     The



P    A REFORMED SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE





         What is happening in the world has helped to
      prove that there are many throughout the world
      and in almost `every denomination who deeply
      love the truth, and who are eager to join with
      others of like faith. Often they are lonely, for
      their numbers are few. Often they are tempted
      to despair, for there seem to be so few who care.
      And it is true that the Church of Christ is a hut
      in a garden of cucumbers, a besieged city, a very            1
      small remnant.
          If it has pleased God in His great grace to use                     .
      the  Standard  Bearer to bring these faithful into .
       contact with one another; if God in mercy will                   :,
       continue to use the  Standard Bearer  to give help
       and leadership and direction to many in differ-
       ent lands, we can only hope fervently and pray
       that God will continue to keep us faithful, so
       that this work  ,may be continued.
       [See page 3211:





                                         Volume L, Number 16, May 15,1974


314                                            THE STANDARD BEARER


MEDITA TIO N

                Rejoicing, In Manifold Temptations

                                                      Rev. M. Schipper

            `My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the
            trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may
            be perfect and en tire, wan tingnothing. "
                                                                                                  James 1: 2-4


    It is not easy to be and to remain a friend of God!          fall into divers temptations!
    It is much easier to be a friend of the world!                 That is quite different!
    That's what the epistle of James is all about!                 These temptations are manifold, not so much
    If you are a friend of God, if you would walk in             because they are many in number, but rather that
the midst of the world as His friend, you must expect            they are of various kinds.
that you will have to endure many trials. You will be               Of them the world is full. And the brethren, the
beset by many temptations, and your faith will be                friends of God, are surrounded by them. The world as
tested. And when this happens, as it surely will, don't          it develops in godlessness, and as it operates under the
let it discourage you and cause you to lose out of               p,ower `of the prince of darkness, stands in enmity
sight your relationship to God; but much rather let it           against God. It.has also an intense hatred of all who
be a matter which you consider a joyful experience,              would be the friends of God. And it also has a way of
because God is working in you by His Spirit and grace            offering to them her friendship, if they will but
that you may continue as His  frie,nd in the world,              become the enemies of God. It offers gifts, power,
faithfully, unto the end.                                        position, honor and glory; it will give you a livelihood
    That is the idea of the text!                                for you and your family if you will but deny one of
                                                                 your principles. It will let you buy and sell, if you
    Rejoicing in manifold temptations!                           will only receive on your forehead or on your right
   But isn't it strange that we should be so.exhorted?           hand the token of her friendship. She offers to
Is it not true that the very thought of temptation               provide you with culture and art, the benefits of
should bring sorrow to the heart of one who is a                 science and invention, the treasures of her wisdom.
friend of God? What does James have in mind when                 She will take care of you when you are sick, and
he exhorts us to count it a matter of pure joy when              provide for you when you are old,  - if  - you will
we fall into divers temptations? What are these                  bow only one knee to her image, and keep quiet
manifold temptations of which he speaks?                         about your God. 0, that world will go very far with
    Surely he cannot have in mind that we count it a             you. It will allow you to worship your God if only
matter of pure joy when we fall into sin, that we                you also worship in her temples. She does not want
should rejoice when we fall for the enticement  to,              you necessarily to become atheistic; it's perfectly all
become friends of the world, that we give in to the              right to be religious, provided that you remain
lust and passions of a corrupt and evil nature which is          friendly to her and respect also her religion.
always inclined to evil and which easily succumbs to               But that is not all!
the enticement `to sin. Would not James then rather                These manifold temptations are such, that if you
say: Count it a matter of intense sorrow of heart, my            would maintain that you remain a friend of God, and
brethren, when ye fall for the temptation into sin?              have no friendship whatever with the world, then she
Indeed, he would! Surely then he would say: Repent,              will tempt you to leave your position by persecuting
and turn from your evil way! One who is a friend of              you to the death. She has the power to close your
God never rejoices when he, being tempted, falls into            churches and schools. She can deny you the right to
sin !                                                            buy and sell. She can make you and your family to go
   Notice, however, James does not say, count it all             hungry. She can put a sword to your throat, and put
joy when ye fall into sin; but, count it all joy when ye         you on fiery crosses to burn you to death.


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 315


  And don't say, this is unthinkable in this day and          are all under God's control, and so wisely governed
age! Nor conclude that this may have been true in a           by Him that they must seTe our salvation.
more uncivilized age, but would not happen today!                Counting and knowing"go together, and in such a
  It is precisely this that James has in mind when he         way that the latter is the result of the former.
speaks of divers temptations. And mark well, what                When you count it all joy, you have looked at
James wrote some twenty centuries ago, yea, what              those temptations in their proper assessment. They
God said then, is still true, and will be true until the      are not merely traps set for you by the world to lead
end of the world. This is not an isolated passage of          you away from God's friendship, but they are
Scripture, applicable only to a certain age of martyrs;       ordered by God,, our covenant Friend, to work for
but all Scripture speaks, and prophetically so,  - in         our good. Counting means to appreciate, place the
the world ye shall have tribulation! The situation in         proper assessment upon, to evaluate correctly the
James' day will obtain also today, when you walk in           significance, to esteem it a matter of joy when we are
the midst of the world as a friend of God.                    surrounded by temptations; and so come to know
  Falling into divers temptations implies that you do         that He makes the trial of faith to work.
not seek them. You do not go out into the world                 In the temptations it is your faith that is being
with the sickly, mystical, spiritual attitude that would      tested. Your faith which has been implanted in you as
foolishly tempt the world to bring temptations upon           a gift of grace, is being activated by the temptations,
you. Rather, because you know your own                        so that its tried character comes to the fore, in order
weaknesses, and your natural inclination to seek the          that God may approve of it.
friendship of the world, you fear, and you pray:
Father, in heaven, lead me not into temptation! You             That faith is sound, and is working well when it
know that in your own strength you cannot remain              produces and works out patience.
standing for a moment. No, you do not go out                    Patience is that virtue, according to which we are
looking for temptations. But the temptations come             able to bear up under the weight of the trials and
upon you and you are surrounded by them. Like the             testings. It is a virtue of grace which God gives to His
man who was on his way to Jericho, and fell among             people as the God of patience (Romans 15: 5), but of
thieves, so the friends of God find themselves                which you never read in the Scripture that He
encompassed by manifold temptations. Not only does            exercises it. He is said to possess the attributes of
the world wait to pounce upon the friends of God,             longsuffering and forbearance, but not patience. This
but God Himself leads us in His providence and grace          grace, however, He freely gives to His people, and
in such ways that we are beset by divers temptations.         tries them in such a way that their tried faith works
  It is precisely because of this that we ought also to       out to the end this virtue of patience. And so, they
count it a matter of pure joy!                                possess a faith that endures, does not go down in the
                                                              time of testing.
  You see, God, our covenant Friend, has a way of
making these temptations to work for our salvation!             No wonder the child of God can rejoice with great
                                                              joy when he falls into divers temptations! He knows
  It is not the intention of the Word of God here to          by. experience that the tried faith works out the grace
leave us with the impression that it is a matter of joy       of patience. He has a faith that has the ability to
when we fall into divers temptations. The, mere fact          endure not only, but he sees that His God is with him
that the child of God falls into divers temptations can       in the trial, working in him both to will and to do of
not of itself be a source of joy, - only of sorrow and        His good pleasure.
pain.                                                           Consequently also he is desirous that this patience
  Only when we know that the temptations are a                may work itself out to the end, in order that he may
trial of our faith, and that the trying of our faith          be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
works patience when it is perfected in us will make us
perfect and entire, only then is the falling into divers        How differently it all turns out for the children of
temptations a matter of joy.                                  God than the world planned!
  This joy, to which we are exhorted, is not a mere             The world with the prince of darkness planned
passing emotion which whelms up in our soul for a             through the temptations to make them its friends, no
moment, and then fades away as the passing of a               longer to be friends of God. And when this does not
shadow or the lifting of a fog; it is not like the elation    succeed, the world seeks to destroy them. It never
of Peter who, when invited by the Lord to walk on             seeks for their good, but always for their destruction.
the water, rejoiced, but then lost his joy as soon as he        But God, Who is rich in mercy, and who in His
saw the waves splashing against his legs. Rather, it is a     eternal love has in His counsel chosen them in Christ
joy which is founded upon the certain spiritual               Jesus, by Whom also He redeemed them, and by His
knowledge that temptations into which we are fallen           eternal counsel directs their path unto eternal glory,


316                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


so that nothing comes to them by chance - He allows        friends of God, and enemies of the world. It means
them to fall into divers temptations, in order that His    that it becomes perfectly evident that we are the
work of grace in them may be perfected. This gives         children of light, not of the darkness.
them abundant reason to joy even in the midst of
manifold temptations.                                             Impossible, you say? Where is the child of God,
   Understand well, however, that this joy cannot be       you ask, who always bears up under the seige of
our experience when we do not heed the last part of        temptations, who never falls? Is not the Word of God
                                                           replete with examples of the strongest saints who
the text.                                                  faltered in the way, you continue. Is it not true, you
   But let patience have her perfect work!                 ask, that the very best of saints in this life have but a
   It you would always experience the joy, based on        small beginning of new obedience? And you continue
the fact that you know your patience is the proof of       to ask: Was there not only One in respect to Whom it
an approved faith, your entire life and walk must be       could be said that patience had her perfect work?
characterized by patience. In the measure your             And, Who, besides Him, would dare to say that he is
patience fails, in that measure you will not experience    entire, lacking in nothing?
this joy. On the other hand, your joy will be full
when you do not cease to be patient. If during the           And we must agree! Anyone who knows himself,
trial of your faith, you cease to be a friend of God       knows also that he falls far short of what he ought to
and make friends with the world, you do not remain         be. But be very sure that we do not hide behind this
steadfast, and your joy is gone. So it ought not to be!    fact as an excuse to make friends with the world. He
Always, so we are exhorted, are we to be patient, that     that would be a friend of the world must needs be an
is, bear up under the weight of temptation, watch and      enemy of God! Rather, let this knowledge of our
pray, struggle constantly that we do not go down, -        failures be the occasion for fleeing to the cross,
and the joy will also be constant.                         confessing our sins and short-comings, pleading for
                                                           more grace, that we may stand and fight the good
  And so, what James says further in the text, will        fight of faith, faithfully unto the end.
also be true,  - that ye may be perfect and entire,
wanting nothing.                                             So shall the Word of God in our text be realized in
  That means simply that each moment and                   us!
throughout our entire life we manifest ourselves as          Joy in the midst of manifold temptations!


