STANDARD I
 BEARER
  A REFORMED SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE                                      .





       I believe that we Protestant Reformed have
   something very pertinent to say to the Christian
   Reformed brethren with respect to the very
   matters which are troubling them in their
   present church connection. It is no secret that  I
   believe that all of their troubles are related  -
   historically, doctrinally, church politically, and
   ethically  - to  1924.  They rnay not believe it,
   and they may not agree. But  I would like the
   opportunity to demonstrate `this and to discuss
   it, as well as the opportunity to be enlightened
   by them and proved wrong if  I am wrong. Can
   we not discuss? Need we be afraid of discussion,:
   even if we may seem at first to be poles apart?
   (cf. Editorial)





                                      Volume L, Number 17, June 1,1974  1


338                                                       THE STANDARD BEARER



MEDITA TIO N

                                       At God's Right Hand
                                                             Rev. M. Schipper

                 "Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and
             powers being made subject unto him. "
                                                                                                            I Peter 3 :22.



   It is Jesus Christ of whom the apostle speaks!                            Historic fact!
   Not  Enoch, who, after he had a vision of thousands                       For forty days after His resurrection the Lord
of angels coming with the Lord to judgment, was                            Jesus had tarried with His disciples, making ten
translated that he should not see death. Nor was it                        different appearances unto them. During this period
Elijah, who was whisked away into heaven in a                              He gave them instructions concerning His kingdom,
whirlwind that appeared as a chariot and horses afire.                     the kingdom of heaven. He spoke to them of the
Though these also went to heaven, to remain in the                         necessity of His suffering and death. He tendered
realms of glory, of them you do not learn that they                        them the promise of the restitution of all things. He
.were exalted at God's right hand, angels and                              gave them the promise also of His return in the Spirit,
authorities and powers being made subject unto                             the Comforter, for Whom they were to wait in
them.                                                                      Jerusalem, and of Whom they would receive power to
   But Jesus Christ, Who was raised from the dead!                         be witnesses unto the ends of the earth.
   The One of Whom the apostle speaks earlier in the                         On the last day of the forty, He led them out to
chapter, that He once suffered for sins, being put to                      the Mount of Olives, from which He was to ascend
death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.                           into heaven. Yea, while He was speaking to them and
   He is gone into heaven, and is now on the right                         blessing them, He was taken up. And as they beheld,
hand of God exalted!                                                       lo, a cloud specially prepared by God, came and
                                                                           received Him out of their sight. And, behold, as they
   Marvelous fact!                                                         looked stedfastly toward heaven, two men stood by
   Fact, concerning which the apostle Peter had                            them in white apparel, which also said: "Ye men of
first-hand information, and concerning which he now                        Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this
writes!                                                                    same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven,
   It was written evidently for the comfort of and an                      shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go
incentive to Christians who are required to suffer for                     into heaven."
well-doing, having a good conscience; of Christians                          There can be no doubt about it. The historic fact
who, because of and from their sanctified hearts are                       of the ascension of Jesus Christ is well attested to by
ready always to give answer to every man that asketh                       those who were eye-witnesses!
concerning the reason of their hope. The very ground                         Who is gone into heaven!
for their  antithethical  life in the world rests on the
solid facts that as Christ was victorious, so shall they                     And that means, first of all, that He changed
be. And the fact is that Christ, being exalted, has                        places. The human nature which .He assumed at His
received power not only to deliver them, but also to                       conception and birth, the nature in which He suffered
preserve them unto everlasting glory.                                      and died, and the same human nature in which He
                                                                           was raised from the dead, now glorified,  - must have
   As eye-witness of the glory Christ would receive,                       a place. The ascension therefore, was not merely a
when He should ascend into heaven, which he saw                            change `of state and condition, but also of place,  -
w h e n   h e   w a s   w i t h   H i m   o n   t h e   m o u n t   o f    from the earth to heaven. And heaven is the place
transfiguration, and eye-witness of the actual ascent                      where the omnipresent God dwells most particularly
into heaven, Peter and John could also say: "What we                       in His glory. It is also the home of the glorified saints.
have seen and heard, and our hands have handled
concerning the Word of life, that declare we unto                            Secondly, that He is gone into heaven means also
you."                                                                      to convey to us the truth, not only that He changed


                                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                        339



places from earth to heaven, but also that He                                      your God."
penetrated the heavens and came into the very center                                      Nor should we fail to point out that He was the
of it. He passed through the periphery and the abode                               Person of the Son in human nature, Who was so
of the saints, so that they, too, witnessed His                                    clothed with glory! Not the divine, but the human
ascension. But He ascends above them to appear                                     nature is glorified. The same Jesus Who had so deeply
before the very face of God. In God's glorious                                     humbled Himself is now highly exalted.
presence He stood, and by God was urged to sit
down.                                                                                     And this means that our human nature, as it was
   On the right hand  of.God!                                                      assumed by the Son of God, is exalted at God's right
                                                                                   hand. 0, indeed, not so that the human becomes
   The original text seems to make this emphatic.                                  divine; but so, that the human is crowned with divine
Translated literally, the text may be read: "Who is on                             honors, and dwells in divine glory.
the right hand of God, having gone into heaven. .  ."                                     Angels and authorities and powers being made
   Symbolic expression!                                                            subject unto Him!
   God has no throne in the literal sense of the word.                                    Not so highly was man honored when he was
Nor does He have a right hand in that literal sense.                               created in the beginning. Then, verily, he was made a
"God is a spirit, and they that worship Him must                                   little lower than the angels. So the psalmist describes
worship Him in spirit and in truth."                                               him in Psalm 8. And the writer to the Hebrews
   Rather, are we to understand the expression in the                              reflecting on this Psalm, informs us: "For unto the
figurative and symbolic sense. Then the throne of                                  angels hath he not put in subjection the world to
God is to be understood as representing His supreme                                come, whereof we speak. But one in a certain place
and absolute sovereignty. Then the right hand of God                               testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful
means to convey to us the truth that God has highly                                of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him?
exalted Christ and given to Him to partake of His                                  Thou madest him a little lower than the angels: thou
glorious power and authority.                                                      crownest him with glory and honour, and didst set
                                                                                   him over the works of thy hands: Thou hast put all
   Wondrous glory!                                                                 things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put
   Necessary element in His exaltation!                                            all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not
                                                                                   put under him. But now we see not yet all things put
   We must understand clearly that Christ's ascension                              under him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little
is not merely a change of place, from earth. to heaven;                            lower than the angels for the suffering of death,
but it is also a progressive degree in His state of                                crowned with glory and honour, that he by the grace
exaltation. Just as in His state of humiliation there                              of God should taste death for every man." (Hebrews
w e r e   s e v e r a l   d e g r e e s   a c c o r d i n g   t o   ,which  H e    2).
progressively descends, beginning with `His lowly
-birth, and ending as it were in the abyss of hell; so                                    The apostle Paul, writing to the Ephesians, informs
also in the state of exaltation there are various                                  us that God hath set Him at His own right hand in the
degrees, beginning with His resurrection, and ending                               heavenly places, "Far above all principality, and
with His return in glory to judgment. The ascension is                             power, and might, and dominion, and every name
only one of these ascending degrees that brings Him                                that is named, not only in this world, but also in that
to the pinnacle of glory. It was to this He evidently                              which is to come: And hath put all things under His
referred when He said: "And I, if I be lifted up from                              feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to
the earth, will draw all men unto Me."                                             the church . .  ."
   Necessary also because of His heavenly nature!                                         Such is also the testimony in our text: "Angels and
                                                                                   authorities and powers being made subject unto
   He arose from the dead with heavenly life. Though                               Him."
human, it was no longer earthly. It was new. It was
different. And with heavenly life He belongs to the                                  His dominion extends over all!
heavenly state and place. No longer could the                                        All that is in heaven! All that is on earth! All that
disciples fellowship with Him, as they had done                                    is in hell! All things, all men, all angels, and all devils!
before His death. This lesson was forcibly impressed                               Over all His church! Over all  His enemies and ours!
upon Mary Magdalene, who imagined that the living
Lord had returned to her. Jesus said unto her when                                   Jesus Christ is the exalted Lord, before Whom
she was about to throw her arms about Him: "Touch                                  every knee must bow!
Me not, for I am not yet ascended to My Father: but                                  Lord of the angels! Since the fall in the angelic
go to My brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto                                world, when Lucifer, son of the morning, exalted
My Father, and your Father; and to My God, and                                     himself, taking with him in his rebellion a host of


340                                         THE STANDARD BEARER
                                                           -

angels, the order in the angelic realm was disturbed.           end. He must apply unto us His salvation, causing all
Now, however, the order of heaven is restored in                things to work unto our salvation, and bringing us at
Jesus, made higher than the angels.                             last to everlasting glory. He must perfect His
  Lord over authorities! Over those who are given               everlasting, heavenly kingdom, by destroying all His
the right to rule under God, none excluded. They all            and our enemies, putting them under His feet. By His
are subject to the rule of Jesus.                               Word and Spirit He must gather His saints, sanctifying
                                                                them, and presenting them at last without spot or
  Lord over powers ! All the powers that be are                 wrinkle in the assembly of the elect in life eternal. He
subject to his power.                                           must prepare for us a place in God's Father-house. He
 His is a dominion that is derivative, always given             must intercede for us with the Father. He must
unto Him. He does not possess it of Himself. At                 defend and preserve us until the work of the church
God's right hand He receives it, and from that exalted          in the world is also finished.
position He exercises it until all is brought into                So the church of Christ has nothing to fear! Our
complete subjection; when He also shall be subjected            hearts may be filled with hope. In the midst of all our
to God, after He has brought all into subjection unto           distresses the Captain of our salvation cannot fail us.
God.                                                            His is all the power even to make all the powers of
  Our wonderful Lord!                                           darkness to be our servants.
  With His authority and power He is enabled to                   When He shall have exalted us with His own glory,
finish the work of our salvation. What He has                   then shall we with Him be subjected unto God, in
accomplished in His death and resurrection is not the           order that God may be all and in all.


