 The            DARD
BEARER
 A REFORMED SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE





             Thanks to God's grace, we are quite
          alive and well today. We are about to
          dedicate a new seminary building. We are
          active in `home missions. We are active in
          Christian education. We are active in all
          our congregations with sound and:
          edifying preachmg;  and our people do not
          have to sit in the pews wondering what
          new heresy or liturgical oddity they will
          have to stomach on Sunday, We have no
          theistic evolutionists and other deniers of
          the historicity of Genesis among our
          teachers and preachers. . . . Thanks be to
          God's grace alone, we are Reformed. By
          that same grace we intend to remain
          Reformed, And by that same grace, we
          will continue to develop in the Reformed
          line. [See page 221.3      '





                                     Volume L, Number 10, February 15, 1974 


218                                            THE STANDARD BEARER


MEDITATION


                                   The Way to the Father

                                                   Rev. M. Schippev


           "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the
          Father, but by me."
                                                                                                  John  14:6.



   Jesus saith unto him . . . !                              to the Triune God? That the term is used in both
   That is, unto Thomas, one of the twelve, who had          senses can very easily be demonstrated. However, we
just expressed his ignorance, and then asked a               are more particularly interested now in its
question. "Lord, we know not whither thou goest;             significance in our text.
and how can we know the way?"                                  The context makes it plain that the Lord uses the
   To him Jesus replied, "I am the way . . . no man          term as referring to the Triune God. As such, God is
cometh unto the Father, but by me."                          His Father as He appears in human nature, as
                                                             Mediator and Saviour of His people; and God is our
   He is speaking of the way to the Father!                  Father therefore for Jesus' sake.
   While His own soul was greatly troubled, because
His hour was at hand, the Lord took time out to give           In the preceding context Jesus speaks of the
solace to troubled hearts. He had told His disciples         disciple's faith in God, and immediately thereupon
that He was about to leave them, and they needed             He says: "In my Father's house are many mansions."
consolation.                                                 It is plain that He is still speaking of God when He
                                                             speaks of Him as Father. And there is no indication
   Let not your hearts be troubled . . . !                   that He has changed this significance when in the text
   In my Father's house are many mansions . . . I go         He speaks of the way to the Father.
to prepare a place for you . . . and whither I go ye           The Triune God therefore is spoken of in the
know, and the way ye know.                                   endearing term of "Father." He is, first of all, the
   How strange that He should say this, when                 Father of Jesus according to His human nature. The
apparently they had no conception of His departure           Man Jesus came forth into the world, not by the will
at all; nor did they understand His destination, or the      of man, but by the will of God. But that He speaks of
way to that destination!                                     God in terms of His Fatherhood is especially for the
  Perhaps we are to understand this as Jesus' method         benefit of His disciples, and the entire church of
of soliciting from Thomas his expression of ignorance        Christ. In and through the Man Christ Jesus, God is
and his question; in order that He might give His            become our Father for Jesus' sake. And by His saving
                                                             grace we are become sons and daughters of God Most
disciples the light they so sorely needed.                   High; and we are taught to address Him as "our
  He was going to the Father!                                Father which art in heaven."
  And to the Father He is the only way!                        Important it is to see at this point that the Triune
  No man cometh unto the Father, but by me!                  God is the covenant God, Who apart from any
                                                             consideration of the creature, lives eternally His own
  The Father!                                                perfect divine life in three Persons. There is in the
  Always in Scripture, and especially in the gospel of       being of God an interchange and fellowship of
John, we are confronted with the question: to whom           Persons who seek and find in each other a bond of
does the term "Father" refer? Does it have reference         love. The Father through the Son in the Spirit live to-
to the first Person of the Holy Trinity, or does it refer    gether the perfect covenant life of God. Though this


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                219


divine covenant relation is self-sufficient and needs          Because there was no one among God's people that
not anything, least of all the creature, to make it         could prepare the way and bring them on the way to
perfect; God has determined nevertheless to take to         the Father, God Himself came, in the Person of His
Himself a people who shall share in His own covenant        Son, to become the way.
life. He has chosen that people eternally and                  The only way to the Father!
sovereignly in Christ, and everything else God has
willed must serve to the realization of that people and        You see, by nature God's people are not the
the perfection of this eternal purpose, namely, to          children of God. By nature they are children of
establish with them and realize in them His own             wrath, as are all the children of men. They are all
covenant life. Hence, the covenant is not the way to        conceived and born in sin, are dead in trespasses and
the Father, as some would have it, but it is the central    sins. They are children of darkness, and therefore
purpose of the Father, and all must serve that              have no right to dwell in Father's house. Corrupt are
purpose.                                                    they, inclined to all evil, and incapable of doing any
                                                            good. Totally depraved are they, and worthy of
  God has willed eternally to tabernacle with His           everlasting damnation.
people in Christ!
  Not, you understand, has God chosen to dwell                Shall the elect therefore become the children of
with all men. Nor has He determined to dwell with all       God, and made fit to dwell in Father's house, they
those who choose to dwell with Him. It should               must be changed!
forever be established that not man determines who            And shall they be changed, God must come
shall dwell with God, but He alone sovereignly              Himself, in the Person of His Son, and unite Himself
determines this. Though Father's house has many             to them. He must in their nature assume their guilt,
mansions, and therefore many sons,. and daughters           and bearing that guilt, pass under His own righteous
shall dwell with Him, His people are limited to no          judgment, and bear His own righteous wrath until the
more or no less than those whom He has chosen in            guilt is paid for and removed, and His people are
Christ to be redeemed by Him.                               made perfectly righteous before Him. He must grant
  And, as in an earthly home father with mother             them forgiveness of sins, and the right to eternal life.
share in being the center about whom the whole life         He must adopt them legally, and inscribe the
and activity of the home evolves, so it is, only in the     adoption papers with His own blood.
most perfect sense, in Father's house. Take father and        In all this, Jesus is the way!
mother out of the home, and that very moment the              But there is much more!
idea of the home ceases. Take God out of the house
of many mansions, and its central purpose is                  Not only must He justify His people. He must also
destroyed. He has willed to be  the, center of              sanctify them. He must change them spiritually from
attraction, and to receive the glory and praise of all      children of darkness into children of light. Whereas
His dear children. "This people have I formed for           they were vile, He must make them clean. Whereas
myself, they shall show forth my praise."                   they were liars and subject to the lie, He must give
                                                            them the truth once more, and cause them to love
  This is Father's will!                                    and to speak the truth. Whereas they are spiritually
  It cannot be frustrated!                                  dead, He must make them spiritually alive.
  The way of which the text speaks leads to Him!              In all this, Jesus is the way!
  And that way is Jesus!                                      For when He suffered and died for them and in
                                                            their stead,. God raised Him from the dead and
  He is the Son of God, Who is become the Son of            exalted Him to His right hand, where He gave unto
Man! He, the second Person of the Holy Trinity,             Him the Spirit without measure. By this Spirit, now
co-equal and co-eternal with the Father and the Holy        as the Spirit of Christ, God's people are sanctified,
Spirit, yea, very God of ,God, according to His divine      and made to become spiritually the children of God.
nature, became the Son of Man. He, Who was and is
eternally in the bosom of the Father, united Himself          But even so, not all is said! He must call them
with human nature in the womb of a virgin of the            efficaciously by His Spirit and Word out of the world,
house and lineage of David. A complete human                and form them into the people of God, and lead them
nature He assumed, like unto us, though without sin.        by His grace, His Word and Spirit, and bring them at
In the Person of the Son the two natures, divine and        last into Father's house with its many mansions,
human, unite, and in such a way that they are               which He is now preparing for them.
unmixed, unchanged, undivided, and inseparable.               In all this, Jesus is the way!
  Thus, in Jesus, we see God's way to Himself!                He is the way, because He is the truth and the life!


220                                              THE STANDARD BEARER



 Such is the significance of His word to Thomas, to             them by the Spirit and Word of Christ as i
the disciples, and through them to the entire church            unto them by His saving grace.
of Christ!                                                      :;-. Jesus had said unto His disciples: Ye
   Thomas saith unto Him, Lord we know not'wiither              God, believe also in Me. Going to the Fath
Thou goest!                                                     faith in Christ, we shall come to Him, ou
   Now, Thomas and all the disciples must know that             Father. And when we shall see Him in the
He is going to His God, and their God for His sake!             Son, we shall be like Him, for we will be tr
   Moreover, Thomas asks the question: And how can              so that we conform to His image. In us H
we know the way?                                                children He shall see the likeness of Hime
                                                                glorified!
   Now, Thomas and'all the disciples, yea, and all His
people can know that He only is the way to the                     No longer shall we be of the lie, but of
Father!                                                            No longer shall we be dead in sins, but
   Shall God's people go to the Father, which they              righteousness!
shall surely do, they must go to Him through Jesus!                With Him shall we tabernacle!
   Objectively this is realized through the redeeming
work of Christ accomplished for, them as their                    World without end!
Mediator and Savibur. Subjectively this is realized in             Amen!


EDITORIALS

                   The Protestant Reformed Church
                           of Prospect Park, New Jersey

  Except in some  ,news items, there has been no                their organization; and their clerk, Mr
account given in our columns of what, I believe, is             Nelson, graciously responded with the
not only newsworthy, but also an historic event. I              account:
refer to the organization of the Protestant Reformed              "For several years some of us were  i-6
Church of Prospect Park, New Jersey. Why do I call              Standard Beaver. We also ordered books SC
this an historic event?                                         Triple Knowledge. We were very favorably :
  Well, there is more than one reason. Quite in                 and we recognized it as the Lord's doing P
general, it means that a new Protestant Reformed                time in March the Rev. Engelsma contacte
congregation  .has been established, and that, too,             Philadelphia and made arrangements to visit
through our denominational  home; mission labors.               Lawn, N.J., urging us to get as many  tc
And this in itself is significant, especially for our little    possible. An evening date was set, and sever
denomination. But more specifically, this is the first          were present when Rev. Engelsma  a~
time a Protestant Reformed Church  ,has been                    presented to us very clearly and forcefully
organized east of the state of Michigan. Besides, it            of the Protestant Reformed Churches.  HI
means that our denomination now stretches from                  contacted another family in a nearby towr
coast to coast, from New Jersey to California. And              about whom we did not know, and got  UI
still more significantly, it means that there is a              At Rev. Engelsma's suggestion we  cant
Protestant Reformed outpost in an: area which for               Protestant Reformed Mission Board.
years has been a stronghold of, the Reformed                      "The Board sent us the Rev. R. Decker 1
community.                                                      to us for a month. And so it was that on
                                                                morning in May the Rev. Decker opened u
  Some time ago I suggested that we should hear                 Scriptures in the living room of Mr. and M
from this little flock concerning their beginnings and          De Groot.