QUESTION BOX                          I

                           About Matthew 23. 37-39
                                              Prof H. C. Hoehema


Question                                                   would I have gathered thy children together, even as a
  Before answering this question I should point out        hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, but ye
that this is not one of the questions handed in at the     would not! Behold, your house is left unto you
question hour after my recent lecture in First Church      desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me
on "Why Are We Protestant Reformed?" My plan is            henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh
to try to answer all of those questions in the June        in the name of the Lord." The question concerns
issue. The present question is one which has been in       especially the words, "how often would I have
the Question Box for some time. It, along with some        gathered thy children together . . . and ye  would
others, came from a reader in Jenison, Michigan who        not. "
informs me that he had a discussion about this
passage. The passage occurs at the end of the chapter      Reply
in which the Lord Jesus pronounces woes upon the             We cannot very well confine ourselves to these
scribes and Pharisees. `It reads as follows: "0            particular words, but must say something about the
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets,      whole passage.
and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often              1. There is suffering expressed in these words on


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 317



the part of the speaker. It is not, however, the           Christ of the shadows, in order that the children of
suffering of wounded and rejected love, as is              Jerusalem might come to Him.
erroneously claimed by those who see here proof
that the will of man is victorious in opposition to the      3. Jerusalem's children are the seed of the
will of God, who see in this text proof that God           covenant. They are not merely the citizens of earthly
would gather, but that man successfully opposes Him.       Jerusalem; nor are they children because they dwell
The nature of the suffering is expressed by the figure     in the Holy City. But they are the true Israel of God,
of the mother-hen and her chicks. The figure is one of     the holy seed according to the promise, those whom
a watchful mother-hen who spies the enemy about to         the Father gave to Christ. Them Christ purposed to
destroy her young ones. She raises her wings and calls     gather together: for them He loves. And remember,
her chicks to seek refuge under them. But as her           too, that it is the Father's will that He should lose
chicks hear her calling voice and would run for safety,    none of them.
a third party intervenes and would not that they             4. But Jerusalem would not. Notice that the Lord
should flee for refuge under the protecting wings of       does not say: "How often I would gather you, and ye
their mother. Hence, the suffering is not the suffering    would not." But:  ."How often would I gather your
of a wounded love of that enemy that prevents her          children,  and ye  would not  that I should gather
from gathering together her young ones, but of an          them." The Lord is addressing wicked, apostate
awful anxiety lest her chicks be destroyed! Any love       Jerusalem, whose spiritual name is Sodom and
involved is a love of the chicks. Thus it is with the      Gomorrah. For due to that fact that not all is Israel
Lord Jesus. The Speaker is pictured in that hen. The       that is called Israel, due to the fact that the carnal
chicks are the children of Jerusalem. And Jerusalem is     element gains control of Jerusalem's throne and
the enemy that interferes and would not that the           priesthood and temple and altar, etc., Jerusalem
children of Jerusalem should be gathered under the         becomes Sodom and Gomorrah. And always its
wings of the Messiah. For this reason she always           wicked kings and priests and prophets take away
killed the prophets and stoned them that were sent         from the children of the covenant the Christ of the
unto her. For this she shall be left desolate: for the     Scriptures. They would prevent the chicks from
cup of her iniquity is full, and the vials of wrath are    finding refuge under the wings of their anxiously
about to be poured out upon her.                           calling mother. Notice that this plainly the idea of
  2. Jerusalem is the very center of the church of the     Jerusalem in the text: it is the Jerusalem that kills the
old dispensation, the Old Testament Church Institute,      prophets and that stones them that are sent to her,
with throne and temple and king and priesthood and         and that presently would crucify the Christ.
altar and sacrifice  - designed to foreshadow the
Christ, Who would gather the children of that                5. Finally, we must remember that the text does
Jerusalem unto Himself, that they might be saved           not teach that the children are not gathered; nor does
from sin and death. All through the old dispensation,      it suggest this. Christ's will; which is the will of the
through all the shadows of the old dispensation,           Father, certainly prevails - even when presently they
Christ stood in the midst of Jerusalem, calling            crucify Him. In fact, their very crucifixion of  Him
Jerusalem's children unto Himself, even as a hen           must serve ultimately the gathering of Jerusalem's
gathereth her chicks under her wings. This accounts        children, the seed of the covenant.
for it, too, that Christ here says "How often . . ." He      These are a few condensed thoughts as to the
is not merely referring to His own, brief, public          meaning of this passage. I hope they will serve to
ministry. Moreover, it was the calling of Jerusalem's      indicate to my questioner the line to be followed in
king and priests and prophets to minister unto the         understanding the passage.




                               Know the standard and follow it.

                              Read the STANDARD BEARER!


318                                         THE STANDARD BEARER


EDITORIAL

                          About That Step Toward
                A Neti Confession- In The GKN

                                                Prof H. C. Hoeksema


  We had intended to write a rather exhaustive             out of which the GKN came forth by way of the
critique of the Unanimous Testimony of Faith               reformations of 1834 and 1886. And there is a
drafted by Dr. G. C. Berkouwer and Dr. Herman              movement toward eventual reunion of these two
Ridderbos as a possible step toward a new confession       denominations afoot, a movement which is called
for the Gereformeerde Kerken. We may still do this at      Samen Op Weg  (Together On The Way). In
a later date if it should prove necessary and feasible.    connection with this movement there has already
However, there have been some significant and rather       been a joint meeting of the two synods, among other
surprising developments with respect to this               t h i n g s . I t   w a s   i n   t h e   i n t e r e s t   o f   t h i s
document in the Netherlands. And in reporting these        inter-denominational cooperation, of course, that the
developments we can at the same time furnish our           Testimony of Faith was also presented to the Synod
readers with a condensed critique of this Unanimous        of  the  Hervormde  Kerk.  In fact, it is fair to say that
Testimony of Faith and point out some of the               the document was composed at least partly with this
important flaws in it. Besides, as you will learn          budding ecclesiastical friendship in mind.
presently, these surprising developments serve to             In the State Church there are three definite wings,
show that the criticisms which we have and which we        or modalities. There are the Vrijzinnigen,  or outright
share with some Dutch critics are correct and              M o d e r n i s t s . T h e r e   a r e   t h e   s o - c a l l e d
justified: for they have been confirmed by one of the      Midden-Orthodoxen,  probably best described as
authors of the document, although he, of course,           middle-of-the-roaders, or moderates. And there is a
does not agree with the criticisms, but considers the      strong and well-organized orthodox wing, the men of
very points that are criticized to be the strong points    the  Gereformeerde Bond.  This is a group which
of the document which he helped to ,prepare.               is more orthodox even than many so-called con-
  For our American readers who are not well                servatives in the GKN.                  They have their own
acquainted with the church situation in the                official paper, De Waarheidsvriend (The Friend of the
Netherlands a little background information is             Truth), which we have lately been receiving on an
necessary in order that they may understand this tale.     exchange basis and which we have read with much
                                                           appreciation. It is sometimes alleged that this is
  You will recall that the Unanimous Testimony met         simply a stick-in-the-mud conservative group that is
with an enthusiastic reception at the Synod of the         against any and all change as a matter of principle and
GKN. The vote on the lengthy decision of the Synod         that simply wants to keep that which is old for its
was unanimous. And while there is indeed criticism of      own sake. And although we are always critical of the
the document from within the GKN, especially by            fact that this group continues under one ecclesiastical
the Concerned Ones (Verontrusten),  apparently there       roof with out and out liberals, we do not agree with
was no criticism of it at the Synod. One can well          the above allegation. And the story we are about to
imagine that the two authors were rather pleased           relate shows plainly that there is a goodly amount of
about this, and that because they came away from           sound Reformed principle in the  Gereformeerde
their own synod so pleased, they were the more             Bond.  In fact, they put the Synod of the
,dismayed and irritated at the reception their              Gereformeerde Kerken to shame by their stand; and
Testimony received elsewhere, as reported below.           those two leading lights of the GKN, Berkouwer and
  Berkouwer and Ridderbos were delegated by their          Ridderbos, ought to feel rather thoroughly chastised
Synod to present this same document to the Synod           We emphasize these things concerning the
of the  Hervormde Kerk  and to request that Synod           Gereformeerde Bonders  because there are already
also to refer the Testimony to their churches for          reports circulated which belittle their criticism on the
consideration. The Hervormde Kerk is the so-called         ground that this group always wants to stick to the
State Church in the Netherlands, the denomination           old just because it is old. You see, there are some who


                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                      319



want to neutralize criticism of this group because it is            how this is true of our Three Forms of Unity.
such telling criticism. But the facts of what -happened                 The writer pointedly asks whether the Draft of a
will show that they indeed had some sound and very                  new donfession answers to these requirements.
telling criticism of the very Testimony of Faith which
was so enthusiastically received by the GKN. And the                    Then he raises and answers the question whether
reaction of Berkouwer and Ridderbos to that                         this proposed new confession is Reformed? For he
criticism simply confirms its validity, that is, confirms           rightly claims that in a Reformed church none but
it for any soundly Reformed man.                                    Reformed confessions have a right of existence.
  What happened when Berkouwer and `Ridderbos                           The Rev.  Exalt0 goes on to point out that
appeared at the Hervormde Synod with their                          Reformed confessions always have certain
testimony?                                                          distinguishing marks, such as the doctrine of double
  They were met with a veritable storm of criticism,                predestination from eternity, the doctrine of total
especially from the two opposite wings, the liberals                depravity, the doctrine that the Holy Spirit alone is
and the orthodox. And the Synod rejected the                        able to bring the sinner to Christ and to salvation, the
proposal to refer this Testimony of Faith to their                  acknowledgement of the absolute, divine authority of
churches, with 32 votes against it.                                 Scripture, inspired by the Spirit. He mentions the
                                                                    doctrine of atonement through satisfaction: Christ
  We are not much interested in the criticism by the                has borne the wrath of God against sin, has atoned
liberals. For them the proposed confession was not                  for the guilt of His own, a guilt which dates from
sufficiently liberal, especially because it was not                 paradise. No confession can call itself Reformed
"open" enough. The liberals want a confession which                 which does not set forth these truths clearly and
raises many questions but does not furnish many                     unequivocally. If it fails to do so, then there is a
answers, a confession which embodies a questioning                  different understanding of the Gospel at stake, even if
stance.                                                             it be only through silence about these matters.
  But the criticism by the orthodox element was
very significant.                                                       And then  Exalt0 makes a comparison of the
                                                                    Proposed New Confession with these criteria. At best,
  First of all, before the Synod met, a certain Rev.                he says, there is here and there a vague reference in
K.  Exalt0 wrote a comparatively brief, but very                    the direction just mentioned; for the most part there
pertinent article of criticism in De Waarheidsvriend of             is a total silence.
Feb. 21, 1974. This article voices many of the
criticisms which were expressed on the floor of the                     Is there then an opposing of definite modern
Synod also. The Rev.  Exalt0 makes several good                     errors? No! The need of the church is completely
points.                                                             absent in this document. The need of the world is on
                                                                    the foreground.  Exalt0 can well conceive of it that
  In the first place, he mentions some characteristics              the revolution-theologians are pleased with this
which a confession ought to have as far as its origin               confession because it creates room for them to
and nature are concerned. And while he grants the                   continue on their chosen path within the church.
possibility that also today a new confession could be               Exalt0 calls the document a typical middle-orthodox
drawn up, he points out that a confession should                    piece of work  - a passage-way to a more liberal
meet these requirements, which we briefly                           confession. It does not as such represent the theology
summarize :                                                         of Kuitert and Wiersinga, but it gives them room; and
1) It should arise out of  need.  All Reformed                      it creates the possibility that still more Kuiterts and
confessions in the past were born out of the need for               Wiersingas will come into the church; it creates a
the church to react against error. The fathers were                 breeding-ground for them.
concerned to preserve their heritage, to maintain and                   Is there continuity in this confession, he asks. Yes,
defend what is sacred and precious to the church.                   but not with the classic Reformed confessions (of
2) A confession serves to bind together what belongs                which it was supposed to be only an up-to-date
together. The confessions draw boundaries; they                     condensation! HCH); rather with the universalism of
exclude and they include.                                           the Remonstrants. All that faintly smacks of the
3) A third characteristic of the classic Reformed                   particularity of salvation is completely absent. Exalt0
confessions is their maintenance of continuity. They                can only call this confession completely
are lacking in all pride, as though the truth was only              un-Reformed!
discovered recently. They reach back, first of all to                   The Rev. Exalt0 then goes on to detail his criticism
the Word of God itself, the real source of the                       of this Draft Confession with respect to the doctrine
knowledge of the truth of God; and then they reach                  of Scripture: Scripture is nothing more than a word
back to the ancient church. And Ds. Exalto illustrates               of men who therein interpret God's Word. And