EDITORIAL


                                A Realistic Response
                                       To "A Dream"
                                             Prof H. C. Hoeksema



  In the May, 1974 issue of  The Outlook,  Editor               in face-to-face meeting. Purposely I am  .prefacing
Vander Ploeg writes of his "dream" of a "Congress of            these remarks in this way, so that  The Outlook  may
C on  s ervatives called together from across                   know our attitude from the outset. And I take it that
denominational lines." Near the end of his editorial,           since Editor Vander Ploeg mentions the "Protestant
he writes: "Smile if you will, ridicule this if you             Reformed brethren" in his "dream," he also includes
must, criticize and tear it all to pieces  - but please         us in his request, "Won't you let me hear from you?"
don't give up on the idea and bury it unless you can              First of all, what is this "dream" of the Rev.
honestly say that you know a better way to do it."              Vander Ploeg?
And again: "Won't you let me hear from you? And
please let me know whether your letter may be used                Briefly, it is as follows:
for publication or not."                                           1) The Rev. Vander Ploeg proposes a "Congress of
  Well, this is a response  - not in the  .form of a            Conservatives" which shall "meet together for a full
letter, but in that of an editorial. It may indeed be           day or even two."
used for publication by  The Outlook.  In fact, I shall           2) Included in this meeting are to be "`many
send Editor Vander Ploeg a typewritten copy in                  concerned and interested persons from the CRC.
advance of publication in the  Standard Bearer.                 And; if it could be under joint leadership, I would
Furthermore, I will not smile. I will not ridicule. Nor         hope also from the RCA and the OPC." Further, Mr.
will I "tear it all to pieces." I will indeed offer             Vander Ploeg asks: "Would our Protestant Reformed
criticism, but not merely negative criticism. And I             brethren and those of other Reformed bodies be
will welcome further discussion, whether in print or            willing to come so that with them also we may be


                                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                              341



  able to talk together?" But the list is left open for                          Ploeg suggests, then let us get those obstacles
  additions.                                                                     removed systematically and one at a time. Besides, is
     3) Apparently the basis and motivation of the                               it not true that there are different obstacles between
  proposed "Congress" is as follows: "We really do                               the Christian Reformed brethren and us, than, say,
  have so much in common, and we need each other                                 between the Christian Reformed brethren and RCA
  more than we may realize. Let's not allow the liberals                         or OPC brethren? But I will have more to say about
  to have a corner on ecumenical ventures." In this                              this a bit later.
  connection, appeal is made to Christ's high-priestly                               I n   t h e   s e c o n d   p l a c e ,   i f   t h e   a v o w e d   a n d
  prayer in John 17,  ". . . that they may all be one . .  ."                    preconceived purpose of such a Congress is an
  And the suggestion is made that obstacles could be                             eventual "United Reformed Church," then I, for one,
  removed to make that prayer of our Savior realized,                            would consider it an act of schism on my part to
  even to the extent of a visible, external organization.                        p a r t i c i p a t e .   I t   w o u l d   i m p l y   s o m e   k i n d   o f
     4) As to execution of the above suggestion, a                               dissatisfaction on my part with the Protestant
  "planning session" is proposed, to be "attended by                             Reformed Churches while I nevertheless continue as a
  representatives of the various elements, groups, or                            minister and professor who has not even made known
  churches interested in exploring the possibility of and                        any such dissatisfaction to consistory,  classis, or
  t h e   w o r k i n g   o u t   o f   s u c h   a   " C o n g r e s s   o f    synod. It would be  .different, for example, if I would
  Conservatives." Moreover, it is suggested' that at such                        be appointed as a representative of our Synod to
  a Congress, one spokesman for each group or body                               c o n f e r   o n   p o s s i b l e   m e r g e r   w i t h   a n o t h e r
  might address the gathering on what he would                                   denomination. But this is not the nature of this
  envision as "The Path to Unity." And "An evening                               "Congress." And let me make it crystal clear: I have
  mass meeting could be held at which the thinking                               no such dissatisfaction with our Protestant Reformed
  expressed at such an all-day or a two-day session                              Churches as would move me to work toward a new
  might be summarized."                                                          church formation. And I am a bit surprised that in
     5) Finally, the suggestion is made that such a                              the admitted conservative-liberal cleavage in his own
  "Congress of Conservatives" could give rise to: a)                             denomination the Rev. Vander Ploeg makes this
  "possibly a working organization (being) brought into                          public suggestion of what, from an official Christian
  being that might be called Conservatives United. " b)                          Reformed point of view, would have to be considered
  "and eventually, by the sovereign grace of  Him whose                          schism. But let that be. As an individual Protestant
  guidance we will implore, also a  United Reformed                              R e f o r m e d   m e m b e r   a n d   o f f i c e b e a r e r   I   c o u l d
  Church  in the United States and Canada!"                                      c o n c e i v a b l y   w o r k   t o w a r d   s o m e   k i n d   o f
                                                                                 n 0 n-ecclesiastical organization of "conservatives,"
     That, briefly, is the "dream."                                              just as, for example, I can quite properly be a
                                  ****                                           member of the non-ecclesiastical Reformed Free
                                                                                 Publishing Association. But I could not work toward
     Let me try to respond realistically.                                        a new church formation, that is, reformation through
     First of all, I wish to stress that we of the                               separation. I happen to believe that Rev. Vander
  Protestant Reformed Churches are, and always have                              P l o e g   c a n   a n d   s h o u l d   d o   t h a t   v i s   a   v i s   h i s
  been, willing to discuss. We have said this again and                          denomination, and that he should do so  now, not
  again over the years, especially to the Christian                              eventually. But I cannot and may not do that with
  Reformed brethren; but no one ever seems to take us                            respect to my denomination.
  seriously. On only one occasion, in 1939, was there                               But, in the third place, if you would remove this
  an attempt (in the so-called Pantlind Conference) to                           element as the avowed intent of your "dream," for
  engage in any discussion. That attempt ended in                                my part I would be willing (with a colleague or two)
  abortion, but  not  because of our unwillingness. But                          to attend a meeting  to explore the possibility  of a
let me say it again: whether in official, ecclesiastical                         conference such as you suggest. I see endless
  conference or in an unofficial gathering of Protestant                         problems. Who are to be invited? Who determines
  Reformed and Christian Reformed men, we  are                                   who are "conservatives" for the purpose of this
  willing to confer.  This does not mean, however, that                          meeting? In fact, what  is  a conservative? What will be
  we are willing to confer with  everyone at the same                            the basis of the conference, and how will that basis
  time.  This could only lead, I believe, to chaos and,                          function and be enforced? What will be discussed
  ultimately, to failure. The  &scussion  would be so                            specifically? Who will "umpire" the discussion? How
  varied and wide-ranging, especially in a one-day or                            can two groups who have very real and serious
  two-day conference, that nothing definite and                                  differences between themselves, differences which do
  constructive could be accomplished. If "obstacles"                             not directly concern others, gather in a general
  are to be gotten out of the way, as the Rev. Vander                            meeting of conservatives and join in a general


342                                                            THE STANDA RD BEARER



discussion of conservative union while their specific                            " d r e a m " closest to home. And the Christian
one-to-one differences are not ironed out? But I will                            Reformed brethren and we Protestant Reformed are
at least attend an exploratory session, if invited, and                          from a historical and a doctrinal point of view closest
raise my problems and make suggestions, without                                  to one another.
committing myself  beyond  that exploratory session.                                2) Almost nine years ago, when he was still editor
If thereafter we should conclude that such a                                     of  The Banner,  the Rev. Vander Ploeg wrote of his
"Congress" is not for us, we will also try to explain                            desire for "reconciliation" with respect to us. You
our reasons.                                                                     see, in some respects this "dream" has been a long
                                 ****                                            t i m e   i n   t h e   m a k i n g .   S i n c e   t h a t   t i m e   t h e
   But I believe I have a better plan. To put it in your                         conservative-liberal cleavage in the Christian
words, Editor Vander Ploeg, I can honestly say that I                            Reformed Church has grown sharper; and I take it
know a better way to do it.                                                      that the Rev. Vander Ploeg himself realizes this. We
                                                                                 of the Protestant Reformed Churches remain the
   I propose a conference (as long as necessary) of                              same "conservatives" today as we were then; and as a
concerned (or conservative) Christian Reformed                                   denomination we have no conservative-liberal
brethren and Protestant Reformed brethren (We are,                               cleavage, nor any of the problems which are causing
of course, all "conservative.").                                                 the concern of the concerned Christian Reformed
   Here, briefly, is the plan:                                                   brethren. But already nine years ago I wrote of our
    1) Let us have a planning session by a committee                             willingness to discuss things and to try to get
of six. I suggest the Rev. Vander Ploeg, the Rev.                                " o b s t a c l e s " removed  - whether in official or
Leonard Schalkwyk, and the Rev. Jerome Julien from                               unofficial conference. The Rev. Vander Ploeg never
the Christian Reformed side; I am sure my two                                    r e s p o n d e d   t h e n . We are still willing to have
faculty colleagues would join me from the Protestant                             discussion, if only it is thorough and pertinent and
Reformed side. Or the Rev. Vander Ploeg may name                                 frank discussion.
his own colleagues and any two of my Protestant                                     3) I believe that we Protestant Reformed have
Reformed colleagues. We can hold this planning                                   something very pertinent to say to the Christian
session at our Seminary Building.                                                Reformed brethren with respect to the very matters
   2) The subject proposed by the Rev. Vander Ploeg                              which are troubling them in their present church
could very well serve: "The Path to Unity." I                                    connection. It is no secret that I believe that all of
volunteer to prepare a thorough paper on this subject;                           their troubles are related  - historically, doctrinally,
a n d   I   s u g g e s t   t h a t   a   C h r i s t i a n   R e f o r m e d    church politically, and ethically  - to 1924. They may
"conservative" also present a position paper on this                             not believe it, and they may not agree. But I would
subject.                                                                         like the opportunity to demonstrate this and to
   3) After these papers are presented (and they                                 d i s c u s s   i t , as well as the opportunity to be
should preferably be distributed in mimeographed                                 enlightened by them and proved wrong if I am
form to all who attend), there is to be full and                                 wrong. Can we not discuss? Need we be afraid of
open-hearted discussion as long as necessary. If this                            discussion, even if we may seem at first to be poles
should require repeated meetings, so much the better.                            a p a r t ?
   4) The fundamental basic of the gathering is to be                               Rev. Vander Ploeg, are you serious about the
Scripture and the Reformed confessions. All other                                fundamental idea of your dream?
ground rules will be agreed upon by the planning                                    I also am serious.
committee of six.                                                                   When do you wish to meet with us for a planning
   And here are my reasons for this proposal:                                    session?
   1) We should begin to realize Rev. Vander Ploeg's                                R.S.V.P.



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                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                    343


QUESTION BOX

                            Post-Lecture Question @ox
                                                    Prof H. C. Hoeksema


              [Note: This is a special edition of Question Box. My recent lecture in First Church, Grand
              Rapids, was followed by a question period. The question period, however, was not long
              enough for the answering of all the questions. The promise was made, therefore that any
              questions which were not answered at the meeting would be answered in writing in a later
          .issue of the Standard Bearer. This prom-ise I now try to fulfill. Most of the questions are
              rather directly related to my lecture of that evening on the subject, "Why Are We Protestant
              Reformed?" Some, as you will see, are more distantly and indirectly related. I will not
              explain the relation of the question to my lecture: for this would require too much space. I
              think, `however, that even those who did not hear-my iecture will be able to understand and
              to benefit from the questions and answers. Incidentally, I will also briefly summarize my
              answer to the questions which were dealt with at the meeting.1



Question 1                                                    and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust."
  If  .the doctrine of common grace is wrong, or false,       Incidentally, the presupposition in this conclusion is
and man is totally depraved, how do you account for           that blessing (and cursing) is in things as such. This is
the good that man does? Or (how do you explain)               a grave mistake. For if you conclude that good things
Matthew  5:44-45,  which indicates that God blesses           are as such blessing and bad things are as such curses,
all? Why did Jehu, a person who was not elect, do             then you must also conclude not only that God
that which was right in the eyes of the Lord (II Kings        blesses the wicked reprobate, but that He curses His
10:30)?  Was not this only by the grace of the Lord?          people when He sends them evil things.
                                                              3) The point of the text is this: we must love our
Reply                                                         enemies, which does not mean simply that we do
  First of all, whether man is totally depraved is not        them some good, bestow some good things on them,
a question in Reformed Churches. According to                 but that we show them the love of Christ. We bless
Scripture and the Confessions, the natural man is by          when they curse; we do good to them when they
nature incapable of doing any good, and inclined to           hate; we pray for them that despitefully use us and
all evil. That is total depravity. And if man is totally      persecute us. The text means, therefore, that we must
depraved, it follows, of course, that he cannot do            seek their genuine good. And that means that we must
good.                                                         seek their repentance, seek their salvation. In that
  In the second place we have the question about the          sense we must show them love. And in the case of
familiar passage in Matthew  .5:44-48,  which the             those enemies, that love toward a wicked man is,-so
reader may look up for himself. In regard to this, the        to speak, a one-way street; it is not a mutual love. It
following:                                                    extends from you toward your enemy, but not from
1) You must not simply appeal to isolated passages in         him toward you.
Scripture. You must read the Scriptures in the light          4) The point is, further, that we must do this for
of the current teaching of Scripture. And that current        God's sake. We must manifest to our enemies the love
teaching of Scripture in many, many places is that            of God that is in us and that we have tasted. And the
God does not love and bless all men, but that He              character  of the love of God is exactly such that it is
hates and curses some. (I will not go into detail here.       a love that is capable of being merciful and kind to
As our readers know, I have just discussed this subject       His enemies. Notice that I do not say that it is a love
in my series of editorials on the "Free Offer.")              that is merciful and kind to  all  His enemies. But the
2) Notice carefully that the text does not say that           character of the love of God is such that He loved us
God blesses all. This is a conclusion  - and an               while we were yet enemies.
incorrect one  - from the statement of the text that          5) As a most general example of this fact that we
God "maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good,         must love our enemies, the Lord Jesus here points to


