calls "renewal of the                                     The Schoolmen used all the forces of logic and
     mind' (Eph. 4:23). For they set up reason alone as                               philosophy to vindicate the orthodox system of
     the ruling principle in man, and think that it alone                             theology, but they used much wood and straw in
     should be listened to . . . But the Christian                                    their constructions, as the sounder exegesis and more
     philosophy bids reason give way to, submit and                                   scriptural theology of the Reformers and these later
     subject itself to, the Holy Spirit so that the man                               days have shown.51
     himself may no longer live but hear Christ living and
     reigning within him (Gal. 2:2O).4)                                             Philosophy has continued to have an influence in
                                                                                 the Church; an influence that has not been good; an
While there is place for the study of philosophy in the                          influence that tends to lead men away from the truth
life of a Christian, at the same time a warning must be
issued regarding the dangers and pitfalls involved.                              of the Gospel, and into the empty and deceptive
"Beware lest any men spoil you through philosophy                                pitfalls of false philosophy. Today more than ever is
and vain deceit . .  ."                                                          the grave warning of the Word of God to be heeded.
                                                                                 "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy
   Philosophy and theology have always been closely                              and vain deceit . .  ." Lay hold upon the truth of the
connected. Especially was that true in the Middle                                Word of God and the truth shall make you free.


I)  "Philosophy",Encyclopedia  Americana, 1949 ed., vol. 21, p. 769              3)  Calvins  Institutes,   (Philadelphia, Westminster Press, 19601, book I,
2) Francis Bacon,  De  Augmentis   Scientiafum   VIII, 2, quoted by Will           Chapter XV, section 1, p. 690
   Durant in  The  Story  of  Philosophy,  New York, Simon and Schuster,         4)  ibid,  book III, chapter VII, section 1, p. 690
   1927, intro. p. 2                                                             5) Philip  Schaff,   History  of  the  Christian  Church,  (Grand Rapids,
                                                                                   Eerdmans,  19671,  Vol. 5, p. 590





                            The Standard Bearer
                                         In Retrospect
                                                     prof: H. Hanko


   In Volume XIV, written in 1937, is an editorial by                            to exist, or do not apply to the particular situation in
Rev. H. Hoeksema entitled "Living From Principle."                               which one finds himself. It is so easy to find a dozen
This is a very striking article for more than one                                excuses why one can alter the principle for the sake
reason. Although it was written thrity-six years ago,                            of expediency. The article has many things to say
its language speaks directly to the problems which                               about this. We quote it in full.
exist today. It is relevant in the truest sense of the
word. Particularly it addresses itself to a problem                                                                ***c$
which plagues many members of the Church. So                                        Does it pay?
often people speak of the fact that they are very                                   This question is a very familiar one. It is asked with
interested in principle, that they earnestly desire to                           a view to a possible course of action which must be
conform their lives according to principle, and that                             determined; and the answer to that question is to
the principles of Scripture are dearer to them than                              determine the decision. If anything pays, in dollars
anything. But when it comes down to applying these                               and cents or in some other temporal, material way,
principles to life, especially when this entails sacrifice                       we will devote ourselves to its accomplishment; if it
and hardship, or when living out of principle means                              does not pay we have no interest in it. And in this
walking a very difficult way according to the                                    direct form or in some more indirect way one may
standards of the world, then suddenly principles cease                           often hear the question applied to various spheres of


158                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



life and departments of activity, personal, social,          the "state" to prescribe what we shall eat and drink;
economic and political. The determining question is          might argue that sin is not in what a man eats and
not whether anything is true or right, whether it is in      what he drinks, but in the heart. The answer was
harmony with the Word and will of God, but merely            always: but it will surely pay! It will work! It will
whether it will yield some carnal benefit. And               improve social and economic conditions! And at any
gradually, if anything only pays, it will also be            rate, it is worthwhile trying. Let us see whether it
considered right, though it is principally wrong.            will work!
   This attitude toward life, toward our walk in the           In the same way of reasoning the laws of our
midst of the world, is fundamentally wrong because it        country departed from the clear revelation of the will
is carnal.                                                   of God with respect to the marriage relation. True,
                                                             the marriage-relation is inviolable. It is the union of
   To be sure, in the true sense of the word, truth and      one man and one woman exclusively for life. Only
righteousness do pay; there is in the keeping of God's       adultery may be ground for divorce according to the
precepts a great reward. But for this true reward the        ordinance of God. But this principle does not work!
man that always asks whether anything does pay, and          There are too many conditions in which it works far
allows his course of action to be determined by the          better to let down the bars, to open the way for
answer to that question has  no. eye. His eye is carnal.     married couples that are "unequally matched" and
And the desire after the things of the world, apart          "unhappily married" to shake off the marriage yoke
from God, motivates all he does.                             that is become too heavy. And the result is that
       Similar in character is the rather pragmatic          divorces are granted for almost every conceivable
question: does it work?                                      reason.
  Also this question is frequently asked in order to           And it works . . . to the sure destruction of the
furnish a basis for a certain action. Whether or not         very foundation of society.
any proposed action or course of action is principally
right or wrong, is in harmony with the will of God or          The same is true of many other movements,
contrary to it, is a question that is of minor               woman suffrage and emancipation, birth-control and
importance, that may, at least, be eliminated from           the like.
our deliberations as to what shall be done and in what         But over against this the only correct stand of the
direction we shall turn. Let us try it out anyway,           Christian is: adhere to principle and never depart
whether it appears to be right or wrong! This is the         from it, regardless of the question whether it pays
slogan. If it works we have gained an advantage; if it       and works or not; rather trusting that this will surely
fails, there is not much lost and we simply map out a        work and always must pay!
different course.                                              Principles, real principles, not imaginations of our
   It is the utility attitude.                               o w n   h e a r t , are eternal, `inviolable verities, not
   They that assume this attitude to life are ready to       determined by man, by society, by the state, by
forsake and sacrifice any principle for a program of         conditions or circumstances, but by the Most High
their own, if it only "works."                               God Himself.
   It has this in common with the  "does-it-pay-               They cannot be changed.
attitude" that, like it, it is carnal.                         T h e y   c a n n o t   b e   v i o l a t e d   o r   f o r s a k e n   w i t h
       For, of course, it can never work to depart from      impunity.
the way of God's Word and precepts. That way is the            And they are fundamental.
sure way to destruction.                                       The word "principle" really signifies beginning. It
       But in the mind and heart of him that asks this       is a beginning, not in a merely temporal or local
latter question this ultimate end of the way of man          sense, not in the sense in which the dawn is the
has no place. He seeks carnal things. The intent of his      beginning of day  `or the first word is the beginning of
question is merely as to whether what he tries will          a book; but in the casual sense. Just as an acorn is the
work in a carnal, sinful, this-worldly way.                  beginning of the oak; or as the seed sown is the
       Yet, from the motive revealed in questions such as    beginning of the wheat harvest, or as the source on
these the "world" lives, and the Christian often is          the snow-peaked mountain is the beginning of a river,
deceived and follows the world in this regard.               so principles are "beginnings."
   It is really the motive behind the prohibition              Thus there are principles of truth, basic truths,
movement of still recent date in our country. One            eternal verities, from which springs the whole system
might oppose the movement for principal reasons,             of truth with necessity, and to depart from which
might urge that it does not belong to the domain of          even in the least, results in ultimate distortion of the


