           The
    STANDARD
         BEARER
e- A REFORMED SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE                                       F





               Home-instruction is fundamental! Let us never forget
            it! The instruction a child receives at home is basic with
            respect to all other instruction, and the character of his
            bringing up at home reflects itself in his manifestation
            everywhere else, in Church, in Catechism, in Sunday
            School and in the Primary School. It is true, that we
            cannot easily over-estimate the value of a Christian
            education throughout, in Church and School as well as
            at home. It is equally  .true, that the danger is not
            imaginary, now we have so many institutions for the
            purpose of instructing our children outside of the home,
            that we trust too much in those institutions, as if they
            could bear the entire burden of responsibility, and that
            we grow negligent with respect to the bringing up of our
            children at ho'me.
               Scripture emphasizes the need of home-instruction.
            Ultimately it places: the responsibility for the education
            of our children upon the parent. [See page 173-j


170                                                THE STANDARD BEARER


MEDITATION


                                                Choosing Life

                                                        Rev. M. Schipper


                 "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and
                 death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live. 
                                                                I                                              "
                                                                                            Deuteronomy 30: 19.


       "See, I have set before thee this day life and good,          the creatures in general is also true of man. He is not
and death and evil . . ."                                            responsible for the fact that he lives, for his life came
       It is the law of the blessing and the curse!                  to him from without. And after he lives for
                                                                     threescore years and ten, or fourscore years if strong,
       Do this, and thou shalt live! Love the Lord thy               he too passes away as a shadow.
God with all thine heart, soul, and strength. And love
thy neighbor as thyself. Doing this thou shalt be                      And so the questions persist . . .
blessed.                                                               What is life?
       Do this, and thou shalt die! Hate God, and worship              And how can it be said to be a matter of choice?
the idol. Hate thy neighbor, and love God's enemies.
Doing this thou shalt surely die; thou shalt not live.                  When we look at the living creatures about us, we
       This is the law which Moses received from God,                observe that life for them seems to be their constant
and had given to the people. If ye will love the Lord                adaptation to the proper sphere of external reality in
                                                                     which they are placed by God, and which is in
and walk in His ways, and do His commandments, ye                    harmony with their very being and nature. A tree, for
shall surely live. But if ye are haughty, and proud,                 instance, is said to be living when it constantly draws
and refuse to obey, ye shall be cursed and scattered.                from the soil in which it is planted the life-giving
       Life and death!                                               ingredients which God has put into it, when it takes
       Choose life! Glorious life!                                   from the air, from the rain and sunshine the energy
                                                                     these elements give. Or take, for example, the fish;
       But what is it?                                               which is said to live so long as it abides within the
       Life we see all about us. We see it in the world of           water, the law in which God has placed it. Take the
vegetation. We see it in the waters, and in the air                  tree out of the soil or the fish out of the water, and
about us. We see it in the trees and plants that spring              these creatures die. But as was said above, life is
up out of the earth. We see it in the animals and                    imposed upon them. They have no choice in the
creeping things upon the face of the earth. We behold                matter. In fact, life must first be given to them, or
the life of the bird that wings its way freely in the sky            they cannot continue to adapt to the law of God in
above us, and in the fish that plays in the waters of                which they are placed. Put a dead tree in rich soil and
the sea.                                                             it will soon deteriorate and rot away. Leave a dead
       Death!                                                        fish in the water and it will soon bloat, and become a
       Inevitable death!                                             stinking mess. And, as was suggested, man, the crown
                                                                     of creation, is in many respects like the tree and the
       While all about us we see life, we also see death on          fish and the animals. His natural earthly life, breathed
every hand!                                                          into him by the Spirit of God, continues so long as he
       Peculiarly after the creatures live for a time, they          breathes the air about him, and adapts himself to the
die. And none of the creatures makes life or death a                 earthly creation for his food and drink. Deprive him
matter of choice. Life appears to be imposed upon                    of the air, and he suffocates to death; take from him
them; but death, too, is inescapable.                                his food and drink, and he perishes.
       And in a certain sense of the word, what is true of              But man is also different from the other creatures!


                                               THE,STANDARD  BEARER                                              171


   And life for him in the ultimate sense of the word the world to assume their guilt in their nature. This
is quite different than that of the animal.               assumed guilt He bore to the accursed tree, where the
   He is made in the image and likeness of God!           wrath of God He bore over against the sin of His
                                                          people, so as to remove the guilt and that wrath from
   And this image is the very idea of his being! He them. And because He redeemed them from eternal
resembles God in a creaturely way. He therefore wrath, God raised Him from the dead, and exalted
cannot live by bread alone, but by the Word which         Him at His right hand. There He gave unto Him the
proceedeth out of the mouth of God.                       Spirit of Life without measure, which Spirit He, their
   Life in its highest reality is in God!                 Saviour, imparts unto them in such a way that they
                                                          are spiritually renewed. And becoming new creatures
   He is the living God! The absolute reality of life!    by grace, their will is also renewed, and they are
   In God life is the eternal adaptation to Himself enabled to choose once more life and glory.
alone! This is possible because He is One in Being and
Three in Persons. Reverently speaking, were God only         By grace, therefore, he is a new creation, recreated
one, He could not be the living God. But because He in true knowledge and righteousness, reflecting in a
is triune, He can and does eternally adapt to Himself. creaturely way the virtues of God. He is alive with the
In the Trinity there is a mutual seeking and finding of resurrection life, the imperishable life of Christ His
Himself. Among the three Divine Persons there is a Saviour. Able he is once more to love God and to
bond of perfection, love. The Father seeks and finds adapt to the will of God for his life. While he stands
Himself in the Son, Who is His perfect reflection and in the midst of death, in a body that tends to the
impressed image; and this He does through the Spirit. grave, he is enabled by the grace of God through faith
The Son seeks and finds the Father through the once more to choose life.
Spirit. And the Spirit takes the deep things of the         Necessary choice!
Father and reveals them to the Son. This proceeding
and returning, generation and procession, is the            Not so is it that man is free not to choose if he
divine, perfected, covenant life of God.                  will. Nor is it so that the natural man, apart from
                                                          grace, can choose life if he will. Never is it so that
   Man's life, on the other hand, consists in the man can decide to be independent, refusing to make a
vibrating of God's life in him. God's covenant love choice between life and death, between light and
must thrill his whole being. Man's real life consists in darkness, between Christ and Belial. Vain man may
his constantly adapting to the covenant life of God. boast of the freedom of the will. The so-called atheist
For him eternal life is to know God and Jesus Christ may boast that he has decided to serve no God. But
Whom He has sent. (John 17:3).                            all such boasting is vain. Choose he must, and choose
   We must remember here that we are speaking of he will.
man as he came forth from the hand of his Creator;          The reason is that man, in distinction from the
of man as he was formed out of the dust of the earth animal, is made a rational, moral creature. When he
and in whom God breathed the Spirit of life, and he fell through the choice of our first parents, man did
became a living soul; of man who was created in the not become another creature. He remained a man. He
image of God, in true knowledge, righteousness, and retained his rationality. He continued to choose.
holiness.                                                 True, he now chose only death and corruption. But
   As such, man could rightly know God his Creator, choose, he does. True, he could not choose life, but
heartily love and serve Him. Though he was created constantly he chooses death. And when grace comes,
lapsible, he could by an act of his will choose life. But and he is renewed by the Spirit of Christ, he in
with the freedom of his will he could also choose principle chooses life once more. But choose, he does.
death. And the fact of the matter is, that he chose the_ In the second place, we must remember that God, the
latter.                                                   Creator and Re-Creator, places man, in distinction
   Consequently Adam, and all men in him, could not from the animal, in an antithetical relation, so that
and cannot now of themselves choose life. He is in always man is required to choose the good and hate
bondage and in slavery to sin, and he wills only death, the evil. And so he is constantly choosing. Depraved
and the way to death. Since the fall all men are and corrupt man always chooses darkness rather than
conceived and born in sin, are spiritually dead. light, death rather than life. He cannot choose both,
Incapable is the natural man of any spiritual good, it is either-or. No different is it when he is saved by
nor can he of himself choose life.                        grace. The new man in Christ chooses Christ, not
                                                          Belial; to love God and to hate evil. True, he does this
   But here is the good news of the Gospel!               in an old nature that hates the light, and that delights
   God, the living God, in His elective love chose His itself in the way of death. But choose he must.
people in Christ. And for them He sent His Son into Everyday, and from morning to night, he must say:


172                                             THE STANDARD BEARER



Yes, to God; and No, to evil. This is precisely the            And -this choice of life is not merely the choice of
significance of the Word of God in our text.       -.        the individual child of God, but of the church of God
   Choose life!                                              which He is gathering in the generations of the
                                                             believers and their seed.
   That both thou and thy seed may live!                       That thou and thy seed may live!
   Here we are assured that the choice of life is never
vain. He that chooses life will not somehow come to            The choice of life is the choice which all the elect
bitter disappointment. Rather, the converse is true.         seed makes!
He that chooses life shall live.                               God's covenant shall be realized in the gathering of
   And the meaning is not that the choice of life            all the elect seed!
merits life. Truth is, we never merit, and he who              And they shall live!
rejoices in life now in principle and forever in               Now, as they still walk in the flesh, in the midst of
heavenly glory constantly admits that of himself he          an evil and corrupt world that tends to destruction.
forfeits all right to life and blessedness as he is by       In that world they walk antithetically, always
nature. We recognize the truth that our sins and             rejecting the evil, and choosing the good; always
iniquities  which we still commit deserve God's              fighting against the darkness, while choosing the light;
eternal wrath and judgment.                                  always with the clean garments of righteousness,
  We confess that the choice of life is due only to          while they despise the garments spotted by the flesh.
God's sovereign choice of us, which is first, before we      Choosing life!
could do any choosing of life. We declare openly that          Presently, they shall live in the glory of eternal life,
the choice of life is the work of His sovereign grace in     with the living God, in the house of His covenant
us. We proclaim it loudly unto all who will hear, and        tabernacle!
to God Who always hears, that salvation is of the
Lord, and the choice of life is the choice of faith,           World without end!
which He has graciously implanted in our hearts                Amen !
through grace.