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                               221


   "Other pastors followed. And it was on September         pulpit supply which is being sent them, they greatly
11, 1973 that an organizational meeting was held.           desire to have their own pastor, who may teach and
The Rev. H. Veldman led in prayer and preached a            preach to them and their children, but who may also
sermon on Ephesians 4: 14, 15, stressing that we must       labor in a community which, I am convinced, holds
grow up in Christ. Four families participated in the        promise of numerical growth for the congregation.
organization. The Rev. C. Hanko read the Form of            May the Lord soon grant them this wish!
Ordination for the two chosen elders and one deacon.           Both to encourage them and to encourage other
   "Our services are held at 10:00 A.M. and 7:00 P.M.       readers of the Standard Bearer in that area, as well as
in the Legion Hall on North 8th Street, Prospect            in other areas where there is interest, I want to
Park, N.J. On Wednesday night we have a mid-week            emphasize that, small though they may be, the
meeting, at which we have been studying the Canons          Protestant Reformed Church of Prospect Park, New
of Dordrecht. In addition to our four families, we          Jersey, is a viable congregation. They have a
have several regular visitors at our services and           congregational existence and fellowship. They have
catechism classes and mid-week meeting."                    the preaching of the Word. They have the sacraments.
  After I received the above account, I had the             They have catechism classes. They have a consistory.
privilege of spending some ten days in Prospect Park        They have the help and support of our churches. And
                                                            above all, they have and rejoice in the truth of our
and of ministering to them on two Lord's Days, on           Reformed confessions. And they are there to stay, by
the second of which I had the honor of leading them
in their first communion service as a congregation.         God's grace !
Hence, I am in a position to add a few words from              May others have the courage of faith to join them.
personal experience and observation.                        They will not be disappointed. And they will find for
  The flock with which I became acquainted, I               themselves and their children spiritual food and
believe, is a devoted and enthusiastic little band. They    nourishment as nowhere else in that community.
eagerly drink in the pure preaching of the Word as it
has been brought to them by our Protestant                    And may those in other areas who love the
Reformed ministers. Of their delight in the preaching       Reformed faith and who long for sound preaching
and of the times of refreshment which the Lord has          learn from this concrete example that our Protestant
sent them they testified to me on several occasions.        Reformed Churches are indeed ready to answer a call
And they are determined, by God's grace, to                 for help and to give freely of that which the Lord has
persevere as a Protestant Reformed congregation in          so freely given to us.
that area. Happy though they are with the regular             God bless our Prospect Park congregation!




                             Things 1

  One of our contacts with the Netherlands is                 Item. In commenting on Rev. Herman Hoeksema's
Reformatorisch  Dagblad, a rather new Christian daily       denial of the well-meant offer of grace, Prof. Stek and
newspaper, whose Church News Editor, Mr. H. H. J.           Dr. Paul Schrotenboer are reported to have said that
van As, receives our Standard Bearer and from time          Hoeksema denied that in the preaching of the gospel
to time sends me the Church News section of his             he had a word for the non-elect. Amazing! I was
paper. Not long ago I received several issues, among        raised and instructed in home and church and
which was that of November 28, 1973, which carried          theological school in the Protestant Reformed
an interview with Prof. John Stek, of Calvin                Churches, but I never heard anything like that. I did
Seminary.                                                   indeed hear that for the reprobate the preaching of
  In a wide-ranging interview, Prof. Stek was also          the gospel is a savor of death unto death. I did hear
asked about the Protestant Reformed Churches. And           frequently - and still preach: "For the wicked, saith
from his response to this inquiry, as reported by           my God, there is no peace." Isaiah 57:2 1.
Reformatorisch Dagblad,  I learned some amazing               Item.  In commenting on the De Wolf schism in
things about the Protestant Reformed Churches,              1953, Prof. Stek is reported to have said: "The
things which I never knew before.                           breach also had a pastoral background; may the


222                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



ministers warn the congregation in their preaching          Testament in our Protestant Reformed Theological
against apostasy? Hoeksema posited over against this:       School, for the first time in my life I learn from Prof.
there is no apostasy (or: falling away). A number of        Stek (who must be having dreams and visions in far
ministers of his church were of the opinion that then       away Amsterdam!) that there has never been any
preaching became impossible. Therewith there came a         theological development in our churches. Further,
new investigation by these ministers (or does the           that our only basis of existence is negative! Now,
report intend to say: a new investigation of these          really, Prof. Stek! If you had only weighed your
ministers?) with the result that an estimated               words more carefully, you would not have said this.
t w o - t h i r d s broke with the Protestant Reformed      For you began by stating, though in a belittling
Church. Now is that not amazing! I lived through the        fashion, that we continue to maintain the old
controversy of 1953; in fact, because of my place as        unchanged. And that is at least positive, is it not? But
pastor of Doon, Iowa and in Classis West, I played a        besides, I dare to say that from the Protestant
rather active role in the controversy. As I recall the      Reformed Churches there has come forth more
controversy, it centered on the fundamental question        positive development of sound Reformed theology,
whether the promise of the covenant is conditional or       covenantal theology, sovereign grace theology - and
unconditional, with the former position being taken         that, too, in the form of published works, such as The
by those who left us and who were pro-Liberated,            Triple Knowledge  and  Reformed Dogmatics,  not to
and the latter position representing what had always        mention hundreds and thousands of pages in other
been the position of the Protestant Reformed                publications  - than Prof. Stek will ever see from
Churches. In fact, I think I can still quote from           Calvin Seminary, much less from his own pen.
memory the two heretical statements upon which the
controversy finally centered. They were: 1. "God              Yes, there was one item which I knew before. Prof.
promises every one of you that if you believe, you          Stek presents our future as doubtful. Well, from
shall be saved." 2. "Our act of conversion is a             Christian Reformed quarters they have been saying
prerequisite for entrance into the kingdom of God."         things like this for years. It used to be: when
But however that may be, this is the first time I ever      Hoeksema and Ophoff die, the Protestant Reformed
heard the presentation of Prof. Stek. It is one of          Churches will fall apart. There were those who looked
those things that I never knew. And I still do not          for our denominational death after the De Wolf
know it. And I here and now state publicly that it is a     schism of 1953. Other such whisperings there have
bald-faced and ridiculous lie!                              been from time to time. But thanks to God's grace,
                                                            we are quite alive and well today. We are about to
                                                            dedicate a new seminary building. We are active in
  Item.  Prof. Stek is reported to have given the           home missions. We are active in Christian education.
following description and evaluation of the Protestant      We are active in all our congregations with sound and
Reformed Churches: "In these churches there is no           edifying preaching; and our people do not have to sit
theological development to be found whatsoever;             in the pews wondering what new heresy or liturgical
they continue to maintain the old unchanged; theirs         oddity they will have to stomach on Sunday. We have
is a theology of maintaining and defending positions.       no theistic evolutionists and other deniers of the
The only reason for existence is that they form a           historicity of Genesis among our teachers and
Reformed communion on the basis of protest and              preachers. We have no teachers of universal
setting themselves apart over against others. That. is a    atonement in our Seminary, like Prof. Stek's
negative ground! What the future of this small church       colleague, Prof. Harold Dekker. We have none in our
group will be is not predictable, but cooperation, or       midst who publicly admit to signing the Formula of
agreement (samengaan)  with another church appears          Subscription with mental reservations. We have none
to be excluded beforehand."                                 among us who publicly express agreement with men
                                                            like Harry Kuitert, as does the Christian Reformed
  And here are some more things I never knew. I             Church. Thanks be to God's grace alone, we are
never knew that it was Christian deliberately and           Reformed. By that same grace we intend to remain
dishonestly to belittle churches who are far and away       Reformed. And by that same grace, we will continue
moie Reformed than one's own. The Bible has a word          to develop in the Reformed line.
for that: slander! Secondly, although I have had five
years of theological training at our own seminary,            Moreover, we have sought and we continue to seek
though from my youth up I have been thoroughly              contact with all who with us love the Reformed faith.
immersed in Protestant Reformed teaching and
instruction, though I am rather thoroughly                    I respectfully suggest to Prof. Stek that he clean his
acquainted with all our Protestant Reformed                 own house before he eyes ours. I also respectfully
literature, though I teach theology and Old                 urge that he learn not to slander.


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                               223


QUESTION BOX

                          As To Bible Study Groups

                                               ProJ: H. C. Hoeksema



Question                                                   wholly committed to Scripture's infallibility, or with
  From a Grand Rapids reader I received the                an Arminian, or a Baptist, or with anyone with whom
following question of a practical nature: "Would you       I am not in agreement as to the fundamentals of the
please comment on neighborhood prayer groups and           Reformed faith?
`Bible study groups' held in various homes, involving         2. In this day of rampant subjectivism and
so-called Bible study, discussion of personal              mysticism of all kinds, including neo-Pentecostalism,
experiences and discussion of personal problems.           I see a very grave danger in this sort of thing. And
Thank-you."                                                when my questioner adds that there is discussion of
                                                           "personal experiences and problems," my radar
                                                           begins to send signals, frankly. There have been other
Reply                                                      times in church history when such "cells" have been
  My questioner does not furnish me with a great           formed. Usually they have been characterized by
deal of information, nor do I personally have any          sickly mysticism  - the same sort of thing which is
experience with these groups. But after inquiring a        rampant today, only in a very superficial,
bit, I think I have the picture.                           glory-hallelujah, praise-the-Lord form. And they have
  Apparently there are such groups of ladies from a        been characterized inevitably by pride and
given neighborhood, who meet at homes, ostensibly          self-exaltation; these people begin to class themselves
for Bible study, for prayer, for personal testimony        as the spiritually elite, the real kernel of the church.
concerning their "experiences," etc. As I understand       Reformed Christians should be on their guard against
it, this kind of meeting is conducted on an inter- or      this sort of thing. I have read enough about the
non-denominational basis. There seems to be no kind        current neo-Pentecostal movement that I believe it is
of formal organization involved. And apparently            to be avoided like the plague; and any sickly
there is no prior agreement as to the basis on which       subjectivism which smacks of it or might lead up to it
these groups are called together, the basis on which       should be avoided. Keep your feet squarely on the
they operate, etc.                                         ground of God's Word and our Reformed confessions,
  What do I think about this?                              and do not allow yourself to be tempted by these
                                                           apparently pious movements: before you know it,
  In the first place, one can only oppose something        you will be led astray and trapped. And then, if you
of this kind at the risk of being called impious for       have any Christian sensitivity, you will find yourself
discouraging Bible study, at the risk of being "against    having problems such as those mentioned in the
Christian witnessing" and at the risk of being "against    quotation below.
personal testimony." Well, I will accept that risk. I
am opposed, strongly opposed, to this sort of thing.          3. Our ladies can far better spend their time in
                                                           their own Ladies' Societies and in preparation  -
  Here are my reasons:                                     good, careful, thorough, sober preparation - for their
   1. There is, of course, nothing wrong  - in fact,       society meetings. My experience in the past has been
everything right  - about studying God's Word,             that there has never been too much of the latter; and
whether privately or in a group. But if this is to be      the most common excuse given is "lack of time."
done profitably and correctly, there must be some            4. For the rest, I would like to quote an article
fundamental unity in the group, some basis on which        which came from the pen of the Rev. G. I.
those involved are agreed, and some prior agreement        Williamson, of the Reformed Church of Silverstream,
as to precisely how the meeting is to be led, etc. How,    New Zealand. The article has appeared in this country
for example, am I to study the Bible (unless I am in       in both the  Presbyterian Guardian  and  Chrhtian
control of the study) with someone who is not              News.