344                                              THE STANDARD BEARER



God's work in nature, where He causes His sun to rise       There you have plain proof: a) that God's attitude
on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the        toward the house of Jehu was an attitude of wrath
just and on the unjust.                                     and vengeance, not favor b) that in shedding the
  Next there is the question concerning Jehu. In            blood of Jezreel (that is, slaying all the house of
connection with this question, let me refer the reader      Ahab) though Jehu was very zealous to do this, he
to a thorough treatment of this subject in a pamphlet       nevertheless sinned in the sight of the Lord. This is
available from our Business Office, and entitled, "The      implied in the very fact that God "avenged" the
Curse Reward Of The Wicked Well-Doer." In answer            blood of Jezreel. Vengeance is, of course, a
to the question, the following:                             recompense for evil.
                                                            Question 2
1) Notice that the text does not simply say that  Jehu         Are you suggesting in your speech that the
did good, but "thou hast done well in executing that        Protestant Reformed Churches are better or stronger
which is right in my eyes." That refers, therefore, to      church politically than a Secession movement like the
the outward deed, the executing. And what was that          De Cock movement of 1834 in the Netherlands or
which was right in God's eyes? It was the execution         Secession movements in the 20th century in the
of judgment upon the whole house of Ahab. That was          U.S.A.? Also the Doleantie Movement in  1886?
what Jehu did.                                              Would we be weaker doctrinally had we seceded? Is
2) The question is whether that was a good deed on          there something intrinsically wrong with secession?
Jehu's part. That it was right in God's eyes, that Jehu     We are here because of secession, are we not, in the
did well in executing it, that he did a good job  -         background of our history?
there is no question about that. He did a very              Reply
thorough job: there was nothing left of the house of           In the first place, I am not suggesting that the
Ahab when he was finished. But that he did  good  in        Protestant Reformed, Churches are better or stronger
the sight of God is an altogether different matter. The     church politically than the movement of 1834
truth of the matter is that Jehu did not do this work       or the movement of 1886. My point, in connection
for God's sake, but that he did it for his own sake,        with my discussion of secession, was that we did
because of his own opportunistic and carnal striving        not ruthlessly and recklessly trample the unity
and desire to be king. And the proof of this lies in the    of the church, that we did not arbitrarily leave.
fact, stated twice in the context in II Kings 10, that      I did not mean to say that separation is under
although Jehu was very zealous to execute the house         every circumstance wrong. I would emphasize,
of Ahab and to' stamp out the worship of  Baal, he
nevertheless did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam       however, that an act of secession is permissible and is
                                                            right only when it has become fundamentally
the son of Nebat, which made Israel  to  sin.               impossible for anyone to stay in his mother church.
3) And thus Jehu also had a reward. His reward was             In the second place, I meant to emphasize in
that his sons to the fourth generation would sit on his     connection with my remarks on this subject in my
throne. He was the only king of Israel who had that         lecture, that we are a continuation,  the'continuation
happen to him. But if you study the history of those        of the Reformed line that traces itself exactly over
four generations which sat on his throne after him,         1886 and 1834. That is necessary. The church that is
you will discover that the reward of Jehu was indeed        divorced from the church of the past, the church of
a  czlrse-reward. Would you dare to think that it was a
blessing                                                    all ages, has no rightful claim to the name church. In
             for Jehu to have descendants such as he had    the third place, we would not be  weaker  doctrinally if
sitting on the throne? No, it would have been better        we had seceded. That as such has nothing to do with
for Jehu and for them, had they never been born. For        secession. I would emphasize, however, that the
not only did they follow in the wicked footsteps of         fundamental question in secession is the question of
their father, but they went from wickedness to              doctrine,  the question of the truth of the Word of
wickedness, to ever deeper wickedness, until finally        God. I would also emphasize in this connection that
the northern kingdom became ripe, for judgment              some of the secession movements in the 20th century
under their influence. And if you would like a further      h a v e   b e e n   e x t r e m e l y   w e a k   b e c a u s e   t h e y   a r e
Scriptural commentary on Jehu and his house, and            doctrinally mixed and broad, and not confessionally
definite and clear Scriptural proof of God's attitude       strong. Reformation through separation, let me stress,
toward the house of Jehu, I refer you to  Hosea  1:4,       is always a return to the truth of the Word of God;
where God instructs  Hosea concerning the name of           and it must be a complete and wholehearted return,
his son: "And the Lord said unto him, Call his name         involving the disavowal of all error, or it will never be
Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the      successful.
blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu,  and. will
cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel."             Further, I would caution that today I can very well


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                      345



conceive of circumstances again where secession, as         there have been two main types of views concerning
an act on the part of those who  separate;is  necessary.    t h e ,   c o v e n a n t .   T h e   o n e   g r o u p   o f   v i e w s   w a s
Why? Because today you have the phenomenon in               characterized by the fact that it considered the
American churches, and also in  churches:abroad, that       covenant a means to an end. Some have held that the
they have become so big and so loose, and the liberal       covenant is a way of salvation. Others have said that
element has become so strong, that they don't care a        the covenant is an agreement or contract between
snap of the fingers about a conservative element.           God and man, with mutual stipulations, conditions,
Their attitude is: humor them, for they are harmless.       and promises. Others have held that the covenant is
They vow that they will not have heresy trials in their     an alliance between two parties against a third. Others
churches; and they vow that they will be a tolerant,        have found the essence of the covenant to be the
modalities church. That is the thing that is coming to      promise. All of these views run into difficulty with
pass today, both here and abroad. And as a result           the fact that the covenant, according to Scripture, is
they will not cast anybody out  - not very easily.          everlasting. But if the covenant is some kind of means
They will let you stay and die; and they will let your      to an end, it stands to reason that when the end has
generations die, and let your conservative element          been attained, the means falls away, no longer has
die out. And therefore, for your very ecclesiastical        any importance. That kind of covenant can hardly be
and spiritual life's sake, you have to separate.            called everlasting. We have emphasized that the
  I would also point out that as far as principles of       covenant is not the means, but the end. It is  the  end
church government are concerned, we exactly agree           of all the work of the God of our salvation. And
with the Secession of 1834 and with the Doleantie of        when the perfection of that covenant is reached in
1886, with their emphasis on the autonomy of the            the day of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the new heavens
local church and with their emphasis against                and the new earth, when the tabernacle of God shall
hierarchy, their emphasis against the idea that  classis    be with men in perfection, then that covenant, as it
and synod have the power to depose office bearers. It       was conceived eternally in God's counsel, shall
is Reformed to teach that it is only the power of the       continue forever and ever.
local consistory to preach, to administer sacraments,           2. We have developed the doctrine of the covenant
and to exercise discipline.                                 in our emphasis that the idea of the covenant is the
  Finally, I would point out that there is a significant    bond of friendship between God and His people in
difference between the secession of 1834 and the            Christ, established in the line of the generations of
origin of our Protestant Reformed Churches. We were         believers. Once one has become imbued with the
expelled as consistories and congregations. In 1834         beautiful, Scriptural idea of the covenant as the
those who seceded did not act in their capacity as          relation of friendship between God and His people in
office bearers, but they acted by virtue of the office      Christ, no other presentation of the covenant holds
of all believers. You will discover this if you read        any attraction.
their "Act of Secession." But fundamentally 1834,               3. We have developed the idea of the covenant in
1886, and 1924 are alike in this: the deepest concern       our strong and Scriptural and Confessional emphasis
was the marks of the true church, namely, the               upon the truth that God alone and sovereignly
preaching of the Word, the administration of the            establishes and realizes His covenant, and that, too,
sacraments, and the exercise of Christian discipline.       along the lines of election and reprobation.
And that must always be the underlying concern of
any reformation movement.                                      4. We have developed the idea of the covenant
                                                            richly with our teaching concerning the organic idea
Question 3                                                  of God's covenant. The covenant is all-embracing. It
  In what ways have the Protestant Reformed                 is a key and pervading theme in Scripture. And
Churches developed the doctrine of the covenant?            l e t   m e   a d d :   t h e   i d e a   o f   t h e   c o v e n a n t   i s
What is the organic idea of the covenant?                   characteristically a  Reformed  doctrine, equally, if not
                                                            more so, than the doctrine of sovereign grace and
Reply                                                       sovereign predestination.
  Pastor Van  Baren was correct in his remark that             The second part of this question concerns the
this question is a subject in itself. It would make a       organic idea of the covenant. What does that imply?
fine subject for a lecture.                                 Very briefly, the following:
  Let me briefly point to some ways in which we                 1. The organic idea implies that God's covenant
have developed the doctrine of the covenant.                includes not merely man, not only God's people, but
  1. Our strong emphasis is upon the idea that the          the whole creation. God saves not merely a church,
covenant is not a means to an end, but an. end in itself    but the  world.  The brute creation, as well as the
- in fact,  the  end of all God's work. Historically        children of God, shall participate in the covenant in


346                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



its everlasting perfection (Romans  8:10, ff.).             "Welcome home, Prodigal, join us in the true worship
Moreover, the whole creation is also involved in God's      of our God."'
work of establishing and realizing His covenant
historically. All things are for the sake of the people     Reply
of God in Christ. This, by the way, is very clearly the         My answer to these questions is as follows:
case with the covenant as it was established with
Noah after the flood. That was not simply a covenant            1. My questioner really suggests the answer to this
`of nature, and certainly not a  cqvenant of common         question in his final question, concerning the
grace. But it was God's covenant with the church as it      Prodigal. It seems to me that both in the parable itself
came out of the ark. And that covenant involved the         and in the reality to which the parable points, the
whole creation for the sake of the church.                  Prodigal was welcomed home exactly in the way of
                                                            confession of sin.
   2. The organic idea implies, too, that God does not
save merely some parts of the world and some parts              2. Were the doctrinal errors of 1953, along with
of the human race, while the world as a whole goes          related matters, sin'? Is false doctrine sin? Was it
lost and is destroyed. On the contrary, God saves His       wrong in the sight of God and of His church to return
world, and glorifies it to everlasting perfection in        to the Christian Reformed Church? Then, it seems to
Christ, while some individuals are destroyed and            me, the sad fact is that as long as that sin is not
perish.                                                     repented of and forsaken, those concerned are living
                                                            in that sin. And I would add that the very fact that
  3. The organic idea of God's covenant implies that        many of them are vexing their souls and are
God realizes His covenant in the line of generations,       extremely unhappy is also evidence of this fact.
the generations of believers. God does not work
individualistically. And this also implies that                 3. I do not believe that confession of sin is ever a
sovereign election and reprobation cut right across         matter of "satisfying" man or God. We cannot make
the generations of God's covenant in history. This          satisfaction for our sins; nor is this necessary, seeing
means that here in the midst of the world, God's            that Christ has satisfied for all the sins of His people.
covenant people always exist historically as a mixed        But sin must be gotten out of the way, with the
people. There is among them the true, spiritual seed,       b r e t h r e n ,   w i t h   t h e   c h u r c h ,   a n d   b e f o r e   G o d .
the true children of God, the elect heirs of the            Forgiveness and reconciliation are in the way of
covenant. There is also among God's people in the           confession. This, by the way, does not mean that
midst of the world the carnal element, which is born        everyone concerned in that departure made himself
in the line of the covenant, circumcised in the old         guilty of sin in the same way and in the same degree.
dispensation, baptized in the new, and in every             There were those who were misled. There were those
respect outwardly treated as the true covenant              who were deceived. There were those who also very
children are. They have all things in common with the       deliberately opposed the truth and sought the
spiritual seed, except grace. They are born, and grow       destruction of the Protestant Reformed Churches.
up, and live in the sphere of that covenant. They are          4. I would point out that confession of sin, where
baptized, the Word is preached to them, they receive        sin has been committed, is not a shame, but a reason
catechetical instruction, etc. But they have no grace.      for gladness and joy on the part of all concerned. I
For the true, spiritual seed all of this tends to their     ask: why should this be such an obstacle to some?
salvation; for the carnal element these very same           Confession is, of course, hard for the flesh and for
things serve to harden them and  ,are to their              our sinful pride. But for the child of God confession
condemnation. This organic idea is illustrated in such      is to be viewed as a gift of grace in Christ Jesus our
Scriptural ideas as the wheat field, which also may         Lord.
have many tares; in the figure of the wheat and the            Finally, I would assure those who sincerely desire
chaff; in the figure of the vine with fruitful and          to come back to our churches and to the precious
unfruitful branches: and in the figure of the olive tree    truth and the pure preaching of the Word which we
in Romans 11.                                               have, that when they come back wholeheartedly and
  Finally, for some helpful reading on this subject, I      in the right way, our people and our consistories will
refer you to a very instructive book,  Believers And        gladly receive them, so that they will find themselves
Their Seed, available through our Business Office.          at home among us. Do they desire the truth of God's
                                                            sovereign and particular promise and unconditional
Question 4                                                  salvation which our Protestant Reformed Churches
  If the group which left in `53 wishes to return,          hold and preach? Then they will also repudiate the
must they confess to having lived in sin these many         errors of a general promise and conditional salvation,
years? And if so, why? Are not they being asked to          errors which strike at the very heart of the Reformed
confess to satisfy man, rather than God? Why not,           truth.