                   The Standard Bearer
                           In Retrospect
                                    Profi H. Hanko



  If one pages through the past volumes of the               calling. There are articles which discuss educational
Standard Bearer, one cannot help but be impressed            trends in the public schools and in the Christian
with the large number of articles devoted to the             schools. There are articles which discuss the need for
matter of Christian education. This fact is no doubt         our own Protestant Reformed school system. There
rooted in the emphasis which our Churches have               are articles which discuss the nature of the education
always placed upon the doctrine of the covenant of           which ought to be given in a school which is truly
grace.                                                       Christian and truly Reformed.
  These articles begin in the very first volume, and           These articles also bore their fruit in the
there is scarcely a single volume which does not             establishment of many Protestant Reformed Christian
contain at least one article. These articles range over a    Schools throughout the country.
broad field of subjects, and they treat.many different
aspects of the problem. There are articles which urge          It was difficult to pick out a representative article
the people of God to be faithful in their covenant           from the many available in the first twenty volumes


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  173


of the Standard Bearer. We chose one from Volume            responsibilities in covenant instruction. It is a series
XX. It does not deal specifically with education in         of two editorials (slightly edited) written by Rev. H.
the school; it rather touches upon parental                 Hoeksema at about the time a new school year
responsibility in the home. We hope that it may be of       started.
benefit to our readers to remind them of their
                                                      ****

  The season is there again, when more than in the          before our imagination by these words! A man, a
weeks and months of summer-vacations, our                   father, a parent, sitting in his house! Our house is not
attention is concentrated upon the instruction of our       the building in which we dwell, no matter how
covenant-children.                                          magnificent an edifice it may be. Our house is our
  Schools that have been closed for several weeks           home. And the home consists of the fellowship
have again opened their doors and resumed their             between the various members of one family. Be it
work of training the young.                                 ever so splendid, a mere house is not a home; and be
                                                            it ever so humble, there is no place like home. The
   Catechism classes are again conducted to instruct        closest earthly, human relationships are formed and
the children of the Church in "the aforesaid                sustained and enjoyed in our "house". There are the
doctrine", that they may be founded in the truth.           love-relations of man and wife, of parent and
Sunday schools are prepared to add their efforts to         children, of brothers and sisters. The home is a man's
those of the Church and of the School to instruct the       earthly sanctuary. It is his haven of rest after a day of
children of the covenant in the knowledge of the            strenuous toil. His home is strictly private. Into his
Word.                                                       home he wishes no one to intrude.
  And the long winter-evenings are more adapted                And the text draws before our mind the picture of
than the sultry summer-nights to home- and                  such a home and of the actual enjoyment of
family-life, to the "sitting in our house", so that also    home-life. When thou sittest in thy house! The parent
in the home special attention may be paid to the            is at home, and he is not nervously pacing the floor or
bringing up of the children in the fear and                 busy with all kinds of outside work, but he is at
admonition of the Lord.                                     leisure. And he is not sitting in his house alone, but
   Home-instruction is fundamental! Let us never            his children are with him! For the text speaks of his
forget it! The instruction a child receives at home is      instruction to his children. The family, therefore, is
basic with respect to all other instruction, and the        together. A picture that is much more rare in our
character of his bringing up at home reflects itself in     modern world, even including the people of God,
his manifestation everywhere else, in Church, in            than it was among Israel of old. Partly, no doubt, this
Catechism, in Sunday School and in the Primary              is due to the fact, that life in all its forms is different
School. It is true, that we cannot easily over-estimate     from the life of Israel in the promised land. Our life
the value of a Christian education throughout, in           has become much more public. Many matters, much
Church and School as well as at home. It is equally         business, many meetings, draw us away from home,
true, that the danger is not imaginary, now we have         sometimes every evening of the week. Some of this
so many institutions for the purpose of instructing         cannot be helped. Much of it is also beneficial. It is a
our children outside of the home, that we trust too         joy to see our young people make the Church their
much in those institutions, as if they could bear the       central meeting place, where they congregate to be
entire burden of responsibility, and that we grow           instructed in doctrine, to enjoy one-another's
negligent with respect to the bringing up of our            fellowship in society-life, to sing, to discuss the Word
children at home.                                           of God and to pray. Yet, even good things can be
                                                            overdone and thus become harmful. All these things
  Scripture emphasizes the need of home-instruction.        ought not to destroy our home-life. There should be
Ultimately it places the responsibility for the             time, especially in the winter-months with its long
education of our children upon the parent.                  evenings, when everything beckons us to stay inside
  Beautifully and very emphatically this is expressed       and gather around the home-hearth, to "sit in our
in the well-known injunction to Israel: "And thou           house". And we need not emphasize that the
shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, when         pleasures, which draw the people of the world from
thou  sittest in thy house and when thou walkest by         their fireside, should have no attraction for the
the way; when thou liest down and when thou risest          people of God whatever.
up," Deut. 6: 7.                                              But there is more.
  When thou sittest  in thy house!                            Even when we do sit in our house, and even when


1'74                                         THE STANDARD BEARER


not enjoy family-life and fellowship. Many a family         most deeply interested in their education, because
might just as well go out and spend the evening             they love them with parental love? They certainly
elsewhere, as to sit in their house, as far as actual       may be expected to seek the good of their children
home-life is concerned. Such is the case, to mention        that are united to them with heartstrings. What, then,
just one of our modem habits, when, as soon as              could be more in harmony with the ordinances of
supper is finished, the radio (we might substitute          God, than that the education of the child should rest
television, H.H.) is turned on and we open our home         upon the responsibility of the parent? They, of all
to the outside world until it is time to retire for the     men, know their own children best, ought to know
night. Regardless now of the question as to the             them better than any, are in a position to be
material we receive over the radio and the character        thoroughly acquainted with them. They are. with their
of the program to which we listen, the fact is, that to     children from the moment they open their eyes upon
enjoy the radio is something radically different from       the world. They watch them and know them in their
sitting in our house and enjoying family-life and           different characters long before the time arrives that
fellowship. And thus there are many different things        they must also be educated in school and catechism.
that might be mentioned in this connection, that            They, too, have the confidence of their children,
prevent us from actually "sitting in our house" when        unless there is something wrong in home-relations.
we are at home.                                             Parents are the natural instructors of their children. It
   The text draws a different picture.                      is but natural, i.e., wholly in harmony with God's
                                                            ordinances of creation and providence, that Scripture
   Thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy                should place the responsibility of the education of
children!                                                   the child upon the parents.
   Concretely Scripture here draws before our                 But the Word of God is addressing  covenant-
imagination the attractive picture of a parent, sitting     parents.
in his house, entirely at leisure, and with the purpose
in his heart to spend an evening at home; his children        It is speaking to the Church in the world.
are with him and sitting about him; and he is busy            God causes His covenant, as we know, to run and
teaching them.                                              to be realized in the line of continued generations.
   Teaching them what?                                      Hence, we and our children are not our own, but
                                                            belong to the Lord. Our children are not ours. They
   Thou shalt teach them! That is, the precepts of the      are not given us merely in order that we should enjoy
Lord our covenant God. For, this is the first and great     their presence and delight in their love, but that we
commandment: Thou shalt love the Lord, thy God,             should teach them the fear of the Lord. The
with all thy heart and mind and soul and strength!          responsibility for the covenant-training, therefore, lies
And, therefore, the fear of the Lord is the beginning       in the first place, with the parents.
of wisdom, and all instruction is, as to its
spiritual-ethical nature, instruction in the Word of          And for that reason they are also expected to
God!                                                        assume that responsibility when they present their
                                                            children to be baptized. Then they promise before
   And in general it is evident, that Scripture here        the face of the Lord, the whole church being witness,
places the entire burden of responsibility for the          that they will bring up their children in the aforesaid
instruction of the covenant children upon the               doctrine, or help or cause them to be instructed
shoulders of the parents.                                   therein, to the utmost of their power!
   Home-instruction is basic.                                 Hence, also according to this promise, instruction
   Education must begin at home. Begin, we mean,            begins at home. First, the parents promise that they
not merely in the sense that during the first few years     will instruct their children themselves. It is only in
of its life the child is nurtured by its parent, but in     the next place that they also pledge themselves to
the sense that all the lines of its education must          help and cause them to be instructed, when their
continually have their beginning in the home.               personal efforts and powers would not be sufficient.
   Home education is basic.                                 But even then they are responsible.  They  help and,
   And Scripture, as might be expected, places the          they cause them to be instructed.
full responsibility of the instruction of the child upon       Always the home and always the parent!
the parents.                                                   Now, that instruction in the home may be
   As might be expected, I say.                             distinguished as direct and indirect, intentional and
   For, even from a natural viewpoint, what is more         unintentional.
natural than that the parents should be the                   And it is difficult to say which of these is the more