224                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER



                     Are You On Cloud Nine?                          stories and then had looked at themselves! And they
                        By. G. I. Williamson                         too had begun to say, "Well, it's not like that with
                                                                     me. It's not cloud nine at all. It's still a daily struggle
                                                                     with many discouragements and trials." Imagine what
          One of the pastoral problems that I have met more          a relief it was, then, to get back to the solid truth.
       and more frequently in recent years is suggested by                         The Christian life is a battle
       the title above. Let me explain.                                 Now I do not want to condemn every evangelical
          My wife began to attend some women's meetings              book that tells of the wonder-working power of
       with others in our church, when I noticed that she            Christ. I myself could write one too  - and it would
       sometimes came home rather discouraged and                    have much the same effect, if I only told one side of
       downhearted. In talking it over I discovered this             the story! Any true believer can tell these things, and
       was the reason: The study material used at these              should tell them too. But not iu such a way as to give
       meetings was often some recent evangelical                    a distorted view of the matter. And this is all too
       publication that had become popular in the wider              often what happens.
       circle of readers. And it was usually a sort of                  That is one reason why it is so very helpful to go
       romantic account of the way in which the writer               back and read the biographies of some of the great
       found in Jesus the answer to all manner of problems.          men of God. Yes, we often find those elements in
       Suddenly they were on cloud nine, as it were, and             their lives that humble us, and make us ashamed  -
       everything was just wonderful.                                things that make us cry out to God for more grace to
                     Is the Christian life a high?                   walk closely with him. But they also have an
          The trouble was that my wife hadn't reached                abundance of trial and tribulation with the weakness
       cloud nine. No, for her there was still a daily struggle      of the flesh! And precisely because we see their
       with the flesh, the world, and the devil. Prayer was          discouragement  - and weakness  - and tribulations,
       still an effort. And troubles and trials still came. As       we find the encouragement to press on with our own
       she compared her experience, then, with these                 good fight of the faith.
       wonderful and romantic stories that others related,              Let me urge you then, if you have this problem, to
       she began to wonder about herself. "I just don't              turn from fiction to truth. The fact is that much of
       know," she would say. "Maybe I don't really know              this modern evangelical material is rubbish of the
       what it is to be a Christian at all."                         worst sort precisely because it draws a pietistic,
          Well, we talked this over at some length. And I            picture of life  - the Christian life  - that never  has
       urged her to put these modern evangelical books out           been true in this world.
       of mind for a while, in order to think about the                 No, the true Christian life is not easy - and it is not
       Scripture. I asked her to tell me of just one person in       "cloud nine"  - a sort of perpetual ecstasy that lifts
       the Bible who lived on cloud number nine! I asked             us "above all the din." It is rather a battle all the way,
       her to name just one who rose above the strife of             and the whole armor of God is required.
       battle to bask in the sunshine of perfect tranquility            For only those who endure to the end are going to
       and peace!                                                    be saved in that day. Let us give special heed to the
          And then we sat down and read some of the                  inspired words of the Psalms, then, and take heart
       Psalms of the Bible  - the divinely inspired directory        and encouragement when we see ourselves herein. For
       for true Christian experience. Again and again she            in this - rather than in a kind of imaginary heaven on
       would say, "Well, that sounds just like me! That's the        earth  - we shall fmd our encouragement. And the
       way it really is." So the powerful truth of the Word          very fact that we are fighting the good fight will
       of God was all the answer that was needed.                    become, as it should, a comfort to us rather than a
          She went back, next time, to that women's                  discouragement because we don't find it so easy.
       meeting and spoke about these things. Suddenly there             You see, there is no "cloud nine" in the Christian
       were others who spoke up expressing their profound            life. We're in a battle all the way to the end. To be
       relief!' Yes, they too had had precisely the same             misled into thinking otherwise is just another clever
       experience. They had heard these all too wonderful            trick of Satan to discourage us.





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


                                                 THE STANDAR-D BEARER                                                 225





                          About the Use of Cosmetics
                                                  Prof: H. C Hoeksema



Question                                                        correspondent seems to have his mind made up.
      From a west coast reader I received the following:          In the third place, I will not condemn the use of
      In the  Standard Bearer  of December 1, 1973,             cosmetics wholesale. For one thing, I believe that this
under Question Box, page 104, we read, "`A question             is another case of sin not residing in things, but in the
has been bothering me for a long time." We also have            abuse of things. For another, such wholesale
a question that is bothering us. And that is "the               condemnation of the use of cosmetics will involve
painting of their face, and lips, and eyes by our               one in endless (and useless) questions as to what is
ladies," as well in our home church of X and here in            proper and what is improper. May milady powder her
Y.                                                              nose and use a little perfume, or not? And may a
                                                                gentleman use some hair tonic or a bit of after-shave
      W e   c a l l   t h a t " wereldgelijkvormigheid"         lotion?
(world-conformity, HCH), and we as Christians
should stay away from that. It is of the devil, and we            In the fourth place, there is indeed an abuse in
see it as sin.                                                  this regard. There are some who make themselves
      We read in II' Kings 9:30 that the wicked Jezebel         look like Jezebel, others who make themselves look
painted her face, but should Christians not stay away           like cheap whores, and still others who make them-
from' this? This way we are no different from the               selves look a great deal like clowns. Motives have
world.                                                          a great deal to do with this question, too. Some, there
                                                                are, who imitate every fad that comes along, no
Reply                                                           matter how ugly it- makes them look, simply in order
      First of all, I should point out that the designations    to be "with it," I guess.
"X" and "Y" for the two churches mentioned in the                 Hence, let `each one use sanctified liberty, be
above letter are mine. This change was made for                 properly modest and judicious in this regard, and
reasons which should be obvious.                                beware of following the world in the abuse
      In the second place, I cannot escape the impression       mentioned. And let mothers in Israel teach their
that this is more of a statement of position than a             adolescent daughters in this regard
                                                                                -                         by word and
question on the part of my correspondent. My                    example.




                           Gift' idea? Gift subscription!
                                       21 issues for $7.00.
                            Writ.e our Business Office.


226                                          THE STANDARD BEARER


FROM HOLY WRIT


                               1945-l 974 --
                    Luctor Et Emergo

                                Rev. G. Lubbers



  It was with great wrestlings that our  Standard           permanent form. He could then write his dogmatic
Bearer came into being and continued to exist by the        studies in book form. However, that change of the
grace and tender mercies of our God. In this                Standard Bearer into a church paper somewhat like
wrestling, conflict and labor and trials the Lord gave      De Wachter (Christian Reformed church paper in the
His blessing. It was ever a rising in and above the         Holland language) was not to be.
conflict in faith; it was indeed luctor et  emergo (I         Instead there was the guidance of the Spirit which
struggle and I emerge). Did not Jacob cry, "I will not
let thee go, except thou bless me"? Thus it was also        led in the direction of having our paper divided into
with our paper during these fifty years of its              definite rubrics. Rev. H. Hoeksema suggested the
existence!                                                  following rubrics: Meditation, Editorials, Doctrine, In
                                                            the Churches, Biblical History, History of Dogma,
  In the first place, the Standard Bearer began with        Social Topics, Political Conditions, Missions,
mighty power of faith, but there were few laborers          Education, Press Reviews, Question Box, Book
who could write. Soon even one of the pillars (?) who       Review. Truly, an impressive array of subjects. These
helped to begin our paper deserted the ranks of the         would, of course, not all appear in each issue; but
writers. Then the ranks were made smaller, till, after      these would be interchanged in the various issues.
not many years, there. were two writers besides the         There was one condition upon which Rev. Hoeksema
late Reverends Wm. Verhil and Gerrit Vos. These two         would favor and would cooperate with such a
were the Reverends H. Hoeksema and G. M. Ophoff.           rubrication  of the  Standard Bearer.  He writes in
The latter were busy men, who had to burn the night         italics as follows: " . . . that each and every editor or
oil to finish their work and had to cut their sleep         co-worker would be held absolutely responsible,
short. But they were in the strength of their years and     during the time that he was appointed for a certain
were steeled to the battle.                                 rubric, to fill his space with material concerning the
  How ever, gradually the time came when the                subject assigned to him, and no one else, not even the
question was raised whether there should not be more        editor-in-chief, may fill that space." The truth of the
writers. Other young ministers had  .been trained in        matter was that those who had to write not
the seminary, and gradually were desirous, too, of          infrequently let the editor down in the past, and then
aiding a bit in writing  in  the Standard Bearer.  The      he would, with Rev. Ophoff, need to write some
matter went through a period of discussion; it was a        more in haste to meet the copy deadlines with the
sort of  Sturm und drang.  For the paper, a time of         printer, and the printer's devil!
crisis. The question was raised whether the Standard          It was then suggested that it would facilitate
Bearer had served its purpose as a free paper under         matters if all the co-laborers were put "under law." It
the RFPA and should now become a denominational             would be somewhat the law of the school-master in
paper, a  "kerkelijk   blad.  " It was opined that the      the Seminary once more. It would be like assigning
Standard Bearer was too much for many people to             term papers. Each would be assigned certain subjects.
digest. There were some strong voices raised against        This would in effect be a kind of systematizing of the
such a suggested change; the editor-in-chief, Rev. H.       work, although it was short of rubricating the paper.
Hoeksema, would go along with this change, whereas          In the September 1, 1942 issue, on pp. 468-469, we
it would afford him opportunity to write in the             have such a schedule for the year 1942-1943.
English language (he was writing predominantly in           Undersigned also was given certain subjects on which
the Holland language) concerning many subjects in a         to write. He well remembers that at that time he was


