              The



                A REFORMED SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE





         The formal principle (of the Reformation of the sixteenth
      century) is that the reformers acknowledged but one source of
      authority, that is, the Holy  Scripture.s. With this principle they
      `stood opposed to Roman Catholicism, to false mysticism, and
     to rationalism. To the Roman Catholic. Church they stood
      opposed, because it acknowledged beside Scripture also tradition
      as a source of authority, while the protestants rejected every-
      thing as having authority, except the Word of God. Besides, the
      Roman Catholic included the Apocryphal Books in the Bible;
      protestants recognized only, the sixty-six canonical books.
      Roman Catholics claimed that the right and power to interpret
      the Bible belonged to the church only, that is, the clergy;
      protestants maintained that every Christian is able and has the
     right to interpret the Word of God. By this same principle,
      however, the Reformation was opposed to false mysticism. The
      latter is characterized by rejecting the objective authority of the
      Bible and relying upon inner light. Protestants claimed that the
      objective `revelation in Scripture must be the sole and only
      reliable canon for faith and life. And, in  ,opposition to
      rationalism, the Reformation maintained that reason must be
      subjected to the Scriptures as the Word of God.
                                                           - H. Hoeksema,
                                              Reformed Dogmatics, p. 5 6 6


.                                           Volume LI, Number 3, November 1,  1974-


 50                                            THE STANDARD BEARER


 MEDITA TION


                      Pres.ervation From Temptation

                                                   Rev. H. Veldman
                                "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into terriptation.  "
                                                                               Matt.  26:41a



       This word was spoken by Christ' to His disciples        recognize the power of evil and lack of concern about
who had been sleeping while He poured out His soul             it, the wiping out of the antithesis and of the line of
in prayer to His God in the garden of `Gethsemane.             demarcation between the church and the world, the
This sleeping of the disciples was not merely because          seeking of the pleasures and treasures of this world,
of physical exhaustion. This is evident from what the          the contentment and complacency of the church in
Saviour adds in verse 41: "The spirit indeed is willing,       the midst of the world today. Temptation, however,
but the flesh is weak." This flesh, the contrast of            is very truly a reality! "Watch and pray, that ye enter
spirit, is ethical flesh, refers to what is carnal.  The-      not into temptation," is the sober, very earnest and
devil had lulled the disciples to sleep because he             solemn exhortation of the Christ unto His church of
would deprive the Saviour, in this hour of agony, of          -all- ages. -We -must not minimize its reality, Jesus
their fellowship and prayers. And, therefore, our              means to say to us. The awful possibility of entering
Lord admonishes them to watch and pray, that they             into temptation is continuously present.
enter not into temptation, succumb to this evil attack             This admonition of our Saviour is, we must
of the tempter.                                               understand, not in conflict with the Scriptural
   Temptations and trials, although always occurring           exhortation of James  1:2, exhorting us to rejoice
together and characterized by the same external               when we fall into diverse temptations. Diverse
circumstances, can be distinguished sharply. A child          temptations are all the varying, different kinds of
of God is always tempted and tried at the same time           effort on the part of the powers of evil to lure us
and through the same circumstances. Trials, however,          away from the sphere of the service and covenant of
always have a good connotation. As one tries, proves          our God. To fall into them means that we are
metals with the intention of separating the pure from         surrounded by them. And it also implies that we do
the impure, so trials are various experiences of the          not seek them. The child of God does not walk about
church and the child of God in the midst of the world         "with a chip on his shoulder," seeking or looking for
whereby the Lord proves His people, with the divine           them. He falls into them, because of his name and
intention that we may be purified by means of these           position in the midst of the world. Here, however, we
afflictions, that the pure may be separated from the          read of our entering into temptation. This means that
impure. Of course, God only proves; He only intends           we succumb to the wiles of the devil, walk in the
the good. Temptations, however, refer to the same             ways of sin, do not simply "fall" into them. Perhaps
outward circumstances but as they are used by the             we are inclined to ascribe our sins to a weakness on
devil for the purpose of leading God's people astray,         our part, to our "peculiar character." Perhaps we
away from the path of God's kingdom and covenant.             would believe that we really could not help it  - we
  How real is temptation  - there is really a being as        simply "fell" into sin. If this, however, be true, how
the tempter! This awareness of the devil's existence is       can we watch and pray? How can we be on our guard
hardly characteristic of the church today. I speak, of        against something when we are wholly passive? Jesus,
course, of the nominal church. In the past Satan was          however, warns us not to enter into temptation. Any
a greatly feared individual  - the church was vividly         succumbing on our part to the wiles of the devil is
conscious of his existence. This can hardly be said to        always accompanied by a definite choice of our own
characterize the church today. This is not because the        will. We are responsible beings, also for our failure to
devil was more active years ago. But it is surely due to      walk in the ways of God's covenant.
the lukewarmness, the lackadaisical attitude of the                     How tremendous is the danger of our entering
church, the lack of consciousness of sin, the failure to      i n t o   t e m p t a t i o n !   T h e r e   a r e ,   f i r s t   o f   a l l ,   t h e


                                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                                      51



tremendous forces of sin that are allied, united                                  the enemy of sin and darkness. We must be spiritually
against us. The world of sin is superbly organized. At                            on our toes, have our eyes open, be ready for the
its head stands Satan, the prince of the powers of the                            enemy whenever and in whatever form he may
air, an evil genius indeed! With him is his host of  evil                         appear. And the devil is very clever, his mode of
spirits, who have access into our inner life. And also                            attack very subtle. He often appears as a wolf clothed
at his disposal is the world, led and controlled by the                           in sheep's clothing! So,  .we must watch, be wide
power of sin and the hatred against God and His                                   awake. Of course, this implies that we must watch
covenant in the midst of the world. And this is not                               through the Word of God, the Scriptures. On the one
all. This formidable enemy has a wealth of material at                            hand  - and this is fundamental  - we must know our
his disposal. These forces of evil assail us through all                          calling. We must know the will of God, what the Lord
the attractions, beauties, glories, pleasures and                                 requires of us in the midst of the world, and this
treasures of this present time. Think of all the                                  applies to everyone of us in the church of God. We
literature, spiritual and secular, in modern churches                             must study the Scriptures diligently . . . And,
and schools, in books and magazines, in which the                                 studying the Scriptures, we must watch and observe
truths of the Word of God are undermined, cleverly                                all about us. Always we must test the spirits, whether
torn to shreds, proclaimed either openly or subtily!                              they are of God. We must recognize the foe and be
Think of all the filth and corruption and immorality,                             able to confront him and deal with him. How
presented to us in the movies, over the radio and                                 absolutely necessary this is! How true it is that we
upon the television screen! Then, there is also the                               must be very distinctive!
power of the world, their ability to use force, the                                 And we must pray. Of course! He who understands
sword. They cannot kill the soul, but they can kill the                           the Christian's position in the midst  of, the world,
body. Indeed, how dangerous is the position of the                                longs for and seeks the living God and would serve
church of God in the midst of the world! And to this                              Him, realizes how far short he falls of the glory of
must be added the fact that the people of God are so                              God and hpw miserably weak and frail he is in
ill-prepared to meet this continuous assault of the                               himself, will surely understand how impossible it is of
forces of darkness. The spirit indeed is willing, but                             himself to cope with the enemy, and that, therefore,
the flesh is weak. We are but few, in comparison with                             he must seek all his help outside of himself. He must
the world, a "little flock," and holy only in  prmciple.                          pray. This does not mean that we will pray that we
How little strength we have!                                                      may never fall into temptation. The premillenarian
   This preservation from temptation takes place only                             entertains the hope that`he will be delivered from the
in the way of watching and prayer. Now this certainly                             great tribulation. This is hardly Scriptural. No, we
emphasizes, on the one hand, the utter futility and                               pray that we may not enter into temptation. This
folly of attempting to resist temptation in our own                               means, first of all, that this must be the purpose of
strength. To resist temptation we must watch and                                  our praying. We must pray with this in our hearts and
pray. To resist temptation and evil in' our own                                   in our minds. Our prayers are often so superficial; we
strength means that we will fight sin, that we will                               often do not mean what we say . . . And, on the other
c o n t i n u e   i n   t h e   n a r r o w   w a y   o f   t h e   L o r d 's    hand, this also implies that we pray for grace to fight.
commandments . . . This implies that we will resist                               temptation and evil. We must remember that we do
temptation without watching and prayer, inasmuch as                               not merely  fall  into temptation. We enter into
we consider ourselves well qualified to fight the good                            temptation; we choose for the things of the world
fight in our own strength. Peter and the rest of the                              and of this time. And to pray in order that we enter
disciples of the Lord were of this mind. And the                                  not into temptation must imply, therefore,  that'we
result? Peter denied his Lord three times, and the rest                           are aware of the forces of evil, within us and  ,all
of the disciples fled. Besides, at this moment they                               around us, that we observe these forces closely in the
were sound asleep in the garden. How impossible it is                             light of the Word of God, that we  know,our calling in
to ward off the tempter in our own strength! Of                                   the midst of the world, that we pray that we may not
course! To imagine ourselves able to do so would                                  enter into wickedness, but receive from God the grace
surely reveal an utter lack of understanding of our                               to fight sin, within us and all around us, and to
position in the midst of the world. It would reveal a                             conduct ourselves as of the party of the living God.
sad lack of understanding of the powers of evil that                                Heeding this exhortation of the Saviour, the fruit is
are united against us. And it would surely also reveal                            sure: we will surely be preserved from temptation. We
a sad lack of understanding of ourselves, our own                                 will increase in knowledge. We will increase in the
weakness and incompetence.                                                        knowledge of our calling. Of course! Increasing in the
   Indeed, we must watch and pray. To watch means                                 knowledge of the Scriptures, we will increase in the
that we must be awake, sober, continually on the                                  knowledge of the will of God and, therefore, of our
alert. We must give strict attention to, observe closely                          calling wherewith God has called us. Our calling in


   52                                                             THE STANDARD BEARER



  the midst of the world will stand ever more clearly                                clearly in prayer. We will understand increasingly our
  before us. Then we will also increase in our                                       calling, the powers of evil and sin and our own
  knowledge of the evil world. The more clearly we                                   weakness and inability to cope with the enemy. And
  know the Scriptures, the abler we will be to discern                               we will pray, pray to the living God, constantly. And
  the lie from the truth, unrighteousness from                                       then we will increase in grace because the Lord will
  righteousness, what is our calling from that which is                              hear our prayer. He will hear us and bless us, not
  not our calling. And in that measure we will also                                  because  we pray, but  through  our prayers and in the
   increasingly understand the clever and subtle char-                               way of prayer. This is His promise, as we may read it
   acter of the world, the wiles of the devil, his                                   in Matt.  7:7: "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek,
   approach in whatever form he may appear. We will                                  and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto
   surely increase in our spiritual soberness and watch-                             y o u . " Seeking God in prayer, looking to Him
   f u l n e s s .                                                                   constantly for help, we will be assured of His promise
         Increasing in knowledge, we will also increase in                           that He will never leave or forsake us. Then nothing
  grace. In the measure that we watch, we will pray. We                              will be of us, and all will be of God. And He will
  will surely learn to know ourselves better and more                                receive all the glory!