                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER                                            175


instruction, perhaps, occupies by far more time than         we, perhaps, criticizing severely and unmercifully and
the direct and intentional.                                  very conceitedly the office-bearers of the Church? Do
  What do we mean by unintentional instruction of            we speak about them as also about the rest of the
the child at home?                                           brethren as before the face of God, with respect
  The atmosphere at home, in which a child grows             because of their office and with love because they are
                                                             brethren?
up.
  We must remember, a child grows up gradually and              You see, "zooals de ouden  zingen, zoo  piepen de
constantly, not only physically, but also mentally and       jongen".
spiritually. He does not develop by leaps and bounds.           The child imbibes the atmosphere in which you
His mental and spiritual growth do not wait for us, do       cause it to live.
not stop for a while merely because we pay no                   You did not intend to instruct your child, but you
attention to him and do not give him a dose of               did nevertheless.
instruction. It goes right on.                                  You did not directly speak to him, but he was a
  And a child is very receptive. It takes it all in! It      very interested listener, even though himself was not
easily imbibes all it hears and sees.                        intentionally so and greedily he drank in every word
  It also likes to imitate. It is a natural imitator.        you said.
"Zooals de ouden zingen, zoo piepen de jongen". (As             So little did you mean to educate your child that
the parents sing, so the children chirp, HJI.)               later, when you hear the child speak in the same way,
  For these reasons the atmosphere of the home is of         when he also criticizes his teacher and minister and
great importance. To this belongs, for instance, our         allows himself to speak deprecatingly about those
conversation as parents, when we are not directly            that are placed over him, you disapprove and punish
speaking to the children, but when the latter are            or rebuke the child.
present. And I may as well add: or when they are not            But your rebuke is vain and your punishment of
present, for even then we are creating the                   little avail. For, though you did not intend it so, the
home-atmosphere, and whatever may be the character           child will tacitly judge that you are rebuking and
of our conversations when the children are not               punishing him for what you have taught him yourself.
present will naturally become their character when           Unintentionally you have instructed him and your
they are about us. To this belongs, too, our                 intentional instruction is in conflict with it.
conversation when we have company and spend a
social evening. What do we, then, talk about? Are the          Many things might be added to this as belonging to
things of the kingdom of God the chief subject of our        this unintentional instruction, to the atmosphere in
talk? `Or are, perhaps, other matters uppermost in our       your home.
mind and of chief interest in our conversation? Do             But let this be clear: there must be harmony
we, perhaps, easily slander and backbite? Or, are we         between your direct and intentional instruction and
spending an evening talking about the latest fashion         that home-atmosphere.
in coats and hats or the newest style automobile! Are          Both must be rooted in the fear of the Lord!
the things of the world the main subject? And does
the spirit of the world manifest itself in our talk,         (Editor's note: We receive the impression from the
when we converse as parents or with our friends when         article that Rev. Hoeksema intended to continue this
we have them for a social evening at our home? And           series in later editorials. He did not however, return
when we do speak about the things of God's                   to this subject, perhaps because of other pressing
kingdom, what is the tenor of our conversation? Are,         matters.)





                       Know the standard and follow it. Read THE STANDARD BEARER.


176                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



EDITORIALS

                                     Seminary Building
                             Dedication Rescheduled





  The above photo shows the main entrance of the            been planned, at which our new professor, Professor
new building of our seminary nearing completion.            Robert Decker, will give the dedicatory address.
Actually the building is much nearer completion than          Open house is also being planned.
this picture indicates. The exterior is complete, and
the finishing work is nearing completion inside. It will      For out-of-town visitors there will be open house
probably be a close squeeze, but we hope to move in         at the new building on the afternoon of Friday,
between semesters.                                          February 15, from  1:OO P.M. to 5:00 P.M. For any
                                                            who are unacquainted in the area, here are directions.
  To our consternation, after we could make no              Coming from the west on M21 from Holland, take
more changes in the last issue of the Standard Bearer,      the expressway at Jenison to 28th Street. Turn right
we discovered a conflict in dates. The new date of the      down 28th Street to Ivanrest Ave. You can recognize
dedication program is February 15, the Lord willing.        Ivanrest by the pedestrian overpass just before you
The program will be at First Church, Grand Rapids.          reach it. Turn right down  Ivanrest past 44th Street.
Why at First Church? Well, frankly we are looking for       After that, you can't miss it! Coming from the south
a capacity audience! After almost 50 years with no          on the US 13 1 expressway, exit at 54th Street. Go
home of its own, our Theological School is at last          west on 54th Street to the end; jog over to  52nd
going to have its own brand new building! What a            Street. Follow  52nd Street to the third stop sign,
wonderful occasion! What reason for thanksgiving the        which will be  Ivanrest Ave. Turn right on Ivanrest,
Lord our God is giving us! And by "us" I mean not           and you will be in sight of the building.
only the personnel of the school, but our entire
denomination, to whom the school belongs, We have             For local visitors the open house has been set for
reason for a joyous celebration and for thankful            Saturday afternoon, February 16, from 1 to 5 P.M.
dedication! Let as many of us as possible - from near         For those unable to attend, we will try to furnish
and far -join us on the evening of February 15! And         more pictures of the finished building  ip the near
let us make the auditorium of First Church                  future.
reverberate with praises to our covenant God!                 But by all means, try to be present at this historic


                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                     177





                   The OPC and the "Free Offer" (5  >

                                                     Contrary to Scripture

                                                              (continued)


   In this section of our critique we propose to                             as elect, are the beneficiaries of this favour, and it is
examine, first of all, the Scriptural evidence that is                       that fact that is distinctly stated in verse 45.
adduced by the proponents of the offer-theory and to                                The significant feature of this text is that this
face the question whether their Scriptural evidence                          bestowal of favour by God on all alike is adduced as
and their exegesis is  valid.  A second question,                            the reason why the disciples are to love their enemies
however, is necessarily involved, namely: is the                             and do them good. There is, of course, a question as
exegesis of the Scriptural passages cited in harmony                         to the proper text of verse 44. If we follow the
with the current thought of Scripture? To this                               AIeph-B text and omit the clauses, "bless them who
question we shall also address ourselves.                                    curse you, do good to them who hate you" as well as
                                                                             the verb "despitefuhy use," the sense is not affected.
  From time to time in the course of this discussion                         And besides, these clauses, though they may not
we shall also refer to the recent booklet by Pastor                          belong to the genuine text of Matthew, appear in Luke
Errol1  Hulse,  The Free Offer.  Pastor  Hulse is not                        6:27, 28 in practically the same form. Hence the
Reformed, but Baptist; but he is rather widely                               teaching of our Lord undoubtedly was that the
acknowledged as a "Calvinistic Baptist," to my mind                          disciples were to love their enemies, do good to those
a contradiction in terms, but a name which is used by                        who hated them, bless those who cursed them, and
some to denote a Baptist who holds to the doctrine                           pray for those who  despitefully  used them and
of sovereign grace and the so-called Five Points of                          persecuted them. And the reason provided is that
Calvinism. Because this booklet has received rather                          God himself bestows his favours upon his enemies.
wide distribution and because its teachings continue                         The particular reason mentioned why the disciples are
                                                                             to be guided and animated by the divine example is
to be acknowledged as representative of true                                 that they, the disciples, are sons of the Father. The
Calvinism, we shall include it in our present critique.                      obligation and urge to the love of their enemies and
This can rather readily be done because the position                         the bestowal of good upon them are here grounded in
of the booklet does not differ substantially from that                       the filial relation that they sustain to God. Since they
of the Murray-Stonehouse booklet. Both would be                              are sons of God they must be like their heavenly
termed by the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of                             Father. There can be no doubt but that the main
Australia, which is critical of the offer-theory,  as                        point is the necessity of imitating the divine example
"Modem Modified Calvinism,"  - in my opinion, too                            and this necessity is peculiarly enforced by the
good a name for what is actually a fundamental                          consideration of the fmaI relation they sustain to God
                                                                             as 
denial of Calvinism.                                                           their heavenly Father.
                                                                                    It is just here, however, that it becomes necessary
  We begin with the Murray-Stonehouse pamphlet,                         to note the implications of the similarity established
and we allow the authors to present their  f;rst item of                and enforced as the reason for such attitude and
proof:                                                                  conduct with reference to their enemies. The disciples
                                                                        are to love their enemies in order that they may be
          The Committee would now respectfully submit                   the sons of their Father; they must imitate their
    some exegetical material bearing upon this question                 Father. Clearly implied is the thought that God, the
    and with a view to the resolution of it.                            Father, loves his enemies and that it is because he
          Matthew 5:4448. This passage does not indeed                  loves his enemies that he makes his sun rise upon
    deal with the overtures of grace in the gospel. But it              them and sends them rain. This is just saying that the
    does teIl us something regarding God's benevolence                  kindness bestowed in sunshine and rain is the
   that has bearing upon all manifestations of divine                   expression of divine love, that back of the bestowal
   grace. The particular aspect of God's grace reflected                there is an attitude on the part of God, called love,
   upon here is the common gifts of providence, the                     which constrains him to bestow these tokens of his
   making of the sun to rise upon evil and good and the                 lovingkindness. This informs us that the gifts
   sending of rain upon just and unjust. There can be no                bestowed by God are not simply gifts which have the
   question but all without distinction, reprobate as well