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  227



taking a few courses at Central College, Pella, Iowa,        I am. Yet, I read these articles once more, and I see
while he was minister in the church there. He was            that, although here and there they react to the
greatly interested in the philosophical presuppositions      controversies which shook the foundations of our
of common grace and related subjects, and took               churches, they are in the main an attempt to give
courses there in philosophy which had not been               serious and basic exegesis of many passages of
offered in our Seminary when he attended. The                Scripture in popular language, although one
editor-in-chief assigned him and also others such            not-too-kind critic once castigated me for having
subjects as: The Shaking of All Things, Rationalism          written in five different languages in one article.
and Christian Logic, Dewey and Christian Education,          Happily, that was the exception.
Election and Foreordination, The Concept Person in             Also in these articles in the rubric From Holy Writ
Scripture, The Value of Apologetics, The Dangers of          it was often Luctor Et Emergo! Many of these essays
Early Adolescence, Barth's Conception of                     were written while I was  travelling  as home
Predestination, etc. This array of subjects was perhaps      missionary. Of the twenty-eight years that From Holy
indicative of a need of some basic study and research        Writ  appears, some thirteen years the articles were
on the part of the young men in the ministry.                written in many parts of the United States, in motels,
  Evidently this assigning of subjects was not to the        hotels, private homes. The latest were written from
taste of the associate editors. The pages of the             the Island of Jamaica. Many times copy was sent in
Standard Bearer indicate that some three years later,        with the feeling of the imperfection of the copy as to
1945, under an article "Cleanings From Twenty                form and content.
Years," a speech delivered by one of the ministers             It is a rather happy and blessed experience to have
then with us, the matter of rubrics, was brought up          one's youthful colleagues in the ministry come and
once more; and the list which we enumerated above            tell you and write you of the blessing and help they
from the pen of Rev. H. Hoeksema was again                   received from some of my strugglings to put on paper
submitted for consideration.                                 the meaning and sense of the Holy Spirit. It indicates
          It was at this point that .a new and different     that the Lord was willing to use the efforts of From
schedule for the  Standard Bearer  was printed by            Holy Writ in the service of His ministry in the church.
"H-H." It was indeed,  lector et  emergo!  Finally, the      For this the writer is deeply and humbly grateful.
rubrication  of the paper emerged in definite rubrics          From Holy Writ has covered many chapters of the
which were to be written by men to whom these were           Bible and even some complete Bible books. To
assigned for one year. Thus the writers became               mention just a few, which my perusal of past volumes
definite co-editors and had a voice in the annual            of the  Standard Bearer  reminded me of, I will  call
meetings of the editorial staff. It was in the year 1945,    attention to the following: Gog and Magog (Ezekiel
in the October 1 issue, that the first contribution          38,  39), the Book of Malachi, sections of  I
appeared  in  the rubric  From  Holy Writ,  from the         Corinthians, the First Epistle to Timothy. Hebrews
hand of Rev. H. Veldman on Matthew 7: 13, 14. After          hopefully will be finished; studies in I and II Peter,
a  1 few issues the undersigned started writing on           and studies on Paul's great addresses in the Book of
Ephesians 1. Incidentally, undersigned has written in        Acts, and many-other Scripture passages.
the rubric  From  Holy Writ  continuously ever since
that time, being exclusively responsible for it, with           It is now some forty-six years ago that I entered
the exception of the year 1948-49 when he was ill. It        the seminary of our churches. Without the Standard
was the Rev. C. Hanko who then wrote in this                 Bearer  the life of me and our churches would not
department on such subjects as: Mouth of the Lord,           have had their healthy existence under God. Without
The Hand of the Lord, Beholding God's Face, The              my own small contribution to  From  Holy Writ,  my
Hope of the Covenant Mother in the Old                       life would have lost much of the actual  Luctor Et
Dispensation, The Multiformity of the Church, The            Emergo.  It has been my privilege, together with my
Offices in the Church. I must not omit that Prof. R.         colleagues of many years, to have labored in this
Decker has also recently given me a much needed lift         kingdom work.
when he wrote in this department on the Epistle of             Looking back over the years, I know they join with
James.                                                       me in the prayer of Moses, the man of God, "Let thy
  When I read this rubric, From Holy Writ, as it has         work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto
appeared now for some twenty-eight years it reads            their children. And let the beauty of the Lord our
like a chronicle of my life. It was the good pleasure of     God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our
the Lord that my life should be so very much taken           hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish
up also in our paper, be it then in a limited and more       thou it." Psalm 90: 16, 17.
or less subordinate role. No one is more conscious of          It is an awesome thought that one day our work
the shortcomings and weaknesses of my writings than          shall be tried by the Lord Himself. In the knowledge


228                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



that we only plant and water, that neither Paul nor         continue to hew the line of proper exegesis in these
Apollos is anything, that God only gives the increase,      days when the so-called "new hermeneutics" is more
we listen to God's Word; the day will come when our         and more taught in the schools of the entire world.
work shall be tried as by fire.                               God keep our Standard Bearer, and our editors to
  From Holy Writ has devoutly and seriously always          write along pure paths, adding nothing to nor
attempted to write accurately according to the sense        detracting anything from the Book of Prophecy, the
of the Scriptures. This column has never knowingly          revealed counsel of God. May the  Standard Bearer
tried to foist its opinion on the Scriptures, but has       keep the banner aloft till Jesus comes. Amen! Even
always allowed the Scriptures to speak. And so we           should our heads be gory with the blood of the
commit the many pages over many months and years            righteous, may we stand! Struggling against all the
into the hand of the Lord. Ever the rule has been           hosts of hell, may we emerge in the final victory,
"Scripture interprets Scripture." May this rubric           according to God's sure and faithful promise.





                The Standard Bearer
                          in Retrospect

                        WEGLOPENDE PROTESTANTEN


       -                           Rev. H. Hoeksema



   (The above title appeared in the Standard Bearer of      deserting; or who first desert and then protest.
February 1, 1936, Vol. 12, pages 198 and 199. The           Sometimes their desertion consists merely in this that
Dutch title can be translated: "Deserting Protestants"      they stay away from church; sometimes also (usually
or, "Protestants Who Run Away".  ,The article, of           even; such is often the result anyhow) in this: that
course, was also Dutch  - as were many others in            they demand a certificate of dismissal and affiliate
early volumes of the  Standard Bearer.  But the             themselves with another church.
editorial is very pertinent to any age of the church; it      The deserting protestant has a "cause".
speaks to us yet today. The subject touches upon a
situation which we have observed repeatedly in the            He is not in agreement with his minister. The
history of the Protestant Reformed Churches  - and          minister preaches too subjectively or too objectively
doubtlessly a situation which exists in other               (usually the latter); he is too dogmatical or too
denominations as well. Read it then for instruction         practical (usually the former); he caters too much to
and warning for our own day.)                               the emotions or vice versa (usually the latter); he does
                                                            not preach election or he does not sufficiently call
                      *c*****                               unto repentance (usually for the others); he is too
  A great grief in the life of the church is what we        deep or too superficial (I have known a hardened
might call: deserting protestants.                          sleeper-during-the-service who complained that the
  And often there are also a great evil.                    sermon was too deep). At any rate, he has a "cause"
                                                            with his minister. And he talks much about that cause
  Who, having a little experience in ecclesiastical         for a longer or a shorter period of time (but not with
spheres, does not know them?                                the minister), until finally the minister also observes
  In the short period of our existence as churches,         that the man has such a grievance. Then the matter is
we have oftentimes met them. They are people who            broached on the occasion of family visitation and the
protest first and then desert us; or who protest while      minister in all kindliness does his utmost to convince


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                               229


the brother that his "cause" is groundless, or is no        about that "godless" consistory. And, sad to say, but
"matter of principle", or he promises the brother that      a fact nevertheless, there are always sufficient simple
he shall profit from the observations made by him.          souls who lend their ear  - who do not understand
But it is to no avail. Finally the man with his "cause"     that such a man's "cause" is good for nothing; who
proceeds to protest - that is, if he does not desert at     lament over him and with him proceed to weep for
an earlier time. In the meantime, he continues to stir      the "apostasy" of the church.
up unrest in the congregation and endeavors also to
win others for his "cause".                                    Such deserters or their friends even write letters to
                                                            east and west concerning their "cause".
   Or the deserting protestant has a cause `of practical
importance.                                                   Now and again I even receive articles wherein the
                                                            deserters or their partisans purpose to unburden their
   The minister has not acted correctly. Or, the            hearts in rather severe language  in  the  Standard
consistory has committed an injustice. Or, some bad         Bearer.  Articles such as these the  Standard Bearer
thing was decided on the congregational meeting. Or,        does not publish, of course; both because it would
as is often the case, he is himself under censure, and      place such authors themselves in a bad light, and also
of course, very unjustly. So he protests against the        because it would reduce the  Standard Bearer  to a
minister, or against the "godless" treatment by the         garbage container.
consistory, or against the decision of the                     A protesting deserter is good for nothing!
congregational meeting which was "contrary to
correct church polity". In the meantime, he talks              Anyone who really has a "cause", who is
much about the sins of the minister, or about the           convinced in his conscience before God that he is not
unjust acts of the consistory wherever he can find a        dominated by sinful motives, that he champions the
listening ear  - and where the minister or the              truth, loves the brethren, loves Zion, and who carries
consistory or the members of the congregation who           God's cause in his heart, never becomes a deserter!
are better acquainted with the matter cannot hear           Indeed, he is not concerned whether or not he will
him. And sometimes he does that in a "pious"                win his cause; he fights for God's cause. And if that is
manner. He sorrows because of the injustice for the         his aim, how then could he become a deserter? He
sake of the congregation. Or: "What will become of          will protest in the right way as long as the possibility
God's Church when such godless injustice is                 of protest exists. Others may heap injustice upon
committed!" Or: "Blessing will never rest on such           him; some may refuse to take to heart what is to him
(acts)!"                                                    the cause of God; yea, he may finally even perish
                                                            himself in an ecclesiastical sense - but he will never
   And he feels himself "constrained" to protest.           become a deserter.
   But,  .behold, he deserts before he has walked the         The deserter has no spiritual "backbone".
way of protest to the very end!        ,.
                                                              He really knows in the depth of his heart that his
  If it concerned his own "cause" and he was under          "cause" is no good; that it is not love for God and His
censure, he asks for his "papers" before the way of         cause; nor is it a love for the church and the brethren
censure can be followed with him to the very end.           which constrains him.
  If it concerned a matter against the minister or the         He cannot get his way. Therefore he deserts.
consistory, and he did not receive satisfaction with
the consistory, he does not have the courage to bring         This man rather employs backbiting and slander in
his "cause" to classis.                                     order to cast a blot on Zion's name before friend and
                                                            foe.
  It is impossible anyhow to find justice!                    The deserting protestant is a spiritual coward.
  The consistory knows how to present its case in
such a way that he has no chance whatsoever to win             Over against him we have but one calling. That
his cause!                                                  calling is not that we should receive him kindly in
                                                            order to listen to his "whispering" and to become
  Moreover, the classis will see to it that the minister    guilty with him in the casting of a blot on Zion's
or the consistory are protected.                            name; but that we point out to him his sin against the
  Hence, he will demand his papers!                         ninth commandment, and to admonish him to walk
  And then, when he has received his certificate of         in the correct way if he really thinks that he has a
membership, and therefore has lost  all. right of           "cause".
protest, he still goes about among "friend" and foe in        But this is certain: the deserting protestant is good
order to complain about the injustice he suffered and       for nothing!


230                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


JAMAICAN MISSION NEWS



                      "What went ye out for to see?"