320                                                  THE STANDARD  BEAREd



besides, Scripture is time-bound, not only as to form                insisted on the sense-perceptibility of the garden, the
but also as to content. Thereupon  Exalt0 spells out                 tree, the serpent, etc., in the Geelkerken case). This
his sharp &ticism of Article 9, entitled "Church and                 means that the historicity of paradise and the fall are
World." He claims that this article furnishes a basis                no more accepted.
and a stimulus for the horizontalism of modern
theology. It gives salvation unmistakable humanistic                   3. Berkouwer proposed that with respect to the
traits. And Exalt0 claims that especially today a new                last judgment (another issue touched on in the
confession might be expected to speak out clearly                    debate) there are all kinds of incisive problems. He
against  the errors which threaten the church:                       suggested that the confession concerning the future
horizontalism, the humanizing of Christendom and                     could best be left open.
church, the secularization of faith and life. He                       4 .   F i n a l l y ,   h e   p o i n t e d   o u t   t h a t   d o u b l e
concludes by stating that the acceptance of such a                   predestination was consciously omitted from the New
confession would be nothing less than a denial of                    Confession. He said: "We say no over against double
what the church, on the basis of the Word of God                     predestination, for God is merciful."
entrusted to it, through His grace and Spirit, might                   Seldom has Berkouwer been more open about his
confess in the past and should still confess today.                  stand and that of the GKN.
   We are in complete agreement.                                       But notice that this last remark of Berkouwer
   On the floor of the Synod many of the same                        alone is sufficient to justify the criticism of  Exalt0
criticisms were voiced, to the irritation of Ridderbos               and the Gereformeerde Bonders.
and the dismay of Berkouwer.                                           And what is more, it is sufficient to  damn  the
   What was the reaction of these tw.0 representatives               proposed new confession for any Reformed man!
of the GKN?                                                                                         *****
   Ridderbos  (De Waarheidsvriend,  Feb. 28) is                        One last thread in the story of this new
reported to have said that in reaction to Exalto's                   draft-confession.
a r t i c l e : " W i t h   s u c h   a   m a n   I   a m   n o t      According to a report by the Committee for
together-on-the-way." Enough said!                                   Inter-church Relations of the Christian Reformed
   But Berkouwer's remarks are more' enlightening.                   Church, their official representative in the
                                                                     Netherlands and others judge that this very same
   1. He freely admitted that there were three                       "Unanimous Testimony of Faith" is "a very pure
different ideas of confession in collision at the                    document." (De Wachter, April 23, p. 11)
Hervormde Synod: the liberal idea, the idea of                         And who is this representative who can judge that
Ridderbos and Berkouwer - after all the tensions in                  a document which consciously omits that
the GKN, and the view of those who want to cling to                  characteristically Reformed doctrine of double
the old confessions uncurtailed.                                     predestination is "very pure?
                                                                       None other than a seminary professor, Prof. John
   2. He pointed to the fact that the Genesis-question               Stek!
in the GKN has been caught up with, and that
thereby the view of Scripture was also determined. At                  The GKN are far down the trail of apostasy.
last the GKN had had the courage to revoke "Assen"                     But how far (or: how close) behind them is the
(the reference is to the Synod of A&en, 1926, which                  Christian Reformed Church?




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                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                321


A L L   A R O U N D   U S

                `Anniversary Thoughts
                                      ProJ: H. Ha&o


   The committee which was responsible for                   involvement. More and more, even in Reformed
preparing this anniversary volume of the  Standard           Churches, there is increased emphasis on the "social"
Bearer wanted an article from each of the depai              implications of the "gospel". Even in Reformed
writers which would, on the one hand, be fitting in          circles, increasing problems of a social nature
some respect for an anniversary commemoration, but           attract the Church's attention. There are serious
which would, on the other hand, somehow fit with             theological implications in all this. But, in general
the general topic of the rubric for which the writer         along with an increasingly vehement denial of the
was responsible.                                             faith those who teach such things seek the kingdom
   I was on the committee at the time these plans            here upon earth.
were drawn up; and the idea seemed to me to be an              There is a reaction. There are those who are
excellent one; I wholeheartedly endorsed it. But now         troubled by all this. And so the times have produced
the time has come for me to write my "anniversary            many movements of "concerned" people. But the
article", and the hard realities of following the            ecclesiastical posture which these concerned people
committee's (and my) ideas have to be faced very             take varies widely from one place to another. There
concretely. (This is, perhaps, a good experience for         are those who are content to remain in their
everyone: to have to carry out, at least in part, the        denomination and seek a "polarization" or a
fine plans which committees prepare often far                "modalities church". There are others who turn to
removed from the realities of execution. It tends to         various sectarian movements such as Pentecostalism
make one a bit more reserved on committee meetings.          to fill the void left by departures from the truth.
It is one thing to come up with all kinds of ideas of        Then again, secession is stirring up renewed interest,
one sort or another. It is quite another thing to bring      and the whole question of the right and method of
to realization what some committee has decided.)             secession is a burning issue. Some have followed the
  One is tempted on an occasion such as this to make         road of secession. But here, too, lies a danger. For
some sort of a survey of the ecclesiastical world            there are many who base their secession on a lot of
which is "all around us", and attempt some sort of           negative criticism of the parent denomination. On the
analysis of current trends in ecclesiastical history.        basis of such negative criticism, they are content to
One could, if there were still space left, include a kind    move their secessionist group back to some historical
of a survey of world events from the viewpoint of an         point in time where the errors of liberalism have not
editor of an ecclesiastical paper. This would not be all     yet sapped the lifeblood of the church. They forget
that difficult to do. One could, for example, analyze        that secession, if it is to be genuine church
the current status of the ecumenical movement. This          reformation, must be a positive commitment to and a
might even be worthwhile, for, at least temporarily,         positive development of the historic faith. The result
the steam seems to have gone out of ecumenism. It            is that oftentimes secession movements themselves
hasn't quite turned out to be the utopia in the              are weak and hold little promise for the future.
ecclesiastical world that some dreamed it would be.            If, on the other hand, one would turn to an
One could go on and point out at length the                  analysis of world events, one can also find a great deal
disturbing fact that almost all the denominations in         to write about. Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus
this country and abroad are beset by serious                 that it was urgent to redeem the times, for the days
problems. One could put forth some effort to analyze         were evil. If this was true when the apostle wrote his
these problems. And if one did, one would find that          letter, it is all the more true today. One could write
at the root of the problem lies a departure from the         about Watergate, about the current shortages in food
Scriptures. Forsaking the Scriptures, leaders in             and natural resources, about the pollution of the
practically every denomination have begun the road           environment. One could turn to the evils of
that leads to a denial of the fundamental doctrines of       immorality and the legalizing of sin in gambling and
the faith. Although this takes on many forms, the            abortion. No doubt one could spend considerable
general direction seems to be a drift into social            time with a great deal of profit speaking of the sharp


322                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER


increase in superstition in our scientific age. In fact,           Scriptures contain no objective truth either in the
this reminds me of an interesting quotation I came                 area of faith or life. We repudiate this position. The
across just today in Herman  Bavinck's book                        epistle to the Hebrews (in chapter 13:8) speaks of the
Bijbelsche en  Religieuze  Psychologie   on this very              fact that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today
subject. He writes:                                                and forever. He is the same because He is God Who is
          If some people, in their lofty Scientific                eternally unchangeable. But it follows from this that
       development, have driven religion out the front door,       the revelation of God in Jesus Christ is also the same
       it enters again by the back door in the form of             yesterday, today and forever. Happy is that Church
       superstition and magic. Our times show this very            which confesses that unchangeable truth.
       clearly. Along side of and in the very circles of
       unbelief, superstition revives in the crassest of forms.      There is profound reason for gratitude here. At the
       Materialism and spiritualism often go hand in hand.         very heart of the truth which we confess is the
       There is not a single heathen superstition of practice
       of magic which is not at present resurrected in the         doctrine of sovereign grace. Among many other
       very middle of Christian society.                           things, this means that the Church which steadfastly
                                                                   maintains the truth over a period of five decades does
   And this was written in 1920.                                   so only because God preserves that truth in her.
   But all of this is based upon a disregard for God's             There is absolutely no other explanation for this. We,
Word and a rejection of all authority. God's law is                too, must say with the prophet Jeremiah: "`It is of the
abandoned, and the inevitable result is that                       Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his
lawlessness prevails.                                              compassions fail not. They are new every morning:
                                                                   great is thy faithfulness."
   Yet an analysis of all that is happening about us is
the task of this column from issue td issue. And while               This may never be a mere matter of formal
we could perhaps spend the time summarizing, it                    acknowledgment of a truth which we know so very,
would not yet bring us to what is specifically an                  very well. Should it ever become that, it becomes a
anniversary article.                                               hypocrisy of the worst sort. The truth of it all must
                                                                   pervgde   u s , so that it remains the profound
   There must be a recognition of the fact that our                confeSsion of our heart and of our lips. Anything less
Standard Beaver has been in existence for nearly fifty             than this will only mean that the days when the
years.                                                             Standard Bearer occupies this position in the church
   As I was pondering this article today, I went back              world which it presently does are numbered.
into the old issues of the Standard Bearer;`way  back                T h i s   o u g h t   t o   c a l l   u s   t o   s o m e   s e r i o u s
to volume XXV, twenty-five years ago, when this                    self-examination. I do not refer only to those who are
rubric first appeared (though under a different name)              busy from week to week putting this Standard Bearer
to see what had been written throughout the years. It              in the homes of its readers. They, too, are called to
was rather striking that the problems which we face                this. But this self-examination is required of all of us,
today, though not in such exaggerated form, were                   for in a very real sense, our paper is possible only
much the same problems which appeared in the                       because of the steadfastness and faithfulness of its
Church for the last two decades and a half. But what               reading public. The  Standard Bearer  can be no
was even more striking was the fact that the Standard              stronger spiritually and doctrinally than those who
Bearer,  in commenting on these things, has                        support it and read it.
consistently taken the same position.                                It is relatively easy to engage in an analysis and
   Our editor remarked a few issues ago that it was                criticism of what is happening elsewhere. It is
reason for great gratitude for him that our Churches,              extremely difficult to be critical of one's self.
in the course of their history, had not changed as far             Nevertheless, often with shame, we shall all have to
as their confession of the truth is concerned. This is             admit that the evils which are so prevalent in the
reflected in the past volumes of our paper, and                    world are evils which have affected us and had their
particularly in the writings which have appeared in                influence in our lives. There is no sin which is foreign
this column. There are some who charge us with                     to us. I repeat: the Standard Beaver can never be any
being stagnant and grounded on deadcenter. There                   stronger than those who support and read it. An
are those who are critical of this very. fact. They insist         anniversary ought to be a time for renewed
that the times demand change. And they mean by                     commitment and dedication to the cause of the
this that the confession of the Church itself has to be            propagation of the truth of the Scriptures. And it
changed in order to meet the pressing needs of                     must begin with a renewed dedication to that truth in
today's world. We are not convinced of this. There is,             our own lives.
of course, a basic view of Scripture which is involved
in such an assertion. That view, in brief, based upon a              There is one more thing.
denial of Scripture's infallible inspiration, is that the            What is happening in the world has helped to prove