  EDITORIAL

                      Correction' And Clarification, Please!
                                                                    Profi H. C.  Hoeksema ._

         Most of you will know by this time that our                                 whom their future ministers are being trained. Not
  Seminary is giving training to three students from the                             only that, but we like to have the Protestant
  Free Reformed Church of North America (formerly                                    Reformed Churches introduced to others. However,
. known as the Free and Old Christian Reformed                                       we like to be correctly introduced. This, I think, is
  Churches in Canada and the U.S.). This relatively                                  q u i t e   u n d e r s t a n d a b l e .   A n   i n d i v i d u a l   w h o   i s
  s m a l l   d e n o m i n a t i o n , w h i c h   h a s   m o s t   o f   i t s    introduced to others certainly likes to be correctly
  congregations in Canada, traces its ecclesiastical                                 presented. This is also true of our denomination.
  ancestry to the denomination known as the Christian                                Besides, it is good for the Rev. Pronk's readers also
  Reformed Churches of the Netherlands. Late last year                               that we be correctly introduced to them, so that they
  inquiry was. made by representatives of the Free                                   indeed know us as we are and know who are training
  Reformed Church as to our willingness to train their                               their students. But the Rev. Pronk's article of
  students. Our Theological School Committee                                         introduction falls short in this respect. There are
  informed these representatives of our readiness to                                 several inaccuracies in his article, some less important
  give seminary training to their students, with, of                                 and some more important. And besides, there are
  course, the clear understanding that this instruction                              s o m e   i t e m s   w h i c h ,   t o   s a y   t h e   l e a s t ,   r e q u i r e
  would be on our basis and from our Protestant                                      clarification. This accounts for my editorial. I wish to
  Reformed viewpoint. During the summer the Synod                                    call these items to the Rev. Pronk's attention, and I
  of the Free Reformed Church of North America                                       request him to make correction and clarification. I
  adopted a proposal to have three of their students                                 am doing so not in the spirit of debate and polemics,
  enter our seminary. It is in this connection that an                               but simply in the interest of accuracy and clarity.
  article appears in  The Messenger,  (Sept., 1974) the                                  First of all, let me point out some inaccuracies in
  paper of that denomination, explaining that decision                               said article of introduction.
  and introducing our denomination to the readers. The
  article is written by the Rev. C. Pronk.                                               1. Our name is not Protestant Reformed Church
                                                                                     (singular), but Protestant Reformed Churches (plural)
         Now, of course, we have no objection to the fact                            in America. This may seem a matter of little
  that the Rev. Pronk introduces us to his readers and                               importance, but it is not. This name expresses that we
  explains to the readers of  The Messenger  their                                   are a federation of autonomous congregations, and
  decision to ask us to train theirstudents. That makes                              thus expresses our aversion toward the collegialistic
  good sense, and the members of his denomination                                    view of church government and our opposition to all
  even have a right to know where and how and by                                     hierarchicalism.


                                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER                                                     53
                 1





   2. Although it is, of course, true that the name of                               with Hoeksema. Dr. Schilder came for the first time
the Rev. H. Hoeksema is inseparably connected with                                   in 1939, and then not to meet with Hoeksema. If I
our origin, I am afraid that the picture drawn by Rev.                               recall correctly, his trip in 1939, which was to be in
Pronk here is very scant. True, in  one instance he                                  the nature of a preaching and lecture tour, was
mentions "Hoeksema and others." But his readers                                      sporisored chiefly by Mr. Wm. B. Eerdmans, Sr., and a
will certainly not receive the impression from his                                   Mr. Hamstra. At that time Dr. Schilder was boycotted
account that the struggle in 1924 originally involved                                by the Christian Reformed Church, but cordially
three ministers, three consistories, and three                                       received among us, even though we had no reason to
congregations. It is certainly less than accurate to                                 believe that he agreed with our position on common
write, as he does, "Hoeksema thereupon formed. a                                     grace. c) Dr. Schilder was here only twice, in 1939
n e w   d e n o m i n a t i o n ,   t h e   P r o t e s t a n t   R e f o r m e d    and 1947. Also at the occasion of his second visit,
Church." Rev. Pronk's article, whether he intended it                                after the Liberation, the `purpose was not to meet
or not, tends to leave the impression that the                                       with Hoeksema. The so-called Liberated Churches
Protestant Reformed Churches are followers of a                                      were seeking a hearing with the Christian Reformed
man, Hoeksema; but nothing could be farther from                                     denomination, first of all. At that time, although we
the truth.                                                                           had no relation of correspondence with the newly
                                                                                     formed Liberated Churches, we did receive Dr.
    3 .   T h e   R e v .   Plonk  w r i t e s   c o r r e c t l y   t h a t         Schilder, and even opened our pulpits to him. Again,
"Hoeksema and others could not in good conscience                                    we were well aware that we were in disagreement
subscribe to these declarations and were consequently                                with Dr. Schilder  - this time on the matter of the
deposed from office." And while this is true in itself,                              covenant. But we wanted to give him a hearing. d) It
it is only part of the truth, and therefore inaccurate.                              is not correct that the attempt at reunion in 1939
For  one thing, a study of the history of 1924 will
reveal that this deposition from office was  unjust.  For                            "almost succeeded." The truth of the matter is, as I
another  - and this is important  - Rev. Pronk                                       wrote also recently, that the conference was a total
neglects to say that those who were deposed were                                     failure, due to the fact that the Christian Reformed
                                                                                     brethren who participated did not and would not
deposed hierarchically, in a manner contrary to the                                  really confer. And this is a matter of no little
Church Order and the principles of Reformed church                                   importance. For if the efforts at reunion had "almost
government. Both in  Classis Grand Rapids East and                                   succeeded,"
Classis Grand Rapids West, the Classes assumed                                                      then.it is a pity that those efforts were
powers of discipline which belonged only to the                                      not vigorously pursued, in the hope that they would
consistory. And besides, this discipline was imposed                                 succeed. The truth of the matter is, however, that
                                                                                     while we of the Protestant Reformed Churches have
in spite of the fact that the Synod of  ,1924 had                                    always shown our willingness to confer and to try to
refused to advise discipline at all.  1~ fact, the Synod                             get the difficulties removed, whether by way of an
of 19 24 had `not even specifically "condemned                                       official or an unofficial conference, those of the
Hoeksema's views," `as Rev. Pronk writes. And                                        Christian Reformed Church have never shown any
besides, the Synod of 1924 had given Revs. H.                                        willingness to pursue these matters with us.
Hoeksema and H.  Dzihhof the testimony that they
were fundamentally reformed.                                                           I believe, therefore, that it is in the interest of
                                                                                     accuracy that the Rev. Pronk should make some
    4. Although, perhaps, this is not so important, it is                            corrections on the above counts.
nevertheless not accurate: "Dr. K. Schilder from the
Netherlands soon joined in the debate between                                          But there are also certain items in his article which,
Hoeksema and the leaders of the Christian Reformed                                   to my mind, require clarification  - again, for the sake
Church. Schilder even crossed the ocean several times                                of his readers as well as for our sake. Permit me to
to meet with Hoeksema, for whose intellect he had                                    enumerate them.
the greatest respect, and with whose views on                                          In the first place, after pointing out that the
common grace he agreed, at least in part. While in                                   differences between us and the Liberated concerned
America Schilder tried to bring about a reunion                                      especially the covenant, the Rev. Pronk writes: "The
between the Christian Reformed Church and                                            Vrijgemaakten believed (as we do) that God addresses
P r o t e s t a n t   R e f o r m e d   C h u r c h ,   w h i c h   a l m o s t      His redemptive promise to all children of believing
succeeded." Let me make the following corrections:                                   parents, including those whom God foreknows as
a) Dr. Schilder did not join the debate  tosany great                                covenant breakers and as reprobates." This statement
extent until about the time of his first visit to this                               is less than clear and accurate. It certainly fails to
country in 1939. After that he devoted considerable                                  define the issue between us and the "Liberated."
attention to the Three Points of common grace, as a                                  What does the Rev. Pronk understand by "addresses"
result of the so-called Pantlind Conference. b) Dr.                                  in this statement? This makes considerable difference.
Schilcler did not cross the ocean several times to meet                              Our differences with the Liberated concerned the


  54                                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER


  matter of a general, conditional, promise to all                                       and we maintain that this does not make us
  children of believing parents. We saw in the Liberated                                 Arminian." In the first  place, I wish that the Rev.
  position  - and correctly  - a repetition of the views                                 Pronk would define what he means here by "Gospel
  of Prof. Heyns with respect to the covenant, and,                                      overture." That term "overture" does not occur in
  therefore, principally nothing else but the error of the                               our confessions, and, as far as I know is not a
  First Point of 1924 applied now to  the covenant. Not                                  commonly used term in Reformed dogmatical
  only were we "deathly afraid that such a view of the                                   parlance. Hence, please define it. It is entirely
  covenant would inevitably lead to Arminianism," but                                    possible, in my opinion, that the position which Rev.
  w e   u n h e s i t a t i n g l y   c h a r a c t e r i z e d   t h i s   vie+  a s    Pronk sets forth in the above statement is quite
  Arminianism applied to the covenant. But I am also                                     Reformed. But then it is also true in that case that
  asking for clarification because I am interested in                                    there is no difference between our denominations on
  knowing whether the brethren of the Free Reformed                                      this subject. That remains to be seen. In the second
  Church of North America hold to this same idea.                                        place, while the Rev. Pronk speaks of "differences,"
        In the second place, after pointing out that we                                  he fails to state what our Protestant Reformed
  maintain that God promises His grace only to the                                       position is with respect to the preaching of the
  elect seed of the covenant (again, not a wholly                                        gospel. I shall not take the time and space to set forth
  adequate description of our position) the Rev. Pronk                                   that position now. It may very readily be learned
  writes: "In this respect Hoeksema's views are quite                                    from our literature, to which the Rev. Pronk has
  similar to those of  CKuyper and Kersten, although                                     access. In the third place, however, the Rev. Pronk in
  there are important differences too." This also                                        this paragraph fails completely to touch on the
  requires clarification. For one thing, it is not correct                               essential issue in connection with the "free offer."
  that Kuyper unequivocally taught that God promised                                     The question is: is the preaching of the gospel, that is,
  His grace only to the elect seed of the covenant. His                                  the general proclamation of a particular promise,
  view concerning the heirs of the covenant was very                                     grace also to the reprobate who come under that
  seriously compromised by his theory of presupposed                                     preaching? And, if so, what grace do the reprobate
  regeneration. In fact, if the Rev. Pronk will                                          receive in the preaching? This is the fundamental
  investigate, I think he will discover that our view of                                 issue in the matter of the "free offer."  This was the
  the covenant is widely divergent from. that of Kuyper,                                 fundamental issue in the First Point of 1924. If the
  that it differs fundamentally  iri more respects than it                               Rev. Pronk wishes to speak of differences, then let
  agrees. And the same is true of Kersten. I have                                        him clarify those differences with this fundamental
discovered that there is some misunderstanding on                                        issue in mind. And let me warn him in advance that
  this score, whatever may be the source of it. But I                                    he must not do as so many have done, namely, try to
  would recommend that the Rev. Pronk compare our                                        shove "hyper-Calvinism" into our shoes. As is being
  view, as set forth in much of our literature and                                       made abundantly plain in the Rev. Engelsma's current
  especially  in Believers  and Their Seed,  and that                                    series of articles, we completely repudiate the
  thereafter he clarify this statement.                                                  hyper-Calvinist position.
        In the third place, there is need of clarification                                  In conclusion, I repeat: the Rev. Pronk in the
  with respect to what Rev. Pronk writes concerning                                      interest of introducing us to his people correctly, as
  the "free offer." He writes: "Needless to say, we also                                 well as in the interest of being fair to us, should make
  have our differences with the Protestant Reformed                                      correct and clarification on the above points. Besides,
  Church, especially in connection with the `free offer'.                                perhaps we can have some fruitful and enlightening
  We wholeheartedly preach the  Gosoel overture of free                                  discussion in the way of such correction and
                            -     -                   I
  and sovereign grace to all sinners indiscriminately,                                   clarification.