                                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                                      159


whole structure of truth. In that sense we speak of                                without ever stopping to consider whether or not his
Reformed principles, those basic truths upon which                                 course leads in the direction of God's  will and is in
the entire superstructure of our Reformed confession                               harmony with God's eternal verities. He is the
is built and depends. That God is God and is                                       practicist, the pragmatist, the man that merely looks
absolutely sovereign, that He made all things by the                               at results as he desires to obtain them, the man that
act of His omnipotent will for His own Name's sake,                                asks whether it pays or whether it will work. He
that the natural man is totally depraved and wholly                                changes his course according to circumstances,
incapable of doing any good, that salvation is wholly                              regardless of the question of principle; he turns
of the Lord, that He sovereignly ordained His own to                               about with every wind of doctrine; he is motivated by
eternal glory and reprobated others with equal                                     the "bread-question"; he wants to save his life by all
sovereignty, that Christ died for the elect only, that                             means. And he shall surely lose it.
we are saved not by or because of our own will, but
by free and sovereign grace,  - these are fundamental                                 But the man of principle is, first of all, he, whose
truths, principles from which one cannot depart,                                   heart has been liberated from the law of sin and death
without denying all the rest of Reformed truth.                                    by the law of the Spirit of life, freed from the
Neither can one deny any one of these principles                                   dominion of the devil and subjected to God in Christ
without placing himself in a position in which he                                  Jesus our Lord. It is he, to be more specific, in whose
must also deny the others.                                                         heart God engraved by the power of His grace the
                                                                                   eternal principles of His Word and law, so that they
   Thus there are principles, objective, fundamental,                              have become vital forces within him, motivating him
eternal verities for our whole life. Ordinances of God                             in all his life and walk. It is he, moreover, who also
they are for our personal life and for every                                       has a clear and full understanding of the Word of
relationship in life, in home and society, in church                               God, as revealed to us in the Scriptures. It is he, that
and state; ordinances for the life of our body and of                              has "discernment," true wisdom from above, to be
our soul, for our thinking and willing, for the relation                           able to apply these principles of the Word of God to
of man and wife, of parent and child, of magistrate                                every walk and department of life. And it is he,
a n d   s u b j e c t , o f   e m p l o y e r   a n d   e m p l o y e e ,   o f    finally, who thus knowing God's eternal verities and
officebearer and member, of church and church in                                   carrying them in his heart and having thus determined
the same denomination,. of man in relation to the                                  upon a certain course of action, will never be swayed
world about him, to his goods and possessions, his                                 or influenced by conditions, by circumstances, by
name and position in the world. And also from these                                promises or threats on the part of the world, but will
man cannot depart with impunity. No matter how                                     adhere to the course determined by principle,
desirable his own, sinfully conceived course of action                             regardless of possible or actual results!
may appear to him, no matter how strongly it may                                     And that man is blessed!
appear as if things will never "work" on the basis of
these principles, while they would seem to prosper in                                 It may not appear so in this world.
the direction of his own way, to depart from these
eternal principles means certain destruction! It means                                Often, indeed, it may appear as if it were more
destruction of the body and of the soul, of the home                               expedient to depart from principle and follow the
and of society, of the church and state, of the world!                             way of our own imaginations.

   What, then is a man of principle?                                                 Even for the Church of Christ it may seem
                                                                                   advisable sometimes to compromise in this respect.
                                                                                   To adhere to principle may cost her many members,
   He is certainly not the man that separates principle                            means and power in the world.
and. practice. He may be thoroughly versed in the
principles of the truth and in the basic verities that                               But in spite of appearances, the fact remains that
must dominate our life and walk. He may talk much                                  only he will be blessed that never forsakes principle.
of them and be very able to defend them; but his life
testifies against him, for in actual life he departs from                            For, blessing is not in things, but in the favor of
what he knows and professes to be the truth. He is                                 God. And God's favor is upon His people, as they
the intellectualist, the theorist, that has a head full of                         walk in His way and keep His precepts.
principles, but in his walk will not touch them with                                 And we look for the eternal reward, the things that
his finger. He is not a man of principle, because for                              are not seen, that can never be taken from us!
him principles are not vital forces that impel him on
to a certain course of action.                                                       The utility man, that  wiIl save his life, shall surely
                                                                                   lose it; But he that will lose his life for Christ's sake,
   Nor is he a man of principle that is always active                              shall save it without fail!


160                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


FROM HOLY WRIT


                   Exposition of Hebrews 11: 32-34

THE PATTERN OF TREATMENT SUGGESTED IN                       manner here indicated. It is the pattern of the Lord's
THE TEXT                                                    dealings with these great men of God in Israel; it is
  The writer continues here in the stylish phrases and      the pattern of all God's dealings with his saints in all
sentences "and what shall I yet say? For the time           ages.
would fail me to declare in detail concerning Gideon,          We need not attempt to be too exhaustive in our
Barak, Samson and Jephtha!" It is presupposed that          treatment of these verses!
the readers are familiar with their Old Testament
Scriptures; yea, that a mere mention of these heroes
of faith during the time of the Judges, when every
one did what was right in his own eyes, would bring         GIDEON, JUDGE IN ISRAEL. (Hebrews  11:32,
to mind the mighty and gallant deeds of faith and           Judges 6: 1 l-8:35)
warfare of these deliverers of Israel. Each of these was       Every little boy and girl who has gone to
lifted up by the Lord in His mercy to deliver Israel in     Catechism and Sunday School and to the Christian
His great compassion. All of these Judges lived at a        School has heard about Gideon. When his name is
time when there was very little or no faith in evidence     mentioned we instantly think of Gideon routing the
in Israel; they were a people that turned from the          hordes of the Midianites, a Bedouin people, who
Lord unto the idol-gods of the heathen about them,          came into the land of Israel to pillage the country,
(Judges 2: 19-23). And these men, mentioned here by         and to rob the Israelites of the very bread of their
the writer to the Hebrews, are judges, whom the             table. Was it not high time that something be done?
LORD raised up for Israel to deliver them out of the        For even a mighty man of valour, such as Gideon, had
hand of their enemies all the days of the Judge.            to thresh out the wheat in a wine-press in the
  The writer to the Hebrew Christians of the New            seclusion of the hills of Ophrah! This had gone on for
Testament refers to these Judges here as men who are        seven long years. And now these Midianitish hordes
great in the annals of Israel's history. And now he will    are thoroughly and permanently routed under
not write "concerning" these at any great length and        Gideon, who is surnamed Jerubbaal. And we think
in detail. The New Testament believers have their           of the small army of three hundred (300) men, which
                                                            were the choice of the Lord out of 32,000 men. We
own Bibles, the O.T. canonical Scriptures, and they         think of the blowing of the trumpet and the breaking
can look this up for themselves if their memory fails       of the pitchers, 300 in all, and the cry "The sword of
them, or if they must learn to understand these
Scriptures better. This manner of treatment has in it a     the LORD and of Gideon."
telling effectiveness. The readers must understand             What every little boy and girl does not fully or
that there is no point in going into a detailed account     even partially understand is that what made Gideon
in all these judges, kings and prophets, whereas each       b e   s u r n a m e d   Jerubbad   w a s   t h a t   G i d e o n   h a d
time the same reality of faith as the substance of          contended with Baal and that he had cut down the
things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen,          grove of the adulteress Ashtoreth, and that this name
would come to manifestation. The matter is very             indicated that Gideon was a judge who brought Israel
simple. The believers out of the Jews and we with           back again to the worship of the only true God in
them (all Israel) must know that we have need of            Israel. The tabernacle at Shiloh may have been still
faith and patience. The victory is of faith. He that        neglected; but in the poor family in Manasseh arose a
cometh to God must believe that He is and that He is a      mighty judge whom the LORD had raised up. And he
rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Now all          will under God deliver Israel in such a way that it will
these Judges were men of -like passions as we are.          be a herald of the Day of the Lord in  His  final coming
They were men with faith, and, yet, each one was a          with the clouds of heaven. The trumpets shall sound,
man' with many sins, yea, even rather great sins. It        the Lord will appear in the cry of victory. He will
was not of works that they triumphed, but of grace          destroy the enemy and terrify them so that they are
through faith. Such is the telling effectiveness of the     utterly confused and paralyzed. And great is the