  Tongues are wagging, ears are tingling and                 sanctification; their men's society and ladies' society
credibility is being tried. The "citizen's band radio" is    and young people's society are in session. No, no, all
so very busy these days that it is becoming more and         work is not finished in a vacant church! So in
more difficult to sort out the rumor-news from the           Jamaica. Two ministers, four students and various
true-news. The Mission Committee thought it                  elders and deacons are still preaching, teaching and
expedient to tune up the "official band radio" to give       exhorting the membership in a concerted effort to
you more of the Jamaican mission news - hence this           face the world under the banner of the Truth. Yes,
installment that had been promised you. Some of              the Mission Committee has appointed Revs. Hanko
which you heard on the citizen's band was true, of           and Heys to visit Jamaica in April to "evaluate" the
course, but the deductions and analyses are being            field; come with propositions to the Committee and
stretched to the "I can't believe it" stage. Were you        then to Synod whether or not to continue laboring
tuned in when it was deduced that all Jamaicans are          there; to suggest the calling of a missionary or
"grabbers" and infected with a severe case of the            missionaries; to assist them in other ways by
"gimmes"? Attend to the following request found in           magazines, pamphlets, personal letter writing, etc.
a letter to Rev. and Mrs. Lubbers:  ". .  .although I        The Mission Committee is leaving that up to the
have never gotten a personal gift from any one of            sanctified judgment of the emissaries. Revs. Hanko
you, I am asking you for one now: a photograph of            and Heys. Now come with us on a little flight of
both of you, one that can be framed." Now that               imagination. Can we hear Him asking?:
"gimme" came not from a "grabber" but from a good                 "What went ye out for to see? A people firmly
friend who wanted a picture by which to remember               established as Protestant Reformed Churches, fully
them.                                                          settled in the faith  of  the Fathers?  Hardly.  "But
  The Mission Committee, in its monthly meetings, is           what went ye out for to see? A people who are so
deeply concerned about the spiritual welfare of the            advanced on the way of sanctification that they are
brethren and sisters in the faith on the Island of             no longer interested in earthly goods, earthly goals
Jamaica, those whose hearts the Lord has touched               and earthly gold?" Hardly. "But what went ye out
through the faithful ministration of our missionary,           for to see?" A people who are like you in that they
Rev. G. Lubbers. They are a matter of our official             are poor, miserable lost sinners in need of cleansing
and personal prayers. They are the faithful                    and forgiveness of sins; in need of comforting
"remnant" with whom the King of His Church is ever             words from the Scriptures; in need of instruction
concerned. They are among the innumerable throng               and nourishment derived only from the Word of
of redeemed which shall eat and drink at the marriage          God; a people who must daily struggle with the
feast of the Lamb.                                             onslaughts of the world, the devil and their own
  Yes, the Mission Committee has decided to                    sinful flesh; who daily must confess that they have
suspend the labor of Rev. Lubbers there until Synod            fallen far short of subduing that three-headed
meets in June. Yes, he has shipped all his personal            enemy; a people who are just like you, sin
belongings back home to Terrace Ave. in Jenison.               accepted!
Yes, his work is finished in Jamaica. But all work is          Now of course our missionaries and emissaries did
not finished on that island. Just as in a local              not see only that sort of people as described in our
congregation whose pastor has left them, taking a call       imaginary questioning, no more than our own pastors
from another church,  his  work is finished in their         see only that kind in our congregations. All the
congregation, but  all work is not finished. Their           citizens of the U.S. do not tit that description; all the
catechism teaching goes on; their elders and deacons         citizens of Grand Rapids are not sin-burdened and
are still functioning; their Sunday School is still          longing for deliverance; and just possibly not  all of
instructing the little children in the way of                those on the membership rolls of the Protestant


                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                                231


Reformed Churches of America consciously echo the               come to teach us things we did not know before,
plaint of Paul as recorded in Romans 7:24. Yes, we              not knowing what kind of time you would have,
still desire earthly good, and pursue earthly goals and         and yet you came. The Lord, to Whom you gave
save earthly gold. We have not yet arrived at the               your time and talents so willingly, keep His Love
pearly gates, divested of our earthly house, desiring to        and Grace shining in your lives; may He give you
be clothed upon with the white robes of the                     abundant joy for all the sorrows and pains you
righteousness of Christ.                                        have experienced here, as He gave you strength for
  No, our emissaries do not have their heads in the             the many bumpy roads you traveled so faithfully
clouds. They are practical men with years of                    for three long years to bring us the Word and many
experience in pastoral work. They are eminently                 gifts. You have left many examples behind. You
qualified to "evaluate" the field. They will do so              have made deep impressions upon our hearts. You
taking upon themselves to learn if the door is open, if         were so loving to us. You showed no racial pride,
it is closing, or if it is closed. Next they will try to        not puffed up, two grand people. From the bottom
advise the Committee if men are trying to close the             of our hearts we thank you for everything you so
door which the Lord has opened for us, or if the Lord           faithfully and lovingly did for us. Some of our own
Jesus Himself has closed it. Woe be to us if we cease           natives would have long time worn out their
laboring in a field which the King of His Church has            welcome because of pride. You came preaching
not closed to us!                                               Christ and living Christ. You gave us something to
                                                                think about constantly. Please believe me that I
  At this writing the Mission Committee believes that           have learned much more from you than what you
God has His dear children on that island. It does so            preached. . . . The Lord that made white and black
on many items of interest. This one from the                    give you His choicest blessings; may He pilot you
missionary-helper: "But the situation must be kept in           safely home. . . . Your humble children, . . . .
perspective. Though most seem to be fools, there are
wise men. The students . . . have shown wisdom.                   Yes, we are in contact with children who are
There are elders who are wise, and there are people            hungering and thirsting for the Bread and Water of
there who have shown wisdom." He called them the                Life. No, our efforts have not all gone "down the
"minority." Don't you see the word "remnant" in                 drain"; much of it just may have gone  up  "Jacob's
that word? They are the faithful few that are                   Ladder" instead. Probably the Lord has other of his
genuinely interested in the Reformed Faith. The                 children there who have not yet been reached with
Missionary wrote, "Now it is my earnest prayer to               the preaching of the Word. We do not know.
God for these churches that they prosper well. I do               Brethren and sisters of our constituency, pray for
not believe that our leaving here will or can shorten           the cause of missions in Jamaica; pray for the faithful
the hand of the Lord. I commend these churches,                 ministers and students; pray for the faithful elders
ministers and students unto the hand of the Lord,               and deacons; pray for the wandering sheep; pray for
Who is able to keep them and give them a place                  the Revs. Hanko and Heys as  .they. carry the
among all the sanctified." And lastly, an excerpt from          responsibility of "evaluating the field" seeking the
a letter Rev. and Mrs. Lubbers received from a family           Lord's will for us in our mission work. Only then,
from one of the churches:                                       walking in the Light of the favor of God, can they see
       . . .Please let me say that you both will dwell          to come to a sanctified judgment of the situation of
 long in our hearts and your memory will never fade             our mission field.
 from our hearts. God bless you as you prepare for                                                          J.M. Faber,
 home and loved ones, those you left behind to                                        Sec'y. of the Mission Committee





                            "2 is a sad discovery to find the woeful ignorance which prevails in
                        congregations to-day of the great basic truths of religion, which
                       should underpin the Christian experience. " -F.B. Meyer


232                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



NEWS FEATURE



                                   From Our Foreign
                                 Missions Committee

                                                 Rev. R. G. Moore




  By now most of our readers are aware that our            task is to distribute the correspondence lessons,
churches have, adopted, at the Synod of 1973, a            receive them back, correct them, and return them to
limited budget for foreign missions. This limited          the persons taking the courses. In this way Christians
budget has come into being as a result of a limited        of Indonesia are given instruction in the truths of the
activity in the field of foreign missions. For many        gospel of Christ. This instruction is basically an
years we have not had the opportunity to labor in          expression of the wondrous doctrines of salvation in
this  field because of our limitations of size and         the Protestant Reformed tradition.
priority of activity. However, it has pleased God to         Indonesia is a country of 126 million inhabitants,
give to our churches the opportunity to conduct a          with  13,O 0 0 islands which are an archipelago,
limited labor in the field of "foreign" missions. Thus     stretching over 3,000 miles along the equator. There
the Synod of 1972 gave the Foreign Mission                 are five main islands: Sumatra, Java, Kalimatan,
Committee the mandate to investigate a labor in the        Sulawesi, and West Irian. And while composed of
field of Indonesia, and to carry on a limited labor        almost 300 ethnic groups, it is to be noted that there
there, if it were deemed advisable. This decision          is one basic language called the Indonesian language.
followed upon some labor in this field by our              It is in this language that our correspondence courses
Lynden, Washington Church. Under the direction of          are printed.
Rev. Woudenberg the Lynden Church had a series of
the "Bible Study Pamphlets," written by Rev.                 The reports from Indonesia are that these
Woudenberg, translated into the Indonesian language        correspondence courses are greatly appreciated and
and distributed there in the format of a Bible             needed. The testimony is that these courses have
Correspondence Course. However the expense of such         helped many to a truer understanding of the gospel of
a venture was really more than one church was able         Christ. People from all levels of life have enrolled in
to carry, and at Lynden's suggestion the Foreign           these courses and have been strengthened in faith.
Mission Committee suggested that we continue this          Further, it is reported that the need far surpasses the
labor as churches under the direction of their             quantity we have been able to send.
committee.                                                   Our committee feels that though this is a very
  Our committee is presently engaged in this labor,        limited labor in such a vast land, nevertheless it is a
having a second set of 50,000 correspondence courses       way that we as churches are able to bring the message
translated for distribution in Indonesia. These courses    of the gospel to God's sheep in this foreign land. It is
are translated in the United States for us by the          our hope and prayer that God will use this labor unto
Evangelical Scripture Mission located in Monroe,           the upbuilding of His people, the ingathering of His
Washington. Then they are printed in Indonesia by a        sheep, and the glory of His Name.
native firm at a much cheaper rate than they could be        Our Committee is continuing an investigation into
printed in the States. Through the Evangelical             other fields of labor in this same way or with other
Scripture Mission we have engaged a native                 means. May we remember this work of our churches
Indonesian to act as a correspondence secretary. His       in our prayers.


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                233


  FEATURE


                           The  Organis                                        Truth

                                             Rev. Ronald J. Van Overloop



     Believing that the Scriptures are the infallible Word    the Church develops the truth. This is possible
  of God, given by divine inspiration, one must come to       because the Scriptures are the revelation of God or, to
  the conclusion that they alone serve as the sole            put it more precisely, they are the fulness of the
  standard for what is truth. For something to be true        revelation of God. It is incorrect to say that the
  it must have its basis and its source in God's Word.        Scriptures contain the fulness of God. That  connot
  When we speak of the organism of the truth, then we         be, for the Scriptures are a creature of God and no
  refer to doctrines or dogmas which are elicited out of      creature can contain the fulness of God. To say that
  that Word of God by the Church. The Church then             they do not contain the fulness of God does not
  develops and organizes those truths into a systematic       mean that they are incomplete. They are complete,
  form.                                                       lacking nothing, and that is true because the
    At present it is our purpose to show that the truth       Scriptures are the fulness of the REVELATION of
  which proceeds out of the Word of God and is                God. Therefore the whole of God is revealed. Yet
  defined by the church is an organic unity. At a later       there are infinite depths to God which are not known
  date we shall attempt to show that the organic unity        here on this earth. We can see the whole God, but
  of the truth as it is adopted by churches or                only in a glass darkly. Therefore because Scripture
  denominations has important practical implications as       does contain the fulness of the revelation of God, all
- to the life and walk of the individual and of the           of the individual truths or dogmas find their basis or
  church or denomination which holds to that body of          source in it. Every dogma or doctrine exists in
  truth. Also we shall carefully examine the spectrum         seed-form in the Bible. Just as the whole oak tree is
  of churches as they range from the true church to the       contained in the acorn, so all truth is in the Word of
  false church. ,This examination of churches is possible     God.
  because this organic unity of the truth serves as the         The truth of the Word of God reflects itself on the
  basis and the heart of the church.                          consciousness of the church. Faith as it is given to
    To discuss the idea of the organic unity of the           God's people by grace is the bond which unites them
  truth we must know what an organism is. An                  to Christ. That bond is a bond which is worked by
  organism is a unity which, in contrast to a mechanism       God in such a way that it is a CONSCIOUS bond.
  which has no life, lives. Our physical bodies are living    Because faith carries with it the idea of consciousness,
  organisms. The Church, as the Body of Christ, is also       the child of God is very much aware of that fact that
  an organism. According to I Cor. 12: 12-27 the              he is bound to Christ. Therefore he is able to know
  Church is made up of many members, yet there is but         with his intellect that truth of the Word of God.
  one body. The same is true of the organism of the
  truth. It is made up of many members, which are all           That faith is worked by the Holy Spirit as the
  inter-related one to another, so that all together they     Spirit of Christ. In the church and in the individuals
  make up one living body of truth. Now then how              within that church the Spirit has dwelt since
  does that come about?                                       Pentecost. The Spirit leads and guides the church into
                                                              all the truth because He is the Spirit of truth. He is
    To the church and to the individuals within the           the Spirit of Him Who is the way, the truth and the
  church God has given His infallible Word, the holy          life. Therefore it can be said that the church does not
  Scriptures. The canon of Scripture is closed. No            determine what the Scriptures say, but the church
  longer can anyone add to or take away from the              says what Scripture and the Spirit have taught her to
  Scriptures. For the child of God to learn the will of       say. That Spirit opens to the children of God the
  God, to learn what is true, he must turn to God's           whole body of the beautiful truths of the Word of
  Word. Out of and on the basis of the Word of God,           God.