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


                                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                       55


TAKING HEED TO THE DOCTRINE

          "Hyper-Calvinism" and the Call of the Gospel (5)
                                                                  by Rev. David Engelsma

   That which is objectionable in the "free offer of                                     "            there is in God a benevolent lovingkindness
                                                                                           .  .  .
the gospel," or "well-meant gospel offer," is not the                                towards the repentance and salvation of even those
teaching that the Church must  preach the gospel to                                  whom he has not decreed to save. This pleasure, will,
everyone and must call all hearers to faith in Jesus                                 desire is expressed in the universal call to repentance
Christ. But the error of the doctrine of the, offer, and                              . . . The full and free offer  of the gospel is a grace
the reason why a Reformed man must repudiate it, is                                  bestowed upon all. Such grace is necessarily a
its teaching that the grace of God in Jesus Christ,                                  manifestation of love or lovingkindness in  the heart
grace that is saving in character, is directed to all men                             of God. And this lovingkindness is revealed to be of a
in the preaching of the gospel. Inherent in the offer                                character or kind that is correspondent with the grace
                                                                                      bestowed. The grace offered is nothing less than
of the gospel is the notion that God loves and desires                                salvation in its richness and fulness. The love or
to save all men; the notion that the preaching of the                                lovingkindness that lies back of that offer is not
gospel is God's grace to all men, an expression of                                    anything less; it is the will to that salvation. In other
God's love to all men, and an attempt by God to save                                 words, it is Christ in all the glory of his person and in
all men; and the notion that salvation is dependent                                   all the perfection of his finished work whom God
upon  ,man's  acceptance of the offered salvation, i.e.,                              offers in the gospel. The loving and benevolent will
that salvation depends upon the free will of the                                      that is the source of that offer and that grounds its
sinner. 1                                                                            veracity and reality is the will to the possession of
                                                                                      Christ and the enjoyment of the salvation that resides
   The first two of these elements are openly                                         in him."2
confessed by the proponents of the offer. In the first
of the three points of common grace of 1924, the                                   The free offer, according to those who hold it, is
Christian Reformed Church expressed the following:                              the grace of God to all men in the preaching of the
                                                                                gospel and is rooted in God's love for all men. This
         "Relative to the first point which concerns the                        grace must be conceived of as God's one, saving grace.
     favorable attitude of God towards humanity in
     general and not only towards the elect,, synod                             For it is grace that desires men's salvation; it is grace
     declares it to be established according to Scripture                       revealed in the preaching of the gospel of Christ
     and the Confession that, apart from the saving grace                       crucified; and it is grace that offers Christ and the
     of God shown only to those that are  elebt  unto                           riches of salvation to men. In the first point of
     eternal life, there is also a certain favor or grace of                    common grace the Christian Reformed Church
     God which He shows to His creatures in general. This                       identified the grace manifested in the offer as a
     is evident from the Scriptural passages quoted and                         "certain favor or grace of God" which is to be
     from the Canons of Dordrecht, II,  5  and III, IV,  8,9,                   distinguished from "the saving grace of God shown
     which deal with the general offer of the Gospel, while                     only to those that are elect." Following the lead of
     it also appears from the citations made from                               Abraham Kuyper, who hqwever did not make
     Reformed writers of the most flourishing period of
     Reformed Theology that our Reformed writers from                           "common grace" a favor of God which desired the
     the past favored this view."                                               salvation of all humanity and which offered all men
                                                                                s a l v a t i o n ,   t h e   C h r i s t i a n   R e f o r m e d   C h u r c h
   The Orthodox Presbyterian Church confessed the                               distinguished two graces of God, "common grace"  '
same doctrine, if anything more plainly and more                                and "special (saving) grace." The former was viewed
boldly, when in 1948 it adopted the doctrinal study                             as a favor that gives all men earthly blessings, e.g.,
of Professors Murray and Stonehouse on "the free                                health, and the latter was viewed as the favor of God
offer of the gospel:"                                                           that gives  th'e elect salvation. In the past, the
    1  In his book,  Een  Kracbt Gods  TotZaligheid,   Hoeksema listed four     Christian Reformed Church has attempted to defend
objectionable elements in the idea of an offer of salvation. First, the         its doctrine of the offer  by,claiming that it is the
offer teaches that God wills and desires to give grace to, or save, all         revelation of God's common grace, not His special,
men. Secondly, it teaches that God actually possesses  satiation  for all,
that is, that Christ's atonement was universal. Thirdly, it holds that God      saving grace. But the grace of God expressed in the
plainly reveals that it is His intention to give His grace to all. Fourthly,    well-meant offer is saving grace, not any common
it implies that salvation is conditioned by the free will of  t.he sinner.      grace, i.e., even though it is grace that fails to save
Each of these elements  "indruischt  tegen de  Gereformeerde  waarheid."        many to whom it is directed, it is as to its character
The offer and the Reformed truth  "sluiten  elkander   uit.  "
   2"The  Free Offer of the Gospel," p. 27                                      the saving grace of God  in Jesus Christ. It is not a


56                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER



grace that gives rain, sunshine, health, and wealth, but             final salvation are conditioned by the free will of the
a grace that desires a man's salvation and that                      sinner. 3
well-meaningly offers a man Christ and Him crucified.                   The Synod of Dordt laid waste the entire Arminian
It is sheer absurdity to make the offer of the gospel                system, and maintained the gospel of gracious
an expression of a non-saving "common grace." It is                  salvation, by confessing with the Scriptures that the
simply a principle that will work its way out,                       grace of God, both as an attitude in God and as His
regardless of all foolish distinctions, that the grace of            power in men, does not enable a man to be saved,
God in the blessed gospel is saving grace. Besides, the              does not merely make salvation' possible, but
fact of the matter is, Abraham Kuyper to the                         efficaciously saves everyone towards whom it is
contrary notwithstanding, that the  Scriptures know                  directed and in whom it is worked. The Synod
of only one grace of God and one love of God, His                    denied "that after  Go{ has performed his part, it still
grace and love in Jesus Christ. This is the grace, and               remains in the power of man to be regenerated or not
this is the love, revealed in the gospel.                            to be regenerated, to be converted or to continue
      The doctrine of the offer, therefore, teaches that             unconverted" (Canons, III, IV, 12). Rather, the work
the love of God in Christ is universal. Apart from all               of grace is such "that all in whose heart God works in
other considerations, this is the denial of the                      this marvellous manner, are certainly, infallibly, and
Reformed, Biblical doctrine of election and the                      effectually regenerated and do actually believe." The
sell-out of the Reformed faith to Arminianism. For                   Canons go on to say, in Article 14:
the meaning of the doctrine of election is that the                          "Faith is therefore to be considered as the gift of
love of God in Christ is eternally directed towards                       God, not on account of its being offered by God to
some definite, particular men, willing their salvation                    man, to be accepted or rejected at his pleasure; but
and efficaciously accomplishing it. Election is simply                    because it is in reality conferred, breathed, and
the choosing love of God (Deut. 7:6-8; Rom.                               infused into him; or even because God bestows the
8:28-39).  Universal love is universal election, and that                 power or ability to believe, and then expects that
was the position of the Arminians.                                        man should-by the exercise of his own free will,
                                                                          consent to the terms of salvation, and actually believe
      Since the offer maintains that God's grace is'                      in Christ; but because he who works in man both to
directed to all men in the preaching, it is the denial of                 will and to do, and indeed all things in all, produces
the efficacy, or sovereignty, of grace, that which the                    both the  will to believe, and the act of believing
fourth of the so-called five points of Calvinism calls                    also."
"the irresistibility of grace." For the doctrine of the                 Salvation by grace, as  taught in Ephesians 2: I-10,
ofl`cr does admit that many of those to whom God is                  means that dead sinners are quickened by the
gracious in the preaching are not saved.                             almighty power of God, i.e., sovereign grace. This
      Here the  doctrineof  the offer most clearly shows             implies, as Ephesians I explicitly teaches, that God's
itse.lf  lo be the resurrection of the old Arminian                  favorable attitude, His will to save, i.e., His grace, is
heresy in the Reformed camp. The pivotal point in                    directed towards some particular men, namely, the
the controversy between the Reformed faith and                       elect. In this light, the Arminian notions of
Arminianism at the time of the Synod of Dordt was                    conditional election and an atonement whose
the Arminian denial of the sovereignty of grace. Basic               application depends on the sinner's decision are also
to the Arminian position was their teaching that                     exposed as fraudulent. The gospel is the good news of
God's grace was given to all men, not sovereignly to                 sovereign, particular grace. The doctrine of the
save them, but merely to enable them to choose                       well-meant offer is opposed to this.
salvation, if they willed. At this  crticial juncture  - the
actual salvation of a man  - everything depended                        3The significance at Dordt of the truth of sovereign, "irresistible"
upon the man himself, upon his exercise of his free                  grace is indicated in Carl Bangs' book, sympathetic to the Arminians,
                                                                     Arminius  (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1971).
will. And the whole of Arminian theology is built on
this rotten foundation: election, the atonement, and                                                                 (to be continued)


                                                           N O T I C E
           On Friday, Nov. 8, at 8:00 P.M., Prof. R. Decker will deliver a lecture in Kalamazoo on the topic,
                                                "The Foolishness of Preaching."
                          PLACE: KALAMAZOO CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOL AUDITORIUM
           (Take U.S.131 to Stadium Dr., East Exit. The school is located on Stadium Dr. at Howard St., southwest comer).
                                                  Everyone is urged to attend.


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  57



THE VOICE OF OUR FATHERS


                               The Value Of Our Creeds

                                               ProjY Robert D. Decker

                                    Introduction to the Belgic Confession,  cont.


  It is well, in the light of the times in which we live,    from the Latin verb which means "to believe," and
to say something concerning the value of our creeds          indicates that the content of a confession is the
in general and of our Belgic Confession in particular.       object of the  faith  of the church. Hence, what we as
The churches of the day are increasingly. critical of        Protestant Reformed Churches believe in our hearts
the. creeds,  -and this is no less true in the Reformed      and confess with our mouths is set forth in the Belgic
tradition  both in our own land and abroad. The cry in       Confession.
our time is that the creeds have lost  theii- value and        In sum, therefore, what we have in the Three
usefulness for the church. They  simply,  so it is           Forms of Unity and in the Belgic Confession in
alleged, do not speak to the needs of the world and          partidular is the truth of the Holy Scriptures as that
the calling of the church in the world. They are said        truth has been formulated in the mind of the church
to be dated, outmoded,  old:fashioned. The best that         by the Spirit and Word of Jesus Christ. This truth,
can be done with the confessions is to preserve them         gleaned from the Word of God, set forth in
as interesting relics of the church's glorious past, and     systematic fashion in our creed, is the confession of
then compose new creeds which express the faith of           our faith and serves to distinguish the Reformed
the contemporary church and her calling in these             churches from all other churches.
days. What must be said about all this? Is it true?
Could we just as well revise or discard entirely our
Belgic Confession and write a new creed  ,to take its        The' Relation of  the Confessions to Scripture
place?                                                         This naturally gives rise to the question of the
  Perhaps it is best to begin  our' answer  by defining      relationship which obtains between the creeds of the
the idea of. the creeds. What are they? The late             church and the Scriptures. Inseparably bound up in
Herman Hoeksema  in  his  Reformed Symbols,  a               this is, in turn, the question of the authority of the
syllabus used for the course which goes by that name         creeds. Writing on this point Hoeksema states: "Even
in the Theological School of the Protestant Reformed         as confessions are historically a reflection of the truth
Churches, offered this definition: "A symbol is a            of the Word of God in the believing consciousness of
statement by a church or group `of churches                  the church, so their permanent criterion is Holy
containing a declaration of what such a church or            Scripture." CR  f
                                                                             e  armed Symbols,  p. 2). This means
group  of churches believes to be the truth of the Word      that our confessions must always be based upon the
of God." There are three terms customarily employed          Word of God, may never be placed on an equal level
to express the idea set forth in this definition. These      with the Word of God, and certainly may never be
terms are: symbol, confession, and creed. A  symboris        superimposed upon the Word of God. Hoeksema says
a sign. The flag of the United States, for example, is       in this same connection,  ".  `. . the latter (the Word of
the sign which distinguishes our land from all other         God, R.D.D.) must always be the light in which the
countries. A symbol is a sign, therefore, which serves       confessions must constantly be judged. As soon as the
to distinguish a church or denomination from all             church fails to do the latter, confessionalism, dead
other churches. The Belgic Confession, in other              intellectualism, is the result."  (Reformed Symbols,  p.
words, as a symbol distinguishes the Reformed                2). The point simply is  that the authority of our
Churbhes  from all other churches. The word                  creeds is not absolute but always derivative. The
"confession" means "to speak with." This  teP-m              contents of the creeds must be defended and
conveys the idea that the church expresses its faith         preached, believed and confessed, obeyed and
together with one another and with its head, the Lord        honored because that content is gleaned out of God's
Jesus Christ. Again, the Belgic Confession as a              infallible  .Word, which is the absolute authority for
confession  contains the truth which the  ,Protestant        the faith and life of the child of God in this world.
Reformed Churches express in union with one                  Hence, in our expositions of the  Belgic Confession we
another and with Jesus Christ.  Creed  is a term derived     shall be at pains to demonstrate the solid Biblical