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     victory so that this victory becomes a watchword and        of Sisera, who dwelt in Horesheth, near mount
     song in Israel (Psalm  83:9; Isaiah  9:4;  10:26).          Carmel and the Kishon valley. He had many chariots
'      And it was all faith. Yes, it was faith that needed a     and horses.
     sign that God would indeed accept Israel's sacrifice          At such a time as that, Deborah, a mother in Israel,
     once more. The angel of the LORD, who had come to           spoke the word of the LORD to Barak, telling him
     Abraham of old (Gen. 17) now appears to Gideon.             that he must draw near to mount  Tabor in Issachar
     The initiative of this victory over the enemy and the       with ten thousand men of Naphtali and Issachar and
     deliverance of Israel is from the LORD Himself. The         of the children of Zebulon. The promise is: I (the
     meal which Gideon prepared for this man (he                 LORD) will deliver him into thy hand! That is yea
     entertained an Angel unawares) was not eaten but            and Amen!
     was entirely consumed as a thankoffering upon the             This calls for faith on the part of Barak as he leaves
     rock, the LORD disappeared only to return with the          his home in Kedesh-Naphtali to muster the LORD's
     mandate to begin judgement at the house of God.             army in Israel. It is the faith which is the substance of
     The  Baa1 idol must be destroyed and the altar unto         things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, the
     the Lord must be re-erected. And to undergird               Lord's word concerning a complete victory.
     Gideon's faith so that he may truly be a Jerubbaal (a
     contender against Baal) he receives the twofold sign          Yet, this faith is not perfect. He desires the
     of the fleece. And, in faith in the living God, Gideon      presence of Deborah, and now he is assured that the
     must go and gather an army. However, this army              honour of the victory, the trophy will not go to him
     must be so small that Israel will not claim the victory.    but to a woman. Of her they will sing. Barak's glory is
     Weakest means fulfil his will. His strength is made         not undimmed! It is a glory which is taken from him
     great in human weakness.                                    in that Sisera, who flees in the heat and defeat of the
                                                                 battle, falls a victim to Jael's nail and hammer in her
       Thus Gideon walks in faith and not by sight. And          tent. Barak receives glory according to the measure of
     thus the Spirit sings of the LORD's victory in Psalm        his faith! He musters the army and he meets the foe
     83:8, 11, 12," Assur also is joined unto them: they         at the river Kishon. And the LORD gives him the
     have holpen the children of Lot. Do unto them as            victory by faith. He discomfits the armies of Sisera
     unto the Midianites . . . Make their nobles like Oreb       before Barak and his ten thousand even unto the
     and like Zeeb; yea, all their princes as Zebah, and as      home city of Sisera at Horesheth. And great was the
     Zalmunna, who said, Let us take to ourselves the            victory! This is beautifully portrayed in the Poem of
     houses of God in possession."                               Deborah and Barak.
       Great was the faith of Gideon fighting the Lord's              "The kings came and fought, they fought the
     battles, although his flesh caused him to fail later          kings of Canaan in Taanach by the waters of
     miserably in the matter of the golden Ephod, even             Megiddo; they took no gain of money. They
     Ophrah of Mannaseh! It was here, too, of the Lord's           fought from heaven; the stars in their courses
     mercies that Israel was not consumed!                         fought against Sisera. The river of Kishon swept
     BARAK OF KEDESH-NAPHTALI (Hebrews 11:32;                      them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon
     Judges 4: 1-24; 5: 19-22)                                     0 my soul thou hast trodden down strength. Then
       There are two things that strike this writer here in        were the horsehoofs broken by means of the
     the citation of Barak as one of the great men of faith.       pransings, the pransings of the mighty ones. . .  ."
     The first is that he is mentioned second, after Gideon.                                             Judges 5 : 19-22.
     The writer to the Hebrews evidently is not interested         However, in this song the individual glory does not
     in chronology and historical order, primarily. He is        go to Barak but to Jael, a steel-hearted Kenitish
     interested in citing these men as representatives of all    woman who deceived Sisera and drove a nail through
     the Judges whom God raised up and who all walked            his head and killed him. This is not recorded as a deed
     in faith. The second matter that strikes me is that not     of faith. She slew a helpless, tired, sleeping general.
     Deborah is mentioned, who played such a prominent           Barak led the armies of Israel into the fray. And this
     part in this episode in Israel's history, but that Barak    is the battle which is the great type of the battle of
     is singled out. And well may he be singled out.             God almighty, the final battle of Armageddon:
       Times were indeed bad in Israel. The LORD had               Most school boys think more of Jael's steel-hearted
     "sold them" into the hand of  Jabin king of Canaan,         act than of the timid faith of Barak which budded
     who reigned in Hazor. Hazor was a city in the tribe of      out into the faith which conquers the world.
     Naphtali in the northern part of the promised land.
     And he reigned over Israel, at least over the northern      SAMSON THE NAZARITE  JUDGE (Hebrews 11:32;
     part, for a long period! The odds were certainly against    Judges 13:25; 14:6,19,15:14)
     Israel, for  Jabin had a man over his hosts by the name       Most people simply think of Samson as the man of


162                                                                 THE STANDARQ  BEARER



prodigious strength, one performing unbelievable                                       Strange-looking man he was with his long hair. He
feats of physical performance in killing single-handed                                 was no "hippy" in any sense of the word. He was to
many Philistines. He was a one-man army! Too few                                       adhere to all the rules and prohibitions given in
people really think of Samson as a man, very weak,                                     Numbers 6. The cutting of the hair meant the end of
except that he was endowed with strength by the                                        being a Nazarite., of having completed the vow.
Lord, "When the Spirit of the Lord came upon him."
    Samson is the only Judge whose birth is foretold                                       The writer to the Hebrews places Samson in the
by the angel of the Lord. And he was to be a Nazarite                                  great "cloud of witnesses" which surrounds the New
all his life. No razor must come upon his head, no                                     Testament Church. His was a life of faith with much
wine must he drink, neither must he be defiled with                                    weakness and failure. Yet, God is not ashamed of
dead things. He was to live in faith, a faith by which                                 him; neither should we be. Dying he delivers Israel, he
he was "separated" unto the LORD. His entire life                                      makes a dent in the power of Philistia wherewith
must be one of consecration. And he was to be the                                      they held Israel in bondage for forty years! By faith
L O R D 'S   s e r v a n t   f r o m   h i s   m o t h e r 's   w o m b .              he was mighty, and was made strong out of weakness!