178                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER



       recipients but that they are also a manifestation or           lovingkindness must obtain, a lovingkindness, too,
       expression of lovingkindness and goodness in the               which must correspond to the character of the
       heart or will of God with reference to those who are           specific gifts enjoyed.
       the recipients. The enjoyment on the part of the
       recipients has its ground as well as its source in this       Let us get the passage  from Matthew  5:44-48
       lovingkindness of which the gifts enjoyed are the          before us: "But I say unto you, Love your enemies,
       expression. In other words, these are gifts and are
       enjoyed because there is in a true and high sense          bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate
       benevolence in the heart of God.                           you, and pray for them which despitefully use you,
                                                                  and persecute you; That ye may be the children of
          These conclusions are reinforced by verse 48.           your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun
       There can be no question regarding the immediate           to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain
       relevance of verse 48 to the exhortation of verses         on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them
       44-47, even though it may have a more
       comprehensive reference. And verse 48 means' that          which love you, what reward have ye? do not even
       what has been adduced by way of divine example in          the publicans the same? And if ye salute your
       the preceding verses is set forth as epitomizing the       brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not
       divine perfection and as providing the great exemplar      even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even
       by which the believer's attitude and conduct are to be     as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."
       governed and the goal to which thought and life are
       to be oriented. The love and beneficence of God to           What is to be said about all this?
       the evil and unjust epitomize the norm of human              First of all, let us notice that the authors
       perfection. It is obvious that this love and               themselves admit that "This passage does not indeed
       beneficence on the part of God are regarded by our
       Lord himself as not something incidental in God but        deal with the overtures of grace in the gospel." But
       as that which constitutes an element in the sum of         they they go on to state that "it does tell us
       divine perfection. This is made very specific in the       something regarding God's benevolence that has
       parallel passage in  Luke  6:35, 36 where we read,         bearing upon all manifestations of divine grace." This
       "And ye shall be sons of the Most High, because he         is important, in the first place, because it is a
       is kind towards the unthankful and evil. Ye shall be       departure from the traditional dogmatic position with
       merciful, as your Father is merciful." This word           respect to "common grace." Dogmatically, so-called
       translated "merciful" is redolent of the pity and          grace has always been distinguished from anything
       compassion in the heart of God that overflow in the        connected with the gospel. It  is. supposedly only
       bestowments of kindness.                                   temporal, and it has to do only with the things of this
          The sum of this study of these passages in              present time. In fact, Dr. Abraham Kuyper, Sr.,
       Matthew and Luke is simply this, that presupposed in       wanted to insist on, this difference by using a
       God's gifts bestowed upon the ungodly there is in God      different name  (gemene gratie,  common grace), in
       a disposition of love, kindness, mercifulness, and that    distinction from general grace (algemene genade). But
       the actual gifts and the blessing accruing therefrom       here the two are confused from the outset. We point
       for the ungodly must not be abstracted from the            this out, of course, not because we  agree  even with
       lovingkindness of which they are the expression. And,      the traditional distinction; but we do so to show that
       of course, we must not think of this lovingkindness as     this pamphlet represents a departure in this respect.
       conditioned upon a penitent attitude in the                Personally, we believe that the direction which this
       recipients. The lovingkindness' rather is exercised
       towards them in their ungodly state and is expressed       pamphlet (and also that of Errol1 Hulse) takes is
       in the favours they enjoy. What bearing this may have      inevitable. After all grace is grace. And if that grace,
       upon the grace of God manifested in the free offer of      favor, lovingkindness, is universal (common) in one
       the gospel to all without distinction remains to be        respect, what real reason is there to hold that it is not
       seen. But we are hereby given a disclosure, of             universal (general) with respect to the gospel as well?
       goodness in the heart of God and of the relation there     In fact, if God is at all gracious to the reprobate, how
       is between gifts bestowed and the lovingkindness           can one possibly avoid the idea that God also wants
       from which they flow. And there is indicated to us         to save the reprobate ungodly? And the history of
       something respecting God's love or benevolence that        doctrine has shown that the latter position has been
       we might not or could not entertain if we                  the inevitable development of the common grace
       concentrated our thought simply on the divine decree
       of reprobation. Furthermore we must remember that          position. This was the case in the Christian Reformed
       there are many gifts enjoyed by the ungodly who are        Church in 1924 amid all the confusion of that
       within the pale of the gospel administration which are     synod's delegates. It has been the case in the
       not enjoyed by those outside, and we: shall have to        Netherlands also; in fact, as I have shown in writing
       conclude that in respect of these specific favours,        about the Netherlands situation, today they even
       enjoyed by such ungodly persons in distinction from        speak of an "anonymous word of promise" that goes
       others, the same principle of divine benevolence and       out to the non-Christian world. You see, any kind of


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                179



universalism with respect to God's grace is an               simnlv   not true. The text nowhere states this, either
extremely virulent poison!                                   dis&ctly or indistinctly.
   But what about the  exegesis  of this "exegetical            This is not exegesis, but "eisegesis." And a child
material" submitted in support of the offer-theory?          can understand this.
As stated, we shall also judge what is stated in the            This same begging of the question permeates all
lengthy quotation above in the light of the current          that is written about Matthew  5:44-48. In the next
teaching of Scripture. But even if we leave that aspect      paragraph the terms "bestowal of favour" and
out of consideration for the time being, can the             "favours" are simply substituted for the bestowal of
explanation as such of the passages in Matthew 5 and         rain and sunshine. And in the following paragraph
Luke 6 be accepted? If we consider these two                 this unproved assumption is made still more boldly.
passages all by themselves, can this explanation of the      Notice: "Clearly implied is the thought that God, the
Murray-Stonehouse pamphlet be considered valid?              Father, loves his enemies and that it is  because he
Can it indeed be called exegesis, an exposition of the       loves his enemies that he makes his sun rise upon
text?                                                        them and sends them rain.  But notice that the text
  Our answer is negative.                                    nowhere states this or even implies it. Murray and
  And our fundamental reason for this negative               Stonehouse simply state that this is "clearly implied"
evaluation is the fact that in this entire "explanation"     without an iota of proof. Again: "This is just saying
the authors are guilty of the error of  begging the          that the kindness bestowed in sunshine and rain is the
question.  That is, they  assume  that which they set        expression of divine love. " But nowhere does the text
out to prove. And after they have assumed it, they           say that sunshine and rain constitute kindness and
proceed to read it into the text.                            that this alleged kindness is the expression of divine
                                                             love. Again: ". . . that back of the bestowal there is
  This can be readily demonstrated,                          an attitude on the part of God, called love, which
  It is done already in the opening paragraph of their       constrains him to bestow these tokens of his
explanation. The authors are on the right track when         lovingkindness." But the text neither states this nor
they speak of "the common gifts of providence, the           hints at it.
making of the sun to rise upon evil and good and the            One could go on throughout this alleged
sending of rain upon just and unjust." Sunshine and          explanation and show again and again how the
rain are indeed matters of God's providence. But they        authors simply make unfounded statements  about
already confuse matters when they `say:  "The                these passages, rather than allow the passages
particular aspect of God's grace reflected upon here is      themselves to speak.
the common gifts of providence . . ." (italics added)          Paired with the above error is the second unproved
This is not exegesis whatsoever: they have already           assumption in connection with Luke 6:35,36. There
assumed that the "common gifts of providence" are a          we read: "But love ye your enemies, and do good,
matter of  common grace.  And then they make                 and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward
another unwarranted assumption in the last sentence          shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the
of the same paragraph: "There can be no question             Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to
but all without distinction, reprobate as well as elect,     the evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also
are the beneficiaries of this favour, and it is that fact    is merciful." The authors treat this passage along with
that is distinctly stated in verse. 45." We will pass by     the one from Matthew 5. And while they do not state
the term  beneficiaries,  although even that term is         this literally in connection with Luke 6, yet from
already suspect. Correct it would be simply to say           their entire argumentation it is plain that they
that all are recipients. But notice that the sending of      assume, without proof  that Luke  6:35 states that
sunshine and rain has suddenly become a matter of            God is kind unto all the unthankful and the evil. But
"favour." This is surely not the same as common              again, regardless now of whether it be true or not, the
sunshine and rain. Nor is it the same as "providence."       text does not state this or imply it.
This is a term which says something about the
attitude  and the  intent  of  Him Who bestows the              Finally, we should note how the authors slip in
common sunshine and rain. Putting aside for the              ideas at the end of their discussion of these passages
moment the question whether common sunshine and              which have nothing to do with the text and which are
rain are indeed a matter of common favor, let us             left entirely without proof. They write: "Further-
simply note that the authors  are assuming  this and         more we must remember that there are many
reading it  into  the text, not drawing it  out  of the      gifts enjoyed by the ungodly who are within
text. Hence, when the authors conclude the                   the pale of the gospel administration which are not
paragraph by saying,  ". . . and it is that fact that is     enjoyed by those outside, and we shall have to
distinctly stated in verse 45," their conclusion is          conclude that in respect of these specific favours,


180                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


enjoyed by such ungodly persons in distinction from
                                                  -.         `philosophy; and. it certainly cannot be classified
others, the same principle of divine benevolence and         `under the "exegetical material" which the authors are
lovingkindness must obtain, a lovingkindness, too,           supposed to be submitting. I suppose it would have to
which must correspond to the character of the                be called a non-exegetical bonus?
specific gifts enjoyed." This, of course, is pure


THE DAY OF SHADOWS


          The Steadfast Standard  Bearer

                                       Rev. John A. Heys




   Long before  The Standard Bearer  came into                 Then, too, there are other and earlier references to
existence, long before the New Testament                     such standards and standardbearers in God's Church.
dispensation began, God Himself spoke of "a                  Turn to Numbers 2/2 and you will find these words
standardbearer."                                             which Moses and Aaron were to speak unto the
  It was in the day of shadows, that is, in the day          Israelites. "Every man of the children of Israel shall
before Christ, Who cast His shadow upon the whole            pitch by his own standard, with the ensign of their
Old. Testament dispensation, was seen on earth by            father's house: far off about (better translated - over
man, that God, through the prophet Isaiah, spoke             against) the tabernacle of the congregation shall they
those words which for fifty years have served as the         pitch." Then in verse 3 we read of, "the standard of
name of the magazine that publishes these lines              the tribe of Judah" which must be seen on the east
today.                                                       side of the tabernacle. Verse 10 speaks of the
  God spoke these words in connection with the               standard of the tribe of Reuben being on the south
                                                             side of that tabernacle. And in verses 18 and 25 we
pronouncement of judgment and destruction upon               are informed that the standard of the tribe of
Assyria as one of the enemies of the Church of God.          Ephraim shall be found on the west side, and the
The text in Isaiah 10: 16-18 in full reads thus,             standard of the tribe of Dan shall be situated on the
"Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send           north side of the tabernacle.
among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory he
shall kindle a burning like the burning of a. fire. And        Each standard, we may be sure, differed from the
shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his            other to represent a distinct group of people. And we
fruitful field: and it shall bum and devour his thorns       are not to think of a flag of cloth whipping in the
and his briers in one day; And shall consume the             wind, but rather of some design wrought in iron or
glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul    brass in the form of a square, triangle or circle, and of
and body: and they shall be as when a standardbearer         combinations of these, placed on long poles and lifted
fainteth."                                                   up above the heads of the people.
  Although God speaks here of a standardbearer                 They had no doctrinal significance, that is, they
fainting, there is not only instruction but also             did not designate the separate tribes of Israel as
comfort for us in this use of the word. This ought to        standing for some doctrinal position that varied from
be plain from the fact that it is the plight of the          tribe to tribe. Numbers 2:2 clearly declares that they
enemy of the Church of God that is here presented as         were standards or ensigns of "their father's house."
suffering the disaster which strikes an army and             Each tribe had a separate symbol. They could, you
nation, and causes the standardbearer to faint. For          know, have designed a symbol using the first letters
this means,. then, that the standardbearer of the            of their names; and since Joseph is represented by
Church remains steadfast, and that the army to whom          Ephraim and Mannaseh here in Numbers 2, there
he belongs has the victory.                                  would be no duplication of letter or symbol on that