 58                                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER



 foundation upon which this eloquent statement of                                        the hue and cry of ecumenism the past several years.
 our faith stands.                                                                       Today we have a World Council of Churches from
                                                                                         which not even the Roman Catholics are excluded
 Objections Against  rIhe Creeds                                                         and which seeks to unite all the churches under the
       While objections have always been lodged against                                  simplest, broadest possible statement of faith. Let it
 the creeds, they multiply today. It is' "the in thing"                                  be said that creeds do not create divisions, but simply
 to be against the creeds. The striking feature in all                                   express the divisions which are already present. They
 this is the fact that what we are hearing in criticism of                               must remain, lest our understanding of the truth be
 the creeds in our time is nothing new. It's merely the                                  diminished and ultimately lost altogether.
 same tired, old arguments put forth all through the                                        Finally, another common objection today is that
 years. How true it is, "There is no new thing under                                     creeds impede the development of the truth. What
 the sun; the thing that is, hath been." One of these                                    nonsense! As long as Scripture remains the source and
 objections argues that the creeds are merely human                                      criterion for our creeds, how can it fail that these will
 productions and totally unnecessary since the Bible is                                  be vital, living, relevant expressions of the truth? How
 sufficient. The Church needs nothing more than the                                      can we fail to grow iri the knowledge of the rich,
 Bible. What Hoeksema had to say about this is much                                      pure, unfathomable truth of God's Word?
 to the point:  ". . . historically it is a peculiar fact that
 very serious objections are raised against creeds when                                  The Value of the Creeds
 also the contents of the Bible become more and more                                        Positively, the creeds are of inestimable value to
 foreign to the mind of the church. Ignorance of                                         the church along a four-fold line.
 Scripture and its doctrine and opposition to creeds
 are generally simultaneous. From this it would seem                                        First, they are the means by which the church as a
 that objectors to creeds are not serious when they                                      whole can express its faith over against all the world,
 claim Scripture is sufficient."  (Reformed Symbols,  p.                                 or by which a denomination of churches can express
 3). How true today! There is woeful ignorance of                                        its faith over against all other churches. That certainly
 even the simplest truths of Scripture. Many are not                                     remains the calling of the Body of  Jesus,Christ in the
 even familiar with Biblical terminology. And yet                                        world. The people of God as members of God's
 these same people have the audacity to criticize the                                    Church stand as the "light of the world." That light
 creeds and clamor for new ones. But what must be                                        must shine. everywhere. It was exactly in this
 said about this objection ? That the Scriptures are                                     consciousness that our creeds were born. They served
 sufficient we readily confess. That the truth of the                                    to define for kings and governors and for all the
 sufficiency of Holy Writ may be used as an argument                                     world the truth of God's Word which lived in the
 in opposition to the creeds we wholeheartedly reject.                                   heart and mind of the Church.
 Why? Because this is fundamentally' a denial of the                                       Thus, too, the creeds serve as a means to preserve
 continuous guidance of the Church by the Holy Spirit                                    the truth as it is delivered in the line of the
 in the past. The fruit of this guidance of the Spirit of                                generations of `believers all through the ages. In this
 Christ is the  creedal statements of the church                                         same connection, our creeds serve as the bond of
 expressing the truth of the Word over against the lie                                   union upon which basis churches of the same faith
 of sin. (cf. John  14:15-18,  26; John  15:26ff.; John                                  and mind can unite. And, finally,  I the creeds are
 16: 13, 14) It surely is a great sin to deny and ignore                                 wonderful means of instruction. The Heidelberg
 the fruit of the guidance of the Spirit of Truth.                                       Catechism, for example, was composed exactly to
 Besides, the church always has the calling to express                                   rn-eet this purpose.
 her faith in the midst of the world..This cannot be                                       Now, in this light, is not the time to be critical of
 done simply by saying, "The Bible is enough." The                                       the creeds. Now is the time to  .go back to them and
 Bible simply is not a logical, systematic presentation
 of the truth; but it surely is the source out of which                                  study them in the light of the Word of God. They
 the church as guided by Christ's Spirit derives the                                     express the eternal truth of the Scriptures, the glory
 truth and systematically sets it forth in her creeds.                                   of which no man will ever fully comprehend! A
                                                                                         faithful, prayerful study of the creeds in the light of
 1  A n o t h e r   o b j e c t i o n   i s   t h a t   c r e e d s   b i n d   t h e    the Word will lead the church into an ever deeper
conscience. This can never be, however, as long as the                                   understanding of the mysteries of the Kingdom of
 way remains open for the individual child of God to                                     God as taught in the Word.
 apply the standard of the Word of God to the
 confession of his church.                                                                 May God grant us grace always to "contend for the
                                                                                         faith which was once delivered unto the saints" in
   A very common criticism of the creeds today is                                        these latter days. (Jude, verses 3ff.) That faith is
 that they create divisions. We must break down those                                    eloquently set forth in the Belgic or Netherlands
 walls of separation and `become one. Such has been
                                                                             _-..        Confession of Faith.


                                                        THE STANDARD BEARER                                                         59


  ALL AROUND US

               A Settlement of the "Science-Scripture"
                                                           D e b a t e
                                                           ProJ: H. Hanko

    I received a paper from a freshman student in                     Although the author solemnly avers that "scientific.
  Calvin College which was distributed in a religion                theory can hardly dictate the interpretation" of the
  .course and which was entitled, "The Historicity of               first chapters of Genesis, nevertheless the "Church"
  Genesis l-3". If there was needed any further proof               has no right "to make judgments on the validity of
  that the authority of the Scriptures is being denied in           scientific theories." One wonders whether this also
Calvin, and if there is needed any additional proof                 holds true of the theory of evolution. And, indeed,
  that "Report 44" on the "Nature and Extent of                     science has forced the "Church to reassess its
  Biblical Authority" adopted by the Synod of the                   understanding of the first chapters of Genesis."
  Christian Reformed Church has opened the door to                    But Scripture, the author says, must be interpreted
  such denial, this paper will serve that purpose with              according to its `own nature. What is the nature of
  emphasis.                                                         Scr@ture? Holwerda writes:
    Itqis rather startling how the paper openly flouts                       The question at issue can be stated rather simply.
  the truth of Scriptural authority. But  the,frightfully               Genesis l-11 appears to be a straightforward
  poor logic of the paper leaves one wondering if every                 historical narrative from  &&on  to the call of
  rule of logic must be thrown to the winds to make                     Abraham. But what type of historical narrative is it?
  room for the unbelieving views of higher  crjtics.                    The events recorded  are  f&w in number and episodic
                                                                        in character. The  genealogies  appear to be schematic
    The author of the paper is Dr. David Holwerda,                      arrangements demonstrating historical  contimiity,
  Associate professor of religion and theology at Calvin.               unity of the race, death in spite of longevity, and
  The paper is evidently intended to offer a solution to                Perhaps also the role of Israel  among the nations. The
. what the author calls "the last hurdle in the                         events recorded antedate hiStorical  Israel by millennia
  Scripture-Science debate" which "is found in the first                and appear to be related positively or negatively in
  chapters of Genesis." All the other "hurdles" in this                 theme and symbol to stories of origins circulating in
  debate have evidently been overcome; there  remains                   Israel's environment. . . .
  just this one. The paper will now proceed to solve                  This is a remarkable paragraph. In the first place, it
  that problem, and the debate will have come to its                rather deviously admits that the first eleven chapters
  conclusion.                                                      of Genesis appear to be straightforward historical
       But it seems as if the debate has been, for the              narrative. But  in the very next sentence, this assertion
  most part, resolved in favor  of. science. Although               .is denied when the question is asked: "What type of
  there are various assertions by the author throughout             historical narrative is it?" While this is indeed a
  the paper supporting this thesis, this point is made              favored ploy of many higher critics, the fact remains
  already in the first two paragraphs:                              that a certain document is either historical narrative,
         The  present Scripture-Science  debate should not          or it is not. It is historical narrative when it relates
      force the Church to make judgments on the validity            history, i.e., facts which actually took place. When
      of scientific theories. Such is not her calling, and          historical facts are not recorded, then the document
      history has demonstrated that such is not within the          ceases to be historical narrative. That is simple
      scope of her competence. The Church must be                   enough. But here we have  histOrical narrative of a
      concerned with the understanding of Scripture.                particular type; i.e., historical narrative which is not
      Although scientific development has caused the                historical narrative.
      Church to reassess its understanding of the first               In the second place, the author at this point is
      chapters of Genesis, scientific theory can hardly
      dictate the interpretation of these chapters. Scripture       guilty of what in logic is called the fallacy of  petitio
      must be interpreted in accordance with its nature.            principii.  When one commits this logical fallacy, one
      Appropriate principles of interpretation must be              assumes to  be  true  the exact  point  that needs proving.
      developed which do justice to the uniquely revelatory         One argues in a circle. One argues that a cow is a cow
      character of the Scriptures.                                  because a cow is a cow. Every statement the author


60                                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER