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                               323



that there are many throughout the world and in             use the Standard Bearer to give help and leadership
almost every denomination who deeply love the truth         and direction to many in different lands, we can only
and who are eager to join with others of like faith.        hope fervently and pray that God will continue to
Often they are lonely, for their numbers are few.           keep us faithful, so that this work may be continued.
Often they are tempted to despair, for there seem to
be so .few who care. And it is true that the Church of         We cannot tell what the future holds for us. In
Christ is a hut in a garden of cucumbers, a besieged        general we know that the Lord is coming  - and
city, a very small remnant.                                 quickly. All events seem increasingly to point to the
                                                            nearness of the end. The gathering of the Church is
  If it has pleased God in His great grace to use the       one of these events.
Standard Bearer to bring these faithful into contact
with one another; if God in mercy will continue to             Let us then be faithful in our calling.




                     The Standard Bearer
                               In Retrospect

                                   Rev. G. Van Baren


             In this season of tornadoes and terrible havoc wrought by them, another meditation of
           the late Rev. G. Vos comes to mind. He wrote about another tornado which struck the
           Grand Rapids area some 18 years ago. Those who were there still remember it distinctly.
           The Rev.  6. Vos, in his unique way, brought that devastating disaster into proper
           perspective. . . .Yet how soon we forget!

                                            "Visited by Majesty on High"
           "Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations He hath made in the earth. Be still,
           and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the ,earth.
           The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. "
                                                                                          Ps. 46:8, 10, 11


  Our village received a very special visit by the Lord     everyone was aware of His august presence.
Christ.                                                        And we were afraid: many cowered in the
  It was a visit of the Majesty on High.                    basement of their homes, while God ravaged their
  What we really' received is a little foretaste of the     properties (?). He flung houses and barns far and wide.
end of the world.                                           Such debris was mixed with black muck and the dust
  Some of us went to heaven in the process of that          of the earth. He snuffed out the lives of some of us,
visit. Others are in the hospital because of that visit.    broke the bones and the flesh of others: they were
Some of us had a brush with death. All of us were           left moaning in His wake.
deeply impressed by that visit.                                Oh yes, no one can dispute it: God walked among
  God came to us, and He roared: I have never yet           us; His Christ paid us a special visit; He left
heard a voice such as we heard around supper time,          desolation, death, pain and misery.
Tuesday evening, April 3, 1956. It sounded as though           But also awe, the awe of the childlike fear of
a thousand express trains were traversing the sky.          Jehovah.
  His footsteps were seen; He walked from the                  One man said: My Jehovah was beautiful in His
Southwest to the Northeast, skirting our village:           raging! And that man lost half of his worldly goods,


324                                          THE STANDARD BEARER


and his life was in jeopardy.                              He leaves in His wake the glories of the Christian, the
  Yes, I have seen Him too.                                blessings of salvation, and we are blest.
  His pathway through Hudsonville was about 3 or 4           Now here is the terrible accusation: we can see
city blocks from my dwelling.                              Christ in His Usual Business day after day and night
                        *****                              after night, year after year and life-time after
                                                           life-time, and we stay calm and orderly.
  But in it all is a terrible accusation.                    "How are things?"
  We have paid attention to this little walk of God, a
walk whose results are still among us in many ways.          "Oh, so-so!"
We have paid marked attention to  ,that little walk.         After all, His daily and nightly walk through the
Both the good and the bad, the saints and the wicked,      village is much more beautiful than His special visit
the church and the world have seen Him, heard Him,         last Tuesday, is it not?
and marked His works. The  blue-cqats of the State           Everyone wanted to get into Hudsonville. It took
Police are still among us, as are the members of the       hundreds of special blue-coats and guardsmen to keep
State Guard, or National Guard. Life has still not         the crowds from hindering disaster cleanup. Last
returned to its normal beat.                               Sunday afternoon I had me a time getting out and
  Everyone is still talking about that little walk of      getting back into my village.
Jesus through Hudsonville, visiting us. He is
constantly among us. From the time when Zacharias            But we do not need the cops on Sunday!
sang his song of salvation until now, Jesus and the          How easily we leave our place empty on Sunday
God of our salvation has His march among us, and He        during worship of God Who is in our midst day and
always speaks, shouts, beckons and calls to us His         night?
people.                                                      How easily do we fall asleep during the service,
  Zacharias sang: THE DAYSPRING FROM ON                    skip the reading of God's Word after a meal, and a
HIGH HATH VISITED US!                                      prayer or two?
  And He is still with us.                                   Tuesday He came and said: "This is the way of My
  He promised: And Lo, I am with you alway!                final coming, when the heavens and the earth shall be
  And He kept His word.                                    destroyed by fire, tornado and earthquake, and then
                                                           the hearts of men shall fail them because of My
  Jesus is constantly walking through Hudsonville.         terror!"
  And He is constantly singing His song of the               We heard it and paid attention. Oh, how we paid
eternal Covenant of God's grace.                           attention!
  He sings that song as a lullaby at the cradle of the       But, every waking and sleeping hour He is in our
Covenant babies. He sings and He speaks of the             very midst and says: "I love you with an everlasting
everlasting love of God when we are very young and         love, and all My endeavour is to get you with Me in
as we gather as little boys and girls in catechism and     the new earth and the new heaven. I move the
Christian schools. His speech and His works become         heavens and the earth and the depth of hell to get
plainer to us as we grow up. Oh, how wonderful is His      you away from the world, the devils and the powers
voice from the pulpit Sunday after Sunday, year after      of sin. I send angels and My Holy Spirit of grace Who
year.                                                      explains and applies My precious Word so that you
                                                           may eat and. drink spiritually and be satisfied. I am a
  His song of the Covenant: I love you so much that        flaming wall of tire around you and your children so
I died for you on the accursed tree.                       that no harm may come near your dwelling. I suffer
  And you can hear it in Hudsonville, both in the          no man to do you wrong. I give men for thee and
home and from the pulpit.                                  nations for thy salvation. Oh, I do love you and your
  And His footsteps drop with fatness. He leaves in        seed and I have unutterable salvation in store for you.
His wake regeneration, conversion, faith, justification    Listen to Me, My people: I, the eternal God am thy
and sanctification. But also glorification when            Refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms!"
Hudsonville's children go to heaven.                         That is what God, what Jesus, what the Spirit
  Last Tuesday He left in His wake a picture of the        sayeth unto the churches.
desolation of hell. After I saw it for the first time I      And do we pay as close attention to it as to last
grew very still. It was awful.                             Thursday's tornado?
  But when Jesus is conducting Business As Usual,            There is our accusation.


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                    325


                         *****                              Refuge! "
  Yes, I do know that the tornado came so that the
wicked will have no excuse in the day of His final             God was seen for a few minutes.
coming.                                                        He was clothed in black, the black swirls of dust,
  I know, too, that this tornado came as a sign of His      muck, planks, and bodies of men and animals.
final coming so that the church might take courage
and know that her deliverance is nigh.                         We saw Him for a few minutes such as He will be
                                                            seen again in the clouds of darkness of the final
  But I also am persuaded that the tornado came to          tempest, the final tornado of the last Day, the  Yom
shake the church awake, to direct us to His more            Jehovah.
beautiful Voice of the Gospel, to remind us of His             But He is still with us, even though we have often
daily and nightly Presence among us.                        forgotten.
  The church was crowded Sunday morning. And                   He is still with us in His dear Son.
they tell me that such was the case in the other               He was in a hurry to come on Pentecost: the sound
churches in our little village.                             of a fiercely driven wind.
  The tornado calls us to a rededication, to a                 And He never left us.
reconsecration.
  It did that to me.                                           He is so intimately close to us that the theologians
                                                            are still fighting about the two natures of Christ. Oh,
  We have given our answer to God's visit in our            God is very close to Man.
communal prayer.
  And we tremble at His presence now.                          Do you realize that the sentence: "The Lord of
                                                            Hosts is with us" is a name of Jesus?
  For God says: "Be still, and know that I am God: I
will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted           Immanuel means: God with us. Well, for the name
in the earth."                                              of God in the sentence, my text has: The Lord of
  God desires to be exalted. And, let us never forget       H o s t s .
it, He will be exaltted. Therefore He walked through           He came well nigh two thousand years ago, and
our town on a bias! on a line from the Southwest to         united Himself with man, and henceforth we are
the Northeast. And even the dogs saw Him and                Zion, the city of God. His finger touched the earth; it
trembled.                                                   was the greatest Tornado the world has ever seen. It
  And He was exalted. Even by the reprobate,                was dark too. It was the Son of God dying on the
although they will not admit it. Some of them took          accursed tree. There God embraced us with all our sin
time out to insult Him: I saw a headline in a daily         and guilt.
paper which called it a "brutal" tornado! It carries the       And then the Tornadoes of God began to howl. It
proof with it that God was exalted. It was the              was an eternal Tornado of wrath of Almighty and
wicked's answer to His footsteps. When God says in          Holy God.
their hearts: I am God and there is no other God;
then they say: There is no God!                                And when the tornado was over, it became still.
                                                               It was very still in the garden of Joseph.
  Did you note that the daily papers did not connect
the tornado with God and His Christ?                           The stillness of the peace of God that stole over
  But we are still, Father!                                 and within the church of God.
  We know that Thou art God.                                   That stillness shall last through all eternity.
  And we exalt Thee, even while we cower in the                That is our Refuge.
Southwest corner of our basements.
                                                               The papers say: get into the basement. They even
                         *****                              say and specify the exact comer which is safest: the
   Yes, we are still.                                       Southwest. Or under a table or a bed if you have no
  And we are going to listen as never before. That is       basement. I have no quarrel with the scientist. We
our promise to The-.                                        must use the means.
  On our plea for grace to keep our promise.                   But there is a Refuge that is better, far better.
  And we are reassured, for Thou  continuest: "The             We hide in the shadow of the Cross of our Jesus.
Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our              And all is well. Amen. Hallelujah!