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  181


standard or ensign. And that only four standards are          God Who would like to save all but is unable (Imagine
mentioned is due to the fact that the twelve tribes           that! An almighty God Who is unable!) because man
were divided into four groups of three. These tribes          does not let Him do so, refusing to accept His kind
were situated in their tents in such a way that three         offer. He will preach a Creator, but not one who calls
tribes were on the east of it, three on the south, three      into being. He will claim to "believe in Jesus Christ
on the west, and three on the north of it. And only           His only begotten Son, our Lord." Yet he will
the tribe that was closest to the tabernacle is               proceed to explain that He is Son in name only,
mentioned together with its standard. You may find            denying the divinity of Christ, and thus robbing Him
the other two tribes of each group in Numbers 2 and           of His power to save and qualifications to be the
observe how God grouped them.                                 Saviour. All these and many other errors the Church
   But surely in the New Testament dispensation, and          had to combat, and she continued to hold high her
especially today, the Church needs a standard. "No            standard of the truth in her confessions or creeds.
creed but Christ" reveals a church whose                        After the Reformation the standard became far
st andardbearer is going to faint (if he has not              broader creeds than those twelve articles to let all
already), for that church is on the way to being taken        men know what the truth of God's Word is. For the
over by the forces of the Antichrist. "No creed but           Reformed Churches it became those monumental
Christ" (the war-cry of all so-called undenominational        works, The Heidelberg Catechism, The Netherlands
movements) means that the Christ of Scripture is not          Confession and the Canons of Dordrecht. By these
maintained. Each member may vision Christ as his              the churches showed their distinctive faithfulness to
flesh desires without being molested by the rest. What        the Word of God. By these they held up a standard
you have in such a group (if they practice what they          that loudly and clearly in unequivocal language set
preach) is that you have a "Christ" of many faces, a          forth the truth and the "faith once delivered to the
tailor-made Christ, one that is adaptable to every            saints."
whim of man, and not one designed by God. That is
no Christ at all. The Saviour is called Christ because          But it not only behooves the New Testament
                                                              Church, and surely the Church in the world today, to
He is ordained by God and qualified by His Spirit to          have a standard, but also to have a standardbearer,
be our Redeemer, our Prophet, Priest and Ring. The            one to hold up, to bear that standard. By God's grace
God of the undenominational movement is one                   for fifty years  The Standard Bearer  has served this
picked out by man, in fact picked out by as many              purpose. By God's grace it has not fainted and today
men as there are members of that group. Some may              still stands up boldly in the midst of increasing
agree on certain points about him, but others will            pressures and subtle heresies.
disagree. And they both worship and believe in the
same Christ? How two-faced do you think He can be?              That  The Standard Bearer has not fainted reveals
He Who said, "I am the way the TRUTH and the                  that in the grace of our covenant God the churches
life," can He be what you think He is, and at the             whose doctrine it holds high and sends to the corners
same time what others with divergent opinions think           of the earth have not succumbed and been defeated
Him to be? This lack of a standard and this                   by the numerous enemies (How greatly these
confession of a Christ Who is all things men want Him         churches are outnumbered by those with other
to be, instead of What God has ordained and qualified         standards and theories!) that grow not only in
Him to be, is also in all this so-called ecumenical           number every year but also in strength.
movement that changes the confessions to get a
common ground upon which all churches can unite                 You see, in Isaiah 10: 18, when mention is made of
                                                              the standardbearer fainting, the idea is that the man
and agree about this Christ.                                  who holds the standard, the ensign, the sign that
  For years the so-called Apostolic Creed was the             marks the place of a particular army in battle faints
standard of the Christian Church with its twelve              when he sees how the side which he represents is
articles. But as heresies arose and false teachers made       being slaughtered and destroyed. He faints when he
inroads into the church, the Church had to make a             sees utter defeat coming to his army. All hope of
more elaborate standard and ensign to define more             victory for his army is gone, and he loses even the
specifically the teaching of God's Word on several            strength to watch the battle any further. The word
points. For the heretic always claims to hold fast to         "faint" can be tanslated as "melt away," and this can
the truth and to the creeds, even while he seeks to           suggest that he flees, dropping his banner.
undermine these. He wants to be the standardbearer              Then, too, we are told by historians that the
in order to have it in his possession to alter it! He will    capturing of the standardbearer signaled the defeat of
subscribe, so he says, to the truth of "God the               the whole army. If he is captured and the standard of
Father, Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth." And           that army is taken away, that army loses its identity,
yet he will deny His almighty power and preach a              yea, now comes under the standard of the opposing


182                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



army. And each army in those days would fight               A new generation took over, and still a newer
tenaciously to keep its standardbearer, in order to         generation is beginning to write, and by writing holds
keep its identity, and to signify that. it still was an     over us the standard of the truth of God's Word,
organized force, a unit able to do battle. The capture      making known in no uncertain terms that we hold
of the standard signaled defeat; and the flight,            fast to the Word of God. Other standards and banners
capture or fainting of the one who bore that standard       may have fallen, or are ready to fall. The writers have
meant that the battle was over and that the army of         not in every instance fainted, and some courageous
that standardbearer went down in shame and ruin.            voices are still raised. But that the forces of evil are
  The meaning is plain for us, is it not? As long as The    taking over and that a rout by the enemy is a very
Standard Bearer is steadfast and continues to display       present threat also threatens to make these
and uncompromisingly hold forth the Word of Truth,          standardbearers faint as they see their churches being
our churches not only have a right to separate              swallowed up by the enemies of the truth. And we
existence, but are very much alive spiritually, and are     may say nothing less than, "There, but for the grace of
found to be faithful in the battle of faith. The minute     God, go we."
that The Standard Bearer begins to faint at the sight
of the enemy, melts away into a magazine that caters          That we have a steadfast  Standard Bearer  is the
to the flesh of men, and to drop those standards of         work of God alone. Our prayer is that we may be the
the Heidelberg Catechism, The Netherlands                   bearers of the standard of God's truth also in the
Confession, and the Canons of Dordrecht, our                future. While our churches remain faithful to the
                                                            truth, 
churches are already defeated. The moment our                          The Standard Bearer  will be a steady
                                                            standardbearer. It will reflect the spiritual health and
magazine begins to emit another sound than the one          strength of our churches, and show whether we are
that it has been giving forth for fifty years, we have a    about to be overcome by the forces of the he or still
sign that our churches have given in to the pressures       are fighting victoriously the good fight of faith.
of the enemies that persistently have assaulted us
through the years of our existence.                           Behind, and underneath, and in us must be God
  It also means, this steadfast stand of The Standard       Himself. Otherwise we will not stand, and  The
Bearer, that God has been very gracious to us to cause      Standard Bearer will do worse than faint. It will bear
that st andardbearer, which already in the year             the lie rather than the standard of God's Word. May
nineteen hundred twenty-four was raised up for the          God keep our churches strong in the faith so that we
defence of the truth, to stand there in all the thick of    may have a steadfast, abiding, vibrant standardbearer
the battle. Men have come and men have gone.                in The Standard Bearer.  May  The Standard Bearer
Editors have contributed and been silenced by death.        remain God's standardbearer.





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                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                               183


ALL  AR0UN.D US



                     Comfort In A World Gone. Mad

                                                      Pro$  H. Hanko




  One who believes in the truth of the Scriptures,                Some of the more horrifying examples we mention
believes also in the sovereign rule of Jesus Christ. The       in this article.
Scriptures teach unequivocally  .that Christ, at the                                       **he
time of His ascension, was given all authority in
heaven and on earth. His exaltation raised Him to the             In a Newsweek article written sometime in the past
pinnacle of power under God so that He rules as Lord           year, Dr. Kenneth B. Clark was concerned about the
of lords and King of all the kings of the earth.               fact that, in this nuclear age, "a very few, fragile,
Notbing happens without His will. All things are               unpredictable human beings have the power to decide
under His control. The greatest earth-shaking crises as        whether mankind will survive ,or be extinguished." He
well as the  minutest details of life are directed by          points out that, although just a few men are charged
Him and under the control of His sovereign rule.               with the responsibility of unleashing a nuclear war,
  Nor is the rule of Christ arbitrary. He does not rule        these very men do not "differ from others except in
for the mere sake of ruling. There is a goal, a purpose        terms of having this terrible ultimate power. They
in all that Christ does, for He rules in the name of the       suffer from the same strengths, weaknesses,
Father. In a wonderful and mysterious way which we             complexities, conflicts, anxieties, doubts and
are unable to understand, Christ does all things so            insecurities that afflict and defme humanity. Their
that they may serve the coming of His own kingdom.             behavior is no more predictable than others. They,
Great things and small things, in all the universe and         too, seek to mask their doubts and errors by
in heaven and. hell, are so directed by Him that the           dogmatism. The whims of the powerful are no less
passing of each event brings the coming of Christ's            whims than those of the powerless - only much more
kingdom closer and makes the realization of that               dangerous." He holds before us the bleak prospect of
kingdom possible.                                              another Hitler or Stalin, men who were on the face
  The believer  finds his comfort in this truth. It is         of it emotionally unstable, coming to power with the
not, for him, abstract dogma, cold theology. It is             buttons of nuclear weapons under their thumbs.
really, when all else is said and done, the heart of his         After painting a most horrifying picture, and after
hope. This truth gives him courage in a world gone             showing that no present curbs on government in any
mad. For the faith by which he confesses this truth is         land are adequate to safe-guard us, he offers his
the same faith which convinces him that: he belongs            solution. The problem is a scientific one.
to that glorious and exalted, Christ. He belongs to                     Researchers in America, the Soviet Union and
Christ so completely that nothing can separate him                 other countries for many years have been engaged in
from Christ's love. This therefore, includes the                   a systematic study of the roles of various areas of the
conviction that he shall someday inherit the kingdom               brain and the effects of certain changes in the
which shall surely be established.                                 biochemistry of the human organism on perception,
  It is impossible to live in today's world with any               thought and emotional behavior. More specifically,
kind of optimism without this power of faith. Over                 through these research findings and the observation
                                                                   of the effects of tranquilizing, depressing and
the past year, I have filed away in my desk drawer                 stimulating drugs, it is now clear that it is possible to
some of the more outrageous proposals and plans                    manipulate the feelings of individuals. With increased
which men have concocted for our world. Taken                      research the technology of direct biochemical
together they chill the blood. A bit of pondering on               intervention and control of human behavior will
them leaves one with cold terror seizing his soul.