makes in answer to his question is precisely a                                               and in reaction to cultural forms experienced by
statement which needs proving. Let him prove that                                            historical Israel . . . it strikes me that the approach of
the geneologies are schematic arrangements proving                                           Koole can@ be apriorily rejected.
all sorts of strange things. Let him prove that the                                        Prophetic history then is history which has a core
events recorded antedate historical Israel by                                            of historical fact in it, but a great deal of this
millennia, etc. But simply assuming these things, he                                     historical fact is narrated in such a way that it is, for
goes on to destroy the historicity of Genesis  l- 11.                                    purposes of interpretation, embellished with and
      T h e   q u e s t i o n   n o w   i s :   " H o w   d o   t h e s e                communicated by means of a great deal of symbol
considerations affect our understanding of the history                                   and non-historical data which was necessary to get a
contained in these chapters of Genesis?" This                                            message across to a people who lived in an entirely
question is answered, first of all, by `discussing                                       different culture from ours. Part of the narrative is
anothe'r question: "We shall begin with  the  question                                   history, part is not. Who is going to determine what is
concerning the sources of Genesis l-l 1. In order to                                     history and what is not is left, apparently to the
arrive at a satisfactory answer we must first ask                                        individual. Or perhaps, Holwerda means to say that
ourselves the more general question, how were the                                        this question is left to the scientist who will tell us
historical books of the Bible written?"                                                  what is in keeping with his scientific discoveries and
      H e r e   a g a i n   t h e   a u t h o r   m a k e s   a l l   k i n d s   o f    what is not.
assumptions which are totally unproved. He assumes                                         But how does this all apply to Genesis l-l  l?
first of all that the historical books were written in                                          What about the creation account itself, especially
their entirety with the use of  sources. And he does                                         Genesis l? . . . Because of the unique character of the
this because he wants to repudiate revelation. He                                            events described it has been suggested repeatedly that
writes: "Revelation is apparently not one of the                                             God is in some manner accommodating Himself to
sources,  if  ,by revelation is meant direct impartation                                     human understanding, and consequently Genesis 1 is
by God." Where again is the proof'? What right does                                          not to be construed as a literal description of the acts
the author have simply to assume these things?                                               of God.
      However, in answer to his question of how the                                             Genesis 1 &as revelation first of all to Israel. How
                                                                                             would it have been understood in  that  world? It
historical books came into existence, the author                                             appears that Genesis 1 would have been read as an
repudiates various theories. He repudiates completely                                        implicit critique of the mythological views of nature
the idea of oral tradition. He also rejects the notion                                       existing in the ancient world. . . .
that there was "some kind of dependence of the
biblical authors upon existing stories and myths."                                         This is it then. Genesis 1 (and, presumably the
After discussing this at length, the author adopts the                                   other ten chapters) is only a critique of current
theory of Prof. J. L. Koole from Kampen who                                              conceptions. But how does he know? How does
describes the history in the Bible as "prophetic                                         Holwerda know that this is the purpose of Genesis  l?
history". What does this mean? The following quotes                                      Where is the proof? How did he come to this
will probably make it as clear as it is possible to be                                   astonishing and remarkable insight? Apparently he
made:                                                                                    knows better than the Holy Spirit the purpose for
                                                                                         including these chapters in the Bible and the purpose
           . . . The biblical author(s) received a special divine                        for writing them in the way they are written.
       revelation comparable to that received by prophets.
       This means revelation given in terms of existing                                    But this is Holwerda's position.
       thought-patterns and existing world-view. Concepts                                      All this (material in Genesis 1) is set down in terms
       and symbols are borrowed from the world in which                                      of ancient cosmology. . .
       the prophet lives. . . The point is that the prophet                                     The Synod of Assen (1926) suggested that to
       addresses his world in terms having a direct relevance                                assume that Scripture contains ancient conceptions
       for the persons addressed. The prophet is com-                                        that can be dated, and are therefore "outdated," is to
       municating facts; but in his communication, what                                      assail the authority of Scripture. But why should this
       is symbol and what is event?                                                          be so? Is this approach not rather a legitimate
           . . . Koole and K. Adam reject the interpretation                                understanding of the historical nature of revelation
       which reduces Genesis 3 to a story describing the                                   and of what we have called organic inspiration?
       condition of  Everyman (meaningful myth). They
       consider it essential to retain the traditional                                     This last is rather interesting. The individual who
       interpretation of Adam as the first man whose                                     gave me this paper informed me that the professor of
       historical fail involved ail humanity, but they suggest                           this religion class had assured the class that there were
       the possibility of a non-traditional interpretation of                            really only two positions one could take on the
       the details of the story. Is this a legitimate approach?                          matter of inspiration. One could take the position
       When one appreciates the time-conditioned nature of                               that inspiration was mechanical, i.e., that the  writers
       revelation, how revelation is expressed in terms of                               of Scripture simply functioned as stenographers or


                                                        THE STANDARD  BEARER                                                                                 61


typewriters; or one could take the position that                          We have not paid somewhat detailed attention to
Scripture was organically inspired.  But, he added,                   this paper because the author offers his students
organic inspiration necessarily implies such a view of                anything basically new. What this paper contains is
Scripture as presented in this paper. Apparently, this                the same, for the most part, as has been proposed in
professor doesn't have the faintest notion of what                    one form or another by higher critics over the last
organic inspiration is all about. Or, if he does know,                century or more. The contribution is not original
he deliberately refuses to explain the matter to this                 with him, and the same things have been said
class.                                                                somewhat better by many, many others.
   What then is the literary form of Genesis  l?                          We have spent some time on this matter in the first
          "The literary form of this piece is something of a          place because it is a demonstration of how far Calvin
    puzzle . .  ." The best identification is to call it a
    1 i t u r g i c a 1 text, elaborately composed for public         College has departed from the truth concerning the
    recitation on a feast day, which almost surely was the            authority of the Scriptures in the actual teaching
    new year's feast. . . .                                           given in the classroom.
          And so this was the Israelite equivalent. of the                But secondly, what strikes one in all this is the fact
  L Babylonian new year's festival.                                   that when one fails to come to Scripture in faith to
          If then this was its purpose in Israel and the way in       receive by faith the Bible as the infallibly inspired and
    which it was understood, and if Scripture is what we              authoritative record of the Word of God, one gets
    confess it to be, are we not misreading Genesis 1 by              h i m s e l f   t i e d   u p   i n   a l l   kinds'  o f   t h e o r i e s   a n d   a s -
    attemhting  to garner from it a kind of loose, yet
    scientific, description of the "how" of creation?                 sumptions and hypotheses  which almost no one can
                                                                      understand, and which cannot, for a moment stand
   Finally, Holwerda asks:  "Does this approach affect                the test of logical analysis. If one comes in faith to
adversely the authority of Scripture?" In answer to                   the Scriptures, the Scriptures speak the very Word of
this, Holwerda quotes Ridderbos:                                      God. Anyone who comes in faith can hear that Word
          "Scripture has authority primarily as the                   of God whether he be a small child to whom are told
    proclamation of the great works of God in Christ.                 the first Bible stories or whether he be a doctor of
    The apostles, as the inspired heralds of the salvation            theology. If one refuses to come in faith, comes
    received in Christ, did not receive divine omniscience            instead in unbelief (for this is what the above paper is
    for the  fulfillment  of their task; neither were  they           all about) then there are dozens of theories
    commissioned to uncover the secrets of nature, the                concerning Scripture from which one can have his
    structure of the cosmos, or the problems of science.
    Scripture does not correct every time-conditioned                 pick. There is no real reason to choose one over
    concept concerning the structure of the cosmos and                another. Whichever one you prefer will do nicely. But
    what  is.found within it, just as it does not attempt to          be  sure that all of them make Scripture so difficult to
    verify quotations from the Septuagint by comparing                understand that you had better yourself get a degree
    them with the Hebrew."                                            in theology before you dare to come to Scripture and
          We cannot-  expect Scripture to answer all the              say: "Speak Lord, for thy servant heareth."
    questions we wish to ask, nor may we subject it to
    any standard of interpretation we desire. Scripture                   This is evil. If Holwerda is correct, we are back
    must be interpreted according to its own nature. As               again'in the days prior to the Reformation and back
    the proclamation of God's redemptive activity in                  in the clutches of Rome, for we cannot understand
    history, Scripture sheds its  light upon all areas of life        the Scriptures ourselves; we need others to teach us.
    only from this perspective.  1                                    But, thank God, Holwerda is wrong.





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 62                                               THE STANDARD BEARER


 THESTRENGTHOFYOUTH

                       Spiritual Growth--The Content
                                                     Rev. J. Kortering

       The subject of spiritual growth has been and is          not personally interested in his own spiritual growth.
 presently receiving much attention in the religious            This interest is stimulated by a keen awareness. that
 `press. A great deal of this is being specifically directed    we have to face a clever and powerful enemy who
 toward youth. Campus Crusade is a well oiled                   would destroy our faith. If we truly love God, we are
machine that  ,grinds out voluminous material for               personally interested in growing up so that we can
 college youth. There are two main gears that control           deal with these temptations lest we be destroyed.
 its movement. The one is to reach unconverted young              To begin with, we suggest that spiritual. growth
 people and bring them to salvation in Christ, the              means growing in understanding. From childhood on,
 other is to bring the gospel to those who already              you have been instructed in truths concerning God,
 profess to be Christian young people, but do not               yourself, the world in which you live, and the need
 experience the full potential of their spiritual life.         for salvation in Jesus Christ; God has given to us the
 This kind of approach is representative of so much             gift of intellect, the ability to learn, to retain ideas in
 evangelical literature that is geared to deliver young         our minds, to reason, to interpret the meaning of so
 people from the status of  ~`Carnal Christian" to "the         many things. By nature this gift of the mind is
 abundant Christian life.".                                     completely under the power of sin. Apart from God's
       There `is something very dangerous about this. Its       work of salvation, we "mind the things of the flesh,"
 theology is rooted in the neo-Pentecostal movement.            Rom.  8:5. We are "carnally minded," Rom. 8: 6.
 The implication is that spiritual growth is impossible         When Christ works in our hearts by His Word and
 without a "spirit baptism". Mere regeneration is not           Spirit, this is changed. We are able to put on the new
 enough. We need to receive more, a baptism of the              man which after God is renewed in knowledge after
 spirit. This opens up the way to spiritual power,              the image of him that created him, Col. 3: 10. Hence,
 growth, and victory. Following this `line of thought,          Paul exhorts, "And this I pray that your love may
 young people are told that they may have been born             abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all
 in Christian homes, catechized by the church, had              judgment; that ye may approve things that are
 Christian instruction, yet not be Christian. In order to       excellent; that ye may be sincere and without  offence
 be sure one is a Christian he needs an "experience".           till the day of Christ," Philippians 1: 9.
 We need an encounter with God. When this happens,                 Spiritual growth involves understanding. The oppo-
 the Spirit takes over our life and we can "feel the            site is also true. Ignorance destroys. "My people are de-
 difference". Our whole. life changes and we have a             stroyed for lack of knowledge, because thou has re-
 warm feeling inside and a glow of contentment. `When           jected knowledge, I will also reject. thee,"  Hosea  4:6.
 you get this, you have what it takes to grow.                  This lack of knowledge was not due to the fact that no
       Closely connected with this is the foolish notion        one informed Israel. They were informed, but they
 that such a person is able to reach spiritual                  didn't want what they heard. Their ignorance was root-
 perfection. You can detect this emphasis in                    ed in outright rejection. What a warning for young  peo-
 evangelical novels, devotional materials, so called            ple.You have every opportunity to grow in understand-
 Christian movies. If you get the spirit, former                ing. You have Christian parents in the home who guide
 appetites disappear, you are a different person, you           you in understanding life. You sit under the pure
 are spirit  fille'd. The impression is left that you reach     preaching of the word and have this further explained
 such spiritual ecstasy that the whole world appears to         in catechism. Some of you go to our own Protestant
 be filled with love and good.                                  Reformed high school, others to Christian schools.
       To deal with this error, we have to do two things:       What are you doing with all this knowledge? Are you
 first, we have to ask what is spiritual growth and then        understanding it? Do you see how the Bible gives
 consider how we grow spiritually. We will consider             direction for the whole of our life? Bible history is
 the former aspect in this article.                             essential for understanding. Bible truths form the
                                                                foundation for our Christian life today. With the
 GROWTHINUNDERSTANDING                                          Word of God as our key to interpretation, we can
       I cannot imagine a Christian young person that is        understand God's purpose with history, we can