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 347



   Hence, by all means, "Welcome home, Prodigal  -             [The rest of these questions will have to wait until
in the way of whatever confession is necessary for          the next issue of our magazine. Space does not permit
reconciliation."                                            my answering of the several questions which remain.]




                    The Standard Bearer
                           In Retrospect

                                   Rev. G. Van Baren

             "Time, " it is said, "marches on. " Rather, one ought to insist that God's counsel is in
          process of realization. That is impressed upon us especially at an anniversary. Then we
          remark about how quickly time passes. It also becomes the occasion of consideration of the
          past events. Such consideration is particularly significant when done by one who had
          himself gone through the events described. In Vol. 32 of our Standard Bearer the late Rev.
          G.M. Ophoff does that in an address commemorating the 40th anniversary of the late Rev.
          H. Hoeksema in the ministry.

                                              "Anniversary Address"

                                                Rev. G.M. Ophoff

  Beloved in the Lord; we are assembled here in             muscle. But the Lord had mercy upon him and upon
joyful mood to commemorate the fact that our                us all. He gave him a most remarkable recovery. And
brother, Rev. Herman Hoeksema, has completed                therefore I repeat, the prayer that the Lord may
forty years of service in the ministry of the Gospel. In    prolong his life for several years is a permissible one.
the name of all our people, I heartily congratulate our     For it seems that this is the Lord's will. At least it
brother, and our ardent desire is, that, the Lord           does not appear that it is not the Lord's will. And
willing, several more years may go by before the Lord       these final years of our brother's life may turn out to
takes him home. This is our prayer. And I feel certain      be as productive as any of his previous years in the
that it is a permissible prayer, seeing that I              ministry of the Gospels.
subordinate it to the Lord's will. A permissible               The committee did not limit me by indicating what
prayer, I say. This would not be the case if the            I should speak on in connection with this occasion.
physical condition of our brother were such as to           So I am free to choose. Let me delve a little in the
compel us to conclude that he has only a few more           past  and make some appropriate remarks as I proceed.
days to live. My impression is, that, though he' is
sixty-nine years old, he is still a rather young person       I first came to know about Rev. Hoeksema when I
in the point of view of his physical and mental             became a student in Calvin. He, too, at that time was
vitality. He can still do a lot of walking and              a student in Calvin. But he was five years ahead of
swimming. And in the pulpit he is still surprisingly        me, so that we were in school together for about this
vigorous. His mental powers have not diminished             length of `time. During these years we had no contact
noticeably. His sermons are still characterized by that     with each other, except for one year during which he
excellency that has always made it a joy to listen to       was my teacher in English literature. I also recall that,
them. He still writes as clearly and logically and          when I was in the seminary, he was asked by the
forcibly and as edifyingly as always. This is the more      students to lecture before them on the subject of
remarkable in view of his severe illness of recent          common grace, which he did. At the time he was
years. For a, while he was completely paralyzed. He         residing in Grand Rapids as pastor of his present
could not read, he could not talk, he could not think.      charge  - then the Christian Reformed. Church of
He could hardly utter a sound. He could not move a          Eastern Ave.


348                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



  It was while I was in the seminary that the Janssen      Gospel is grace also for the reprobated. The idea of
controversy ran its course. Prof. Janssen gave             the second and the third "Points" is, that through the
instruction in the Old Testament branches. The             operation of God's grace in him, the reprobated can
trouble with his instruction was that it was               and does perform works that have true ethical,
characterized by rationalistic tendencies. Our brother,    spiritual value in the sight of God. This is a plain
Rev. H. Hoeksema, was the only one who was capable         denial of the Scriptural doctrine of man's total
of making this plain to the churches. Others had tried     depravity. Fact is, that in adopting the "Three
it but had failed. And by other, I mean the four           Points" the Christian Reformed churches through
professors in the seminary, the late professors            their representatives as assembled in Synod officially
Volbeda, Heyns, and  TenHoor, and Prof. Berkhof,           subscribed and introduced into their churches the
and some ministers including Rev. H. J. Kuiper, the        entire conditional theology of the Arminians. This is
editor of the Christian Reformed  Banner.  As a result     what their doing amounts to. And what is also so
of our brother's exposures, Prof. Janssen was deposed      astounding is, that the, articles of the "`Confession"
from his office of professor of theology.                  that were quoted in support of these "Points" teach
  During all the time of `this controversy, I made no      the very opposite from what is taught in these
personal contacts with Rev. Hoeksema. I was                "Points". They teach our doctrine, do these articles.
esteeming him at a distance. His good fight for the        What it comes down to is, that we were deposed from
truth in the Janssen controversy had endeared him to       office for the very reason that in our teaching and
my heart. His singular abilities as a theologian and       preaching we were adhering strictly to the Scriptures
controversahst  - abilities that had been called into      and the Confession.
action especially by the Janssen controversy  - won          Rev. Hoeksema was expelled from the communion
for him my admiration, respect, gratitude, and trust.      of the Christian Reformed churches, because he
It caused him to stand out in my mind as the only          refused to do what before God he might not do,
able champion of the truth in the churches, as the         namely subscribe, preach and defend the doctrine of
only one of all the ministers including the professors,    the "Three Points." His consistory was similarly dealt
who really had right understanding of things. From         with for its refusal to place their pastor before these
that day on he was my man, although as yet he knew         points. The late Rev. Danhof and his consistory and
nothing about it, as I not once had set my foot on his     the undersigned with his consistory were deposed by
doorstep.                                                  Classis (Grand Rapids) West for the same reason. For
  By his exposures of the wrongness of Prof.               conscience sake it was also impossible for Danhof and
Janssen's instruction  - exposures that, as was said,      for me to subscribe, preach, and defend the doctrine
had resulted in his deposition  - our brother, Rev.        of "The Three Points". And it was impossible for our
Hoeksema, had rendered the churches'an incalculable        consistories to place us before these points.
service. Yet, what happened? Let us see what                 But I must not get into this any deeper. Allow me
happened. The friends and supporters of Janssen, of        but one remark. The Christian Reformed churches
which there were several in the churches, were furious     seem to be going places. They have a school with a
with Hoeksema, as could be expected. And it became         large enrollment, staffed with a faculty that numbers
revealed that they actually vowed to rid the churches      as many as fifty members, I believe. And they are
of him. And they also succeeded with their three           always, at it, adding schoolbuilding to schoolbuilding
points  - the famous "Three Points" of the synod of        because of the continual influx of new students
1924. And what was so startling is, that, in achieving     coming from everywhere. They have missionaries in
their aim, in realizing their purpose, they sought and     the foreign field, and a goodly number of so-called
secured the cooperation of those very persons  -           gospel chapels. The voice of their radio minister is
ministers and professors  - who had stood shoulder to      carried over the air to almost every nook and corner
shoulder with Rev. Hoeksema during the Janssen             of our land. For it is heard on I don't know how
controversy, and who all along had run his doorstep        many radio stations. They have extended themselves
flat, so to say, urging him to keep up the good fight      as a denomination deep into Canada, where among
by all means.                                              the immigrants many churches have been  organ&d
   This, I say is startling, amazing. For the "Three       bearing the name Christian Reformed. But in the
Points" are Arminian. The doctrine contained in            sight of God their whole huge program must be
them' runs contrary to the truth of the Scriptures as      devoid of real use and meaning. For in 1924 they
formulated in our Reformed Confessions. The first          corrupted and forsook the truth and replaced it by
"point" teaches a favorable attitude of God also           the carnal and false imaginings of  Arminius,  and
toward the reprobated. As taken in connection with         thereby they became just another denomination of
the ground upon which it was made to repose, it            Arminian churches. Certainly, they still have the
teaches, does this "point", that the preaching of the      truth but only on the books: it is no longer being