184                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


   The author proposes an international scientific          legislatures to get laws passed to kill undesirables.
organization to get on with this business of perfecting     These include aged, those with incurable diseases,
these techniques; and, presumably, such an                  mentally retarded and mentally ill, suicide prone
organization would also be responsible for the              people, etc.
behavioral control of the nation's leaders so that a           2) There have been large numbers of experiments
nuclear holocaust would be prevented. This, he              performed on people, experiments which have
believes, would be the only way to assure the survival      destroyed their lives. There have been experiments on
of our race.                                                free-clinic patients, students and the institutionalized.
   The dangers he sees in madmen at the control of          There have been experiments performed on aborted
nuclear nations is, in itself a very real one. But one      babies. There have been advocates for removing the
who believes the Scriptures cannot be frightened by         ban on experimenting with children and mental
this sort of thing. It is, obviously, impossible for man    incompetents.
to destroy himself no matter what happens. Christ              3) There is increased pressure for the sterilization
rules over those who are in positions to trigger            of institutionalized people. Psychosurgery is
nuclear arsenals. And only God will destroy the world       performed on hundreds of Americans annually. This
at such a time when the history of the world is             was not done to correct brain damage, but to alter
finished.                                                   behavior of unruly children and violence-prone
   But the solution proposed is absurd on the face of       prisoners.
it. One takes the power to make war away from                  These and more have come out of the same moral
presidents and dictators and transfers it to a              position which has brought about the liberalization of
"scientific community" with the ability to alter            abortion. And if abortion is now common place, who
behavior through drugs and biochemical intervention.        is to say that all these others will not soon be
But these men are also weak and fragile and                 common practice in this country and elsewhere in the
unpredictable; men with doubts and anxieties. Only          world?
we have given to them a power greater than that of                                         ****
nuclear missiles, the power to tamper with the human
soul. And they are now to be responsible for ruling            From a little different point of view, the
the world? They would then have the power to                Newsmedia in this country have reached a point of
decide, according to their own perverted and godless        almost unbridled power. I have an article before me,
notions, what kind of behavior is acceptable and what       nationally syndicated, in which the author speaks of
kind is not. And they would  .have the power to do          the victims of Watergate. He does not deny that a
away with every type of opposition to their rule by         crime was committed. Nor does he deny that there
reducing all men to senseless robots.                       were those involved in all that is connected with the
   Yet something like this is exactly the goal of many      Watergate mess who are nothing but criminals. But he
t o d a y .                                                 is concerned about countless innocent victims of the
                        ****                                whole fiasco. He tells stories which tend to
                                                            substantiate the point he is making. And the point is
   What is said above is made clear by another article      this: anyone who has at any time worked for the
which also appeared in Newsweek, written by Nick            re-election of the president or who is even remotely
Thimmesch, and entitled, "The Abortion Culture."            related to some government agency which had
The author of this article is alarmed by what has           connections with the White House is presently being
happened in this country since the liberalization of        hounded as guilty of some crime related to Watergate.
abortion laws. He does not only refer to the large          He tells of jobs lost, reputations ruined, men driven
number of abortions which have been performed and           to the brink of despair  - all because. there is some
the gruesome destruction of life in hospitals which         t e n u o u s   c o n n e c t i o n   b e t w e e n   t h e m   a n d   a
perform abortions; but he refers to what he calls "the      scandal-stained administration. He refers to many
utilitarian ethic" which lies behind the liberalization     people who have not succeeded in escaping the special
of abortion laws and the awful results of this ethic        prosecutor's probes even though they have moved to
which has become the philosophy of America. By this         distant parts of the country.
he means that our moral standards are set up only on
the basis of "what is useful is good." In doing this, he       And he lays the blame on the Press. He writes:
compares what is happening in this. country with            " `Crime and Punishment, 1973' is a volume in which
what happened in Nazi Germany.                              our country, known for its justice and humanity,
                                                            bred a period of injustice and  inhum,anity by a
   Some of the fruits of the "utilitarian ethic" are        national free press that has betrayed its name and
horrifying.                                                 could make any charge it chose from a privileged
   1) Euthanasia advocates are at work in six state         sanctuary, unconscionably destroying a human life by


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 185



a morning edition or an evening newscast. From their       become all- but impossible to know any more what is
sanctuary, these newsmen could never be called to          going on in the country or the world. We are left to
account. They would never have to face a press             guess, if we distrust the Press, and we have nothing on
conference, for they were the press. They would not        which to base our guesses.
be subject to investigate reporting, for they were the       All of this is in the name of freedom of speech.
investigative reporters. Their sources would remain
unknown, even if their sources were themselves.               It seems to me that life is scarcely worth living if
Seemingly, news commentators are above the news,           one does not have complete trust in the Scriptures.
but, in fact, they guide the news, steer the news, and,    Only the precious promises of the Word of God give
too often, create the news."                               hope. "Wherein God, willing more abundantly to
                                                           shew to the heirs of promise the immutability of his
  The men who have been charged with crimes, have          counsel, confirmed it by an oath: That by two
already been tried, convicted, found guilty and            immutable things, in which it was impossible for God
sentenced by the Press. Any future trial becomes           to lie, we might have a stong consolation, who have
little more than a farce because they are already          fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before
ruined.                                                    us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul,
  The point is that the Press has almost unlimited         both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that
power in this country to mold the news. And the            within the veil; Whither the forerunner is for us
power to mold the news is the power to mold the            entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever
thinking of the country. The result is that it has         after the order of Melchisedec." Hebrews 6: 17-20.


IN HIS FEAR



                                            A Plan To

                                       Find The Poor


                                                Rev. D. H. Kuiper





  It has happened once again in most of our                lacking. And this lack, for the most part, is not even
churches. A certain portion of the consistory has          the fault of the deacons. The problem extends
retired after two or three years of service; among         beyond the diaconate itself. Another year of
them the deacons. Deacons have been elected, served,       contributing for various causes and to different funds
and retired and the disturbing thing is that many of       on the part of the congregation has come to a close.
them have not performed one minute of true                 By scanning various bulletins which one sees from
deacon's work. They have collected offerings during        time to time, it becomes obvious that most of our
the worship service, they have kept records faithfully,    churches have a  .benevolence,  or charity, offering
and have accounted for these things before the elders;     once a month, and the average contribution of a


186                                         , THE STANDARD BEARER


three dollars! Even here there is a certain rationale:       "when a murmuring arose, because the widows of the
where is the incentive for giving when by bulletin it is     Grecians were neglected," is for all time.
reported that the benevolence fund is swelling slowly,          The problem is also very serious for the believer on
but it seldom, if ever, is reported, that there are          whom the oil of Christ's anointing also rests. He is
withdrawals to indicate that the poor are being              enjoined to present himself a living sacrifice to God
helped?                                                      with all that he has. This priestly function touches
                                                             our possessions and our view of the poor. In fact, our
A SERIOUS PROBLEM                                            regard for the poor and distressed is a matter that
  We call attention to these things, first, because          belongs to the definition of worship. James tells us
their seriousness lies in the fact that we deal here with    that true religion, in part, is this: that we visit the
the presence of Christ in and with His Church. The           fatherless and widows in their .affliction (1:27); and
three-fold office of God's Anointed is reflected in His      the Heidelberg Catechism instructs us that the proper
Body not only by the believer being a prophet, priest,       keeping of the Sabbath Day includes our contributing
and king under Christ, but also through the special          to the relief of the poor. We ought not to say, "I do
offices of minister (prophet), deacon (priest), and          this, I give once a month." The idea of Lord's Day 38
elder (king). To the extent that the work of any of          is certainly that these contributions are a weekly
these offices is neglected the office of believers           giving on the Sabbath. This is shown, in the first
suffers; and sadly, an aspect of Christ's presence with      place, by the marginal reference to I Cor. 16: 1, 2:
us fails to be realized and enjoyed. The point here is       "Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I
that to the extent the labors of the diaconate are not       have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so
discharged, to that extent the tender mercies of our         do ye. Upon the first day of the week let every one of
Lord for the poor, the widows, and the fatherless            you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him,
(how the Old Testament emphasizes this!) are not             that there be no gatherings when I come." Further,
experienced nor revealed. The Bible, the Form of             Ursinus comments upon that which he has written as
Ordination of Elders and Deacons, and the Church             follows: "Hence it has always been the practice of the
Order emphasize: "The office peculiar to the deacons         church to bestow alms upon the Sabbath day, and to
is diligently to collect alms and other contributions of     perform acts of charity towards those who need our
charity, and after mutual counsel, faithfully and            help and sympathy. `Send portions unto them for
diligently to distribute the same to the poor as their       whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy unto
needs may require it; to visit and comfort the               the Lord.' (Neh. 8: 10)" Those few churches in our
distressed and to exercise care that the alms are not        midst which continue to take a weekly offering for
misused; for which they shall render an account in           the poor certainly have preserved the Scriptural,
consistory, and also (if anyone desires to be present)       confessional idea.
to the congregation, at such a time as the consistory
may see fit." (Art. 25) And the position of the              REASONS FOR THE SITUATION
Reformed churches is that this office, instituted              Undoubtedly the affluence of the past thirty years





                          FEBRUARY 15 IS AN IMPORTANT DATE IN OUR HISTORY;



                               PLAN TO BE AT FIRST CHURCH, GRAND RAPIDS,



                                 FOR THE SEMINARY BUILDING DEDICATION.