                                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                                        63


recognize that the times in which we live serve for the                            born. again he cannot see the kingdom of heaven,"
development of sin and the salvation of the Church.                                John  3:3. This rebirth is a demonstration of God's
  Ask  .yourself seriously, are you growing in                                     love to us. No one can be born of his own will, no
understanding? You have more than facts  - you can                                 more than it was possible with our natural birth. God
interpret these facts and understand the whys of life.                             freely in, love gives us a new heart. As this influence
This must be your goal with all the instruction you                                of love grows in our hearts, our understanding
receive.                                                                           becomes enlightened and our will becomes activated
                                                                                   to do God's will. All of this is rooted in the heart.
GROWTH IN CONVICTION                                                                 Hence spiritual growth involves our response to
  C l o s e l y   c o n n e c t e d   w i t h   u n d e r s t a n d i n g   i s    God for His love. The apostle John suggests this
conviction. Understanding is foremost a matter of the                              response,  "We love him, because He first loved us," I
mind as controlled by the heart. Conviction is a                                   John 4 : 19. Paul in the Spirit  .expresses  it so
matter of the will as controlled by the heart.                                     beautifully, "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by
  To grow spiritually, we must reach a point at                                    faith; that ye being rooted and grounded in love, may
which we  believe  what we are taught. There is a                                  be able to comprehend with all saints, what is the
difference between nodding your head when your                                     breadth, and the length, and depth, and height; and
teacher, minister, or parent tells you that this or that                           to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge
is right. Little children are the best at doing this, so                           that ye might be filled with the  fulness of God," Eph.
much that,  lTesus used their implicit faith as a model                            3: 17-19.
for our Christian response, Matt.  18:3. You must                                    This love of God in Christ is expressed personally
come to believe that what they say is  riglzt,   not just                          in the desire to be right with God. We know that God
because they say it but because you believe it.                                    is a holy God and He has established His will for us in
  This conviction is expressed in two ways. First, it is                           His Word, especially in the commandments. We know
a response of faith to the knowledge you have come                                 that our place in the covenant is a free gift of God to
to understand. Most of you young people know what                                  us through Jesus Christ. In our response of love  .to
truth is taught in our Reformed confessions. It is                                 God, we must desire God's friendship. We thrill to
summarized in our catechism books. Spiritual growth                                hear Him speak to us through His.Word. We desire to
takes you beyond a simple understanding. It leads                                  please God and do His will. We desire to see His smile
you to a response. You become convinced that it is                                 of approval upon us. We desire to have the assurance
the only truth faithful to God's Word. Such                                        that He is blessing us. All this is rooted in our love of
conviction leads you to put great value upon it, for                               God.,
when we act out of conviction, we act responsibly.                                   Look at your life as a young person. Are you
Then we will not leave the faith, but will continue to                             growing in your love of God? Does the fact that God
confess that which we are convinced is true.                                       has included you in His eternal covenant cause you to
Secondly, conviction is expressed as assurance of our                              respond in love to God? Is God precious to you?
personal salvation. Salvation is not a matter of the                               Does your prayer life show that you love God? (You
mind. It involves the mind, but is not limited to it.                              know it is easiest to speak to  B-real friend.) Do you
Salvation is ultimately a matter of the heart. The                                 do this while at the same time you reverence God's
heart influences our will so' that we respond                                      holy name?
personally and say that we are included in the blood
of Christ that taketh away the sin of the world, we                                GROWTH IN OBEDIENCE
are one of God's elect, we are also going to go to                                   This is the final aspect of spiritual growth. It
heaven, the hope of the redeemed. Such growth leads                                follows the proceding three. As we intimated, growth
-us  t o   c o n f e s s , "I will  delight  myself in thy                         in love is not some sentimental feeling for God, but is
commandments which I have loved,"  Ps:  119:47. Paul                               a  spiritual  response of joy in His covenant friendship.
also expressed it this way, "I am  persuaded  that                                 That love can best be tested by our conduct. This is
neither death nor life . . . shall be able to separate us                          true in our experience with one another. How do you
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our                                  show your parents that you love them? Yes, by
Lord," Rom.  8:38, 39.                                                             telling them so, but more  signficantly, by obeying
GROWTH IN L&E                                                                      them.
   Since salvation is rooted in our hearts, the basic                                Growth in love means two things.
spiritual growth. is that of love. Our heart is the                                  First, we believe what God says in His Word and
fountain of love. Isn't it significant that God's first                            hold that for truth. Imagine the contempt, when man
work of salvation is in the heart? Regeneration is                                 presumes that God is not able to reveal His will to us
God's act of implanting a new seed in our hearts. So                               without making mistakes, without having proud man
significant is this that Jesus said,  "Except's  man be                            to  deciper the message. This is the boldest effrontery


64                                              THE STANDARD BEARER



of man upon God's love. How can anyone truly say                guide our lives according to the will of God given to
`that he loves God, and turn right around and distort           us in the Bible.
or deny His Word? He can't. So young people,                      It is this last idea that produces the best objective
spiritual growth means that we always reverence                 proof of our spiritual growth. Are you able to turn
God's Holy Word. Love requires this of us. We                   away from the devil,. to resist temptation, to  delight
recognize God's greatness, His ability to reveal His            in doing the will of God and find peace in His way?
truth to us, the value of God's Word for us. Spiritual          As we grow spiritually, this should be true of each of
growth requires of us diligence in reading and                  us. The more we are on the way of spiritual growth,
studying God's Word and receiving it as the Word of             the easier this will become. Not one of us is able to
God.  `.                                                        do this perfectly. We all must strive daily; yet the
      Secondly, we must do more than read the Bible.            outcome of such striving differs from one child of
We must obey what God commands. Love requires                   God to another.
this of us. "We walk by faith not by sight," II Cor.              That difference is the degree of spiritual growth.
5:7. To walk by sight means we ignore the Bible and
do things our own way. To walk by faith means `we                 How much are you growing?


THE DAY OF SHADOWS

              [Note: This article should have appeared in the October 15 issue. The article which did
              appear in the October 15 issue under the same title should have  followed  this article and
              should have carried the title, "Faltering Faith And Guiding Grace." The mix-up is neither
              the fault of the author nor the fault of the editor, but of our typesetter, who apologizes for
              the error. HCH]
                                         Sovereign Separation
                                                   Rev. John A. Heys

      He lived to the southeast of the site of the             God, and that the large majority of those around him
unfinished tower of Babel, and he had no intention of          were his enemies who were ready to stamp out the
moving away. But when the word of the Lord came                 true religion by killing him. And although it is true
to Abram, he left Ur of the Chaldees to go, as                 that God did take Noah and his family out of such a
Hebrews  11:8 states, "to a land which he knew not."           situation and saved them  by  water, yet He kept Noah
It was one he had never seen, and from which he had             there for one hundred  *twenty  years and protected
received no reports. And on his journey to that. land          him from the hands of the enemy that despised him
he passed close by that tower of Babel in its                   for his preaching of righteousness.- He could have
unfinished state. What is more, God called him to               done the same thing for Abram in Ur of the Chaldees,
leave the area where the descendants of Shem, whose             and in fact did do that now in Canaan.
God Jehovah `would be, had settled after the                      Canaan was full of unbelievers, and so vile were
confusion of speech, and led him to where the                  two of the cities that God destroyed them with fire
children of cursed Canaan had firmly settled and               and brimstone. God did not bring him to a land that
filled the land.                                               gladly gave him freedom of religion, but in the midst
      The mistaken notion that has gained ground is that        of an enemy that wanted to kill him, and that God
God did all this to preserve the true religion. A wrong        kept from doing as it desired. It was neither virgin soil
answer so often sticks where the truth is easily               where no man had tilled before, and where no one
forgotten. We remember back in the days of our                 had, staked out a claim, or where few had done so;
catechetical instruction as  `a'.youth  that our book          nor was it virgin in its dedication to the living God.
asked the question, "Why did God call Abram out of             Idolatry abounded. So evil was the country that
Ur of the Chaldees?" And the answer we committed               Abraham had to send for a wife for his son, Isaac,
to memory, and that still sticks there today was, "To          outside of its citizenship. And we had better be
preserve the true religion."                                   careful not to read into the Scriptures what God has
                                                               not written there. Abram was not called  .out to
      This is incorrect,,.and behind it is the notion that     preserve the true religion. His separation from the
has not one word of proof in Scripture, namely, that            other descendants of Shem was sovereign, but it was
Abraham's life was in danger because he  b.elieved in


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                     65


not to preserve the true religion from the danger of         all the human race' by the waters of the flood and
b e i n g   e x t e r m i n a t e d .                        Noah was told that in him and his children the
   Besides, there is that constant principle in              covenant was established. It would run in the line of
Scripture that the calling of the child of God is not        his children. Here God's church would be found.
world flight but world fight. We are always called to        Then came a sharper drawing of the line to point out
live the antithesis, to walk as children of light in the     the descendants of Shem as those whose children
midst of the children of darkness, to be witnesses of        would be called the children of God. And now God
God among the ungodly. And to do that God called             narrows that lineage of Shem down to Abram and his
Abram, neither to flee from some persecutors, nor to         seed. God called Abram to set him and his children
have it easy to serve God among men of like mind.            aside as the generation wherein the believers of the
                                                             Old Testament dispensation would be found. For that
   We do well to note what God says Himself and              reason God called him away from all the rest of
what reason He gives for this call. In Genesis 12: 1-3       Shem's descendants. And though there were still for a
we read, "Now the Lord had said to Abram, Get thee           time believers of Shem's descendants living there in Ur
out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from           of the Chaldees not only, but also in other sections of
thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:       the area where Shem's and even Japheth's descendants
And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will           dwelt, and also in fact in Ham's  - for we must not
bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt          forget the Ethiopian eunuch  - God chose and called
be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee,        Abram to be the father of the seed that would bring
and curse him that  curseth thee: and in thy seed shall      forth the Christ. And therefore it is that God declares
all families of the earth be blessed." And although it       here that in him all families of the earth shall be blessed.
may be admitted that Abram's father served idols, as         They shall be blessed in Christ, Who comes out of the
we read in Joshua  24:2, yet this is not mentioned           loins of Abraham and not from any other descendant
here at all as the reason for calling Abram from the         of Shem and of Noah.
house of his father. In fact his father went with him a
good deal of the way. And the correct answer to the            This raises an interesting question. Why Abram?
question as to why God called Abraham out of Ur of           Why a man whose wife is already sixty-five years of
the Chaldees is: to establish the covenant with him          age and proven to be barren? Why this man among all
and his seed after him. Note that last statement from        the other descendants of Shem? Was he stronger in
the mouth of God, "And in thy seed shall all families        faith? Did God find a man more suitable, more
of  themearth be blessed."                                   worthy than all the rest living in that day? Why must
                                                             the rest of the line of  Shem be eliminated and one
   Subsequent. history, as it is recorded in the             man and his wife be removed to such a wicked region
Scriptures, also shows without a shadow of a doubt           to fulfill in them all the covenant promises of a seed
that God's purpose in calling Abram out of Ur of the         of the woman that would crush the head of the
Chaldees and in sending him all that way into the            serpent and his seed, and would work in the hearts of
very heart of the descendants of cursed Canaan, was          a multitude that no one can number enmity against
to establish with him the covenant which He first            Satan and his whole kingdom?
made known to Adam after his fall. Up until the day            Certainly we can rule out any worthiness on
that God sent the New Testament Church to preach             Abram's part. And it is quite obvious that God did
the gospel to the Gentiles, it is the line of Abram that     not choose  Sarai because she promised to be so very
is traced and that  ,is always on the foreground in          fertile that a seed and a church is sure there in that
Scripture. And what we see thus. far  - or should see        land of Canaan. Abram was no more worthy than
at least  - in the. first twelve chapters of Genesis is a    Sarai was fertile.  Sarai could not conceive a child, and
sovereign and very distinct narrowing down of the            Abram could not originate a spiritually righteous
line of the covenant.                                        activity. What faith Abram had, and is recorded in
   God in His mercy came to His covenant breaker,            Hebrews 11: 8, came from this same God that called
Adam, and in his hearing told Satan that He would            him. In fact before God called him to leave Ur of the
take out of the fallen human race a seed in whose            Chaldees, God called him to faith. God called faith
hearts He would again place the love of God and              into him, instilled in him the spiritual power whereby
hatred against Satan and his whole kingdom, a people         he would believe and would obey. It is not Abram's
to whom He would give the victory, and set aside for         worthiness that singled him out. It was God's
His own. It appeared at first as though, this seed           sovereign grace. And that sovereign grace also gave
would continue in  Abgl's children, but he was               him this barren wife, Yes, that was God's gift to
brutally murdered by his brother before he could             Abram. From eternity He had chosen just this wife
bring forth any children. God gave Adam and Eve              for Abram; and He called him with that kind of wife
another Son, Seth, in whom the line continued until          knowing full well her hopeless barrenness. He made
the day that Noah and his family were separated from         her that way and wanted her to be that way. And He