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                   349



heard in their pulpits  - the truth of God's sovereign       Protestant Reformed Churches. It is twenty-nine
grace and of His sovereign election and reprobation.         years ago, I believe, that as a denomination of
And unless they repent of their abomination and              Protestant Reformed Churches we were brought into
return to the truth, they have no future. The day will       being. Our beginning was small. We numbered but
dawn but not for them as a denomination. The                 three churches. Through the years other Protestant
Christian Reformed churches are not to be envied but         Reformed Churches were organized, but not so many.
to be pitied only.                                           Certainly our growth was not phenomenal. As a result
  The sole calling of the church is to proclaim the          of our most recent fight for the truth, we are again
Gospel of Christ as constrained by love, in order that       nearly as small as we were in the beginning. But if
Christ through that proclamation may gather out of           only we are spiritual and love the truth, our smallness
the world His people. When the church, a church,             will not disturb and trouble us at all, seeing that the
corrupts the Gospel of Christ, it tramples its calling       cause of our smallness is that we abode in the truth
and then like salt that has lost its savor it is good for    by God's mercy. More must be said. If we are
nothing but to be cast on the dunghill to be trodden         spiritual, we will even rejoice because of our
under foot by men. And then it may still  ,be doing big      smallness, seeing that it betokens that we have kept
things, but it walks in a vain show. And the motive of       the faith and that therefore the favor of God is upon
all its doings can be none other than the desire to          us.
become big in the eyes of the world, to gain                        And let us not imagine that we have no significance
recognition, to acquire for itself name and fame with        just because we are small. It is we, Protestant
men.                                                         Reformed, that hold and confess the truth in its
  But to return to our brother, the Rev. Hoeksema.           purest form, that is, as uncorrupted by Arminian
How true it is that most of the years of his ministerial     leaven. And therefore our influence is bound to be
career have been years of storm and strife for him, a        felt particularly by all that calls itself Reformed.
fight for the truth. But the Lord was with him and                  As to our smallness, let us consider that the matter
sustained him through all these years. Take our most         of our numerical growth is God's business only and
recent fight for the truth in the bosom: of our own          not ours, that our calling is to abide in the truth as it
churches. How wonderfully the Lord raised him up             is in Christ Jesus. Let our prayer constantly be for
from a bed of  illnebs that he might lead us also in this    grace to walk worthy of this calling  - the calling
fight. God is God  land none else. This was again the        wherewith the saints are called. For unless we abide
issue, as it was in 1924. It is always the issue             in the truth, we, too, shall have no future as churches.
essentially. How wonderfully the Lord has wrought
through our brother through all the years of his               And let us not boast in ourselves but walk humbly
ministry. I think now of his labors as a pastor of a         before His sight as always considering that apart from
large congregation, of his labors as professor in our        His redeeming grace, God's believing people are but
school, of his labors as writer and lecturer. We have a      vile, ill-deserving and condemnable men, that even as
copious Protestant Reformed literature, the bulk of          saints of God they still are continually polluting their
which came from his pen. Indeed, we are grateful to          way before Him by their sins, seeing that in this life
God for what He gave us in the person of our brother.        they have but a small principle of the true obedience
                                                             in them, and that therefore the reason that "the sons
  Fifteen years ago we were commemorating the fact           of Jacob," whoever these sons may be, however
of his having completed 25 years in the ministry of          faithful in this life by His mercy, are not consumed,
the Gospel. He then joined in our prayer that it might       lies not in them certainly but in God only: He is
please the Lord to allow him to labor still another          Jehovah, He changes not, Mal.  3:6. This is but one of
twenty-five years in our midst. If the Lord answers          the sides of the truth that we hold. Let us hold it and
that prayer, he `will still be with us, laboring in our      hold it dear, believe it with all our heart and confess
midst, for another ten years. May it indeed please the       it before God continually without ceasing, also with
Lord to prolong his life for that many  ye,ars and even      respect to ourselves by all means, lest in judging
for more than that many years.                               others, we ourselves be judged and condemned of
  A final word about ourselves as a denomination of          God.




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


350                                            THE STANDARD BEARER


CONTENDING FOR  THEFAITH


               50  Years  -I Our Doctrine
                                    Rev. H. Veldman




  The undersigned was requested to write an                   that, although their sinning will continue, the mercies
anniversary article in connection with his rubric: The        of the Lord and His goodness will lead them through
History of Doctrine. We comply gladly.                        the remaining years of their pilgrimage.
  I repeat:  we  comply  gladly.  Why? There is a reason        Church anniversaries are serious, too. Upon these
why we comply gladly to contribute an article to this         occasions we look back and reflect. We should do
anniversary of fifty years of our existence as                this. As churches we will soon celebrate our fiftieth
Protestant Reformed Churches. There is something              anniversary. What shall we say?
about this celebration that should thrill our people,           Doctrine has a history. Of course! We speak of the
thrill all those who love the truths of God's infallible     history of doctrine. And the history of doctrine
Word and Scripture. What is this cause for our joy            teaches us particularly two things. In the first place,
and happiness?                                                this history teaches us that the Lord has always
  Anniversaries are very serious events. We celebrate         preserved His truth throughout the ages. This applies
the twenty-fifth, fortieth and fiftieth anniversaries of     also to the church of the Lord. The Lord has always
our married lives. The world, too, recognizes these          preserved a remnant. There has always been our
milestones in their married lives, and celebrates them.      Father's "little flock" throughout the history of the
After all, we repeat, anniversaries are serious. They         world. The gates of hell may rage and rave but they
leave an impression which no man can escape. They re-         can never overwhelm the church of God. They will
mind us of the truth that time marches on, irresistibly      never prevail. And what is true of this remnant also
and inexorably. What shall we say about this inexorable      applies to the truth. This lies in the nature of the
marching of time? How shall we react? We must say            case. The two are inseparable: God's remnant
something. And we do! However, the reaction to this          ' according to election and the truth of the infallible
inescapable marching of time  is. quite different in the     Word of God. This truth of the Divine Scriptures has
midst of the world than as occurring among the               always been preserved. Fundamentally, this truth can
people of God. Worldly anniversaries are marked by           be expressed in three words: GOD IS GOD. These
hilarity on the one hand, but also by a feeling of           three words surely establish the sovereignty of the
depression and gloom on the other hand. The child of         living God. Because God is God He is  wh,olly
the world views this event superficially, hilariously,       sovereign. Because God is God He alone determines
seeks to cover up, refuses to look at the reality of life    all things, including the eternal destiny of every
squarely in the face, and he cannot  escape  a feeling of    moral-rational creature, expressed in the terms
gloom and despair, realizing that the life he loves is       election and reprobation. However, the truth that
transitory, fleeting, and that he is being carried           God is God also establishes and confirms the truth of
irresistibly and inexorably to his eternal destiny. How      man's responsibility. Because God is God therefore
different are these anniversary celebrations among the       He must be served. No man has any license to sin.
people of God!  They  review the  past.  They know that      Because God is God He demands of every man to love
they must give an account of all things done in the          Him with his entire being. The Lord does not ask the
body, whether good or bad. They do `not attempt to           sinner to repent and turn from his evil way; He
cover up. They review the past in the light of God's         commands him to do so. That is His Divine
Word. And they come to a two-fold conclusion: on             prerogative. Because He is God! If we proceed from
the one hand, they have forfeited all the mercies of         the Scriptural truth that God is God we will surely be
the Lord, have corrupted their way before the face of        kept from error. And the Lord has preserved His
God Who is unchangeably good and, righteous and              truth throughout the ages. During the early centuries
just, and, on the other land, the Lord remained              of the New Dispensation the devil aimed his attack
faithful and His mercies never failed them. And they         upon the truth of the eternal Godhead of the Son.
also look toward the future, confidently, realizing          This truth was attacked by  Arms. The risen Lord,


                                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                              351



however, had given His church the assurance that He                                    hand, the synod maintained the total incapability of
would return to it and lead it by His Spirit into all the                              man to do any good, and this over against the
truth. And the Lord led His church to declare it to be                                 Semi-Pelagians. On the other hand, however, it denied
the truth of the Word of God  .that Jesus, besides                                     the infallible and irresistible operation of sovereign
being true and very man, is also the eternal and                                       grace. And one finds nothing in the decisions of this
natural Son of God. It was Pelagius who denied the                                     synod concerning sovereign election and reprobation.
Scriptural truth of man's utter depravity. But the                                     A n d ,   a s   f a r   a s   t h e   A r m i n i a n   c o n t r o v e r s y   o f
Lord raised up Augustine to champion this truth of                                     1618-1619 is concerned, we know, to be sure, that
the Word of God, and the church of God was again                                       the heresy of Arminianism was condemned at the
led to set forth and establish this truth of the Word of                               Synod of Dordt. But we also know that Arminianism
God. In the early years of the seventeenth century it                                  remained very much alive. In 1924 the Christian
was Arminius who denied the sovereignty of God and                                     Reformed Church formulated the Three Points of
all related truths, such as the atonement of Christ, the                               1924. In these points the Arminian and Pelagian
depravity of the sinner, the irresistible character of                                 heresies of God's universal love as expressed in the
God's grace and the perseverance of the saints. But                                    general free -offer of  the. gospel and the denial of
again the church was led into all the truth, and that                                  man's total and utter depravity were officially set
church defended and set forth these cardinal truths                                    forth. And we know that these sentiments had
and principles of the infallible Scriptures.                                           already been proclaimed in those churches before
    However, the history of doctrine also teaches us                                   1924. Our existence as Protestant Reformed
something else: And this, too, is important. I refer to                                Churches is due to the fact that the Christian
the phenomenon, so prevalent throughout the ages,                                      Reformed Church would not tolerate us because of
that the truth of the Word of God has been under                                       our rejection of those points of 1924.
constant attack, that departures from the truth have                                      And now, what shall we say? Celebrating the
always occurred and that the church has never                                          fiftieth anniversary of our churches, reflecting upon
enjoyed purity of doctrine for too long a time. These                                  the past, we may certainly declare, in all humility,
"ups and downs" characterized the church of God                                        that the Lord has preserved us stedfast in the truth.
already in the Old Dispensation. The book of Judges                                    This can hardly be said of our mother church who
speaks vividly of this phenomenon. And how true this                                   cast us out of her fellowship in 1924-l 925. The Three
is during the New Dispensation! During the age of the                                  Points of 1924 have certainly left their mark. The
apostles, the church of God was preserved by God                                       warnings which were issued by our leaders at that
through these apostles as they were led infallibly by                                  time and in connection with these points of heresy,
the Spirit of God into the mysteries of the truths of                                  which warnings went unheeded, have surely been
God% Word. Soon after their death the enemies of                                       fulfilled. That church's misery of the present day can
the truth became bolder in their attacks upon the                                      never be divorced from what happened in 1924.
Divine Scriptures. In the so-called "Heroic Age,"                                      Today, in these churches, people are talking openly
during the second and third centuries, when the                                        of secession. Who does not know of the evils that
faithful people of God were subjected to fierce                                        have come upon these churches? Need we call
persecutions, the church, of God was called upon to                                    attention to them at this time, as including universal
preserve what they had. When these persecutions                                        atonement, the denial of the historicity of Gen. 1-3,
ceased and the church was given legal recognition, the                                 etc.?
forces of darkness arose in their assaults upon the                                       Our churches have remained faithful to the truths
Word of God. And although it is true that the risen                                    of the Word of God. Indeed, we do not say this
Lord always led His church into all the truth, the                                     boastingly. This is simply a fact. We have not deviated
purity of doctrine was never enjoyed for too long a                                    an iota from the position we took in 1924. Our
period of time. Pelagianism, condemned at the Synod                                    worship services, too, continue as then. This, to
o f   E p h e s u s   i n   4 3   1 ,   w a s   s u c c e e d e d   b y                remain faithful to the Word of God, is hardly
S e m i - P e l a g i a n i s m .   I t   i s   c l a i m e d   t h a t   t h i s      characteristic of a sect. A heretical group, once
Semi-Pelagianism was condemned at the Synod of                                         departing from the truth of the Word of God,
Orange in 529. Concerning this synod we may remark                                     continues to drift away from the Divine Scriptures.
that it is known especially because of its consistent                                  Such a group never returns. Individual sinners repent,
condemnation of Semi-Pelagianism. Many historians                                      but churches never. repent. Our mother church has
leave the impression that this synod represents a last                                 departed from the truth and her departure from the
v i c t o r y   f o r   t h e   A u g u s t i n i a n   c o n c e p t i o n ,   o f    Word of God has continued unabated through these
predestination and sovereign grace. This, however, as                                  last fifty years. Shall we, because of our faithfulness
the late Rev. H. Hoeksema observes, is not the case.                                   to the Word of God, boast of what we have done?
The synod left much rather the impression that it was                                  Shall we glory in ourselves?. Shall we look in pride
afraid of the strict Augustinian principles. On the one                                upon our accomplishments? Indeed, not! Why not?


352                                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER



Because our preservation in the truth was never of                                       this safekeeping of the Lord, clinging to His Word,
ourselves. That we persevered in the  ,Scriptures was                                     through prayer. May we, with the children whom
because we were preserved. And we were preserved                                          God has given us, continue in the Scriptures, walk in
by God and His grace.                                                                    them which alone are a light upon our path and a
    So, as we celebrate our anniversary let us say:                                      lamp before our feet. And may we ever hold fast to
Ebenezer  I "Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." It                                        the promises of God which in Christ Jesus are Yea
was all of Him. And may `we resolve to continue in                                        and Amen.