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                187


in our land has contributed to the present situation in      believers with their children will respond and by
the church. Members of the church have, for the most         responding will be blessed!
part, shared in this affluence and abundance so that
there are very, very few who suffer the lack of daily           2. In close connection with this, the deacons must
necessities. The standard of living (a wordly term:          exert effort to find the poor. The second part of their
man's life does not consist in the things that he has) is    office is distribution: today we must search before we
so high that things undreamed of fifty years ago are         can distribute! Specifically:
commonplace. And yet, be assured that there are still           a. Let the local diaconate correspond with all the
poor. And if we don't happen to know any, then we            other diaconates inquiring as to the needs of the poor
haven't been looking, or possibly, haven't been              in their respective congregations. Do they have a large
looking in the right places. If a recession came upon        number of widows, hospitalized, poor? Could they
us, the order of its magnitude as in 1929, the office        use assistance in this for the mutual benefit of all? If
of the deacons would suddenly come into its own.             an affirmative answer is received, perhaps this will
Prayers need not be offered that such times come             enable you to help as much as you are able. (See the
upon us again, but this does point out that times of         Church Order, Article 26) If not:
scarcity and want in the land are spiritually healthy           b. Let contact be made with deacons of other local
times for the Church!                                        churches. No, this is not some ecumenical scheme.
  There has also been a steady erosion of holy               This is an attempt to find the poor who have a special
things of the Church into other spheres. More and            place in the heart and mind of God, and who may
more the tentacles of big government have snatched           reside under another ecclesiastical roof. Some care
voraciously at functions not rightly government's,           ought to be taken here, that the integrity of the gift
and too often this has occurred without ecclesiastical       be. preserved as it is administered by other deacons.
resistance. The social arms of government at all levels      The gift is not simply cash but mercy! Hence, we
have embraced cruelly the poor. The deacons' hands           certainly have the right of stipulating that the gifts
are almost tied because we have become so                    are brought to the poor with comfortable words from
accustomed to turning to social agencies in times of         Scripture, and with cheerfulness and simplicity. (See
our distress. I suppose that it is natural for man to        Form for Ordination) What if this venture also does
look to Uncle Sam rather than to Christ; but is it           not yield the desired opportunity? We have not done
good? And is it right? The Lord is our Shephard, and         enough yet.
He shall feed His flock; He shall gather the lambs with         c. Let a search be made among our unchurched
His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and shall              neighbors. How are things in your town or in your
gently lead those that are with young.                       section of the city? Again, this is not a call to social
  But there is also a reason that strikes a bit more         action  e . . this is an attempt to meet our
closely to home. Increasingly there is the tendency to       duty-privilege. What do we as Protestant Reformed
simply take a collection for this or for that purpose,       Churches do in respect to the poor of this world?
purposes which formerly were thought to be                   There were times in our churches when offerings were
charitable. We have phased out, we have run                  taken for refugees, for victims of floods and other
rough-shod, we have bent here and there; and the             disasters. Clearly, the Word of God cannot be brought
result is that the poor are being helped without being       by us to these, but does that mean we must shut up
called poor and the deacons are not involved. These          the bowels of compassion from them? We are in a sad
things ought not so to be. Let us examine our local          case if pictures and news articles of the starving in
practices to see if, perhaps, we have inadvertently          this world do not move us to compassionate action.
brought this sad thing upon ourselves.                       We find support for this contention in the Form of
                                                             Ordination where we read: ". . . Assist the oppressed,
A SUGGESTED PLAN                                             provide for the true widows and orphans, show
  Because we are convinced that lively labor in all          liberality unto all men, but especially to the
the offices is necessary for a full congregational life      household of faith."
and for a faithful witness in the midst of the world,           Perhaps the title we have chosen claims too much.
and because the poor remain a special object of our          Perhaps there are reasons why these suggestions will
love and sympathy, we make a few suggestions for             not work for your church. But they ought to be
your consideration in the hope that through                  considered, and the consideration of them may open
discussion and study of the same, some small steps           up other possibilities that will work. The decline in
can be taken toward the attainment of the above.             the proper work of the deacon's office must be
   1. Schedule a benevolence or charity offering once        stopped, the trend reversed, in order that the
each Sunday for the principal reasons already stated.        presence of our ascended Lord may be fully revealed


188                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER



CONTENDING FOR  THEFAITH



                             Eschatology-The First Period

                                                            (80 - 250 A.D.)


                                                  THE INTERMEDIATE STATE



                                                                 H. Veldman



  In  his History of Doctrines,  Hegenbach, writing on                  the New Dispensation, in the period 80  - 250 A.D.,
the Intermediate State, Vol. I, 221-222, writes as                      we have called attention to the doctrine of the advent
follows:                                                                or coming of Christ as confessed by the church during
          The transactions of the general judgment, which               this time. We now call attention to what is known as
       was thought to be connected with. the general                    the Intermediate State, the period of the deceased
       resurrection, were depicted in various ways. Some                between his death and resurrection. Hodge, in his
       ascribe the office of Judge to the Son, others to the            Systematic Theology, expresses it correctly when he
       Father, both in opposition to the Hellenistic myth of            writes in Volume III, page 724, and we quote:
       the judges in the under-world. The idea of a Hades,
       known to both the Hebrews and the Greeks, was                              As all Christians believe in the resurrection of the
       transferred to Christianity, and the assumption, that                   body and a future judgment, they all believe in an
       the real happiness, or the  final misery, of the                        intermediate state. That is, they believe that there is a
       departed did not commence till after the general                        state of existence which intervenes between death
       judgment and the resurrection of the bqdy, appeared                     and the resurrection; and that the condition of the
       to necessitate the belief in an intermediate state, in                  departed during that interval is, in some respects,
       which the soul was supposed to remain from the                          different from that which it is to be subsequent to
       moment of its separation from the body to this last                     that event. It is not, therefore, as to the fact of an
       catastrophe. Tertullian, however, held that the                         intermediate state, but as to its nature, that diversity
       martyrs went at once to paradise, the abode of the                      of opinion exists among Christians.
       blessed, and thought that in this they enjoyed an                          The common Protestant doctrine on this subject is
       advantage over other Christians; while Cyprlan does                     that "the souls of believers are at their death, made
       not seem to know about any intermediate state                           perfect in holiness, `and do immediately pass into
       whatever. The Gnostics rejected the belief in Hades,                    glory; and their bodies, being still united to Christ, do
       together with that of the resurrection of the body,                     rest in their graves till the resurrection." According to
       and imagined that the spiritually minded (the                           this view the intermediate state, so far as believers are
       pneumatic) would, immediately after death, be                           concerned, is one of perfect freedom from sin and
       delivered from the kingdom of the demiurge, and                         suffering, and of great exaltation and blessedness.
       elevated to the pleerooma. The ancient Oriental and                     This is perfectly consistent with the belief that after
       Parsic idea of a purifying fire already occurs during                   the second coming of Christ, and the resurrection of
       this period in the writings of Clement of Alexandria                    the dead, the state of the soul will be still more
       and Origen. This purifying fire, however, is not yet                    exalted and blessed.
       transferred to this intermediate state, but is either              Scripture certainly speaks of this continued
       taken in a very general sense, or supposed to be
       connected with the general conflagration of the                  existence of the soul immediately after death. This is
       world.                                                           true of the Old Testament Scriptures. We read in Ps.
                                                                        73:23,  24: "Nevertheless I am continually with thee:
  Calling attention to doctrines as maintained and                      thou hast  holden me by my right hand. Thou shalt
confessed within the church during the early years of


                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                             If


to glory." The thrust of this passage is that the Lord              requires a material basis for its manifestation and
shall guide us with His counsel, and then, as soon as               activity. All these speculations, or theories, are, for
this guidance shall have been concluded, receive us                 the Christian, of no account, if the Bible teaches the
into glory. Hence,  the  Lord will not receive us into              fact of the continued, personal, individual existence
glory long after we have died and our bodies have                   of the soul after the death and dissolution of the
descended into the grave.  That the Hebrews regarded                b o d y .   T h e   B i b l e   d o e s   n o t   f o r m a l l y   t e a c h
the souls of the dead as retaining their consciousness              anthropology in either of the branches of physiology
and activity is obvious from the practice of                        or psychology, as a department of human science, but
necromancy, and is confirmed by the fact of the                     it assumes a great deal that falls under these several
                                                                    heads. It assumes that soul and body in man are two
appearance of Samuel to Saul, as recorded in 1                      distinct substances united in a vital union so as to
Samuel 28.  And it is in this connection that Hodge                 constitute the man, in the present state of existence,
makes an interesting observation (Vol. III, 7  17),  and            one individual person. It assumes that the seat of this
we quote:                                                           personality is the soul. The soul is the self, the Ego,
       The representation given in Isaiah 14 of the                 of which the body is the organ. It assumes that the
    descent of the King of Babylon, when all the dead               soul continues its conscious existence, and its power
    rose to meet and to reproach him, takes for granted             of acting and of being acted upon after its spearation
    and authenticates the popular belief in the continued           from the body.  This we have seen to be the doctrine
    conscious existence of departed spirits.                       of the whole Bible. The dead, according to the
                                                                    Scriptures, do not cease to be; they do not cease to
  In the New Testament we have the most explicit                   be conscious and active.
declarations, not only that the doctrine of a future
state was revealed in the Old Testament, but that                 This truth is plainly set forth also in the  Nev
from the beginning it was part of the faith of the              Testament Scriptures. We read in Rev. 14: 13: "And 1
people of God. The Sadducees, we know, denied not               heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write
only the resurrection of the body, but also the                 Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord  fron
conscious existence of man after death, and the                 henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may  rest
existence of any spiritual beings. Yet, the Lord,               from their labors; and their works do follow them."
refuting these Sadducees, appeals to the fact that in           We call attention to the fact that this Word of  Got'
the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, the         teaches us that the dead are blessed who die in  the
authority of which the Sadducees admitted, God is              Lord, and this certainly means that their blessednest
familiarly called the God of Abraham, Isaac and                 occurs immediately after their death. In Luke  16:2:
Jacob; and as He is the God not of the dead but of             we read: "And it came to pass, that the beggar died
the living, the designation referred to proves that            and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are living, and living, too,          the rich man also died, and was buried." And in the
in the fellowship and enjoyment of God. And that               following verse we read: "And in hell he lift up hi:
the Saviour quotes here from the Pentateuch proves             eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off
conclusively that this teaching was also taught in the         and Lazarus in his bosom." This is a very familial
Old Testament Scriptures.                                      passage of Holy Writ. And this Word of God certainly
  However, there is, of course, much more proof for            speaks of a conscious state of the soul immediately
this doctrine in the New Testament. In this                    upon death, with respect  to both the rich man and
connection, Hodge makes the following pertinent                Lazarus. In Luke  23:43 we read: "And Jesus said
observation (Vol. III, 724 - 725) and we quote:                unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be
                                                               with me in paradise." Jesus spoke this word to the
      In support of the Protestant doctrine as thus            malefactor upon the cross. We need not discuss an
   stated (the continued existence of the soul, H.V.), it      interpretation of the passage which would have us
   may be remarked,                                            read the text in this way: "And Jesus said unto him
      1. That it is simply a question of fact. What do the     today, thou shalt be with me in paradise." This
   Scriptures teach as to the state of the soul of a           interpretation is too absurd as to merit any
   believer immediately after death? It is not legitimate      consideration. So, to the malefactor upon the cross
   to decide this question on psychological grounds; to        the dying Saviour gives the comforting assurance that
   argue that such is the nature of the soul that it cannot    that very day he would be with Him in paradise, and
   retain its individuality, or personality, when separated
   from the body; or, that it is a mere function of the        this, too, emphasizes the truth of a conscious state of
   brain; or, that it cannot act or be acted upon  - can       bliss for the believer immediately upon his death. In 2
   neither perceive nor be perceived except through and        Cor. 5: 1 we read: "For we know that if our earthly
   by means of the senses; or, that as vegetable and           house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a
   animal life are only manifest and active in connection      building of God, an house not made with hands,
   with some form of matter, in other words, as there          eternal in the heavens." A detailed explanation of this