326                                             THE STANDARD BEARER


TAKING HEED TO THE DOCTRINE


                                "Hyper-Calvinism" and
                              the Call of the Gospel (2)

                                                      Rev. David Engelsma


  The first article in this series dealt with the use of         altogether nullify, the lively preaching, especially the
the term, hyper-Calvinism, to attack Calvinism itself.           gospel-call. What is so striking is the Canons' refusal
The second article pointed out that there has been a             to react to the Arminian heresy by denying the call of
doctrinal error that might be called hyper-Calvinism,            the gospel to everyone, or even by becoming timid
and found it to consist of the denial that God calls             and hesitant concerning this call. They show that the
everyone who hears the preaching of the gospel to                Reformed faith will not allow Arminianism to drive it
repent and to believe in Jesus Christ. The previous              into the opposite error of hyper-Calvinism. This,
article also began to show that the hyper-Calvinistic            however, was exactly what happened to those who
denial of the call of the gospel is not Biblical,                denied the call of the gospel to all who hear the
Reformed doctrine. This will be concluded in the                 preaching.
present article.
  What the Reformed faith, genuine Calvinism,                       Those who denied the external call of the gospel
confesses concerning the call of the gospel is set forth         out of the fear that this compromised Calvinism were
plainly in the Canons of Dordt. The promise that                 mistaken on two counts. First, they erred in
believers have eternal life and the command to repent            supposing     t h a t   t h e    call, or    command, to
and believe must be proclaimed "to all nations, and              unregenerated unbelievers would imply the ability of
to all persons promiscuously and without distinction,            the unregenerated to do what God required, namely,
to whom God out of his good pleasure sends the                   repent and believe. They argued that for God or for
gospel"  (11,5). God Himself "unfeignedly," i.e.,                the Church to call everybody to believe on Christ
seriously, calls everyone who hears the gospel. He               would imply the false doctrine of free will. That this
does this through the gospel itself. As He calls, He             was the error of the hyper-Calvinists is evident from
"most earnestly and truly" declares that it is                   Article 33 of the confessional articles of the Gospel
"acceptable" to Him that "all who are called, should             Standard Churches: "to address unconverted persons
come unto Him" (III, IV, 8). One result of this                  . . . calling upon them to savingly repent, believe and
serious call of the gospel is that many "refuse to               receive Christ . . . is . . . to imply creature power. . ."
come, and be converted." This is not the gospel's                Oddly enough, this is the very same mistake that the
fault, nor Christ's fault, nor God's fault, but it is their      Pelagians and Arminians have always made: to
own fault, for they wickedly reject the word of life             suppose that the exhortations and demands of
(III, IV, 9). However, there is also the result that             Scripture imply the ability of man to fulfill the
some obey the call of the gospel, and are converted.             demands. The Pelagians and Arminians have always
This is not due to free will or any ability in them              argued that, since God commands men to believe,
"whereby one distinguishes himself above others,"                men must have the ability to believe. The
but it is due to the sovereign grace of God alone. The           hyper-Calvinist, on the other hand, agreeing that the
                                                                 call to believe would imply free will, denies the call.
reason why some come to Christ is that God                       The error of both is their failure to see that the call of
efficaciously draws them by His Spirit. And He draws             God to sinners in no way presupposes the ability of
them, in distinction from others, because He has
eternally elected them, whereas He eternally                     sinners to heed the call.
reprobated the others (III, IV, 10. cf. also 1,6).                 Luther exposed the error of the notion that a
  The Canons powerfully refute the Arminian charge               command of God implies a corresponding ability in
that the doctrines of predestination, limited                    man in his controversy with the Pelagian, Erasmus,
atonement, total depravity, irresistible grace, and              over the bondage of the will. Responding to Erasmus'
perseverance of saints hinder, if they do not                    defense of a free will on the ground that God calls


                                                ' THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  327


 men to choose, turn, repent, etc., Luther wrote:*                contrary, it is the purpose to render them
    ". . by the words of the law man is admonished                inexcusable, and to harden them (Romans 9: 18. cf.
    and taught, not what he can do, but what he ought             also Matthew  11:25-27). There is always a two-fold
    to do."                                                       outcome of the preaching of the gospel, including the
                                                                  serious call of the gospel to all who hear, according to
    "How is it that you theologians are twice as stupid           the sovereign purpose of God with this preaching and
    as schoolboys, in that as soon as you get hold of a           call: "Now thanks be unto God, which always
    single imperative verb you infer an indicative                causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest
    meaning, as though the moment a thing is                      the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. For
    commanded it is done, or can be done?"                        we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them
   ,"The passages of Scripture which you cite are                 that are saved, and in them that perish: To the one
    imperative; and they prove and establish nothing              we are the savour of death unto death; and to the
    about the ability of man, but only lay down what              other the savour of life unto life. And who is
    is and is not to be done."                                    sufficient for these things?" (II Corinthians 2: 14-l 6)
 Question 9 of the Heidelberg Catechism teaches, in
 regard to the demand of perfect obedience that God                  The practical effects of the hyper-Calvinistic denial
 makes in His law, that God does exactly require of               of the call of the gospel to all and sundry and of the
 men that which they are incapable of doing. The                  attempt to limit it to the reborn elect are disastrous.
 same thing holds true for the command to repent that             Basically, the effect is nothing less than the loss of
 God makes in the gospel to the unregenerated. The                the lively preaching of the gospel, first in the sphere
r call does not imply, nor is it based on, the free will of       of missions, and then, inevitably, within the church
 man. Rather, it sets forth man's duty, and shows man             herself. The classic example is the well-known
 what it is that pleases God.                                     response of J. C. Ryland, close friend of John Gill, to
                                                                  William Carey's plea for mission societies to preach
    The second error of the hyper-Calvinistic denial of           the gospel in India: "Sit down, young man. When
 the call of the gospel was the fear that a call of the           God pleases to convert the heathen He will do it
 gospel to the unregenerated wicked .would jeopardize             without your aid and mine." Apart now from the fact
 the doctrines of election and limited atonement. This            that mission societies are wrong and apart from the
 is evident in Article 33 of the Gospel Standard                  fact that old Ryland may have seen a mission spirit
 Churches, quoted above, which continues: ". . . and              corrupted by Arminianism, his notion that God's
 . . . to deny the doctrine of special redemption." This          sovereignty in salvation makes preaching unnecessary
 would indeed be true if the call to the reprobate                was false. Applied consistently, this notion would
 expressed God's love for him and `manifested a desire            rule out, not only preaching to the heathen, but also
 of God to save him. But such is ,not the case. When              all preaching. The Biblical rejoinder, and the
 God sends the gospel forth into all the world,                   Reformed confession, is: the sovereign God is pleased
 presenting Christ crucified to all who hear the                  to save His people through the preaching of the
 preaching and calling all who hear to repent of their            gospel.
 sins and believe on that Christ, His purpose is to save
 the elect and the elect only. The love that sends forth             To strip the call from the preaching is to do
 the gospel, like the love that sent forth Christ in the          violence to the gospel itself. The call to believe is not
 fullness of time, is the love of God for the elect               an appendage of the gospel, to be tacked on
 Church. This love is sovereign love. As the call to              awkwardly at the end like the proverbial tail on the
 repent and believe goes out, God the Holy Spirit                 donkey. It is an inherent part of the gospel itself.
 works that repentance and faith in the hearts of the             Whenever and wherever the gospel is preached, the
 elect in the audience. He gives us what He calls for,            call to repent and believe is sounded to all who hear,
 and He gives it by the calling. "Come!," He says, and            whether explicitly or implicitly. Usually the apostles
 that sovereignly gracious call draws us irresistibly to          made the call explicit:             "Repent!, Believe!"
 Christ. This is the confidence of every preacher when            Sometimes, the call was implied, e.g., in the sermon
 he calls men to repent and believe: God will make it             at Pisidian Antioch, recorded in Acts 13. Paul did not
 effective in the elect. With regard to the others in the         explicitly say, "Believe." But his statement in verse
 audience, the' call comes to them also, seriously. But           39 that justification comes only by faith in Christ,
 the call does not express God's love for them, nor               not from the law, and his warning in verses 40 and 41
 does it imply that Jesus died for them. By the call,             against refusing to believe sound the call loudly and
 God confronts them with their duty, and shows them               clearly : "Believe on this crucified and risen Christ!"
 what will be pleasing to Him. But His purpose with               The message proclaimed in the gospel is not
 the call to them is not a saving purpose. On the                 something that may ever merely be received for
 I*The Bondage of  the  WiZZ, tr. by Packer and Johnston (London: James Clarke & Co., Ltd., 1957),  pp. 151 ff.


328                                                          THE STANDARD BEARER


information, nor does it ever leave anyone with the                     sorrow is godly sorrow or the sorrow of the world.
impression that God is satisfied with that. The                         The result will be that a man, fearful of
message of the gospel is the message of God's Son in                    compromising Calvinism by calling an unregenerate,
our flesh, crucified and risen for the forgiveness of                   will call almost no one. This is to reverse God's
sins and eternal life. The gospel must be believed, and                 operations. For the sake of the elect, God has the
the Christ presented in the gospel must be believed on                  Church call all who hear the preaching; lest it call a
- today. Nothing else will do. Therefore, the gospel                    reprobate, hyper-Calvinism tends to call no one.
calls those who hear the gobd news.                                       Condemnation of hyper-Calvinism does not touch
   Also, the attempt to limit the call to the                           the Protestant Reformed rejection of the "well meant
regenerated is a hopeless task. It sets before any                      gospel-offer." Between the serious call to all who hear
minister an impossible task. Before he may call a                       the gospel and the well-meant offer of the gospel,
sinner to repent and believe, he must determine that                    there is a vast gulf fixed, the gulf that separates the
the sinner is born again. Even if a person reveals some                 historic Reformed faith from Arminianism.
sorr,ow for sin, he ought to determine whether the                                        (to be continued)


FEATURE


                                  The Relationship Between
                                          The Truth And Life
                                                       Rev. Ronald J. Van Overloop


   To achieve a proper understanding of the truth, it                   because the Scriptures are not a dogmatics. They do
is first of all necessary that we understand that God is                not give us in outline form the whole body of truth.
Truth. He is truth in and of Himself. All truth is in                   But the Church, being led by the Spirit of truth given
Him and in God there is no lie.  .Therefore God                         at Pentecost, sees the Scriptures as a whole and out of
determines what is true, i.e., what is right and what is                them appropriates the individual dogmas which they
wrong. That truth God has revealed to His people in                     behold in their particular place within the organism
the holy Scriptures. Those Scriptures contain within                    of the truth. By means of faith, the Church
them the entire revelation of that truth. The                           consciously appropriated these truths out of God's
Scriptures are the fulness of the revelation of God.                    Word. Therefore it can be said that the Church does
They are not the revelati'on of the fulness of God, for                 not determine what the Scriptures say, but the
they are the creation of God and cannot contain Him.                    Church says what the Scriptures and the Spirit have
But as the fulness of the revelation of God they are                    taught her to say. In that way the Church
complete, lacking nothing, most perfect. At the                         appropriates consciously the whole body of truth.
center and heart of that truth which is revealed in the                   Historically that conscious appropriation began
Scriptures is Christ. All truth abideqin Him, Who is                    wjth the Being of God Himself. The Church
the perfect revelation of the Father, for He is the                     developed terms to describe Scripturally the God-
way, the truth, and the life.                                           head, which terms have been used throughout all the
   Out of God's revelation, the Church of God, which                    history of the Church. They described the Triune
is the Body of Christ, develops the truth. The Church                   God as being three Persons in one Being. They
beholds that truth of God in His' Word and develops                     described Christ as having two natures in one Person.
that truth into a systerqatic form. Immediately at the                  And so as history progressed, the Church continued
closing of the canon of Scripture, the Church began                     to develop those individual truths out of and on the
to develop the individual truths out of the Word of                     basis of God's Word. They developed the truths
God. That development had to be out of God's Word                       concerning predestination, depravity and its totality,

A lecture given Oct. 4, 1973 in Coopersville High School.