TAKING HEED TO THE DOCTRINE

                                            "Hyper-Calvinism" and
                                        the  Call of the Gospel (2)
                                                                        Rev. David Engelsma

                    (l7zis  is actually the second &icle of Rev. Engelsma's  series. Due to a printer's error, the THIRD arti-
                cle appeared in the May 15 issue and was called the second installment. Our apologies for the mistake.
                 To get the proper connection, please read this article first,  and follow up with the May 15 article. H.C.H.)

    In a previous article, we saw that the charge,                                       does not make one a hyper-Calvinist. There has
"hyper-Calvinism," is often an attack, not on an                                         always been room in the Reformed faith for
exaggeration of Calvinism, but on Calvinism itself.                                      supralapsarianism.1   A l t h o u g h   t h e   R e f o r m e d
This raises the question: has there ever been, and is                                    confessions are infralapsarian, the Canons of Dordt
there now, a theological position that may fairly be                                     deliberately so, over against the strong plea of
called hyper-Calvinism? Or is the charge nothing but a                                   Gomarus for supralapsarianism, they do not condemn
theological  bugbear?                                                                    s u p r a l a p s a r i a n i s m a s   u n - R e f o r m e d   o r
   We will not concern ourselves here with the terms                                     hyper-Calvinistic. Nor is one a hyper-Calvinist because
themselves, whether Calvinism is a good name for the                                     he holds the doctrines of eternal justification and
Reformed faith and whether hyper-Calvinism is an                                         immediate regeneration. Sound Reformed theologians
a c c u r a t e   d e s c r i p t i o n   o f   a   t h e o l o g y   t h a t   h a s    have both denied and affirmed these teachings.
fundamentally perverted genuine Calvinism. We are                                        Neither is it the case that hyper-Calvinism is a matter
concerned only with the question whether some who                                        of a strong emphasis on God's eternal counsel and
pro fessed Calvinism have drawn un-Biblical and                                          God's sovereignty in salvation. No true Calvinist ever
unwarranted inferences from the doctrines of                                             lacked this strong emphasis. But hyper-Calvinism is
Calvinism, so that their doctrine and practice went                                      the denial that God in the preaching of the gospel
` `b e yond Calvinism," and deserved to be called                                        calls everyone who hears the preaching to repent and
hyper-Calvinism.                                                                         believe. It is the denial that the Church should call
                                                                                         everyone in the preaching. It is the denial that the
   The answer to this question is that there has been a
teaching and corresponding practice that can rightly                                     unregenerated have a duty to repent and believe. It
                                                                                         manifests itself in the practice of the preacher's
be called hyper-Calvinism, and that could give                                           addressing the. call of the gospel, "repent and believe
occasion to some today (mistakenly) to regard the                                        on Christ crucified," only to those in his audience
denial of the well-meant offer of the gospel by the                                      who show signs of regeneration, and thereby of
Protestant Reformed Churches as hyper-Calvinism. It                                      election, namely, some conviction of sin and some
is important, however, to be clear as to what it is that                                 interest in salvation.
takes a theology beyond the pale of true Calvinism
into the realm of hyper-Calvinism. Contrary to the                                          This error actually appeared in the history of
thinking of some, the doctrine of supralapsarianism                                      Calvinism in England.2 It was the position of several

   `Such  Calvinists'as Theodore  Beza, Abraham Kuyper, and Herman                          *For this history, but not for the analysis of it, I am  la`rgely
Hoeksema were supralapsarians.                                                           dependent on Peter  Toon's  The Emergence of Hyper-Calvinism in
                                                                                         English Nonconformity  1689-1765  (London: The Olive Tree, 1967).


                                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                   353


Congregational and Baptist ministers, including                                 It seems that men fell into this error in reaction to
Joseph Hussey  (1660-1726), Lewis  Wayman  (d.                               the abounding Arminianism of their time. Gill,  e.g.,
1764), John Brine  (1703-1765), and the well-known                           was a contemporary  of the notorious, admitted
JohnGill (b.  1697).a  Wayman, Brine, and Gill were                          Arminian, John Wesley. It may even be the case that
involved in a theological controversy known as "the                          the practice of referring to the call of the gospel as
Modern Question." "The Modern Question" was:                                 "the offer" contributed to the error of the English
"Whether saving faith in Christ is a duty required by                        hyper-Calvinists. At issue, in reality, was that which
the moral law of all those who live under the Gospel                         Reformed theology speaks of as "the external call of
revelation?" Basically, the question was whether the                         the gospel." But both parties in the controversy
reprobate unbeliever is required by God in the                               referred to "the offer of the  gospel."5 Since the term,
preaching to believe in Christ.  Wayman,  Brine, and                         "offer," has the Arminian flavor, it is not surprising
Gill denied this. Since many New Testament passages                          that the would-be defenders of Calvinism rejected the
plainly teach that Christ and the apostles' did, in fact,                    offer, especially since the Arminian conception of the
command everyone in their audience  to, repent and                           offer was rampant at that time. The trouble was that
believe, the reprobate as well as the elect, these men                       in throwing out the bath-water, they threw out the
resorted to a distinction between legal and evangelical                      baby, i.e., the external call to all who hear the gospel,
repentance, and between common and saving faith.                             reprobate and elect alike.
"Legal repentance" and "common faith" according
to this distinction, are virtually synonymous with the                          Those who repudiated the external call of the
                                                                             gospel. to all who hear certainly supposed that they
demand of the law, which God makes of everyone;
"evangelical repentance" and "saving faith," then,                           were defending Calvinism. This is why their error may
                                                                             be called hyper-Calvinism. This is plain especially in
make up the real gospel-call, which God gives only to                        Article 33 of the confessional articles of the Gospel
the regenerated elect. This artificial and impossible                        Standard Churches. It argues that a call to an
distinction only serves to make  plam that these men                         unconverted person to repent and believe would
denied that God calls everyone who hears the                                 imply "creature power," i.e., the ability of that
preaching to repent of his sins and to believe on the                        unconverted person to do what he was called to do.
Christ presented in the gospel, and that it is the duty                      In other words, the call to the unconverted would
of every man who comes under the preaching to                                imply free-will, and would be a denial of total
repent and believe. But these men called their                               dehravity. Also, such a call would be a denial of "the
position "the denial of the offers of grace," and this                       doctrine of special redemption," i.e., the doctrine of
is what many think of when they hear that a church                           limited atonement. The argument is that if all are
denies the offer of the gospel.                                              called to believe in Christ, Christ must have died for
   The Gospel Standard (Baptist) Churches in                                 all, and must desire to be the Savior of all. But since
England continue to maintain this hyper-Calvinism, as                        Christ died only for the elect, only the elect are to be
certain articles of their confession show:                                   called in the preaching.
     "Article 26 - We reject the doctrine that men in a                         Although put forth as true Calvinism, the teaching
     state of nature should be exhorted to believe in, or                    that denies the call of the gospel to all who hear the
     turn to God.                                                            preaching is not Reformed, Biblical doctrine. It is
     "Article 33 - Therefore, that for ministers in the                      indeed true that God calls only the predestinated, or
     present  day to address unconverted persons, or                         elect, with the effectual, saving call. Them and them
     indiscriminately all in a mixed congregation, calling                   only He calls by drawing them efficaciously to
     upon them to savingly repent, believe and receive                       Himself by a sovereign work of the Holy Spirit in
     Christ, or perform any other acts dependent upon the                    their hearts, even as He says, "Come!" in the
     new creative power of the Holy Ghost, is, on the one                    preaching of the gospel. This is the teaching of
     hand, to imply creature power and on the other, to                      Romans  8:30: "Moreover whom he did predestinate,
     deny the doctrine of special redemption."4                              them he also called . .  ." But there is also a sense,
   There are also Baptist Churches in the United                             according to Scripture, in which He calls those who
States which vehemently oppose "`the offer of the                            are not elect, and calls them in the preaching of the
gospel" in the name of Calvinism, but which are                              gospel. Matthew 22: 14 teaches this: "For many are
actually opposed to calling anyone to believe on                             called, but few are chosen." More people than the
Christ, except the regenerated elect.                                        elect are called by God. As is plain from the parable

   Sit is worth noting that, so far as I am aware, no  Reformed                 5Hussey's  book was entitled:  God'.. Operations of Grace but No
theologian has ever embraced this error.                                     Offers of His Grace.  Andrew Fuller, criticizing the hyper-Calvinism of
   4These  articles are quoted by B. Honeysett in the  reiigious             Hussey and the others, asserted "the free offer of salvation to sinners."
periodical,  Reformation Today  (Summer  1970).  in  an'article entitled,
"The Ill-Fated Articles."


354                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER


that precedes, the parable of the king's wedding-feast,            commandeth all men everywhere to repent." This was
the reference is to the call that God makes through                the practice of the apostles. Having proclaimed Christ
His Church and her preachers when He commands all                  to their audiences, they called everyone to repent of
who hear the gospel to repent of their sins and believe            his sins and to believe on Christ (cf. Acts 3: 19; Acts
on Jesus Christ. God commands men to come to the                   8:22;  Acts  13:38-41;  Acts  20:21). This was the
feast of salvation prepared through Jesus' death and               ministry of John the Baptist. He "came . . . preaching
resurrection. The response of many to this call is that            . . . and saying, Repent ye." He called also the
they reject it. By doing so, they bring down upon                  Pharisees and  Sadducees,  a "generation of vipers," to
themselves the wrathful judgment of God, terrible                  "Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance"
exactly because it is the punishment for rejecting the             (cf. Matt. 3: 1-12). Such was the nature of the
call of the gospel. Theirs is the sin  of'sins: despising          preaching of Jesus Himself: "Jesus came into Galilee,
Christ presented to them in the gospel, and rejecting              preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. And
God's call to believe on Him. That the call to repent              saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God
is not restricted to the regenerated, or "the sensible             is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel" (Mark
sinner," but goes out to everyone who hears the                    1:14, 15).
preaching is taught in Acts  17:30:  "(God) now


ALL AROUND US


                                      The New Christology

                                                           PI@ H. Hanko




  Three issues ago we quoted from  - the  RES                      points out that "the crux of the matter is that those
Newsletter  a report which demonstrated how a Dr. H.               who advocate this new Christology hold a different
Berkhof from the Netherlands denied the divinity of                view of Scripture." This different view of Scripture is
Christ. The quotation showed how Dr. Berkhof                       the approach of modern, liberal, higher criticism
criticized the old Chalcedonian Creed for its                      which "starts with the  historical Jesus,  as portrayed
"Greek/Hellenistic thought"; how we must think of                  in the Synoptic Gospels."
Christ in terms of "function"; i.e., we must ask not                 We have no disagreement with Runia on his
what something  is,  but what something  does.  What               criticism of this new Christology, of course. But there
does Jesus as liberator do in our world? The article               were two or three thoughts which passed through our
quoted Berkhof's personal confession on the matter                 minds as we were reading Runia's article. And they
in these words:                                                    seem important enough to comment on them.
         You are the true man, as God intended man to be             There is a tendency in the article to find as much
       from the beginning: the true obedient Son, the man          good in Berkhof as is possible. This is not something
       of love, the one who was willing, taking the full           unique to Runia; this is rather characteristic of many
       consequences, not to maintain his life, but to lose it      writers who offer critiques of liberal and modern
       for others, and who by that exceptional life of love
       and obedience started in our world the counter              theological innovations. An example of this follows:
       movement of resurrection.                                           Berkhof puts it thus. The early Church in Palestine
                                                                       wrestled with the question of who Jesus is. In the New
  In an article which appeared in  Christianitj To-                    Testament we see that they attributed many titles to
day  Dr. Klaas Runia discussed this article as rep-                    Jesus: Son of man, Messiah, Son of God, Word, Lord,
resentative of "a new Christology" which was be-                       and others. But no one of the titles can say
coming more generally accepted. In this article                        everything. Jesus does not offer a Christology; he
Runia defends  Chalcedon somewhat and argues                           offers himself. And He invites us to find the nanie by
forcibly against this new Christology. He particularly                 means of which we can confess what he means to us.