234                                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


    The appropriaton and the systematization of the                             wants to know all he can about that person. So with
 truth as it is revealed to the church by the Spirit is                         the child of God: he wants to know all he can about
 not piecemeal. The Holy Spirit gives to each                                   God. There is always a thirst and a longing which
 individual child  of God and to the entire church from                         leads the child of God into the truth.
 Pentecost on the whole truth. It was a spontaneous                                Thirdly, the development of the truth takes place
 appropriation of the truth. The New Testament                                  in the sphere of and by the mutual operation of
 church, immediately at the outset, had for itself the                          believers. The communion of saints is essential
 w h o l e   t r u t h .   H o w e v e r ,   t h a t   s p o n t a n e o u s    because only within the sphere of the communion of
 appropriation of the whole truth was also only a                               saints is the Word of God preached. It is through the
 principle appropriation of the truth. For example, the                         preaching principally that the church is gathered and
New Testament church knew about Jesus, but if you                               that the church proclaims the truth. It is the
would ask them whether Christ had two natures in                                preaching which stimulates and arouses the faith of
one Person, they would not have known of what you                               the child of God. Because the church itself is an
were talking. If you would question them concerning                             organism in which the Spirit of Christ dwells, the
the Deity of the Third Person of the Trinity, the early                         appropriation of the truth by the church is a mutual
church would have not known of what you were                                    endeavor in which all the saints cooperate, each
talking, though they certainly would have confessed                             contributing something.
that God is God. They had a grasp of only the
beginning principle of all the truth and did not know                              Fourthly, the development and appropriation of
all the implications and developments of that truth.                            the truth takes place because of the logicalness of the
Nonetheless it cannot be denied that the church has                             human mind. The human mind tends to systematize
always possessed the whole truth: The New                                       the truths of Scripture to understand them better.
Testament church itself was like a sapling as it just                           The child of God is a rational-moral creature,
began to grow.  It could not be called a weed or a                              possessing the ability to reason. This does not mean
blade of grass; it was a tree. But it certainly is not like                     that reason reigns supreme, for we are referring to the
that great tree it will be in a hundred years. Just as                          believer as he has the Holy Spirit and is regenerated
the church was beginning its development, so was the                            and as he dwells within the sphere of the communion
truth. The truth is a living organism given                                     of saints. This systematization of Scripture is
spontaneously to the church, but yet it is only a                               necessary because Scripture is not systematized, for it
principle of what it would be in time.                                          is the record of the historical revelation of God to His
                                                                                people.
    The development of those dogmas and doctrines
took place under certain circumstances. The first                                  Finally the development of the truth takes place
necessary circumstance for the truth to be developed                            under the influence of the necessity to defend and
is under the incentive and guidance of the Holy                                 formulate carefully the truth. There are all kinds of
Spirit. It is not enough to have just the Bible. It is                          influences which bring the church to clarify and
also necessary to have the enlightenment of the Holy                            clystalize the truth in her consciousness. Historically,
Spirit as  ;He dwells within the church. "In the end,                           heresy is the greatest stimulus. When heresy arose
only the Holy Spirit from heaven above can create                               concerning the Being of God, then the church began
listeners and pupils who accept this doctrine and                               consciously to formulate the truth that God is three
believe that the Word is God, that God's Son is the                             Persons in one Being. When heretics denied that
Word, and that the Word became flesh, that He is also                           Christ was God, then the church was forced to
the Light who can illumine all men who come into                                examine God's Word and on the basis of that Word
the world and that without this light all is                                    derived the truth that Christ is both God and man.
darkness."l . The promise of the Holy Spirit means                                Therefore each  child of God works with the
that when the church humbly allows the Spirit to                                dogmas of the Church universal and with those of his
guide her accurately in the truth, this guidance of the                         own particular church or denomination. He critically
Spirit is always in connection with the Scriptures.                             compares those dogmas with Scripture, thereby to
   Secondly, the development of dogmas takes place                              establish their authority.
because of the thirst of the regenerated heart for the                            Now then, why is it that the truth which the
knowledge of God in Christ. The  regen.erated heart                             Church derives out of God's Word is an organic
possesses the principle of eternal life and therefore it                        unity? Why is it that within that organic unity all of
longs for more of that eternal life. It expresses that                          the individual doctrines are inter-related one with
longing in a thirsting for knowledge of God, Whom to                            another? The answer must be found in the fact that
know is life eternal. Also, the regenerated heart is                            the Scriptures are one. That the Scriptures are one is
filled with a love of God. One who loves another                                because they are the revelation of God, Who Himself

1. A. Skevington Wood,  Captive to the Word,  p. 161.


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  235



is one. Therefore much of what is characteristic of              bearing away of the curse due to God's people. You
the Word of God is equally characteristic of the body            make this confession and you confess that the death
of truth which is derived out of it.                             of the Son of God was an atonement for sin. You
   That Scripture is one and unified in all its parts            confess that Jesus Christ is come into the flesh and
implies that there is no possible contradiction                  you must confess His resurrection and His exaltation.
between one part of God's Word and another. Then                 You confess He is come in the flesh and you confess
what seem to be discrepancies are capable of                     the application of all the blessings of salvation by the
resolution; if not now in time, then in eternity.                Holy Spirit to the individual child of God by
Scripture has perfect inner harmony, always in                   irresistible grace. You make this confession and you
agreement with itself. The fact that Scripture is one            must also confess that the reason why confession and
also implies that it is its own interpreter. One passage         you must also confess that the reason why is because
of God's Word interprets another. To interpret                   of total depravity. Also the reason why is the
Scripture with Scripture is to let the Holy Spirit do            sovereign love of God, the election of God to make
His own work. The church does not interpret                      Him come into the flesh. You make this confession
Scripture. I do not interpret Scripture and you do not           and you say that He has come into the flesh for those
interpret Scripture. Scripture interprets Scripture.             given Him of the Father before the foundations of
One takes clear and lucid passages and with them                 the world. Thus we can see that John means to set
sheds light on the obscure and difficult passages. Thus          forth a confession which serves as the foundation of
Scripture stands in its own light and explains itself.           the whole body of truth.
The reformer Martin Luther agrees with that when he                 Thus when we speak of the organism of the truth,
says, "It is impossible that Scripture should                    it can be said that Christ crucified is the center and
contradict itself; it only seems so to foolish, coarse,          heart of that body of truth. Once again, turning to
and hardened  hypocrites."z. When Scripture is                   Martin Luther, we can see that he agrees with this
allowed to interpret Scripture one does not run the              idea when he describes Christ as the Sun which is the
risk of being what Luther calls an ostrich. "Well                source of all light. "All Holy Writ points to the fact
known is the stupidity of the ostrich, which thinks it           that Moses must proclaim the law, but that Christ will
is totally covered when its head is covered with some            abolish and obscure the message of the law, just as
branch. Thus a godless teacher seizes upon one                   the sun dims the light of the moon and stars. You can
particular saying of Scripture and thinks his notion is          see that the stars are not shining during the day,
fine, not noticing that he is maintaining his position           though they are fixed in the heavens before your very
as one who is bare and unarmed on every side."3.                 eyes. The sun deprives them of their light. When the
   Proof for the fact that the Scriptures are one is             big light vanishes, the lesser lights begin to shine and
seen from I John 4: l-3. There John gives a confession           gleam. But if Christ, the Sun, should go down, then
which serves as a test as to whether a spirit was of             may God help US!"~. Christ is the perfect revelation
God or not. John sets forth a simple and general,                of God. He is Himself the Word, the speech of God.
though fundamental confession. That confession is:               He is the essential content of all Scripture.
"Jesus Christ is come in the flesh." At first glance this           The truth is an organism that implies that the
looks very simple and we would question how we can               logical system is not only in the mind of the child of
test every spirit on the basis of this brief little phrase.      God, but also in the truth itself. What we mean when
But a close examination  .reveals the opposite to be             we say that is this. When God reveals Himself as the
true. Examine the word "Jesus", first of all. Our                God of our salvation in Christ and by grace we
catechism tells us that Jeasus means Saviour, Who is             embrace Christ by faith, our embracing of the truth is
our complete and absolute and only Saviour, so that              not piecemeal. Rather we receive the whole Christ and
one cannot and may not find help for his salvation in            then in Him we receive at once all the blessings of
himself or in saints or anywhere else. That, of course,          salvation. The systematization of those truths into a
immediately eliminates all Arminianism. And so one               dogmatics occurs when the child of God enters into
could continue to examine every word in this                    those riches of the whole Christ, piece by piece, step
confession. The point of this confession is that the            by step so that he may apprehend the depths of those
truth of this confession pervades and permeates the             riches. Objectively, that means that because the truth
whole body of truth. This confession limits and                 is organically one, all the aspects, all the sub-truths,
determines all the truth. You confess that Jesus                are in their relation to the one truth inter-related with
Christ is come in the flesh and you confess that the             each other. Therefore it is so horrible to delete any
Word of Christ is the Word of God. You make this                 part of God's Word, eg. the first eleven chapters of
confession and you confess the cross to be the                  Genesis. Subjectively it means that God has given us