STUDIES IN ISAIAH

                                               A Call To Repentance
                               and Reformation (Isa. 1 : 10-l 7)

                                                                     Rev. Robert C. Harbach


    I. The Call to Hear His Word (10). "Hear the word                                  "the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before
of Jehovah, judges of Sodom, give ear to the Law of                                    t h e   L o r d   e x c e e d i n g l y " ( G n .   13:13).   S o   t h e
our God, people of Gomorrah." The command is to                                        office-bearers of Judah were called Sodom, and its
hear and give ear, as in the familiar, "He that hath                                   citizens Gomorrah, because they were as guilty as
ears to hear, let him hear." The "word of Jehovah"                                     Sodom and had sinned as heinously as Gomorrah.
and "the law of our God" are identical expressions                                     When office-bearers go bad, the people soon learn to
denoting the covenant religion of Jehovah, the                                         tolerate the most shocking abominations. Yet it was
revelation of His will, our  only- infallible rule of faith                            in the mercy of God, mercy to the "very small
and conduct, the word which the Lord now gives in                                      remnant" (v.  9), that they did not receive the
this prophecy through His servant Isaiah, and that                                     punishment of those cities. For according to divine
word which "out of Zion  shall go  forth, the Law, and                                 predestination, vessels of wrath fitted in God's eternal
the word of the Lord from Jerusalem"  (2:3) by John                                    counsel to destruction shall be punished, while vessels
the baptist, the Messiah in His day, and by His                                        of mercy, before ordained and prepared for glory,
apostles. Verse 9 shows that the Word spoken is that                                   shall be delivered from the wrath to come. The
in the time of Christ and the apostles. It was not the                                 f o r m e r   a r e "Mine enemies" and suffer divine
law of Moses, which, though it always had been                                         vengeance (24). To the latter the Lord promises, "I
b r o k e n   b y   s o d o m i t i c a l   p e r v e r s i t y ,   w a s   o n l y    will purely purge away thy dross" (25). It is always
temporary, until terminated and abrogated when                                         punishment for the reprobate and mercy for the
fulfilled in Christ (Ps.  40:6-7). But it is the everlasting                           elect.
gospel, the immutable doctrine of our Lord Jesus
Christ. It is the ever-standing law of our God. This                                      II. The Refusal to Receive Their Worship and
word Israel rejected; hence it was said to be more                                     Devotion  (11-1.5). "For what is the multitude of your
tolerable for Sodom in the judgment-day than for                                       sacrifices to Me, saith Jehovah. I am satiated with the
them (Mt.  11:24).  The earthly Jerusalem, where our                                   burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fatlings, and
Lord was crucified, is spiritually called Sodom and                                    the blood of bullocks and lambs and goats I do not
Egypt (Rev. 11:  18), because "they declare their sin as                               like" (11). This included  ah their worship, prayers,
Sodom; they hide it not" (Isa.  3:9). We know that                                     services, offerings, sacrifices, incense, festal crowds,


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 163


new moons, appointed feasts and devotional orations.         enough of them, was sick of them, because their
God `could stomach none of it because they were a            precise, pious outward attendance on His ordinances
sinful nation, a seed of evil-doers, rulers of Sodom         was rendered not in the love of God, but in contempt
and people of Gomorrah, and because their hands              of Him. This was really a contempt of Jesus Christ
were full of blood. The sacrifices God had required          and Him crucified, and so made them enemies of the
had become offensive to Him because offered in a             cross of Christ. This enmity came to a climax when
dead, lifeless, formalistic manner and in connection         the Jews said of Jesus delivered up to the death of the
with a life of sin.                                          cross, "His blood be upon us and on our children!"
  Israel according to the flesh had taken the                They had their wish; the wrath of God came upon
sacrificial system, which was intended to show them,         them to the uttermost. Then when the Lord says He
and to testify to the world, that righteousness must         hates their new moons and feasts, and so forth, the
be  vicarious  righteousness, and made of it a  personal     meaning is that sin is very hateful to God. Not merely
righteousness, a self-righteousness. They took the           things, but sin is hateful to Him, and not merely sin
sacrifices, which were types of satisfaction to come,        but sinners, such as "mine adversaries," "mine
and made a satisfaction of those offerings themselves.       enemies." (24).
The sacrifices pointed to a perfect, holy and divine            "And in spreading out your hands, I  will hide My
righteousness. So, to make  them  a righteousness was a      eyes from you: also that ye multiply prayer, I will
human invention; a corruption of the pure worship of         not hear (I will hear  nothingj; your hands are full of
God and the principle of "by grace only" to pervert it       bloods" (15). "The law contains no command to pray
to a base self-righteousness. Divinely appointed             . . . praying is so natural to man as man, that there is
ceremony is not to be separated from the spirit of the       no necessity for any precept to enforce this, the
Word, but to be performed according to it, (Ps.  50:7,       fundamental expression of the true relation to God."
8, 10-14).                                                   But they had turned prayer into a mere babel, like
                                                             the perpetual motion of Tibetan prayer wheels. Some
   "As ye come to appear before My face, who                 would not recognize the judgment of God upon them
required  this  from your hand to trample My courts?"        for their sins, they are so busy performing the
(12). Why continue this spiritless tramping back and         outward motions of a religious life. They are too
forth in the holy places of the temple and its               o c c u p i e d   p r a y i n g , "Lord! Lord! have we not
enclosures? It only amounted to priests and                  prophesied in thy name, in thy name cast out
worshipers trampling on holy things in contempt. In          demons, and in thy name done many wonderful
the apostate church, God is not pleased with the             works" to forsake their sins and reform their lives. It
incessant thudding footsteps of men trampling about          is Romish thinking to suppose God can be bribed to
madly in unecclesiastical and unreformed activities.         forgive, to remove punishment and yet to allow sin
Where there is no reformation of life, there is              to continue with impunity.
abomination to God. The Lord has no fellowship
with those who do  no:t reform. For God is honored             "Your hands are full of blood." Not only were
neither by worship, nor by offerings, no matter how          they guilty of bloodshed and murder, as the elders of
sacrificially made, not paid in faith and obedience. To      Jezreel were under Jezebel in the murder of Naboth,
Him, that would all be an, offering of nothing (13);         but as a man is when he harbors malice toward
He has not required it (12). He cannot bear the              another. Malice is heart-murder. Hate a brother, and
iniquity of it, nor the prayers of men who regard            in the eyes of God, your hands are full of blood.
iniquity in their hearts (Ps. 66: 18). "Bring ye no            III. The Method of Reconciliation to God (16-l 7).
more an offering of nothingness  - incense; an               "Wash you, make ye clean; make depart (the) evil of
abomination it (all) is to Me; the new moons and             your works from before My eyes; cease ye to do evil.
sabbaths, the calling of an assembly, I can not (stand)      Learn ye to do good (rightly); search ye for justice;
iniquity and an assembly (a festal or a holiday              make to go straight (right) the oppressor (or the
crowd). Your new moons and your appointed feasts             oppressed); do justice to (the) orphan; plead ye the
My soul hates; they have become unto Me a burden; I          cause of (the) widow" (16, 17). God's commands do
am weary to bear (them)," (13, 14). The Lord hates           not imply man's ability to comply, nor that men may
all hypocritical, mere outward form of religion              turn and repent "by their own  ,exercise of free will."
without the power of it. First, He does not like it at       But God commands that which man since the fall has
all (1  l), He cannot stand the iniquity of it  (13), He     lost, namely, his ability to perform in conformity to
positively hates it  (14), worse, it is an abomination to    God's commandments. But God has not thereby lost
Him (13). No wonder He calls them Sodom and                  His right to demand the obedience owed Him.
Gomorrah  (lo)! They and their religious rites are           Besides, God demands that truth, His law, on the
detestable and utterly abhorrent. They are  "your            inward parts be evident in the practice of godly
sacrifices" (1  l), not Mine, saith the Lord. He had had     living. Only in this way may men stand before a just