                                                      THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                     355



    Runia comments on this as follows:                           up on which the whole Church is built. Peter's
       With much of this we can agree'. It is indeed the         confession in Ceasarea  Philippi  that Jesus was the
    duty of today's Church to say in words of this day           Christ, the  `Son of the living God was the rock upon
    what Jesus means to us. . . .                                which Christ would build His Church. That rock had
                                                                 to be put into place. Chalcedon, by means of the
  There is, of course, no question about the fact that           guidance of the Holy Spirit, did that.
the Church always has the duty to express the truth
of the Word of God in the current  USUS  Zoquendi.   But             In the second place, history has proved that the
that is not the point here. Berkhof denies the very              Church has never moved beyond the creed of
fundamental doctrine of Christ's divinity and speaks             Chalcedon. Runia himself admits this. Many doctrines
only of what Christ means to us. The question of                 are developed throughout the whole history of the
Who He is, is of no significance. Yet Runia tries to             Church of Christ. The creeds of  Nicea and Chalcedon
find points of agreement and seeks to put the best               have not been so developed. Not even the Reformers
possible interpretation on some of Berkhof s remarks.            n o r   t h e   g r e a t   t h e o l o g i a n s   o f   t h e   i m m e d i a t e
I do not know if this common tendency is in the                  Post-Reformation Period could add anything to what
name of politeness, or what; but the fact remains that           Chalcedon has said. Any attempt over the years to
if a heretic denies such a fundamental doctrine, there           add to Chalcedon has proved to be a denial of
is nothing good to say about his writings.                       Chalcedon and of the truth of Christ. It stands yet
                                                                 today as the confession of the Church of Christ. It
  In the second place, Runia discusses Berkhof's                 strikes one as a bit presumptuous that today's weak
criticism of Chalcedon. He writes:                               theologians can even suggest the possibility of
       The Church has never claimed that Chalcedon was           i m p r o v i n g   o n   C h a l c e d o n   w h e n   t h e   g r e a t e s t
    the  final word. The  formula of Chalcedon was no            theologians in the history of the Church have not
    more than a feeble attempt to indicate the mystery of        done so.
    Jesus' being in words and concepts that were familiar           Finally, we are somewhat disturbed by the relative
    in those days. It would therefore be incorrect to
    assert that                                                  weakness of Runia's criticism. We do not mean to
                    we may not say it differently. But we are
    not allowed to say less than Chalcedon. If we want to        suggest that he is not critical. He is. He objects
    do full justice to all biblical data we cannot go back       strenuously  to'.the new Christology. But the apostle
    behind Chalcedon (and Nicea).                                John has some strong things to say about those who
                                                                 deny the truth of Christ. "Who is a liar but he that
  This strikes me as an incorrect appraisal of                   denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that
Chalcedon. There are, it seems to me, several                    denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth
elements which Runia has ignored. The first is that              the Son, the same hath not the Father." I John  2:22,
Chalcedon was not simply interested in attempting                23. "And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus
"to indicate the mystery of Jesus' being in words and            Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is
concepts that were familiar in those days." They were            that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it
very much interested`in setting forth in  creedal form           should come; and even now already is it in the
the doctrine of the natures and person of Christ                 world? I John  4:3. "Whosoever transgresseth, and
overagainst the heresies of their time. This they did in         abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hat-h not God.
a beautiful and remarkably Scriptural way. The fact              He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath
that the creed may have been written in language                 both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto
used in that day is altogether irrelevant. It was,               you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into
obviously, a necessary fact. But it was not something            your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that
consciously done to make some sort of testimony, in              biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds."
current language, of what Jesus meant to them. All               II John, 9-l 1.
their efforts were concentrated on setting forth what               Runia speaks of the fact that we shall perhaps have
Scripture said.                                                  to tight the battle in the defense of Christ over again.
  Secondly, it is highly questionable whether it is              I doubt this. Perhaps it will be fought here and there.
possible for the Church today to go beyond what                  But the Church of Christ which remains faithful to
Chalcedon said on this doctrine. It is true we are not           her confession will not have to fight this battle  - at
allowed to say anything less. But it is also true, it            least, not in the sense that it will be a battle for her
seems to me, that it is highly unlikely we shall be able         survival, as it was in the third through the fifth
to say anything more. There are, as I see it, two                centuries. Indeed, if the Church today reaches such a
reasons for this. The first is that the very importance          point where she is required to fight the battle over
of the subject necessitated a decision which was all             this doctrine within her borders, the Church is much
but exhaustive of the Scriptural teachings on the                too far gone even to engage  .in any kind of effective
subject. The doctrine of Christ stands as the rock               battle.


356                                                             THE STANDARD BEARER




                                                  David and Goliath
                                                                   (and bad eyesight)



    A reader sent in the following clipping from a                                         David won his victory by superior knowledge,
newspaper and suggested publishing it  inthis column.                                   skill, and agility, rather than by brute force.
It reads in part:
          When David slew Goliath, he had more going for                           How evil it is when men attempt to explain the
       him than his trusty slingshot, a physician suggests.                      miracles of the Bible "scientifically" and ignore the
          Young David perhaps observed that Goliath had                          clear Scriptural data. The Scriptures make it very
       bad eyesight, something that doctors today call                           clear that David was not interested in a mere conflict
       "tunnel vision". . . .                                                    with a  .Philistine, but that he was deeply concerned
          . . . the agile David could have skipped around the                    about the fact that this Philistine defied the armies of
       lo-foot-tall Philistine, heavily armored, wearing a                       the living God. And it troubled him that faithless Saul
       heavy brass helmet, with Goliath never sure where the                     was paralyzed with fear. He went out to battle
       young Israelite was.                                                      confident that "The Lord that delivered me out of
          "Did David's boldness border  ,on youthful                             the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear,
       irresponsibility and impulsiveness" in issuing the                        will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine." He
       challenge to Goliath? It is far more likely that his                      informed Goliath: "Thou  comest to me with a sword,
       keen powers of observation disclosed Goliath's                            and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to
       peculiar movements. . . .                                                 thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the
          David therefore, would step agilely aside when he                      armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will
       had drawn close enough to Goliath. . . .                                  the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I Will smite
          Then as his adversary hesitated, clumsily turning                      thee . . . that all the earth may know that there is a
       his head to bring back the youth within his limited                       God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that
       field of vision . . . David took deadly aim with the                      the Lord saveth not  with sword and spear: for the
       slingshot and struck the lone (forehead) spot                             battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our
       unprotected; by heavy armor.                                              hands."



STUDIES IN ISAIAH

                                                     If Ye Be Willing
                                                                         (con timed)

                                                                  Rev. Robert C Harbach


   "If ye be willing, and hear, the goodness of the                              characterized the rulers, what must the masses be like?
land ye  ,shall eat. But if ye refuse and rebel, by the                          They had rejected the Holy One of Israel. Now He
sword ye shall be devoured; for the mouth of the                                 would reject them. He would have none of their
Lord hath spoken it." (Isaiah 1: 19, 20). The context                            worship or sacrifices. He abominated all their
shows that the Lord had very severely denounced His                              religious observances. He fully and flatly condemned
people Israel. Through the prophet Isaiah He had                                 their whole moral and religious life. Their case looked
called them rebellious children, a seed of evil-doers,                           hopeless. It  was  hopeless! There was nothing they
from head to foot totally corrupt. The heads of the                              could do, nothing, save die in their sins. Such was
p e o p l e   G o d   c a l l e d   m e n   o f   S o d o m .   I f   t h i s    their condition in itself. But God did not leave His


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  357



people in their state of sin and misery. No, but              wool is to say, in figure, "I, even I am He that
according to His plan from all eternity He did                blotteth out thy transgressions for Mine own sake;
covenant to bring them into His grace and deliver             and I will not remember thy sins"  (43:25). Then it
them from their sin by the Redeemer of God's elect.           may be said of all the redeemed people of God,
This note of divine deliverance is sounded in the             "They washed their robes and made them white in
words, "Come now, if your sins were as crimson, they          the blood of the Lamb" (Rev. 7: 14).
will be made white as snow; if they were red as                 The Lamb in the decree of God is slain from the
crimson, they will be (as white) as wool."                    foundation of the world. The elect then have
  This is the ground on which the willingness and             forgiveness of all their sins from eternity. They  have
obedience shall be performed. It is on the ground of          forgiveness before they  receive  it. The gospel is sent
the efficacious command, "Come now!", and on the              "that they may receive the forgiveness of sins" (Acts'
plea of the shed blood, on the ground of pardon               26: 18). This implies that forgiveness was already
through the atoning blood. In the symbolization of            prepared before they experienced it. If it were not
the colors here there is gospel mystery. There is the         already prepared before they experienced, it could
mystery of the beauty of perfection. Here is perfect          not be received. The receiving of it implies that the
salvation in the blood. The promise of God to His             thing received was prepared in Christ, and had an
elect is that their sins shall be "as  whit,e as snow."       existence in free grace long before our receiving it. It
When we reason truly about our sins we perceive that          is eternal forgiveness!
they have made a deep, a double-dye on our souls.                So the only ground for reasoning, willingness and
They are as scarlet, red like crimson. We are stained         obedience is gospel ground. On this ground obedience
both with original and actual sins. We are sinners by         is ensured. The doing good works is not to be
birth and by practice. Twice-dyed in iniquity, yet,           "justified by His blood," but on the ground that we
mystery of mysteries, we shall be cleansed as white as        have been "justified by His blood." The promise of
wool! We have lain long in the dye-vat of sin and             salvation was made on the ground of the price paid
death, yet the blood of God cleanseth us from all sin.        by the Lord in His own blood. He purchased with
  The emphasis is on the gospel mystery of it, not in         that precious price all gifts and benefits of salvation.
any literalness. Sin is still in our nature  (sin  is not     He purchased peace, pardon, forgiveness, the place to
dead). The sin is still sin; you can't change  sin.  Sin      draw near to God, the gifts and grace of willingness,
does not cease to be sin. So the  sins are  not in reality    obedience and all good works. Willingness and
made white. There are no white sins. But the persons          obedience are, therefore, the fruit of His merit on the
of sinners are made white. In the book of the                 cross. "Not of him that willeth, nor of him that
Revelation the saints are shown to be clothed in              runneth . .  ." Yet the believer  does  run: "So run, that
white, in contrast to Babylon, clothed in purple and          ye may obtain" (I Cor.  9:24); and "let us run with
scarlet. Red in contrast to white is the color of sin,        patience . .  ." That  running is of God that showeth
the color of murder (their hands were full of blood!),        mercy. It is a running which mercy activates.
the color of the Evil One, the Red, Dragon, a                   III. The Reward of It.  "If `ye be willing" was
murderer from the beginning. The saints in contrast           looked at first from the point of view of the activity
to all this are robed in white. Their sins are regarded       explained, then the ground of its performance, now
as nonexistent, and they in their own `persons are            its reward. That is seen to be "the land," in "ye shall
regarded as the exact opposite of: their sins,                eat the good of the land." This, from Isaiah's point of
considered in Christ as washed in His blood, clothed          view (as also from Peter's and John's) is the New
in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before         Heavens and the New Earth. Canaan is a type not of
His throne!                                                   an earthly, sort of gold-plated kingdom, but of the
  What God does here is to save us from the love of           New Creation, the real golden age itself, where all  is
sin; `He cleanses us from the pollution of sin; He            gold that glitters. This is that better country, the
discharges us from the guilt of sin; He frees from the        heavenly country, that which is meant in the
reign of sin; He redeems from the penalty of sin; He          expression the "meek shall inherit the  earth.  " That is
will guard against a fatal fall into sin; He will yet         not  this  earth, but the New Barth, the new earth
deliver from the very presence of sin.  ,Such is the          under the new heavens in the new creation.
mystery of sins being white as snow! Guilt-laden they           According to dispensationalism, the land given to
are, as "red" and "crimson" portray. But made white           Abraham, which extends from the river of Egypt to
as snow expresses the glorious idea that they are             the river Euphrates (Gen. 15:  18), is to be restored to
forever and entirely blotted out. "I have blotted out,        the Jews. The promise is interpreted to mean that
as a thick cloud, thy transgressions; and as a cloud          Abraham and his seed are to be raised from the dead
thy sins: return unto Me, for I have redeemed thee"           and are to return to and possess this land. Yet the
(Isa.  44:22).  To say our sins are made as white as          book of Hebrews tells us that Abraham was not