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  329



the truth concerning the guilt of all men in Adam.           doctrines and how they affect life, as well as how a
Slowly the truths of regeneration, of God's counsel,         proper conception of God's Word affects the life of
of the church, of the sacraments, of the covenant,           the believer.
and so on were consciously  appropriat,ed  by the               We have already Seen what the truth is. Now what
Church.                                                      is life? Life is our walk in this world; it is our attitude
  In our previous article we saw, that this                  towards the world in which we live. Now what does
development took place under certain circumstances.          the body of truth which, we believe, have to do with
This development and appropriation of, the truth             our attitudes towards the things of this world?
occurred under the incentive and guidance of the             Scripture shows us that it has a lot to do with it
Holy Spirit as the Spirit of truth. They were                because what man believes, he believes with his heart.
appropriated because of the thirst of the regenerated        Solomon says that out of the heart flow all the issues
heart for the knowledge of God in Christ. This               of life. (Prov. 4:23) Therefore as the heart is so is the
appropriation took place in the sphere of and by the         man. None of us would deny that nian himself is an
mutual operation of believers under the preaching of         organic unity, containing a heart, mind, soul, and
the Word. And they were appropriated under the               strength. That that unity exists, that there is a very
influence of the necessity to defend and formulate           intimate relation between that which I believe with
carefully the truth against heresy.                          my heart and that which I do and say, is shown from
  But all of these individual truths which arise out of      Proverbs 4:23. Not one of us would say of someone
Scripture are not without connection and relation.           who has committed the act of murder that the mind
God, according to His infinite and inscrutable               and heart of that man was not also involved in that
wisdom, has ordained and ordered all things in such a        act. Man is an organic unity which has as its center his
way that all of these individual truths are' intimately      heart. Therefore it can be said that that which is
related and connected so that a discussion of one will       revealed externally is simply an expression of that
inevitably lead you into a discussion of other truths.       which is in ternal.
For example, one cannot talk of the depravity of man            Also let us turn to James 2 and consider
without speaking of original guilt and corruption and        specifically verses 14 and following. James is talking
then of the atonement and cross of Christ which              to those who hypocritically say that they are justified
covered all of that depravity.                               by faith only and then proceed to walk in sin. They
  The divine reason for this intimate relation of all        use the fact that they are justified by faith alone as an
the truths to one another is that all of the individual      excuse to do what they please. James says to them,
truths together form one body of truth. Together             "Oh no. You say you have faith? If you do not reveal
they make up the truth. Why the truth is  .one is            it, you are a liar. That faith is no faith; it is dead, for
because God, Who is Truth, is one. That this is true         real faith is manifested in works." Notice that James'
can be seen from the fact that this body of truth            point here is that faith is of the heart; it is something
developed organically. The truth is an organisti. The        we believe experientially. (Heidelberg Catechism, q.
Church did not have only a part of the truth, as a           and a. 21) The faith that they SAID they had, was
slice of a pie, early in its history. It possessed the       not of the heart, only of the mouth. "Shew me thy
whole body of truth. The conscious appropriation             faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my
of the truth by the Church was a spontaneous                 faith by my works. But wilt thou know, 0 vain man,
and a principle appropriation. The Church imme-              that faith without works is dead?" Faith is the root,
diately had the whole truth, but only in prin-               the principle, and good works are the fruit and
ciple. We must think of it in terms of a sapling             evidence of that faith.
and a full grown tree. The early Church had the truth
in sapling form, while the Church of today possesses            Further proof that doctrine and life are inseparable
the truth in the form of a full grown tree which is still    is seen from Romans 6: 1 and from the Heidelberg
                                                             Catechism, q. 64. In Romans 6 Paul shows us that a
growing. The same is true of a child. He says and
believes, "Jesus lo&s me." In that Confession that child     belief or confession requires a certain kind of life. He
has the truth, but  n&e of us would say that he              very emphatically denies that it does not make any
perfectly and completely understands all of the              difference what kind of life we lead, by showing that
                                                             a careless and profane Christian is an impossibility. In
implications of what he said. He has it all principally,     fact, it is a contradiction. The power of the cross of
but the accuracy, extensiveness and depths of his            Christ in him bears the fruit that he abhors sin and
knowledge of the truth is limited.                           fights against it with his all. He is not only redeemed
  That the truth we believe is an organic unity has          from sin, but also is delivered from it and renewed
much significance for the life of the child of God.          unto a life which is the life of Christ. By a true and
What he believes determines how he lives. Let us             living faith the Christian is legally and organically
examine that relationship, considering some errant           united with Christ. How can he that is dead to sin,


330                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



live any longer therein? Living out of Christ, he is in      The evolutionist believes that the lower forms. of life
principle liberated from the dominion of sin through         developed in the course of time into higher forms.
the Spirit of Christ that dwelleth in him (Rom. 8:2).        Somehow life arose out of dead material and
Sin is still present in him, but all that is within him      developed into higher forms of life. Therefore as time
according to his inner man hates and abhors it.              goes on, things get better and better, from a
  More proof can be found in the Heidelberg                  biological sense of the word. Things are always
Catechism, q. 28. In that question, the catechism            improving. Slowly and surely there is a development
speaks of the confession and walk of those who               and progress that ultimately will lead to a perfect
declare themselves unbelieving and ungodly. Listen to        man in a perfect world. Such a belief is a denial of
what Rev. H. Hoeksema says, concerning this                  God, of Christ and, of course, a denial of Scripture.
question, in his exposition in The Triple Knowledge,         As to their life, the evolutionists would necessarily
vol. II, p. 671. "There is a most intimate relation          believe that men must pull together. There is a
between these two, confession and walk. A true               brotherhood of man and together we will always try
confession reveals itself in a sanctified walk. And the      to attain that perfection in life. We will always try to
latter is based on and motivated by the former." Let         - get rid of all sicknesses and diseases and all
us interrupt here and notice that the relationship           imperfections so that we can have a perfect man in a
between confession and walk, between doctrine and            perfect world.
life is a mutual relationship. It is a reciprocal               Another example of this intimate relationship
relationship, going both ways. What I confess                between one's life and belief is seen in the view of
determines how I live. However, it is also true that if I    p 0 st-millennialism. Post-millennialism teaches that
want to live in a certain way, then that will affect         the second coming of Christ shall take place after the
what I believe. Rev. Hoeksema continues, "A false            millennium. This millennium is a period of 1000
confession is motivated by the desire to cover up and        years in which the church has gained the complete
to justify a walk according to the flesh and according       victory over the world and has established herself as
to the world, and the former gives rise to the latter. It    the power that is triumphant. The point is that there
is certainly utterly false to maintain that it matter not    is a continual evolution in the world's history. The
what we believe, if only we do something in life.            evolution is not biological, but in a social sense. As
Principle and practice are most intimately related.          history progresses, this world becomes better. The
Doctrine and life are inseparable. The Scriptures            result is that all the difficulties are resolved in the
therefore everywhere emphasize the necessity and ob-         world as the world comes under the influence of the
ligation of the church and of the individual believer        church. Sin is even banished from the councils of man
to majntain true doctrine. And everywhere the Word           and a utopia of peace and prosperity arises. Heaven is
of God warns against heretics and f'alse teachers . . .      on earth and the kingdom of Christ is victorious here
The false prophet is one that deliberately speaks lies       i n   t h i s   p r e s e n t   t i m e .   T h e   c a l l i n g   o f   t h e
in the name of the Lord and that to entice and               post-millenialist is to make the world a better place to
deceive the people to wickedness and id,olatry."             live, to Christianize everything. There is very little
                                                             concern for the coming of Christ at the end of time
  There is, then, a very close and intimate relation         and far more concern for the cares and troubles and
between what one believes and how one walks,                 social ills in this world. Every attempt is made to
between his doctrine and his life. To show that this is      attain peace on earth, and religion in politics. The
true historically, let us examine a few false beliefs or     basic error of such a belief is that it is a denial of
doctrines and see how they affect the lives of those         Christ's rule over the world. Christ rules over the
who believe those false beliefs.                             world, sovereignly controlling their actions. The
  First of all, let us consider that of the evolutionist.    danger of this belief is that at the end of time there



                                       ,Have YOU responded
                              to the "One Thousand" Drive?
                                         If not, do so today!


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 331



will be a Kingdom of peace, which will be of                justification of what and/or how we want to live. We
Anti-Christ, but the post-millennialist will identify it    can see that in ourselves. We always want what we do
with the kingdom of Christ.                                 or say to be justified. We come up with all kinds of
                                                            excuses for our sins. Common grace is a justification
  Another example of how a false doctrine results in        of worldlimindedness. The truth of the Word of God
an errant conception of life is that of common grace.       directs the child of God to a proper walk. While he
The doctrine of common grace, by its very nature,           pursues his pilgrimage in his world, the Word of God
speaks of the life of the Christian in the world. The       informs him what his life and belief must be. All the
second point of the three points of common grace            principles of the life of the believer are set down in
teaches a restraint of sin by an inward operation of        Scripture. Therefore, we can say, "Thy word is a
the Holy Spirit on all men. The Holy Spirit operates        lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." (Ps.
on man so that man does not sin as much as he               119: 105) Scripture is not specific, but the truth of
otherwise would. The result is that the natural man is      God's Word as it has been developed implies exactly
capable of performing many good deeds which are             what our walk must be. Therefore one must not
good in God's sight. This is the third point. Then man      separate doctrine from practice. Doctrinal preaching
is capable of moral and civic good and righteousness.
He lives a good life in which he contributes much           is practical and practical preaching is doctrinal.
toward the benefit of his fellow man.. Thus the               But now, what are the truths of God's Word on
natural man can meet with God's approval. and               which we must base our life? First of all, there is the
satisfaction.                                               truth that God is sovereign. This sovereignty which
   What then is the view of life of one who holds to        God possesses is due to the fact that he is God alone
the doctrine of common grace? That one begins to            and the Creator of all. All things are dependent for
hate the antithesis of the church from this world and       their life and existence on Him. Because of that
he begins to hate the narrow confines of his existence      sovereignty, God is the sole criterion and standard of
in the church. The child of God alone possesses the         what is right and what is wrong. Thirdly, because God
grace of God which can save, yet he is in a world of        is sovereign and free, He is the divine ruler of all. He
men who are in many respects as good as he is, as far       rules over all He has created in order that the purpose
as his deeds are concerned. He is in a world of wicked      for which it was created might be realized. This
men who do the same good he does, seek the same             purpose is the glory of His name through Jesus Christ
goals he seeks and usually are better qualified to do       Who came in our flesh to suffer, die and rise again for
anything in science, art, music, politics, etc. Because     our sins and guilt.
he sees much in the world and outside of'the church           Therefore the sovereignty of God is a sovereignty
with which he can agree, he decides that the world is       which is revealed and exercised through Christ. God
the place for him. The result is that he joins in           chose a people to be His and placed them in union
worldly organizations, enters into fellowship with          with Christ. Christ defeated the power of sin over
them, adopting their goals and approving their works.       God's chosen so that they are citizens of the kingdom
And so he enters into the world as Lot did, at first        of light. He establishes His throne in their hearts and
very carefully and later abandoning all caution. He         they become His willing subjects. This is not always
finds out that he cannot protest against the wicked,        and is not completely true in this life, for they only
for all that the' wicked do is marked by a measure of       very imperfectly recognize this and direct their life
good. If he should protest, then he runs the risk of        according to this principle. But they cling in faith to
criticizing that which is the fruit of God in that man.     the cross where all of their sins are washed away.
Then one can join a labor union because it seeks the        With all their heart, mind, soul and strength as that is
good of the worker. Then all movies are all right,          governed by the new man in Christ, they hate and
because there is some good in them which was                abhor all that is sinful in them. They seek to be holy
produced by common grace. Very briefly, the world           even as He is holy.
is good. We can enter into the camp of the enemy to           Fifthly, there is also a sovereignty of Christ over
make common cause with them. Any kind of                    the world. Satan enlists the aid of man in his
antithesis is completely wiped out. Soon the goals of       opposition against God to set up his own kingdom. In
the world are adopted in opposition to the cause of         Adam's fall into sin all men became totally depraved,
the kingdom of heaven.                                      sinning in all that they do. With all the things that are
  What one believes determines how he walks. But            his and with which he lives, man only increases in
we must also beware lest false doctrine is developed,       iniquity. When he can sin as much as he wants and
motivated by the desire to cover up and to justify a        yet avoid the dire results of sin, then he will have
walk which is according to the flesh and according to       attained his goal. But this can never happen, for God
the world. It can be said that essentially eyery step of    still rules as sovereign. Christ rules supreme NOT in
apostasy down the road of false doctrine is a               spite of all wickedness, but He rules supreme, using