164                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



God. Here, then, are ten commands from Jehovah: 1.            notwithstanding these, it remains untaken away; and
Wash you, 2. Make you clean, 3. Put away evil, 4.             to direct to the sacrifice of Christ, which effectually
Cease to do evil, 5. Learn to do well, 6. Seek justice,       does it." (GilI).
7. Relieve the oppressed, 8. Judge the fatherless, 9.
Plead for the widow, and 10. Come now, and let us               Learn to do good! Something they never had as yet
reason together. Every one of these commands is               come to know what it was. Wash; make clean!
fully wrought out in the life of the believer by the          "Nothing clean proceeds from the wicked." (Calvin).
power of the Holy Spirit (Rom.  8:4).                         Learn  to do good! "For their whole life was a
  They were commanded to put away the  evil  of               constant habit of sinning" (Calvin), so that they had
their doings in order to make their doings in any wise        not yet gotten past first grade. They were accustomed
acceptable to God. They were to put away the evil of          to doing evil, and to do good they had no knowledge.
them "not only from themselves, but from before the           They were by nature ignorant of good. Negatively,
eyes of God, and from the eyes of His vindicative             they must cease to do evil, which was all they have
justice, which is only done by the sacrifice of Christ.       ever done. This, however, they cannot possibly do,
The use of this exhortation is to show the necessity          unless they begin, positively, to do good. What
of putting away sin to salvation, and the inefficiency        follows indicates exactly how they were to do good,
of the blood of bulls and goats to do it, since,              in the performing of those ten commands (16-l 8).





                                                      Book
                                                   Review

                                                    Prof H. Hanko



THE CALVINISTIC CONCEPT OF CULTURE,  by                       Culture and Christ's Mediatorial Kingship, Calvinistic
Henry R. Van Til; Baker Book House, 1972; 245 pp.,            Culture and Christian Calling, Calvinistic Culture and
$3.95 (paper).                                                Common Grace.
  This is a reprint of a book written in 1959 by the             While the book has a great deal of valuable
late Prof. H. Van Til who, for a number of years,             information in it and is almost must reading for
served as professor of Bible in Calvin College. The           anyone interested in this subject, it has some glaring
book is a rather extensive treatment of the thorny            weaknesses. The chief of these is that it approaches
question of the Christian's cultural calling. In the first    the whole question of culture from the viewpoint of
part, Van Til defines the issue under the following           common grace which the author accepts as Scriptural.
subjects:The Problem Stated, The Concept of                   This so colors the book that it even distorts, on
Culture, The Relationship of Religion and Culture,            occasion, the historical material. The author
Calvinism Defined, The Calvinistic Conception of Sin          interprets the views of Augustine and Calvin
and Its Effects on Culture. In the second part he gives       especially from the standpoint of common grace and
a brief historical survey of the, question and treats         does not do justice to their position.
especially Augustine, Calvin, Abraham  Kuyper and K.
Schilder. In the third part he discusses the problem             The book is somewhat hard going, for the author's
itself under the headings: The Authority of Scripture         style is not smooth and easy to follow. Anyone
in Calvinistic Culture, The Motivation of Faith in            however, who makes a study of the whole important
Calvinistic Culture, Calvinistic Culture and the              question of the Christian and culture shall have to
Antithesis, The Calvinist and the World, Calvinistic          peruse this work.


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                165


THE DAY OF SHADOWS

                                     A Savour of Rest

                                                  Rev. John A. Heys


  The God Who called Noah into the ark for his               sweet savour, "I will not again curse the ground any
safety also commanded him to leave the ark, and to           more for man's sake,  though  the imagination of
take with him all the living creatures that he had           man's heart is evil from his youth." This includes
taken into the ark. This Noah did, and we may                Noah and his family. And the point is exactly this:
believe that he made sure that no creature was left on       that having brought Noah and his family back to this
any of the three stories of the ark. Obedience               earth, there still is a sinful human race in this new
becomes a child of God. And to obey is better than           world; and in but a short time another destruction of
sacrifice, to hearken to God better than the fat of          the earth such as by the flood would be required, if
rams.                                                        God is going to respond as He did by bringing in that
  But sacrifice also becomes the child of God and its        flood. He will, He  here, declares, deal differently with
desire should spontaneously spring up in his heart and       sin, not as a change of mind, but as the execution of
manifest itself in the deed. To obey God is to love          an eternal, unchangeable counsel which he had in
Him. To sacrifice is to serve Him in love, and to            Himself from eternity.
express faith in Him. To obey is better than a                 But, to return to what we began to say, Noah in his
sacrifice without that love, but asacrifice in love is an    sacrifice expressed a faith in Christ, and in His blood
act of obedience to God. This was especially true, and       as that which washes away his sins. And this God
true in a special' way, in the Old Testament                 Himself declares when He moved Moses to write that
dispensation. In the day of shadows of Christ, which         He smelled a sweet savour in that sacrifice of Noah.
the saints saw in place of Christ Who -cast that             Literally we read, "And the Lord smelled a savour of
shadow, the sacrifice was an act of obedience; and           rest." There is even here a delicate play on words.
especially after the tabernacle was built in the             Noah's name is rest, and he was called this because
wilderness there were strict laws that demanded              God would through him give rest to His church. We
sacrifices.                                                  read  - with the use of the verb form of this same
                                                             word  - that the ark  rested  on the mountains of
   Noah, leaving the ark, brought his sacrifice to God       Ararat. And now God smells rest. And Jesus says,
both as an expression of gratitude to God for a safe         "Come unto Me all ye that are labouring and heavy
return to the earth after a long journey in the ark for      laden, and I will give you rest." It is that Christ, that
one year and ten days, and as an expression of his           Restgiver that God smells in that sacrifice of Noah.
faith in Christ Whose shadow was there from the days         And it was that Restgiver that Noah under the
of paradise onward. Of course he was glad to be upon         shadows and types sought in his sacrifice as the
the dry land again. Of course, as a regenerated child        covering for his sins and those of his family.
of God he was thankful for all that God did for him
and his family in distinction from the thousands upon           In that light we ought to understand the words
thousands that perished. But it was a bloody sacrifice       that God said that He would not curse the ground
that he brought, and in that it was also an expression       any more for man's sake, though the imaginations of
of his faith in the atoning blood of Christ.                 his heart are evil from his youth, and that God
  Let us remember that the flood was the judgment            promises that as long as the earth remaineth,
of God upon sin, and Noah and his family were                according to His eternal counsel,  seedtime and
sinful, as well as those whom God destroyed. And             harvest, and cold and heat, summer and winter, and
they knew it. Not only did they reveal sin shortly           day and night shall not cease.
after leaving the ark, but they were quite conscious of        The two seeds, that of the woman and that of the
it while still in the ark. And although the flood            serpent,. will continue to grow and peruse their
destroyed sinners, it did not destroy sin. God declares      courses without a world-wide catastrophe to make a
this Himself after Noah offered up his burnt                 separation between church and world, such as the
offerings. For we read (in a better translation) that        flood did. There will be floods. There will be famines
God said after this sacrifice and after He smelled a         and no harvest in some regions. But as a universal