358                                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER



seeking an earthly, but a heavenly country. If we take
the promise in the natural, rather than the spiritual,
sense, then Abraham is to return to earth and possess
the land of Canaan for ever! But how can Abraham
possess the natural land of his earthly sojourneyings,
if this earth is to be destroyed by fire, and there be
formed then the new heavens and the new earth?
Matthew Henry is correct when he says the good of
the land is "all the blessings of the new covenant, of
the heavenly Canaan; all the good of  that  land."                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER
    This eating in the land is the enjoyment of the
actual possession of the New Heaven and New Earth.                                                             makes an excellent
The elect `obtain it. The believers eat of it. The rest
are blinded. The reprobate refuse it. If they can't                                                                anniversary gift
have  this  earth, they will have nothing. But the elect
do not refuse and rebel. There is proof of this. It is
true at the crucifixion, the elect "all forsook Him and
fled," they denied Him, they even despaired of Him;                                                                         Use the
but they never wished His death; never cried, "Away
with! " never screamed, "Crucify!"  ,never made a
covenant with death, nor said, "His blood be upon                                                           convenient envelope
us!" They shall eat the good, the best of the land.
Christ with them shall eat and drink `in His Father's                                                      enclosed in this issue
kingdom (Mt.  26:29). Then we shall have the best
heaven has to offer.
    `irf (or even as) ye be willing. .  ."* Or, since ye be
willing . . ! Does my presence in the enjoyment of'
heaven depend on a little "if"? Not on any shaky,
uncertain Arminian "if," no, but upon nothing but
Jesus' blood and righteousness. Every blessing flows
f r o m   t h a t   b l o o d ,   t h e   f o u n t a i n ,   o f   a l l   g o o d :
forgiveness, willingness, heaven and the best of the
New Earth.

    *Calvin says "the papists openly maintain that men, by the exercise                                   NOTICE TO OUR READERS!!!
of their own will are free to choose either good or evil." Willingness to
obey God "is placed in our own power." But the question is not, Can a                        Tape recordings of the three recent lectures presented by The
man make his bad will good? That is by all other Scripture denied. The                   Lecture Committee of our Protestant Reformed Churches are now
question is, or the answer is, that man by his bad will, which is natural                available. These include the lecture by Prof. H. C. Hoeksema, entitled
to him, moves not from good to evil, but from one evil to another, and                   "WHY PROTESTANT REFORMED?", the lecture by Prof. H.  6.
from bad to worse. Man by nature does not have the choice of good                        H a n k o , " T H E   A S S O C I A T I O N   F O R   T H E   A D V A N C E M E N T   O F
and  evil, but of only evil, and that continually. "There is not a glimmer               CHRISTIAN SCHOLARSHIP AND THE KINGDOM", and the final of
of anything good in the description of the persons to whom this text is                  this series,  - a lecture delivered by Prof. Robert Decker entitled "THE
addressed." - Charles  H. Spurgeon.                                                      MYSTERY OF LAWLESSNESS".
                                                                                             Recordings can be obtained by writing to our business office.
                                                                                         Cassette recordings at $2.50 each and 7 inch reels at $3.00 each. Please
                                                                                         enclose payments for tapes with your order.

                                                                                            Address your orders to: THE STANDARD BEARER, P.O. BOX
                                                                                         6064, GRAND RAPIDS, Ml 49506.


                                                                                                               IMPORTANT NOTICE!!!
                                                                                            According to the decision of the Synod of 1973, the Consistory of
                                                                                         the Hope Protestant Reformed Church of Grand Rapids, Michigan was
                                                                                         appointed the calling church for the 1974 Synod. The Consistory of
                                                                                         Hope Church hereby notifies the churches that the 1974 Synod of the
                                                                                         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
                                                                                         in the Hope Protestant Reformed Church. Rev. John A. Heys, President
                                                                                         of the 1973 Synod will preach the sermon.  Synodical delegates are
                                                                                         requested to meet with the consistory before the service.
                                                                                                                                                     A. Dykstra, Vice Sec'y.


                                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                           359



                                     News From  OGr Churches
    The congregation of  Edgerton has called Rev. Van                               in the home of  dkacon Frank Block.
Baren, from a trio which included also Rev. Heys and                                   From a Randolph bulletin we learn that Forbes'
Rev. Moore. Rev. Harbach was installed as Home                                      congregation has "purchased a mobile home and
Missionary on May 8, in Hope Church. Rev. Van                                       intend to build an addition for more space" in order
Overloop  preached the sermon and Rev. C. Hanko                                     to provide adequate housing for the new pastor. They
read the "Form of Ordination of Missionaries." Rev.                                 plan, according to the bulletin announcement, to do
and Mrs. Veldman, as you probably recall, spent the                                 the work themselves in order to keep the cost down.
four Sundays of April in Maine. The May 5 bulletin
carried the following note from Southwest's pastor,                                    There's some do-it-yourself work connected with
on his return to Grand Rapids: "Needless to say, the                                the construction of Randolph's- new church building,
pastor and his wife are happy to be back with you                                   too. An April 14 bulletin of that congregation
today. Although only a few thus far attended most of                                suggested that "anyone who is willing to help with
the services (in Maine), the last Sunday morning there                              the painting and cleaning of the new church please be
were three new faces from the Skowhegan area and                                    there tomorrow evening."  Dedic-ation of the new
nine came from afar. Maybe it would be a good                                       building was set for Friday, May 24.
experience for each of us to sit on a folding chair in                                 A project of a little different sort will, if things go
an old building with a few, craving for the Truth."                                 according to plan, be undertaken in  Doon. An item in
                                  ****                                              Doon's April 14 bulletin noted the following: "Our
                                                                                    School Board notifies our congregation, and in
   From various bulletins comes news. concerning                                    particular our School Society, that the Society has
building projects which are afoot in a number of our                                passed a proposal in their recent meeting to add a
churches. Faith's congregation, for example, has                                    third full-time teacher. This means that a third room
approved plans for "the development of our property                                 will have to be prepared for teaching, and a drive will
in three phases (the first a parsonage and the second                               be conducted soon to offset this expense."
and third a sanctuary)." The church services of this
young congregation, incidentally, are currently being                                                              ****
held in the Jenison Christian Junior High building;
the Adult Bible Class, as well as the consistory and                                   In reading the bulletins which have come from the
deacons meetings, are held in the Union Bank                                        western churches during the past weeks, one cannot
Building, Jenison; and the catechism classes are held                                                                              (continued on back page)



                                  NOTICE                                                             WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
    Classis  East will meet, the Lord willing, in regular session on                   On June 10, 1974, the Lord willing, our parents, MR. and MRS.
Wednesday, July 3, 1974 in the Southwest Protestant Reformed                        THEODORE LOOYENGA hope to celebrate their 25th wedding
Church. Material to be treated in this session must be in the hands of              anniversary. In gratitude to our God, we are thankful for the years He
the Stated Clerk at least ten days prior to the convening of this session.          has given them to instruct us in the fear of His Name. Our prayer is that
                                               Jon Huisken, Stated Clerk            they may continue to experience the Lord's blessings on their earthly
                                                                                    pilgrimage.                                Their grateful children,
                                                                                                                               Mr.  and.Mrs. Joe E. Brummel
                 ANNUAL STAFF MEETING                                                                                          Mr. and Mrs. Larry Looyenga
   Members of the Staff will have received notice of this meeting from                                                         Patricia, Robert, Randall,
our secretary. But this is an urgent reminder. Please plan to attend our                                                       Nancy, Douglas, Mark and
meeting on Monday evening, June 10,  7:30  P.M., at the Seminary. In                Grand Rapids, Michigan.                    Karen Looyenga.
order to take care of Staff business we need a good attendance;
                                                                   - H . C . H .

                                                                                                     WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
                  SUMMER PULPIT SUPPLY                                                 On June 21, 1974, the Lord willing, our beloved parents, MR. AND
                                                                                    MRS. FRED ONDERSMA hope to commemorate their 35th wedding
   All those interested in summer pulpit supply from the professors                 anniversary. We are thankful to our Covenant God for sparing them
and the students (candidates) should get their requests in to the                   these many years for each other and for us. We pray that God may
undersigned as early as possible. We will try to fill all requests; but if          continue to bless them as they go down life's path together in the fear
there is a conflict in dates, vacation-requests will be treated on a                of their God.
first-come-first-served basis.
                                                  -Prof. H. C. Hoeksema                                               Their grateful children,
                                                                                                                      Mr. and Mrs. Robert  Moe1 ker  1 Kay)
                                                                                                                      Mr. and Mrs. Gary Moelker  (Roselyn)
    Following our custom, there will be but one issue of the  Standard                                                Mr. and Mrs. Larry Meulenberg  (Judy)
Bearer  per month during June, July, and August.                                    Grand Rapids, Michigan              and 5 grandchildren.

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




360


help but be impressed by what might be called a kind
of interchurch cooperation in connection with some
of those building projects. South Holland and Hull,
for example, both announced a collection for Forbes,
to "help pay for a house trailer which was purchased
for Rev. Mark Hoeksema." Hull pointed out that
"they are small in number" and are therefore "much
in need of assistance from our sister congregations."
Similar assistance to Forbes came from the Randolph
congregation which (and here's the interesting part)
had, several weeks earlier, received a gift collection
for their own Building Fund from (you guessed it)
Forbes, North Dakota. Assistance of a different kind
came to Forbes from Isabel. Rev. Miersma, Mr.
Ephraim Reichert, and Mr. Emil Streyle traveled to
Forbes . . . with their hammers. If we can judge at all
by reports concerning the quality of that assistance, it
appears that Rev. Miersma's talents are not-limited to
the pulpit.
              Ij                   ****

   Another kind of interchurch relationship was
reported in a recent South Holland bulletin.  ,?n
Friday, April 26, there was to be a combined  meeting
of the Young People's Societies of South Holland and
Randolph. That's quite a trip for the young people of
Randolph! And on the following Thursday evening,
South Holland played host to the Covenant Christian
High School Choir from Grand Rapids.
                                   ****

   A couple of interesting little items, yet, from
Isabel's bulletins:
                      _.
   Members  of`the congregation were invited to the
home of one of its members after the evening service
on March 10, in order to listen to the tape of the
Seminary Dedication.
   And, from the April 7 bulletin, we lift the
f o l l o w i n g   s p e c i a l   n o t i c e ,   c o n c e r n i n g   t h i s
congregation's church extension efforts: "The
opportunity that we have been waiting for has finally
come. A radio station has been found that will
broadcast the thirteen 15-minute programs made by
Rev. Engelsma. Starting next week Sunday afternoon
at 4: 10 P.M. they can be heard over KBHB Radio,
Sturgis, 8 10 on your dial. To defray the expenses of
this broadcast a special collection will be taken once a
month."
                                                                          D.D.