2. Ibid., .p. 151.                                             4. Ibid., p. 173.
3. Ibid., pp. 162, 163.


236                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER


minds and reason which enable us to apprehend that                      inconspicuous, hidden corner. There he is going to
truth and the riches of that truth in their                             take a lie and he is going to paint it so it looks good.
inter-relations, and not as a conglomeration of                         And once it is incorporated into that organic whole,
individual facts.                                                       so it is part of the organic unity, it will begin its
    The truth is one because it is based upon the Word                  work. Slowly but surely it will work its destructive
of God, which itself is one because it is the revelation                work of destroying and discarding one doctrine after
of the one God. This has rich implications for the                      another.
child of God. It means that in the development of the                       This work can begin with the subtle lie that the
truth and in the explanation of God's Word, he does                     Scriptures are not one. Again let us turn to Luther.
not need reason or science. Neither is going to help                    "At first they deny only one article, but afterwards
him, but on the contrary, they will lead him astray.                    all must be denied. It is as with a ring; if it has only
    Applicable here is the idea that a little leaven                    one defect, it can no longer be used. And if a bell
leaveneth the whole lump. Leaven is a small lump of                     cracks in only one place it does not sound any longer
sour dough similar to our yeast. This sour dough,                       and is  useless.""- "When the devil has succeeded in
through fermentation, gradually works its way                           bringing matters so far that we surrender one article
through the entire mixture of batter until the whole                    to him, he is victorious, and it is just as bad as though
lump of dough is leavened. The woman who put this                       all of them and Christ Himself were already lost.
lump of leaven into the dough would be confident                        Afterwards he can unsettle and withdraw others
that, given time, the yeast would effect every particle                 because they are all intertwined and bound together
of bread dough. Paul uses this phrase in I Cor. 5:6, 7                  like a golden chain, so that if one link be broken, the
where he is admonishing the Corinthians for allowing                    whole chain is broken, and it pulls apart."7. The same
a man who had committed fornication to remain with                      idea Luther brought out when he explained Matthew
them. The individual congregation is an organic unity                   4:4. There Christ says to the devil that man shall not
also, and Paul is telling the Corinthians that a rotten                 live by bread alone, but by every word that
apple will destroy the whole bushel. That fornicator                    proceedeth out of the mouth of God. "`But why the
allowed to remain in that congregation is going to                      phrase `by every word?' Because by disbelieving one
affect the whole church, unless he is disciplined. A                    single word you no longer live by the Word of God.
little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.                                 For the whole Christ is in every word, and He is
                                                                        wholly in all single words. When, therefore, one
    Paul says this also to the Galatians in Gal. 5: 9. In               denies in one word  Him Who is in all words, one
his commentary on this text, John Calvin says, "I                       denies Him in His totality."`*. Then to settle it once
refer this to doctrine, not to men. It warns them how                   and for all Luther says, "Faith consists of something
mischievous is the corruption of doctrine, so that                      indivisible: it is either a whole faith and believes all
they may not overlook it (as is common) as                              there is to believe, or it is no faith at all if it does not
something of little or no danger. Satan goes to work                    believe one part of what there is to believe. This is
with cunning and does not obviously destroy the                         why our Lord likens it to one single pearl and one
whole Gospel, but taints its purity with false and                      single mustard seed, etc. For Christ is not divided;
corrupt opinions. Many do not consider the                              therefore, one either denies Him in His totality when
seriousness of evil and therefore make a less                           one denies Him with respect to one point or affirms
determined resistance. The apostle therefore protests                   Him in His totality. But one cannot at the same time
that once the truth of God is corrupted, nothing                        deny and confess Him now in this, and then in that,
remains sound. He uses the metaphor of leaven,                          word."g.
which however small in quantity, transmits its
sourness to the whole mass. We must be careful not                          This means that if total depravity is denied it can
to allow anything to be added to the pure doctrine of                   be shown that this is really a denial of Christ
the  Gospel."5. The point is that if false teachers                     crucified. Deny creation is six literal days and you
succeed in making even a small beginning in the work                    can very clearly show that to be a denial of Christ.
of imparting to us erroneous doctrines or false                         The truth is one.
principles, this will develop itself into the corruption                    Therefore we must take heed to God's Word. We
of our whole Christian faith and life. As Calvin                        must examine every spirit and every wind of doctrine
pointed out, this does not happen overnight. The                        to see whether it is of God. The only test which can
devil is much wiser than that. He is not going to enter                 be used is God's own Word. If an error is found, it
into a church or the body of truth and make it  a14                     will inevitably affect the whole of the truth as well as
false at once. He is going to start in a little,                        the life and walk of him who holds that truth. If error

5. John Calvin,  Commentary on Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians and    7.  lot. cit.
   Colossians, p. 97                                                    8. Ibid., pp. 150, 151.
6. W o o d ,   c
           op.  i t . , p. 150.                                         9. Ibid., p. 151


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                     237



is found, then we must do all that is in our power to          Scriptures are a unity. Scripture is a unity because it
rid ourselves of that error, before it is too late. And if    is the revelation of God, Who is One. The organic
all attempts to get rid of that error fail, then we must
get out. Then it is time for us to go and find a church       unity:~ of... the truth is very important. The Lord
home where we can find the whole body of the truth            willing, in a later issue we shall attempt to show the
of God's Word.                                                importance of that unity as it affects the walk of the
   The truth is an organic unity because the                  individual and of the church which holds it.





                                                    Book

                                                 Reviews

                                                 l+o$ H. C. Hoeksema





THE WORLD THAT PERISHED,  by John C.                          p a r t i c u l a r l y   t o   t h o s e   w h o   h a v e   f o l l o w e d
Whitcomb, Jr: (Baker Book House,  .Grand Rapids,              developments in the Netherlands, the last chapter will
Mich., 1973, 155 pp., $1.95 pb). Reviewed by Prof.            be of special interest. The Genesis Flood was severely
H. C. Hoeksema.                                               criticized (a mild word!) by the Dutch Geologist, J. R.
                                                              van de Flier?, Professor of Historical and Tectonical
                                                              Geology at the Free University of Amsterdam. This
  The author of this little book is, perhaps, better          critique appeared in the  International Reformed
known as the co-author, with Dr. Henry M. Morris, of          B u l l e t i n   ( S p r i n g , 1968) under the title,
The Genesis Flood, published in 196 1 (and still one          "Fundamentalism and the Fundamentals of
of the best books on the market concerning the                Geology." Dr. Clarence Menninga of Calvin College
Flood and related subjects).                                  (The Banner, Nov.  27, 1970) is confident that "the
  What is the purpose of this book? The author                arguments from the fossil record which (Morris and
himself states it as follows: "It is the purpose of this      Whitcomb) present have been refuted by J. R. van de
study to restate in a more popular form the basic             Fliert." Other critics of  Whitcomb  and Morris have
Biblical and scientific evidences for that Flood, as set      also hid behind the skirts of Dr. van de Fliert. In this
forth originally in The Genesis Flood . . . and to bring      chapter there is an extensive and competent reply of
up to date the great controversy which that and               Dr. Morris to the criticism of van de Fliert.
similar works have stirred up. The author has also               What is heart-warming about this book is the fact
attempted to analyze and to answer briefly the                that the author unashamedly takes his stand on the
published objections that have been leveled against           authority and trustworthiness of Scripture. One may
The Genesis Flood in the past twelve years."                  not agree with every detail of interpretation, but it is a
  In attaining the above-stated purpose the author            rarity nowadays to find scholars who stand
succeeds admirably.                                           foursquare on the basis of Scripture.
  To those of Reformed background, and                           We highly recommend this little book, especially to


238                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


our young people of high school  ,and college age,           Frederick Brotherton Meyer, 1847-1929, an English
whose faith is often assaulted exactly on this point of      Baptist preacher who is perhaps better known for
the authority of Holy Scripture. We believe that they        some of his commentaries.
may be encouraged and strengthened by such writings            With the main thrust of this book, which is a
as these. The bubble of the conceit of "scholars" who        strong plea for expository preaching, we can agree.
inveigh against the plain teachings of God's Word            We can also agree with many of the suggestions of a
needs pricking; and it receives such pricking in this        practical, homiletical nature which the author makes.
book.                                                        What the author means by expository preaching is
                                                             not merely preaching on isolated and varied tests in
INTRODUCTION TO THEOLOGICAL GERMAN,                          an expository, or exegetical, manner. He has in mind
by J. D. Manton (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.,             what I would call "series preaching" on some book or
Grand Rapids, Mich., 1973, $2.95 pb). Reviewed by            extended portion of Scripture. And in my opinion,
Prof. H. C. Hoeksema.                                        this is the ideal for expository preaching. Personally,
  The purpose of this book is a good one:  `$Th.is           homiletical ills - and, as a result, create a greater and
course is intended for those who wish to read                healthier appetite for the preaching of the Word.
theological German, but who have little or no                  If there is one point on which I would especially
previous knowledge of the language." The criticism           criticize this little book, it is this: the examples of
directed at ordinary textbooks and courses in German         expository preaching are disappointing because they
is, I believe, also correct: "Most of the textbooks and      are rather poor expositions, but loaded with
language courses available, however, have two major          illustrations and anecdotes.
drawbacks from the theologian's point of view: 1.
They introduce a wide range of `everyday' German               But students of homiletics and preachers who need
vocabulary which is not directly relevant to the             a little homiletical refreshment can profitably read
theologian's needs; 2. they concentrate on promoting         this book in a couple of hours.
oral fluency, which again is not what he is seeking."          Here are a couple of quotations to whet the
However this may be, I have yet to see the college           appetite: "We are now able, in the light of these
course in German which produces students proficient          distinctions, to define expository preaching as  the
in reading theological German.                               consecutive treatment  of  some book or extended
  I have not tested this little book. It consists of         portion  of  Scripture  on which the preacher has
twenty rather detailed lessons, plus grammatical             concentrated head and heart, brain and brawn, over
tables, vocabulary, and index. I do not know how             which he has thought and wept and prayed, until it
many pages this fills; this is the first time in, my life    has yielded up its inner secret, and the spirit of it has
that I have seen a book without page numbers! I              passed into his spirit." Or again: "The highest point
could conceive of it that through assiduous labor one        of sermon-utterance is when a preacher is `possessed,'
could profit from this book - if he knew little or no        and certainly, in the judgment of the writer, such
German  - to the point that he would not have to             possession comes oftenest and easiest to a man who
skip German quotations in theological works.                 has lived, slept, walked and eaten in fellowship with a
                                                             passage for the best part of a week."
  Although the book does not aim at oral
proficiency, nevertheless a certain amount of this is          Or let a preacher take this advice for preparation of
necessary  - no matter how much the aim may be               an expository series on a certain book: "He will
only a private-reading proficiency. To this end,             perhaps have made his selection for the coming
perhaps a set of cassette-tapes to accompany the             autumn and winter before he starts on his summer
book might be helpful.                                       vacation (By all means! HCH). With all his other
                                                             preparations for golf, or fishing, or camping out, he
  Recommended to those who would like to try a               takes a handy pocket copy of the chosen Scripture.
do-it-yourself German course. But please, Mr.                On the moor or in the hammock, within sound of
Publisher, if you ever reprint this book, add some           the break of the waves or of the crunching of glaciers,
page numbers!                                                he reads again and again, until the central lesson, the
                                                             motii  begins to reveal itself. The next step is to
,EXPOSITORY PREACHING: PLANS AND                             roughly divide the matter under some general
METHODS, by F. B. Meyer, with an Introduction by             divisions, which will be broken up ultimately into
Ralph G. Turnbull. (Baker Book House, Grand                  smaller and yet smaller ones, the one condition being
Rapids,  Mich., Reprinted 1974, 127 pp., $1.95 pb).          that each paragraph or chapter shall contain one
Reviewed by Prof. H. C. Hoeksema.                            complete thought."
  This is one of the Baker series of Notable Books on           Recommended as helpful for students and
Preaching. As noted, it is a reprint of a work by            preachers.