166                                            THE  STANDA,RD BEARER



judgment of God to separate the church from the             Will continue the earth and not "curse the ground any
world, no floods, no famines and no ark or its              more for man's sake."
equivalent will appear.                                       This is no lifting of the curse from off the world. It
   God's terrible wrath is still going to be there upon     is no grace of any kind to the wicked. It is an act of
the world. There is no "common grace" that now will         sovereign and saving grace to the church. Let it be
be manifested to the ungodly. Nothing could be              noted that God speaks here of the  ground,  the soil
farther from the truth, and any honest exegesis of the      which yielded so little in the way of food to Adam
passage, entirely apart from anything that Scripture        and his posterity after they were driven from the rich
declares elsewhere  - and it has abundant proof of no       garden of Eden. Man had to wrestle with that ground
                                                            which grudgingly gave him the bare necessities of life.
such "common grace"  - will show that this is not the
case at all. In just a bit of anticipation let it be        But now, through the flood, God brought to the
                                                            surface rich soil from the bottom of the sea, when the
pointed out that although God gives the rainbow as a        fountains of the deep were opened, and the curse
sign of His covenant with Noah and his family, that         upon the  ground  (not upon men) was to a degree
r a i n b o w   s h i n e s , and can only shine, on the
background of a dark cloud. You will never have a           lifted. But take all this in the light of what has been
rainbow against the clear blue sky. Nor will you have       said. It was all for the sake of the church and because
one on the background of white fleecy clouds.               God smells a savour of rest in Christ and in His blood
Always it appears in connection with and in contrast        shed for the church. This is not in favour to the
to storm clouds. And these are the testimony of             whole human race. It is not a "common grace" but a
God's awful wrath that sent the flood. And the truth        very particular grace that will continue the new world
expressed is exactly that although, upon that world         with regular growing and reaping seasons, with food
of men whose imagination is only evil from youth            and drink for man and cattle, that the church may
onward, God's terrible wrath, that once destroyed the       thrive and bring forth its covenant seed, that in this
whole lot of them with the flood, rests, He looks with      bringing forth the Christ Himself may appear and
grace and favour upon His Church for Christ's sake.         may receive the kingdom to rule it all from heaven
The two, God's hot displeasure with the wicked and          until that time that He comes to bring this world to
His grace to His Church are and will be found in the        its end and give that rest to His church according to
world until the judgment of tire. And then the grace        body and soul.
of God in the glorification of the church will be seen,       It was, then, no covenant of or with nature that
and it will be quite plain to all the wicked, and to        God here establishes. It was a restatement, a
those who now want to maintain such an impossible           reaffirmation of the one covenant of grace established
theory of a grace of God common to all mankind,             with Adam, carried on through Seth, and now
that those dark clouds of God's terrible wrath have         confirmed in Noah and his seed. It is no promise to
always been in the world, and that the rainbow is           nature, to the earthly creation but to the church as
quite particular in its reach to the earth.                 she is represented by Noah and his family. God still
                                                            sends floods and famines. He still sends stormy blasts
  In Christ God smelled a savour of rest to Noah who        and extremely cold winds and temperatures upon
sought Him in that Christ as He was under the               creation. His tornado still powers its way out of the
shadows of the Old Testament dispensation. For the          southwest with unbelievable destruction and strength.
sake of the church He will continue the world until it      He still sends His hurricanes before which no man can
had brought forth that Christ, not as a shadow but          stand. Are we to forget and overlook all this, or are
now as the reality that casts its shadow back to            we to say that God is not keeping this promise which
paradise. For their sakes, and for all who today seek       He gave to Noah, and is breaking His covenant with
Him in Christ, come in prayer to  Him in Christ and         nature? And forget not that some day  - which the
His sacrifice on the cross, confess their sins and          very promise implies  - He is going to destroy the
sinfulness and seek refuge in Christ from all this, He                                (continued on next page bottom left)


                                                     THE STAN DARDI BEARER         .' 1  .:*::  `-                                         167


                                        News  F&m O&r Churches

         The Theological School Committee, which has held             Rev. and Mrs. Lubbers are back, as of December
      past meetings in Southwest Church, plans to hold its         12, on native soil  - this time, likely, for good, not
      next meeting in our brand-new Seminary building.             just for a short furlough. After a bit of rest, Rev.
      That will be on the 17th of January. The dedication          Lubbers will no doubt be occupied in preaching in
      services for the new building will be held on Friday,        various of our churches where he's invited. What with
      F e b r u a r y   1, in the auditorium above the old         the regular assignments, of both east and west
      Seminary rooms. During the afternoon of that same            ministers, to Houston for two or three week periods,
      day (from  1:OO till 5:OO) there will be Open House at       there will likely be quite a number of occasions for
      4949 Ivanrest, for those who live outside the Grand          him to be busy with pulpit supply. And since Rev.
      Rapids area. The next day, February 2, also from 1           `Lubbers is surely one who loves to be busy with the
      to 5 P.M., there will be Open House for those who            Word, it is a virtual certainty that he will be happy to
      live in the area.                                            do that sort of thing. Incidentally, since he has served
                                                                   for more than two years in one place, he's also
         Needless to say, the professors and students are          eligible for a call in our churches.
      looking forward with eager anticipation to their move                                           *****
      to Ivanrest. Incidentally, there's a possibility that the
      student body next school year will be even larger              T h e   1 9 7 3   P r o t e s t a n t   R e f o r m e d   T e a c h e r s '
      than it is now. The committee reports that three             Convention was held in Covenant Christian High
      students from outside our churches have applied for          School on October 11 and 12. On the morning of the
      entrance into our Seminary for the 1974-1975 term.           1 lth, no less than thirty-eight teachers gathered in
                                                                   one of Covenant's classrooms for the keynote
II       The committee also reports that the  lo-50 Drive          address, delivered by Rev. C. Hanko. Many of them
      was another success. Total contributions for the             were from the Grand Rapids' area, of course, but
      Drive, as of November 30, amounted to  $9,782.12,            some had traveled from as far away as Loveland,
      and more has come in since that date. That brought           Colorado. Teachers from  Doon, Edgerton, and South
      the grand total, of cash collected and pledged, to           Holland were also in attendance.
      $128,094.93. There's not a large difference, anymore,          The teachers, according to a newsletter from one
      between that figure and the anticipated price tag for        of the schools, "enjoy this occasion of fellowship and
      the entire project !                                         opportunity for exchange of ideas with fellow
                                  *****                                                                             (continued on back page)