332                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



all things to do the will of God.                           pitiful and being courteous; not rendering evil for evil
   What is our calling on the basis of these truths?         or railing for railing, but contrariwise blessing.
Our conception of the order in God's counsel is a           Therefore he has the calling which demands that he
truth or tradition passed down to us. This truth             cannot and may not be a partner with the world. (II
which teaches us that God ordained ,a11 things to give      Cor. 6: 14-18) He has the calling that he must let his
Himself the glory, shows us that man in every aspect        light so shine that God may be glorified.
of his life has the calling to glorify God. The truth of       All that the child of God has in regard to the riches
God's Word tells us that the child of God is a              of salvation are literally in Christ. Christ is the Head,
regenerated saint, born again, not unto this life, but      from Whom flows all the fulness of grace and
unto an heavenly kingdom. He is born unto a hope,           salvation. Just as a tree strikes its roots into the soil,
not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the       to seek nourishment, so the believer has roots that
word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. He is        strike themselves into Christ, in order to seek all the
born unto an inheritance incorruptible, and                 nourishment it needs out of Christ. Therefore we can
undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in            see how dangerous it is to tolerate false doctrine. As
heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God            soon as one departs from the truth of Scripture, one
through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in        leaves Christ and the roots of the soul go into the
the last time. The result is that the child of God is       wrong soil.
incorporated into the army of God and marches'
under the banner of Christ. By that second birth, he           Hence doctrine and life are inseparably connected
is no more a member of this world, but is a pilgrim         with each other. False doctrine leads inevitably to a
and stranger. He is a citizen of the heavenly kingdom       life of corruption and sin in the world. But a belief
with the calling to glorify God in every aspect of his      which clings to Christ will be a life which goes on
life. That means that he must submit to the                 growing in sanctification.
government and to his employer. He must be a proper            May our beliefs be based solely on God's Word so
wife and a proper husband, being of one mind, having        that our life in the midst of this world likewise reveals
compassion one of another, loving as brethren, being        that it is rooted in that same Word.


FROM HOLY WRIT


                    Exposition of Hebrews  11:32, 33

                                                  Rev. G. Lubbers



  We now come to consider the faith of Jephthah,            woman, who was a harlot. He was the son of a harlot,
the mighty man of valor, in the days of the Judges.         born out of wedlock, and therefore an illegitimate
We will consider this judge a bit more in depth than        son. He bears. this stigma in his father's house, and is
we did both Gideon and Samson. He is blazoned on            expelled by the later-born children, who are
the pages of Scripture in Hebrews 11 as a man of            legitimate sons of their mother, a wife of Gilead.
faith, who subdued kingdoms by faith, and yet this          Evidently Jephthah must flee from his father's house
man of God is often misunderstood in his greatness          for his life from the face of his brethren. They
and spiritual stature in the days of the shadows. Let       would have killed him. He is an outcast!
us attend to the teaching of Scripture concerning this         Yet, he is a man of parts. We read "there were vain
giant in Israel.                                            men who were gathered to Jephthah," just as later
                                                            there were such men gathered to David when he flees
JEPHTHAH, THE MAN (Judges 11: l-3)                          from Saul as an "outlaw.z)  He must have established a
   Jephthah was a man of humble, yea, of sinful             reputation with the men of Gilead, the country on
origin. He was really a bastard son of Gilead by a          the east side of Jordan.


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 333



  He is also a man who is versed in the history of          LORD: and his soul was grieved for the misery of
Israel. He is a man who believes in the covenant            Israel." (Judges 10: 16) The LORD looked down from
mercies of the Lord. At a time when Israel is               heaven in pity upon the inheritance of Israel. And in
departing from the Lord in serving Baa1 and Ashtorah,       such circumstances Jephthah must be raised up. He
serving the gods of all the nations whom the Lord had       was raised up in the mercy of God. God was merciful
conquered under Moses and Joshua, this man of God           and full of pity also upon Jephthah, the disinherited
is studying Israel's history, and he knows the history      one by his brethren. He may have no inheritance in
very accurately. Vagabond and outcast though he be,         Israel, but was treated like one rejected of the LORD.
he seeks his strength in the knowledge that Jehovah           Small wonder that Jephthah turned his gaze upon
hath given Israel the land, and that the Ammonites          the pages of the law of God. All his life this had been
and the Philistines are "alien nations" which must be       a problem; before and after his rejection from his
subdued. He is not a rash semi-heathen, who would           father's house. But now the Ammonites are
give human sacrifices on the altar of God, literally to     challenging Israel's very right to the land, the land
sacrifice his own daughter as a burnt-offering to the       which had been given them as promised by
Lord! He is a Godfearing man, who puts his entire life      inheritance to Abraham of old. They desire to take
in the service of the LORD! He walked by faith!             the inheritance of Israel from them, from  Amon to
THE ARENA OF JEPHTHAH'S FAITH                               the Jabbok river. That is the bone of contention.
(Joshua 10: l-9)                                              And now the disinherited Jephthah is recalled to
  To understand the greatness of Jephthah's faith we        Gilead. by the leaders. It is Jephthah who understands
must look carefully at the times in which the LORD          really what the issue is. He has studied the Scriptures
himself raised him up to be a judge, a deliverer of         and the meaning of the inheritance of Israel in the
Israel. It was a time of spiritual crisis  inIsrael. The    land; he understands that it was a gift of sovereign
deep truth of Israel's history comes to stand in sharp      grace from Jehovah to His people.
focus here. After the death of Gideon' (Jerubaal)              First of all Jephthah will have it straightened out
Israel once again fell into sin. Through the period of      about his own place and status in the land. The
the judges Tola and  Jair, a period of some 40 odd          reward he asks is not simply a place in the inheritance
years, Israel dwelt in peace from the enemies.              of his father's house, but a place at the head of
However, now Israel departed from the Lord in a very        Gilead, the highest place in the land. For that he will
grievous way. The sanctuary at Shiloh was forgotten!!       go to war. Says he, "If ye bring me home again to
Israel served all the idol gods of the nations in their     fight against the children of Ammon, and the LORD
midst; they served no less than the gods of seven           deliver them before me shall I be your head?"
nations. So the Lord gave them over into the hands
both of the Philistines on the.southwest and into the         Secondly, he will contend with Ammon, first of
hands of Ammon on the East. Fact is, that Ammon             all, by the word of the mouth, the sword of the
even invaded the territory west of Jordan, even             Spirit, the word of God. Such is his faith. He trusts in
against Judah, Benjamin and Ephraim! And the                God who awards those who diligently seek Him. He
Ammonites were in the land for eighteen long years.         sends messengers to the heads of Ammon, saying,
And the wrath of the LORD was hot against Israel.           "What hast thou to do with me that thou art come to
Surely, it was a time to return to the law and to the       me to fight in my land?" Ammon is on Israelitish soil,
testimony. And Jephthah evidently did this, judging         and has been there for eighteen years!
by his accurate knowledge of the books of Numbers             Jephthah will not simply subdue kingdoms, but he
and Deuteronomy.                                            will do so by "having wrought righteousness," and
  This must have been the time about the end of the         thus "receive promises." He will wage a holy battle in
days of the Judges. Jephthah evidently was a                the name of the Lord. The arena of battle is before
contemporary judge with Samson. And it ,was at this         the face of the Lord and in His name. It is a holy
time that Israel turned rather fundamentally from           battle; it will be the sword of Jehovah that he will
their idol worship and adhered to the place where the       wage. In view of this holy battle in the arena of faith,
LORD placed His name, even in Shiloh. There was a           it is rather clear that Jephthah refutes the claim of
basic return to the Lord! It was true the Lord tried        Ammon as having right to the land, and that Israel
Israel in a pedagogical way and told them, to go and        has stolen the land some three hundred years before
call upon the gods which they had chosen. It is then        under Moses, `the man of God. Jephthah points out
that Israel "said to the LORD, We have sinned: do           the following salient points of history, which are
thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee;             indisputable.
deliver us only, we pray thee, this day." And then we          1. That Moses asked Edom to pass through their
read the important notice,."`And they  prrt away the        land peaceably. (Num. 20: 14), and that Edom came
strange gods from among them, and served the                to fight against Israel.