  66                                                              THE STANDARD BEARER

  wanted this particular  Shemite with that kind of wife                            upon what they looked for and on which their faith
  to be the root out of which He would bring forth an                               was firmly attached. They sought a country and did
  innumerable host, and the Christ Who brings blessings                             not look back at the one they left at God's command.
  to every family of the earth.                                                       What a lesson here for us when this world's goods
        It was sovereign grace that planned and executed                            will be taken away from us, and the forces of
  all this. In God's grace Abram became the father of                               darkness will crowd more and more into our spheres
  all believers. He did not become the father of all                                of life pretty soon to deny us the right to buy and to
  believers and therefore become the object of God's                                sell, to eat and to live, to follow our livelihood and to
  grace. I t   a l l   b e g a n   w i t h   G o d ,   e t e r n a l l y   a n d    retain our few earthly possessions. Look not back at
  sovereignly. At no point of our salvation does any                                what you gave up for the cause of Christ, but in faith
  part begin with us. That salvation, in every part,                                look forward to the city which hath foundations, the
  reaches back into eternity.                                                       heavenly country, the land to which God calls all His
        We must not, as is  ,often done, stress how much                            people, and where He blesses us in Christ, The Seed
  Abram gave up in heeding this call. Faith looks                                   of Abraham.
  always at what he got! Read again that "Faith                                       And then thank God for  1 calling you in His
  C h a p t e r " of Hebrews 11. Read verses thirteen                               sovereign grace, you, who by nature are not better
  through sixteen, "These all died in faith, not having                             than those who belong to the kingdom of the prince
  received the promises, .but having seen them afar off,                            of this earth. It is grace that separates us from the
  and were persuaded of them, and embraced them,                                    world. It is grace that makes us pilgrims and strangers
  and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims                               amid a larger host that has nothing but this earth, and
  on the earth. For they that say such things declare                               has it for such a short time. Thousands upon
  plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they                              thousands will stay behind when Christ comes to
  had been mindful of that country from whence they                                 gather His own into His kingdom with its glory.
  came, they might have had opportunity to have                                     Thank God for sovereign grace that included you in
  returned. But now they desire a better country, that                              the number of those whom He calls to enter this
  is an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be                                country you have never seen, but is your inheritance
  called their God."                                                                through His Son Who gave up all, His very life, that
        Did you note that the stress is not on what they                            we might have the right to this better life and better
  left behind, and upon what they did without? It is all                            country.



  FROM HOLY WRIT

                              EXPOSITION OF HEBREWS  11:35-38
                                                                       Rev. G. Lubbers


        We now must consider the  Dower of faith as this                            THE PEOPLE OF GOD SUFFERING GREAT
  comes to manifestation in  theigreat suffering of the                             THINGS BY FAITH (Hebrews  11:35-38)
  people of God in this world. It is difficult to give
  adequate interpretation of such suffering of the                                    It is said of the suffering saints "of whom the
  saints. Here we see the "patience of the saints." There                           world was not worthy." What is this world which is
  will be such a display in the final and great                                     not worthy of these suffering saints in the Old
  tribulation; however, such is also the daily and                                  Testament Dispensation as well as in the New
  `constant experience of the saints.  For the sake of                              Testament Dispensation? Our Lord Jesus character-
  God and Christ they are killed all the day long.                                  izes this "world" as something very hostile to
  Principally  they, suffer and are hated without a cause.                          the saints. Says he "in the world ye shall have
  Only because the saints loved the Lord their God                                  tribulation." In this world the place of God's people
  above all else were they destitute, afflicted, tor-                               is made very narrow and small. They have very little
  mented!                                                                           room to live. They are  pggrims and strangers and
        We do well to take a closer look and take the shoes                         would only like to pass through; however, they receive
  from off our feet. For the Lord's way leads through                               hardly enough room to live and to have their being,
* the holy place both in grace and in judgment of the                               because of their relationship to Christ, who died for
  w i c k e d .                                                                     them and rose again.


                                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                       67


    This "world" of which Hebrews  11:38 speaks is                                     walking in faith we are of the people of God of whom
the entire creation of God from the viewpoint of its                                   the world is not worthy, the very apple of God's eye;
being under the dominion of the prince of this world,                                  nothing can pluck us out of the hand of the God
the Devil. He is the murderer of man from  the                                         when we walk in faith. Yea, in this faith we conquer
beginning, and he is the great instigator against the                                  the world!
people of God. And he rules in the hearts of both
demons and wicked men. His world was destroyed by                                      THE EXAMPLE OF BELIEVING WOMEN WHO
God in the days of Noah in the flood. God did not                                      RECEIVED THEIR CHILDREN FROM THE DEAD.
spare the ungodly but caused them all to `perish. (II                                  (Hebrews  11':35)
Peter  2:5) This is the world which passes away (I                                        The first woman which comes to mind as fitting
John 2: 17) and we are not to love this world neither                                  this description is the woman in Zarephath in the
the things. which are in the same. The friendship of                                   land of Zidon. Elijah,  t$e Tishbite, had been sent to
this world is accounted to be enmity with God                                          her as a prophet who was rejected in his own country.
(James  4:4). This is the world, whether this be within                                She had a son who became ill unto death while Elijah
the church or outside of the church, which is not                                      was staying there in flight from Ahab and Jezebel.
worthy of the very saints which they cause to suffer                                   And this son died. And this believing woman received
unto death.                                                                            her son again from death by faith. She had great faith
   This is also the world which Christ has conquered.                                  in giving Elijah to eat when there was not enough left
Satan and his angels are cast out. At the cross Christ                                 for herself and for her son. She had faith that Elijah's
made an open shame of them. They can never more                                        God would constantly replenish her store. And she
be the accusers of the brethren. (Rev. 12: 10) The                                     had faith when Elijah raised her son, and exclaimed
legal ground for such accusation is taken away from                                    "Now I know thou art a man of God, and that the
them. Who shall bring any charge against the elect of                                  word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth." (I Kings
God? God it is who justifies. Who shall condemn?                                       17: 1-14) This woman is remembered by the Lord
Christ it is that is risen, Who is even at the right hand                              Jesus in his sermon in the synagogue in Nazareth. The
of God, who also intercedes for us. Who  shall separate                                people did not believe in Him. He rebukes their
us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or                                      unbelief by calling attention to this woman as being
distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or                                  received of the Lord, although she was a heathen
peril or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are                                  woman, a Zidonian.
killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for                                    The second woman who was evidently in the mind
the slaughter" (Rom.  8:33-39).                                                        of the writer to the Hebrews is the Shunamite
    Christ has so completely  coriquered  the world,                                   woman,  who is called a "great woman." (II Kings
b o t h   f o r   t h e   s a i n t s   o f   t h e   O l d   a n d   t h e   N e w    4:8) This woman prepared a room and table and bed
Testament, that they are more than  conquerers                                         for the prophet Elisha so that he might have a place
through him. Writes Paul, "For I am persuaded that                                     to rest while he passed through in his labors. She was
neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor  principalitie.s,                             a friend, too, of the prophet of the Lord as was the
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,                                    woman of Zarephath. Only she was not a heathen
nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be                                 w o m a n , b u t   o n e   w h o   tias  c o n t e n t   "t o   d w e l l
able to separate us from the love of God which is in                                   amongst" her people. She had no child, but upon the
Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rom.  8.37-39)                                                prophets announcement she received a child in faith.
                                                                                       Howbeit the Lord caused the child to die due to
   This truth we see exemplified in the lives of the                                   exposure to the sun. However, this woman walked in
suffering saints of which Hebrews  II:3538 speaks.                                     faith and pressed on to see Elisha at  Carmel and upon
   We are given to see the great power of faith in the                                 the return of the prophet she received her child from
suffering saints, but we also see that it is not unusual                               the dead in faith! This  *was a faith which believed in
and strange that God's people suffer in the world.                                     the power of Christ  t6 raise the dead to life. And in
According to Hebrews  11:35-38 such suffering is not                                   this type of Christ's work the believers of the
the exception, but it is the general rule for the life of                              Hebrews must press on.
the church in the world. The seed of the woman
constantly is persecuted and killed by the seed of the                                 T H E   C R U E L   T R E A T M E N T   O F   " O T H E R S ".
serpent. Such is the rule from Abel, who was killed                                    ( H e b r e w s   11:36-38)
by Cain because his works were righteous, till                                            Faith stands up not only in the mighty deeds of
Zacharias the son of Berachias who was slain between                                   the saints by which they slay kingdoms and nations,
the altar and the temple. (Matt.  23:34, 35) And it is                                 but also in the patient suffering in hope of the glory
for that very reason that the Hebrew saints in Christ                                  of God. (Rom. 5: l-4) That is what we see here in this
Jesus must stand unmoveable, walk in faith and  liot                                   catalogue of suffering saints taken from the pages of
fall back through unbelief into perdition. For thus                                    Israel's history.


68                                              THE STANDARD BEARER



      1. They were "tortured." The Greek term for               opportunity not to die if only they would eat the
tortured is one which means: a breaking on the                  flesh. They had their tongues cut out, they were
wheel. To give much hurt and pain with studied                  shorn of the hair on their head, yet they died rather
cruelty. Death and suffering were made as long and              than deny the faith; and they looked for a better
hard and as difficult as possible. "It describes a              resurrection. This mother is reported to have spoken
punishment like breaking on the wheel. The                      to her son saying, "My son have pity on me that
extremities of the sufferer were fastened to a frame,           carried thee nine months in my womb, and gave thee
and his limbs then broken  by heavy clubs, beaten to            such three years, and nourished and brought thee up
death." (Westcott) But their faith shown brightly in            unto this age, and sustained thee. . . . Fear not this
such sufferings. They refused to accept the proffered           butcher, but, proving thyself worthy of thy brethren,
deliverance from such sufferings by denouncing their            accept thy death, that in the mercy of God I may
faith or by connivance. An instance of this we have in          receive thee again with thy brethren." II Maccabees
II Maccabees 6: 18-3 1 where we read of the venerable           7: l-29
Eleazar, who was compelled by Antiochus Epiphanes                  In a later period in the history of the church we
to eat swine's flesh. He refused to open his mouth              think of a Blaridina who in the great spectacle in the
and eat. When the man  who had charge of this                   arena under the persecution of Marcus Aurelius
forbidden sacrificial feast took him aside and told             (161-180 A.D.) was the last to die. By the most
him to eat meat "such as was befitting to him" he               horrible tortures they tried to make the Christians
refused to pretend that he was eating swine's flesh.            deny their faith. In Lyons and Vienne of Gaul
Rather he chose to die "by manfully parting from my             (France) the spectacle took place. From far and near
life" to "leave behind an noble ensample to the                 the unbelievers flocked to see this spectacle of the
young to die willingly and nobly to the glorious death          killing' of the Christians. History tells us that these  till
for the reverend and holy laws." This was at the time           met their death with great joy. Blandina, we are told,
of the  `yabomination  of iniquity in the holy place" of        was the last to die. "She had been a spectator of the
which Daniel spoke. Eleazar lived and died under the            death of many others, and she had constantly
types and shadows in the Old Testament. He clung in             encouraged and exhorted them to remain steadfast to
.faith to the Christ in these shadows. Even  though he          the end. With joy and thanksgiving she entered the
might not fully understand, he yet died in faith and            arena. A net was thrown over her. Then she was
looked for a better resurrection. And the Hebrew                exposed to the fury of the bull. Several times the bull
ChiistianS, who read the Septuagint and also these              took her upon his horns and threw her into the air.
books of the Maccabees, understood this reference. If           At last she was dead."  (The Church in History,
there is a glorification here of a "hero" the fact is           Kuiper)
that he died as one who lived by faith. That is the                Such is the power of faith to endure suffering in
tacit assumption in Hebrews 11.                                 the hope of a better resurrection!
      Another instance we have in the mother who had               This truth must sink.deep into the hearts of the
seven sons who died at  th? time of Antiochus                   Hebrew Christians. Nothing happens to them as saints
Epiphanes and his  descration of the temple. This               in the New Testament which had not already befallen
mother saw her sons slain and tortured before her               the saints as they lived under the shadows and types
very eyes. These sons, too, w&e offered the                    of the Old Testament dispensation.