      (continued from previous page)                               providence that they may serve His church, but He
      .whole world with fire. He says that "while the earth        has established no covenant with the whole creation.
      remaineth," which is a warning that it is not going to         This is contrary to His very nature. For He is
      remain, that His wrath is going to destroy it, and thus      Jehovah, the unchangeable I am that I am. It is
      that His grace is not upon creation as such. He cursed       contrary to the very nature of an unchangeable God,
      it for man's sake. He keeps it under the curse for           who is the same yesterday, today and forever, to
      man's sake. He blesses  His church in the midst of that      make a  tempovary  covenant with the wicked. It is
      cursed world in grace. He makes life possible for her        contrary to His holy nature to make a covenant with
      and gives abundance of earthly goods to her enemies          anyone whose sins are not blotted out. He saw the
      that they may serve her  - not because He has an             blood of the burnt offerings of Noah as a picture of
      attitude of favour towards these enemies  - and it is        the blood of the cross, and He sees Noah's faith in
      exactly in saving grace that He will destroy the whole       that Christ, as He was then under the shadows, as
      world and the ungodly in it for the church's sake, as        faith in the very cross of Christ. And He counted it to
      He did at the flood.                                         him for righteousness and smelled a savour of rest for
         No, His grace is very particular, for it is only upon     His church.
      those for whose sins Christ died. There are no                 For her sake the world  will continue to have its
      blessings flowing from that cross except to those            seasons and its crops, so that all whose names are
      whose sins are blotted out. If God has not blotted out       written in the Lamb's book of life may be born, and
      their sins by that blood of the cross, there is no just      be reborn into the kingdom. As Paul says, "All things
      and legal basis upon which he can give them any              are for your sakes." Remember that, and continue to
      blessing. He can and does give them good gifts in His        believe in an unchangeable and holy God.


  THE STANDARD BEARER
           P.O. Box 6964
 Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506