334                                                        THE STANDARD BEARER


   2. That Moses asked Moab also to pass through                            sacrificial victim. The LORD himself forbade such a
their land, but Moab would not consent. (Numbers                            sacrifice. (Lev. 18:21) That would be like letting the
2O:l)                                                                       children pass through the fire for  Moloch.  God did
   3. That Moses requested the king of Amorites,                            not even allow Abraham to kill Isaac. He only
Sihon, to pass through their land on the way to their                       received him again in a figure. It is, as Edersheim
inheritance in Palestine, and that Sihon came out to                        remarks, that this only happens under such evil kings
fight against Israel. It was then that the LORD gave                        as Ahaz and Manasseh. It was such a sacrifice which
all the land in question, from the river Arnon to the                       caused Israel to retreat from the battle-field against
river Jabbock to Israel. If the LORD gave it to Israel                      the king of Moab in the days of Jehoshaphat. (II
who will take it from her? And the LORD has                                 Kings 3:26 f-f.)
maintained this  status  quo for three hundred years.                          Jephthah could not have made a vow in which he
Will the LORD now allow the Ammonites to take the                           anticipated a human sacrifice. His vow is to Jehovah
land away from Israel?                                                      and it must therefore be a vow in spirit and in truth.
   In this arena of faith Jephthah wages the battle of                      The fact is that the daughter, when she hears of the
the LORD. The disinherited illegitimate son argues                          vow, accepts it; it is a vow of such a nature that she
the case of the well-born children of God. Behold the                       goes to bewail her virginity. She shall not be married
faith of Jephthah, the mighty man of faith! He uses                         but shall go childless in Israel. And as such she is a
the Word of God as the sword of the Spirit.                                 sign of the Lord's victory in which the inheritance is
                                                                            made secure. It is a picture of the barren and
                                                                            unfruitful to have a possession in the land in hope.
JEPHTHAH'S VOW AT MISPAH                                                    Jephthah dies really without a son. He can have no
(Judges 11: 29-3 1)                                                         inheritance in Israel; he is disinherited by his father's
   The climate of Jephthah's vow was the climate of                         house. He dies really childless in his generations. He
faith and the mighty exhibition of this faith, for the                      who had championed in faith the right of Israel's
Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah. Here Jacob                           inheritance will have it in a better country. He did
of old and Ishmael had vowed too: the Lord keep the                         not receive the promise. He lived in faith and looked
watch between us. Here Jephthah uttered all his                             for a better country.
words before the LORD! And he vows a mighty vow                                If the vow of Jephthah was "rash" then it was
to the LORD, after the Spirit of the LORD came                              done in that boldness of faith which is the substance
upon him to march forth at the head of Israel in the                        of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
battle to clear the Ammonites out of the land.                              Such faith sees greater things than to have an earthly
   The Lord will hold Jephthah to his vow. It will be                       inheritance under the shadows and promises. It seeks
a severe trial of his faith and consecration to the                         with Abraham a better country from which no enemy
Lord, and a sign and testimony in Israel forever. The                       can dislodge the church, where the saints shall no
Lord will give the victory to Israel by faith, and the                      more sin, where the gates shall not be closed.
inheritance of Israel shall be secure against the                               And so the name of Jephthah is decked in gorgious
Ammonites. He smites Ammon and takes twenty                                 colors in that catalogue of saints mentioned in
cities, unto the plains of the vineyards, even a very                       Hebrews 11. He is one cast out from among men of
great slaughter! By faith he subdued kingdoms and                           whom the world was not worthy. And he is in the
wrought righteousness, this Jephthah!                                       cloud of witnesses who encourage us to great acts of
   But he does not slaughter his daughter as a                              faith, and to pay our vows unto the Most High.



                            NOTICE!!!                                                       TEACHERS AIDE NEEDED
   According to the decision of the Synod of 1973, the Consistory of           Hope School will  /need a Teachers Aide (no teaching certificate
the Hope Protestant-Reformed Church of Grand Rapids, Michigan, was          required) to work with the fifth grade during the 1974-75 school year.
appointed the calling church for the 1974 Synod. The Consistory of          Those interested should contact the school.
Hope Church hereby notifies the churches that the 1974 Synod of the                                                              Glare Kuiper, Sec'y.
Protestant Reformed Churches in America will convene, the Lord
willing, on Wednesday, June 5, 1974, at  ,9  AM,,in the Hope Church.
The  pre-Synodical service will be held Tuesday evening, June 4, at 8 PM                       CHURCH DEDICATION
in Hope Church. Rev. John A. Heys, President of the 1973 Synod will            We are thankful to our God that He has given us a new place of
preach the sermon.  Synodical delegates are requested to meet with the      worship. The Lord willing, we will dedicate our new church building to
consistory before the service. Delegates in need of lodging should          His service on Friday, May 24, 1974, at 8:00 p.m. We hereby invite our
contact Mr. Arnold Dykstra, 1663  Moel.ker,  SW, Grand Rapids, Ml,          fellow saints to join with us in Randolph for this happy occasion.
49504.                                                                                                                     The Dedication Committee
                                          Arnold Dykstra, Ass't. Clerk.                                                      Mrs. Gary Buteyn, Secy.


                                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                     335


                                      News From Our Churches
                                                            REPORT OF CLASSIS EAST
                                                                       April 3, 19 74
                                                                Hope Prot. ReJ: Church

   Classis East met in regular session on April 3, 1974                        served on the Finance Committee for this session.
,in Hope Church. Each church was represented by two                            Expenses of $178.67 were reported and authorized
delegates. Rev. Van Overloop  and Rev. Veldman were                            for payment. Elder M. Vander Ploeg was appointed to
absent due to work in Prospect Park. New Jersev and                            thank the ladies of Hope for their catering services.
Skowhegan, Maine respectively, Rev. C. Hanko led the
classis in opening devotions and after the classis was                            The greatest amount of classis' time,was spent on a
constituted, Rev. R. C. Harbach took the chair.                                letter from Holland's consistory. Holland requested
                                                                               the  classis to declare that its previous decision to
   Four elder delegates attending  classis for the first                       declare Holland's request for help out of order on the
time had the privilege of signing the Formula of                               basis of Article 30 of the Church Order was not in
Subscription.                                                                  harmony with Article 31 of the Church Order.
The reports of the Stated Clerk and the Classical                              Holland further requested  classis to instruct the
Committee were received and the usual committees                               church visitors to ask specifically about CLA
were appointed. Elders J. Bishop and T. Nelson                                                                             Icon timed on back page)


                 WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                                                                         IN MEMORIAM
   On May 22, 1974, the Lord willing, our beloved parents, MR. AND                On April 12, 1974, the Lord called home our beloved husband,
MRS.  MEINDERT  GAASTRA hope to commemorate their 50th                         fatherland  grandfather, GEORGE KAMPS, SR., at the age of 83 years.
wedding anniversary.                                                              "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints."
   We, their children and grandchildren, are grateful to our covenant                                                                       Psalm 116:15
God for their example of faith and godliness.
                                                                               Nellie Kamps, wife                             Mr.  & Mrs. Marinus Kamps
   It is our sincere prayer that the Lord may continue to sustain them         Mr.  & Mrs. William Kamps                       Mr.  & Mrs. Nelson Kamps
with His grace through their remaining years so that they, and we may          Mr.  & Mrs. John Bodbyl                           Mr.  & Mrs. John Kamps
confess  - "But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting       Mr.  & Mrs. Gilbert Schimmel                     Mr.  & Mrs. Louis Kamps
upon them that fear Him, and His righteousness unto children's                 Mr.  & Mrs. Cornelius Kamps                    Rev.  & Mrs. Marvin Kamps
children." Psalm  103:17.                 Mr. and Mrs.  Philip.Lindeman        Mr.  & Mrs. George Kamps, Jr.                     Mr.  & Mrs. Leon Kamps
                                            Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Gritters                                Sixty-eight grandchildren
                                                 Mr. and Mrs. Ray Gaastra                              Eleven great-grandchildren
                                                 Mr. and Mrs. Otto Gaastra
Redlands, California                                 and  17 grandchildren

                                                                                              RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
                              IN MEMORIAM
                                                                                  The Consistory of the Hope Protestant Reformed Church of
   The Men's Society of the Hope Protestant Reformed Church of                 Redlands, California, on behalf of our congregation, wishes to express
Grand Rapids, Michigan, express their sincere Christian sympathy to its        its sympathy to our pastor, Rev. M. Kamps, and his family, in the loss
members, William, Cornelius, Marinus and Louis Kamps, and to Gilbert           of his father, MR. GEORGE KAMPS, SR.
Schimmel, sons and son-in-law, of MR. GEORGE KAMPS, SR., who,
after a lingering illness passed away at the age of 83 years, on Good             May the Lord comfort them in their bereavement.
Friday, April 12, 1974.                                                           "For whether we live, we live unto the Lord, and whether we die,
   May the family find consolation in God's Word as recorded in Isaiah         we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the
25:8  - "He will swallow up death in victory and the Lord God will             Lords."  (Remans  14:8).
wipe away tears from off all faces and the rebuke of His people shall He                                                       Larry Huisken, Vice Pres.
take away from off all the earth; for the Lord hath spoken it."                                                                      Edwin Gritters, Clerk

                                                           Joe King, Pres.
                                                          P. Koole, Sec'y.
                                                                                              RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
                              I N   M E M O R I A M                               The members of The Men's Society and the Mary-Martha Society of
                                                                               the Hope Protestant Reformed `Church of Redlands, California, wish to
   The Ladies Society of the Hudsonville Protestant Reformed Church            express their heartfelt sympathy to our president, Rev. M. Kamps, and
hereby expresses its heartfelt sympathy with two of its members, Mrs.          his family in the death of his father, MR. GEORGE KAMPS.
John Bodbyl and Mrs. George Kamps, Jr., in the death of their father,
MR. GEORGE KAMPS, SR., who, after a long and lingering illness was                "For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die,
delivered to be with Christ in His glory. "As for me, I will behold Thy        we die unto the Lord; whether we live therefore, or die, we are the
face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake with Thy             Lord's."  (Remans   14:8).
likeness." (Psalm  17:15).                                                                                                     Mr. John Feenstra, Sec'y.
                                                 Mrs. J. B. Lubbers, Sec'y.                                                  Mrs. Bernie Meelker, Sec'y.


THE STANDARD  BEARER                                          SECOND CLASS
       P.O. Box 6064                                          POSTAGE PAID AT
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506                                GRAND RAPIDS, MICH.




336


membership in the churches of  Classis East and to
inquire whether these members were ,being treated. In
regard to Holland's first request,  Classis decided to
maintain its former decision on the grounds that
classis itself had requested response from the
consistories to the CLA Study Committee Report and
that the matter was not finished since final
adjudication of the matter did not occur until
January 3, 1974 meeting of  classis. Holland was
informed that with regard to its request to instruct
the church visitors to ask about CLA membership,
the church visitors already have the right to ask not
only about CLA membership but about any matter
which they deem pertinent.
  Church visitors elected for this year are Rev. J. A.
Heys and Rev. C. Hanko. Rev. H. Veldman was
selected as alternate.
  In other voting, Rev. Hanko was elected to a
three-year term on the Classical Committee.
  The delegates  ad  examina  submitted a copy of
their report to Synod re the examination by  Classis
West of Candidate M. Hoeksema. The delegates
advised  Classis West to recommend to Forbes
congregation that they proceed with ordination and
installation. This Forbes has already happily done and
Candidate Hoeksema is now  add:ressed as Rev.
Hoeksema.
  Prospect Park requested classical appointments.
Rev. M. Joostens and Elders P. Letterman and H.
Kuiper proposed and  classis adopted the following
schedule: PROSPECT PARK: April 21, 28  - Rev.
Harbach; May 5, 12, 19 - Rev. Van' Baren; May 26,
June 2, 9  - Classis West; June 16, 23, 30  - Rev.
Joostens; July 7, 14, 21 - Rev. Veldman.
  At the conclusion of the session, the questions of
Article 41 of `the Church Order were asked and
satisfactorily answered. In his closing remarks, the
chairman thanked the classis for their cooperation in
conducting the day's business and for the fellowship
enjoyed. He further wished God's blessing upon the
delegates and churches.
  Classis adjourned just prior to noon and will next
convene on July 3, 1974 at Southwest Church.

                           Respectfully submitted,
                                            Jon Huisken
                                            Stated Clerk