                                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D B E A R E R   y
                                                                               -                                                                     239

                                                              ,     (.     r, --          :
                                     News Frbm  O'& Churches
  Rev. R. Harbach has received the call to labor in                           pledges) to $136,435.30. The enthusiastic support of
the Houston area, as home missionary of our                                   our people "is certainly," as you may have read also
churches. Rev. J. Kortering is considering a call from                        in your own church bulletin, "an occasion for thanks-
Loveland to serve as pastor there. And Rev. R. Moore                          giving and praise to our Covenant God."
has declined the call extended to him from our                                      Further occasion  -for joy was mentioned in that
Prospect Park congregation.                                                   same bulletin of First Church. On Friday, January 25,
  Work is continuing, without interruption                                    the professors and students of our seminary moved
apparently, in Houston. Rev. Kamps expected to be                             into their new building. The first classes were held in
there during the first three weeks of February. His                           it on the following Tuesday. The pleasure and
work followed immediately after that of Rev.                                  understandable pride of professors and students alike
Veldman, who spent much of January in Texas.                                  was written over every face. One of the former
Incidentally, during his absence, his catechism classes                       remarked, "I hardly know how to act here." And one
were led by Southwest's former pastor, Rev. Lubbers.                          of the latter, all in one breath, exclaimed, "This is
The work of Rev. Veldman in Houston was preceded                              really different! It's unbelievable! This is so nice!"
by that of Rev. Van Baren, who was there during the                                 On the following day the faculty and students met
time around Christmas and New Year's Day. Since                               together for the first chapel exercise held in the new
this was a time of vacation for school children, Rev.                         building. Professor Hoeksema brought the message, in
Van  Baren was able to take his family with him. It                           what he said was really "a dedication chapel." He
took a little while, it seems, for them to overcome the                       began by reading Psalm 75, drawing special attention
language barrier. One of the children of the                                  to verse 1 of that chapter. He pointed out that it was
congregation was overheard remarking to Rev. Van                              surely correct and appropriate that we rejoice and are
Baren's children that "y'all don't speak the same                             happy on this occasion. But, though we rejoice at the
language that we do here, do you?" Rev. Van Baren,                            occasion of things, i.e., of our beautiful new facilities,
by the way, returned with a good report, as did also                          we do not rejoice  in  them. We  .may be mindful
other of our ministers. He noted that, though there is                        further, he said, of the fact that our people have given
a need for instruction, the families of the                                   most liberally in order to make this occasion possible,
congregation have a love and concern for Reformed                             that men of God have long been busy in the work
doctrine, and have expressed appreciation for the                             connected with providing this building for us; but the
work of our ministers there. An evidence of that,                             deepest reason for our thankfulness lies in the
perhaps, is that several of the members approached                            nearness of the name of our God. In fact, he said, we
Rev. Van  Baren with a rather sizable amount of                               would do well to make that text (Ps. 75: 1) our motto
money, and a request that he bring it back with him                           as we take our places in our new building: "Unto
to Grand Rapids as a contribution for our seminary                            thee, 0 Lord, do we give thanks, unto thee do we give
building fund. The congregation does, in fact, desire                         thanks: for that thy name is near thy wondrous
to become affiliated with our churches. The                                   works declare. "
suggestion of Rev. Van  Baren to his First Church
congregation, namely, that we remember this group                                   Then it was recess time, and the professor treated
in our prayers, could well, I think, be repeated here.                        everyone to a piece of his wife's delicious apple pie,
                                                                              in celebration of his fifty-first birthday! And then,
                             *****                                            listen to this, his appreciative students and colleagues,
  The Theological School Committee reports that                               sang Happy Birthday . . . a song directed by none
the recent $lO-$50 drive, for the Seminary Building                           other than Mr. Tom Newhof, Sr., coordinator of the
Fund, brought the grand total (including unpaid                               building project.                                (continued on back page)



                    SCHOOL TEACHERS                                                             WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
   HOPE Protestant Reformed School of Grand Rapids, Michigan will                   On January 21, 1974, our parents, MR. AND MRS. GERBEN DE
have two vacancies for the year 1974-1975. Kindergarten will need a           JONG commemorated their 60th wedding anniversary.
teacher 3 days each week and a full time teacher will be needed in the              We, the children, are thankful to our covenant God for sparing them
5th grade. Those who are interested should contact the school office.         these many years for each other and us.

                                                                                    It is our sincere prayer that the Lord may continue to sustain them
                                                                              with His grace through their remaining years.
                  CHANGE OF ADDRESS
            Theological School of the Prot. Ref. Churches                           Mr. and Mrs. Wm. R. Hulstein      Mr. and Mrs. Arnold De Jong
                      4949 lvanrest Ave.,  SW.                                      Mr. and Mrs. Thomas De Jong       17 grandchildren
           Grandville,  Mich. 49418 Phone  (616) 531-1490                           Mr. and Mrs. Albertus  De Jong    -12 great-grandchildren Hull, Iowa

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





  240


                             *****                                                          THE STANDARD BEARER
         On Thursday, January 17, in Hope Church, there               Semi-monthly, except monthly during June. July, and August.
   was held what is surely a well-deserved "Appreciation              Published by the Reformed Free Publishing  Assqciation.  Inc.
                                                                         Second Class Postage Paid at Grand  RapIds.   Mtch.
   Night for Rev. and Mrs. George C. Lubbers,                     Editor-in-Chief: Prof. Homer C. Hoeksema
   Missionary to Jamaica, West Indies." The remarks of            Deparrment  Editors:  hof. Robert D. Decker, Mr. Donald  Doezema,
                                                                  Rev. David J.  Engelsma,  Rev. Cornelius Hanko. Prof.  Herma!   Hanko,
   appreciation were given by Rev. C. Hanko. He                   Rev. Robert C. Harbach, Rev. John A.  Heys, Rev. Jay  Kortermg.  Rev.
                                                                  Dale  H. Kuiper, Rev. George C. Lubbers, Rev.  Marinus   Schlpper.  Rev.
   recalled having had "the privilege' of leading the             Gise J. Van  Baren. Rev. Herman  Veldman
                                                                  Editorial Office:  &of. H. C. Hoeksema
   ordination" of Rev. Lubbers into' the ministry  -                                    1842 Plymouth Terrace, S.E.
                                                                                        Grand  Raoids.   Michisan  49506
   which event, he added, "happens to be forty years              Church News Editor:          Mr. Donald  Doezema
                                                                                               1904 Plymouth Terrace, S.E.
   ago this year, in September." He recalled, further,                                         Grand Rapids. Michigan 49506
   Rev. Lubber's twenty years in  the ministry in our             Editorial Policy:  Every editor is  ;ole;y  responsible for the  COIltentS   Of
                                                                  his own articles. Contributions of general interest from our readers
   churches before he was called, in 1954, to serve as            and questions for the Question-Box Department are  WelCOme.   Contrl-
                                                                  butions  will be limited to approximately 300 words and  mUSt  be  neatly
  home missionary. During his years as home                       written or typewritten. and must be signed. Copy deadlines  ace  the first
                                                                  and the fifteenth of the month. All communications relative to  the
  missionary, Rev. Lubbers saw the organization of                contents should be sent to the editorial Office.
                                                                  Reprint Policy:  Permission is hereby  granted  for the reprinting of arti-
  Loveland, Isabel, and Forbes Churches. He labored in            cles in our magazine by other publications, provided: a) that such re-
                                                                  printed articles are reproduced in full: b) that proper  ackno+dgement
  Houston and "today we are seeing some of the fruits             is made; c) that a copy of the periodical in which such  reprint   appears
                                                                  iS sent to our editorial office.
   of that labor." Rev. Hanko'made mention, also, of his          BUSinaSS   office:  The Standard Bearer
                                                                                        Mr. H.  Vander  Wal, Bus. Mgr.
  28 years of writing for the Standafd Bearer. But, "of                                 P. 0. BOX 6064
                                                                                        Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506
  all his life, Rev. Lubbers would say that the work in           Business Agent for Australasia:Mr.  Wm. van Ri)
                                                                                                        59 Kent Lodge Ave.
  Jamaica has been the most trying." A foreign country                                                  Christchurch 4. New Zealand
   . . . a people of another race . . . utter loneliness . . .    Subscription Policy:  Subscription price, $7.00 per year  ($@I0 fqr
                                                                  Australasia). Unless a definite request for discontinuance is  recetvecj.  It
                                                                  is assumed that the subscriber wishes the subscription to continue  wth-
   all the attending problems of a foreign field. In spite        out the formality of a renewal order, and he will be billed for renewal.
                                                                  If you have a change of address,  pjease  notify the Business Office as
   of all the difficulties, Rev. Hanko said;"the work in          early as possible in order to  avoid  the inconvenience of delayed deliv-
                                                                  ery. Include your Zip Code.
  Jamaica has not been a failure." He then produced               Advertising Policy:  The  Standard Bearer  does not accept commercial
                                                                  advertising of any kind. Announcements of church and school events,
  and read a couple of letters which Rev. Lubbers had             anniversaries.  obituaries, and sympathy resolutions will be placed for a
                                                                  $3.00 fee. These should be sent to the Business Office and should be
  received recently from Jamaica. "You came to us,"               accompanied by the $3.00 fee. Deadline for announcements is the 1st
                                                                  or the 15th  of the month, previous to publication on the 15th or the
  said one of the writers, "preaching'christ and living           1st  respectively.
  Christ; you have taught us much." Rev. Hanko noted              Bound Volumes:  The Business Office will accept standing orders for
                                                                  bound copies of the current volume; such orders are filled as  soon as
  that he could underscore that observation. "What                possible after completion of a volume. A limited number of past vol-
                                                                  umes may be obtained through the Business Office.
  better proof," he asked, "of the grace of God?"
                                                                                                  0         0      0
         And Rev. Lubbers, in his response, also emphasized
  that grace of God. He said, characteristically, "I had                                          CONTENTS:
  one fear concerning this evening  - that God would
  not receive all the glory." Rev. Lubbers                        The Way to the Father . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .218
  acknowledged with obvious appreciation that "the                The Protestant Reformed Church of Prospect Park,
  testimony of the churches is that we have been                     NewJersey................................... 0
- faithful." He gave credit, further, to his wife, whom           Things I Never Knew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .221
  he had, he said, always appreciated, "but never as              As to Bible Study Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .223
  much as when we were in Jamaica."                               About the Use of Cosmetics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .225
         But, he insisted, "whatever we did, we did by the        19451974  - Luctor Et Emergo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .226
  mercies of God." He was happy, therefore, that Rev.             The Standard Bearer  in Retrospect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .228
  Van Baren had read I Cor. 3 at the beginning of the             "What went ye out for to see?" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .230
  program. "Who is Paul? Who is Apollos?" God works               From Our Foreign Missions Committee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .232
  His great strength in our weakness. And God gives the           The Organism of the Truth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .233
  increase. He called me, Rev. Lubbers: said, and He will         BookReviews................................... 7
  bless my labors.                                                News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .239
                                                         D.D.