190                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


sufficient to call attention to the fact that the apostle    apostle is in a strait betwixt two: to depart out of this
Paul, in this Word of God, declares that when the            life and be with Christ, or to remain in the earthly
earthly house of his tabernacle is dissolved, he has a       house of his tabernacle, and he declares that to depart
building of God, an house not made with hands,               and be with Christ is far better. Now the apostle
eternal in the heavens. The thrust of this passage is        certainly means to emphasize that as soon as he
that the believer, immediately upon death, at the            departs out of this life he will be with Christ. He does
moment of the breaking down of his body; has this            not entertain the thought that his being with Christ will
building of God in the heavens. And the apostle,             occur a long time after his departure out of this life,
speaking for the church of God throughout the ages,          but that it will occur immediately upon his death. So,
declares that we know this; of this wonderful truth          from these passages of the Word of God, and many
the people of God are wonderfully conscious. This            others, it is clear beyond the shadow of any doubt
text, too, emphasizes the truth of the continued             that the Scriptures certainly emphasize the truth that,
conscious condition of the soul. And, finally, we            in the intermediate state, the time between death and
would call attention to what we read in Phil.  .I :23:       the resurrection, the soul exists in a conscious state.
"For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to        The Word of God does not support the theory of a
depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better."         soul sleep; the soul continues in a state of conscious
Need we doubt the thrust of this Word of God? The            existence.





                                           Book Review



GOD'S WAY OF RECONCILIATION, by D. Martyn                       The book has many advantages. It is a careful
Lloyd-Jones; Baker Book House, 1972; 380 pp.,                exegetical study in a very detailed fashion of the
$7.95.                                                       entire chapter. No less than five sermons are devoted
                                                             to the first three vss. of the chapter. It can serve
  This book, by the former pastor of Westminster             therefore, as a valuable commentary on this part of
Chapel in London, England, contains a series of              the epistle. But, because the book contains the
thirty-three sermons which the author preached on            sermons preached by the author, the book has far
Ephesians 2. We highly recommend this book to our            more in it than the rather cold exegesis which
reading public and urge those who desire good                characterizes a formal commentary. It is filled with
literature to purchase it as soon as possible. It is a       the warmth of lively preaching. It therefore expresses
valuable addition to any library and, well worth the         the truths of this chapter in a personal and
price which really is, considering the cost of books         experiential way. It is both a fine development of the
nowadays, very reasonable.                                   doctrines of sovereign grace and a warm devotional
  The author considers this chapter in Paul's epistle        book which easily carries the reader along chapter
to the Ephesians to be a key chapter in the Scriptural       after chapter. The author has a knack for making the
teaching concerning the doctrines of sovereign grace.        truth very lucid by means of clear and concise
While the author is usually considered to be a "mild"        language and with the use of many illustrations.
Calvinist (and this sometimes comes through in the           Anyone who buys and reads this book will possess a
book), nevertheless, the doctrines of sovereign grace        treasure of theologically sound and spiritually
stand out in sharp focus.                                    edifying truth.


                                                                          I     .

                                                                                .     1



                                                                                           ,

                                                                    .:
                                            T H E S T A N D A R D   BiARER  _  `  !                       . .                             191

                                                                                                :')  )  ..-  j

                            News From Our Churches

  Perhaps you recall that Rev. Heys spent three              South Holland congregation, and the other as Home
weeks of November in New Jersey. He writes that he           Missionary of our churches, with Houston, Texas,
enjoyed the time spent there, both in preaching on           being the specified field of labor.
the Sabbath and in conducting mid-week Bible                                                             *****
classes. The group is small, of course, but, both for           An August, 1973, letter from Rev. Engelsma to Mr.
the Sunday worship services and the other meetings,          Vander Wal, included some interesting news
there are often "as many visiting families as there are      concerning the school in Loveland. Our Business
families of the congregation."                               Manager kindly relayed the information to me, and I
  On his return to his own congregation in Holland,          would like, be it somewhat belatedly, to pass it along
Michigan, Rev. Heys gave a short report, in his              to you.
Sunday church bulletin, concerning his activities in            "Last night," Rev. Engelsma writes, "we had
Prospect Park. He wrote as follows:                          convocation exercises marking the beginning of our
  "As to our work in Prospect Park, New Jersey, we           school's instruction for another year. We  have' 36
found a small congregation that rejoices in hearing          pupils in 8 grades, and 2 capable, consecrated
sound preaching once again from the Word of God.             schoolmarms. Several children are from other
Visitors are present at each meeting on the Sabbath          churches than our own. At present, we still use our
and also in the mid-week Bible class which is                church basement but we are working on plans for a
studying the Canons of Dordrecht and receiving               school building to be built on the 2% acres the school
much-needed instruction in doctrines whose teachings         owns adjoining the church property. We hope to have
they had been denied for many years. Children of             a school building by the spring of `74, the Lord
these visiting families also attend the catechism            willing. This summer the men of the church, many of
classes. Their growth will be slow, and their way is         whom are in the building trades, put up a parsonage
hard for the flesh. Remember them in your prayers            on a lot donated by another member. This too
that they may receive grace to be living witnesses of        adjoins the church, whereas the present parsonage is
the truth in the midst of much opposition."                  about 4 miles removed."
  Because of the distance which separates most of us            To the above we can add the contents of a letter of
from our young congregation in the east, we would            more recent composition, also from Loveland, and
be likely, perhaps, to forget about them. But we want        also concerning the proposed new school building. It
them to know that, as we are kept informed by those          reads as follows:
of our ministers who travel there, our prayers are              "The Loveland Protestant Reformed School
indeed with them.                                            Society has voted to build a new school building,
                      *****                                  since the present church basement is crowded and
  At the time of this writing, Rev. Engelsma was             inadequate. They have decided on an economical plan
considering two calls - one to serve as pastor of our                                                                 (continued on back page)



                                                                                                         NOTICE

                                                                   Classis West of the Protestant Reformed
                 PLAN TO ATTEND                                 Churches will meet in Doon, Iowa on February
                                                                6, 1974 at  8:30 A.M., the Lord willing. The
                                                                delegates should be present at the special
    THE SEMINARY BUILDING DEDIC&TION                            worship service of the Doon Church on Tuesday
                                                                evening, February 5. Delegates in need of
                                                                lodging should notify the clerk of the  Doon
                ON FEBRUARY 15.                                 consistory.
                                                                                                                  Rev. David Engelsma,
                                                                                                                           Stated Clerk
                                                                                                                           Classis West


   THE STANDARD BEARER
           P.O. Box 6064                                               ,.  -..
   Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506
                                                            i     :
                                                       $ ?,,,;;-e  ;.  :  I'-2  _





at the approximate cost of $38000.00. The size of
the building would be 58' x 50'. The type of building
is steel, with three sides of the building brick 4 feet
high. It could very easily be added on to in the
future.
  "The Society has decided to build as soon as one
half of the total cost has been acquired. This is being
accomplished through fund raising drives in the
church. They have approximately  $6,000.00 in the
Building Fund, which leaves approximately
$13,000.00 to be raised before they can start
construction. Then they still need a loan of
$19,000.00 to complete the total cost. Maybe
someone in our Protestant Reformed `Churches could
come to Loveland's aid.
  "God has blessed this school over the past years.
The enrollment has increased from six students with
one teacher, to thirty-six students in eight grades with
two teachers. The Lord willing, maybe Loveland can
send their covenant children to a new school building
come next September."*****
  The supply of news at,this time of year is usually
such that I find it necessary to dip into my reserve.
Part of the above, as I indicated, has been in the box
since early September. But what's this?! "Fourth of
July Picnic" - from an Isabel bulletin dated June 241
Old news, surely, but interesting nevertheless.
  "The two sister congregations of Isabel and
Forbes," the bulletin stated, "will gather for fun and
fellowship at Hiddenwood State Park, Selby." Dinner
was to be served potluck style, and was to be
followed by a short program, which included a speech
by Seminarian Arie den Hartog, who spent part of his
summer laboring in Forbes.
                            *****
   In the January 1st news column I erroneously
reported the date of the dedication of the Seminary
building as being February 1. If you were to go to
First Church at that time, you would not only have a
two-week wait, you'd also find yourself in the middle
of a wedding ceremony. Try February 15 instead - at
8:00 P.M. in First Church. I guess I'd better stick to
things that have already been  - like Fourth of July