  Protestant Reformed school teachers." Provision was                               -..-        `-  -.-  ::  ;:  -`-
                                                                             :  ..,.  ..-I ~_ _ .I .; i ., `. 1
  made in the schedule for plenty of opportunity for I-"                                                                1,:-          ,T*E-~T~nNoARDleE-~~A;riE$  .y;z:.;.;'  ,'  .-
                                                                                                                                     . . .
                                                                                            Se&-monthly',   exceptmqnri;lSi.~;rin~J;r,   J&;&d   Au&.N~-
  the teachers to share ideas and to learn from each .:::  publiihbd   bJi~the.Refo;med  iree'tiubli~hin .Asso!ziatibfl;  Inc.  ._  -'  :-:
                                                                                            Second Class Postage  Paiq at  Gland                                               9
                                                                                                                                                                              Rap  d?,  Ml"?:   -.  :-  )
  other's experience, study, and insight. At practically --Ed&r+Chiex:  P r o % -   Home>zC.  Hoek$ina- .                                                                                                              ._`.
any given time during the two convention days, there eDephr$m&r   "&$&s:.  &of.  ~&&ert~~D.  cjeck&;-tir."bonatd   ~DO&3?l&  i
                                                                                     Rev,-  Davis J.  Engeisma,. Rev.-Cornelius-Hanko,  prof,   Herma?- Hanko.
  were two presentations being made. The teachers,                                  Rev.  -Robert  C1`Harbach;Rev.-`Jphn-A.  Heys: Rev. Jay  KOrterln9,  Rev:.
                                                                             Dale H. Kuiper, Rev. George. C: Lubbers,  Rev..Marinus   SchiPPer,  Rev.,
  then, had a choice to make (often, likely, a difficult :Gise J:`V&i Baren,- Rev;:Herman'-V+ma~r? ,                                                                             ..  ,.-  .`;  ;.  -e  .;               ..-
                                                                             -Editorial  Office:.`Pibf.-H.  C,Hoeksema'  a:  `.                                                                                 --
  one),  between  the  topics  of  ,c,ectionals  being  held                    ) .                       .                       c.  ,.  ::;.;-.  ,1641PlymduthTerrace,   S;E.--I::   -.--  -`.I,  --:.-   I  Le
                                                                                                                                .Grand   Rapids.:Michigan  49506  `..  -'                                                                     -.
  simultaneously. On Friday morning, for  ,example,                                            --
                                                                                    Church  $?&  Ed@?:.   :. Mr.  boilald Doezema  `.  `.                                                     e-            :-!._     `.'
  they could choose between "A Program of English                                                                                             1904  PlymoL!th-Terrace.  S.E.
                                                                              -..`z              .`-A_  z.-  ~~,.~`:,.  G r a n d   R a p i d s ,   &Nchigan  4 9 6 0 6   -"  ' -id
  Instruction," presented by  Miss Hulda Kuiper, and                                E&i&a/   ijolicy:.   Eveiy-edito;  is solely responsible  .fOr   the'cOi;ter!ts  Of
                                                                              his -own' articlesi` Contributions- of general interest- from our readers-
  "Continuity of Art Instruction," by Mrs. Antoinette                               and  $I&stions for  <the  -Question-Box Department are welcome.  COntrl-
                                                                             `butions:will  be  Ii&ted to  approximateiy.30.0  words and must-be  neatly
  Quenga. Other topics for  sectionals included "Topical                            written or typewritten, and must be signed.  Copy:deadlines   are the first
                                                                              and the -fifteenth -of. the month.. All- communication+  r+ttVe to  t.he
  Geography," by Miss Beverly Hoekstra, "Continuity contents should. be sent to the  editorial:office.~,.
  of Math Instruction," by Mr. John Buiter, "Making                                 Reprint  PO/icy:.  F%?i&jion  is heieby  *granted   fbi the  feprinting of  arti-
                                                                              xles in our magazine by other  pubbcations; provided:. a) that such  re-
  Students Aware of Current Events," by Mr. Lamm                                    prlnt@darticles  are  repro@uced in full;  b)  .that.proper  acknowledgement
                                                                                    is made:  c) that `a copy of the  periodlcal.Jn  which such reprint appears
                                                                              `is sent to  (Jur editorial  office..  _- . .  ,.  "
  Lubbers, and "Teaching of Reformed Doctrine,"                                                                                                                                      .-               .-.
                                                                       bY    B&&e&                             Off@e:,,Tr;C                      Standard.Bearer'                   !'        .'                       y  :  ' .
 Prof. H. Hanko.                                                                                          Mr..             l+Vand&r                Wal.       Bus.~Mgri              -1             `.        e-1     -.                ~.
                                                                                                               .~  P .   0 .   Box  6064.,:  ..  ;
                                                                                                               .,-.'            - G r a n d   Rapids,.Michigan'4950$'  -'  :.I  '  e' i- -: --
     The teachers do well, ,of course, to devote such .Bus~~essAsent.for~nustralasia:Mr.   W m .                                                                                            van.Rii"   :_.  _                                 -'
  time and effort to professional development and self .- -.I ,: :.`, :,.., ,_.'(,:--.. ,:%$&%?$$<~ +find                                                                                                                    ' --'-.
  improvement, for the task in which they are engaged                         Subscription  -.poltcy:. Subscription price, -$7.00 per  y&r ($5.00 for"
                                                                                    Australasia). Unless a definite-request  for-  discotitinuance  is received, it
  is indeed a serious one. Rev. C. Hanko, in the                                    is asslimed.that  the.subscriber `wishes-the subscription to.-continue wlth-
                                                                                    out the formality.  of- a renewal  order;aild  he`will be billed for renewal.
  intro  duction to his keynote address, sought to                                  If'you  have  2'  change of  add&s. please notify the Business-Office-as.
                                                                                    early -as  pc&ible.in order  to-avoid  the  inconvenienceaf  delayed deliv-.
  impress  that fact on the minds of the teachers. I hope                           e r y .   I n c l u d e   your,Zip   C o d e .                                     .              :
                                                                             .~dver&ing poiicy: The .Sfandard'Perer,ddes-  not-accept comtiarcial
  you are all aware, as I am, he began, that this room -advertising-qf  any kind;  Ar@ouncements  of  ,church and school events,.
                                                                                    annivbrsaries.  obituaries, and syrhpathy resolutions will be placed for a
  holds  One  Of the  mOSt important  pOWerS  for  influence -83.00 fee.  These:should   be`sant.to the Business  Dffice and should be
                                                                             _accorhpanied-by.the   $&OO.fee.  Deadline for  announcements.is  the  1st
  in our churches today.  You have, he continued, the                               or the 15th of the  month,:  previqus  to publication  pn  the  15th  o!  the.-
                                                                                    1st respectively;  -:  ; . . .  `:-  -.  ,:;-
  tremendous responsibility of providing, by means of Boun'd  VO/UmeS: The  Busin&ss~   0ffici:wili` accept  Standing orders for
                                                                                    bound copies `of  .the  curr&t'volume:  s&h orders are filled as soon as:                                                                                       .
  the instruction of covenant youth, for the future of -possible aftei  completibn  of a  vdlume. A limited number of  past.vol-
                                                                                    umes,may.be   pbtained   throu+;the  Business Office:  -_                                                                                  ~.
  our churches. If the church is strong, one reason is  :I'  ,'  e.:  1. .:I  1,.  -.:  ,-.  :,  :  +  .<,-  ;...-  -.  -, . .  ~_  ,:  .:..                                                                           1                 ..,_.
  that the seminary is stable; another reason is that the  :.-j,.  `;--I  `--;-i!-:'  -_  l  .`::;-.-a-:  "  .-a  ...I  e',:                                                                        ;  -. I.;-
  ministry is what it should be; but no small part of -:.I  :  I..-.  ,._,-  I;  I,.  -`eI  ;.  ;.'  `..                                                    :  eZ  i.  1.  i  _  ;  :  :                              -L-  :
  that, he insisted, is the work of the teachers. It's .-.  ..  I  `:-:;  :  :.,-.  :  .:'  :::. CONTENTS:.   -::  -..  ,:  1.;;  --.  .; :  -.:  e-.;.
  probably more tme today than ever, to say that our :.,: ..-,.. -, :' .e .. .;I.,' 'I Y .% '-. ;` - :'e,:,.:--.-  .' '-: -eec                                                                             -_'  .e  -;  ii_  --.:
  teachers have a tremendous calling. In the light of the -]Se~king-~~.Ab~cting~Ci~y,  -::
                                                                                                                                                     .    :-  ::`T:-  .`:I  e-  `-  :  `_ 1  ; 146
                                                                                                                                                           ..*.*........i....*......
  seriousness of our times, the task of the Christian                                TkOPC  an$`thi?`"`~~~~~~ffer'~ (5)- ..,;> .I :I.:: .: .;.,`:. . ; 1 ;. ;-X48:-
  teacher  is  graver  and  more  serious  than  that  which -: E.@&%NsteS`:?~..  .;. .-;-; ,.;ii.--; ., ; :>,: . -.I..:. . ; ; .I. .-;; . .-: ;,l<l ~:
  any teacher has ever had.                                                   .,&@ddled~Th@logizfig:  ;. -. ; . . .;.j-; ;-: . ..-. ,. 1. . . :. . .-. ..+ -,151
                                                                                                                                 $.tio~;IkFaV$r'T)f  Ung$l&o~ti~$ ,-;`. , .-; .1,53 ;
     That was the gist of the opening remarks of Rev.                                                                    he:@refor&&r;d@  ce&e$`.-. -. .`; .a: .-.:.I. .`.(. .-.154
 Hanko's speech. Sobering thoughts they were, and                                                                         n The&$& ~f&~~~t~~e `1:;. ;,:;-;..-.;.:. . ..- :$.- . :155,:
 ones which, by design certainly, would serve to put --.T&I?  S$i@@d  &eqe~~n'F@trpspe@  . T -:, . 1 . .I .;:. :- . ; :I. . . .11$7
 the  activites of the Convention in proper  perspective.                    :, EXpc$tiqG  `qf~I$$r~W~.lj  :32-34 . ;. ;.-.`,: ;. :. i-:' ; :-`; . . ...`. ; .16gi
 Through such gatherings, the teachers become more > A; Gall tg R~i;tn~ance~and,Reform~~ion  (Is$ -1:19-17).  .; . ?$62
                                                                                                                                                     -_                                       ..-
 conscious of the gravity of their work, and, no doubt, ;`~~~~k$+~r@~iwd~;;~ ~1::. * !`!-.::.: -`.f - * : ; -- -: l.yz--- :.c w-:-f *:`?.; -:~.~i~~~ze
 more aware also of their own limitations. I think that                                                                                ._. . . .--. .A. . .-.. . . . ;. i ; .%. ; ,; . . . . . . . . . ._.
                                                                              :Newsi;rom'~~,C~u~ches.."   :.-<-  '                                                            ""  :ee.;.  _  .;  -. .  367
 I speak for the rest of the teachers, too, when I say _:.  ->  I  I,  .;,  I,+  ;:  :--,-  1                                                      :  .-`;J  I-  `-`:I  `:'  :,;.:`,.:  r:  -:  .--.-  :  .j:.  _  -. :,
 that we covet your prayers.                                                  ;  :..  `.  i;:,,.  -1'  ,`...  -.-.`.  ..:.  .~  :  ,:  -.  -.-  ;..
                                                                             fi,:
                                                                             :_  ., :,:._' - 
                                                                                              . . -- :i  ,,1,  :~;: -
                                                                    D*Ds                                                        ,); ; y-e-: .I.-!. .:-:.y- :=, :.--: ..' ,:iz:i;,`2  : j.,, .<`.` :-*.'  <  ;I-.