                                         FAITH PROTESTANT REFORMED
                                                         C H U R C H
             is in need of  $33,500.00 to finance the construction of our parsonage, and will offer the
             following notes:
                                                 7%               l-2 years
                                                 7Yz%            3-5 years
                                                 8%              6 years
                                         (interest to be  paih semi-annually)
               These notes will be issued in denominations of not less than $500.00. Every consideration
             will be given for early redemption. For further information call (616) 457-3278 or (616)
             457-l 417, or write David Ondersma, 676 1 Brookwood Ct., Grandville,  Mich. 49418. We ask
             that you give this cause  jrour prayerful consideration.


                                                                      THE STANDARD BEARER                                                      69


QUESTION BOX

                                                                  About Isaiah 5

                                                                        Prafi H. C. Hoeksema



   From a west coast reader I received the following                                     have here then the presentation that God is
question: "Did God come with a promise and grace                                         disappointed in His own work. He expected good
to Israel when He spoke to them through His prophet                                      fruits; wild grapes are brought forth. You have here
Isaiah in Chapter 5 of the Prophecy of Isaiah?"                                          the presentation that God's people fall away, and that
Reply                                                                                    God Himself is changeable. For the same people
    My questioner does not shed any further light on                                     which He once loved, He will reject and destroy. In a
the meaning of his question and the reason for his                                       word, you have here then all the dreadful errors of
                                                                                         Arminianisin together. And do not say now that here
question. Hence, it is a bit difficult for me to                                         we  ,have the one line and that the other line is that of
understand precisely what he has in  mind. The                                           eternal election and irresistible grace. For those two
question itself is, of course, very plain. It is, in fact,                               lines are simply mutually exclusive. To wish to
s o   p l a i n   t h a t   w h e n   y o u   r e f e r   t o   t h e   c h a p t e r    maintain both is impossible. That is the juggling
mentioned, Isaiah 5, the question seems to be almost                                     which the Christian Reformed Churches attempt.
preposterous. I cannot quote the whole chapter here,
of course. But if the reader will look up Isaiah 5, he                                      "But if you hold fast to the organic idea, then all
will discover that there is in the entire chapter not a                                  the difficulties disappear. Then you have here the one
single note of promise and grace. The entire chapter is                                  people which is nevertheless two-fold; one vineyard
a chapter which speaks of severe -judgment and                                           which nevertheless brings forth a two-fold fruit. From
vengeance upon the inhabitdnts of Jerusalem and the                                      the viewpoint of its good kernel, that vineyard is the
men of Judah  - the church of the old dispensation.                                      object of God's favor. For the sake of that good
There are many such passages in Scripture, especially                                    kernel the Lord cultivates that vineyard. He does all
in the `prophetic books of the Old Testament. And                                        that there is to be done  ,to a vineyard. Thus the Lord
such passages which seem to be completely negative,                                      did with Israel. Thus He also expected good fruits.
which speak only of judgment, present a problem.                                         Nor was He disappointed in that expectation by that
For after all, these, pronouncements of judgment are                                     good kernel. But at the same time there grew in that
addressed to the church of the old dispensation. And                                     vineyard a great  .many bad branches, which grew so
then the question arises how this- is possible. For is                                   luxuriantly that it sometimes appeared as though
not the church  the.object of God's love? And is not                                     there was nothing good in the entire vineyard. Thus it
the promise of salvation for the church? And are not                                     was in the time of Isaiah. From that viewpoint now  -
all the blessings of grace for that church?                                              not from the viewpoint of that good and elect kernel
                                                                                         - but from the viewpoint of that reprobate element,
   In order to  undeistand  ihis, we must hold fast to                                   the vineyard is  here addressed. Also that evil element
the organic idea of the church and of God's covenant.                                    in Israel, along with the good kernel, was cultivated.
Writing in connection with this very passage,                                            In the outward sense of the word they had together
especially the first seven verses, the `Rev. H.                                          received the same labor. They had the same sign of
Hoeksema says  the following in  Believers And Their                                     the covenant; they were in the same manner delivered
Seed,  pp. 118-l 20:                                                                     from Egypt; they had the same giving of the law, the
   " I f   y o u   d o   n o t   h o l d   f a s t   t o   t h e   o r g a n i c         same fathers, the same covenants. They had the same
presentation which you find throughout Scripture,                                        temple, the same altars, the same offerings. They
you have here in this one passage a firm basis for all                                   dwelt in the same land, and they enjoyed the  sanie
the errors of Arminianism. You have here then, first                                     benefits of the land. The same prophets were sent
of all, a clear proof for the assertion that grace is                                    unto them, and the same word was directed to them.
resistible and that it is iri last instance dependent                                    And all these things caused the same outcome to  be
upon the free will of those to whom it is offered. God                                   expected: the bringing forth of godd fruits of
says here that He has done all that He could do to His                                   righteousness. But that reprobate element in Israel
vineyard. There is nothing more to be done. But His                                      brought forth the wild grapes of unrighteousness.
grace is simply rejected by the free will of men. You  -....  ._ Therefore the Lord shall presently destroy and curse


70                                                             THE STANDARD BEARER


His vineyard, considered now from this viewpoint.                                which contains no single element of promise, but is
But when all  @is has happened, has God then cast                                filled with pronouncements of judgment from
away His people? Indeed, you  kriow better. God                                  beginning to end. You must bear in mind, however,
never casts away His people. The  irineyard  may be                              that it is precisely through these judgments and
pruned and sometimes apparently wholly destroyed;                                through the execution of these judgments that the
the remnant according to the election of grace is                                Lord nevertheless saves His people. For "Zion shall be
always preserved. And the Lord receives the expected                             redeemed `through judgment." Once again, I hope I
fruit from His own work."                                                        have shed some light on this subject for my questioner.
      It is only, I believe, if you bear in mind this organic                    If I missed the point of his question, he is welcome
idea, that you can understand a chapter such as this,                            to write again.


                                          From Our Business Manager
Esteemed Editor:
      I wonder if you could find. a little space in our                          BEARER! That fact is this: the only address to which
STANDARD BEARER for a few lines from your                                        (at least to  the best of my available information) our
Business Manager. If so, will you please print the                               STANDARD BEARER has been sent the past 50
following?                                                                       years is 843 Logan St., S.E., Grand Rapids, Michigan.
      At our recent annual R.F.P.A. meeting you spoke                               843 Logan St. is only a stone's throw from the
to your audience regarding historical events                                     Eastern Ave. Chr. Ref. Church. Fifty years ago this
concerning our organization. Your speech was most                                home was occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Dirk Karsies and
interesting! Hopefully it will be printed in a                                   family. Mr. Karsies was kndwn by many of  tl-$
forthcoming issue of THE STANDARD BEARER.                                        "Hollanders" here in Grand Rapids by the nickname
      One interesting fact you presented was that only                           of "Bakker Karsies". He was a baker by trade  -
one  of the charter members of the R.F.P.A. is still                             hence the term "Bakker". He was well known for his
living who is with our churches. That is indeed                                  excellent Hollandse  roggebrood  (Dutch rye-bread)
remarkable, and , according to our files, Mr. John                               and  also  for  his krentenbrood  (raisin-bread). No
Rust, residing in Kalamazoo,  Mich., is to this day a                            doubt, Mr. Editor, your father and mother, and
subscriber, a member of the R.F.P.A. and a faithful                              perhaps you also, enjoyed his delicious varieties of
contributor to our magazine.                                                     baked goods.
      However, it occurred to me while listening to your                           At the present time THE STANDARD BEARER is
speech that evening, that  many  of our Protestant                               still mailed to 843 Logan St. Miss Jennie Karsies still
R e f o r m e d   p e o p l e   h a v e ' b e e n .   r e a d i n g   T H E      resides at the home in which she was born  - more
STANDARD BEARER these many `years. But  - do                                     than 50 years ago.
you  .know that of all the homes to which our                                      After I phoned Miss Karsies, she remarked: "Dear
magazine has been mailed these past 50 years, only                               Mr. Vander Wal: From our recent interview I learned
ONE'has been sent to the same address?                                           this old family home has made `Historical  Heritage'.  1
      I wrote Mr. Rust, asking him if he had changed his                         am one of the three remaining of eleven children. So
residence. during the past 50 years. Mr. Rust wrote                              with father and mother making 13, there has been
back to me the following: "Dear brother Vander Wal,                              `plenty of living' here. But best of all, we have the
Thank you for your letter. I was born in the                                     memory of Godly parents. Training us in the ways of
Netherlands and come to the United States in 1907 at                             God's covenant is a `spiritual legacy' to us. My father
the age of 17 years. I am 84 years old and two weeks                             was `voorlezer and voorzinger' and also in the
ago I spent a week in the hospital for the first time as                         consistory of the Eastern Ave. Chr. Ref. Church
a patient for test and examination. Yesterday I was                              before we became the Protestant Ref. Church. Now
able to attend church services again. I attended the                             that they have joined the Church Triumphant and we
first meeting of the R.F.P.A. in the `basement of the                            stand in their shoes, the question is what are we
First Christian Reformed Church in  Kalatiazoo.  I                               leaving to this generation as a legacy? How long THE
h a v e   b e e n   a   s u b s c r i b e r   a n d   r e a d e r   of  T H E    STANDARD BEARER will still be sent to 843 Logan
STANDARD BEARER for fifty years. For your                                        St.  - well?"
records we lived at 628 W. Paterson Street from 1922
to 195 1. In 195 1 we moved to Jenks Blvd. Sincerely,                              We thank our faithful Covenant God for faithful
John Rust.  "                                                                    subscribers such as Miss Karsies and Mr. Rust.
      So, Mr. Editor, you now have another interesting                                                          Respectfully submitted,
fact you can add to the history of our STANDARD                                                                          H. Vander Wal


                                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                    71


                                        . Report of Cl&&~ *j&St
                                                                                                            ,a,,-F;
                                                                          October 2, 1974
                                                             Hudsonville Prot. Ref. Church



   Classis East met in regular session on October 2,                               the examination of Mr. den Hartog. The Pastor-elect
1974 at the Hudsonville Protestant Reformed                                        of Prospect Park began his examination with the
Church. Each church was, represented by two                                        preaching of a sermon based upon Philippians
delegates. Present also to witness and approve the                                 2:  12b-13  under the theme, "An Exhortation to Work
primary business of this session, the examination of                               Out Our Own Salvation." This was followed by his
Candidate and Pastor-elect of Prospect Park, A. Den                                being examined in the six dogmatical loci, knowledge
Hartog, were the  synodical delegates  ad  examha  from                            of the confessions, knowledge of the Scriptures,
Classis West: Rev. D. Engelsma, Rev. J. Kortering,                                 controversy, and practical matters. In all this,
and Rev. G.  Laming.  Rev. M. Joostens was called for                              Candidate den Hartog gave good account of himself.
the first time `in his ministerial career to chair this                            Classis and the delegates  ad examina  from  Classis
session.                                                                           West unanimously approved the examination and
   The session was begun with the preliminary                                      advised Prospect Park to proceed with Pastor-elect
matters of the reading of the minutes of the previous                             den Hartog's ordination and installation. After the
session, the signing of the Formula of Subscription by                             reading and signing of  the. Formula of Subscription,
the first-time attendees, the report of the Stated                                 pastor-elect den Hartog was presented with his
Clerk, the report of the Classical Committee, and the                              classical diploma:  Classis rose to sing the doxology
appointment of committees. Part of the report of the                               "May the grace of Christ our Savior" and a prayer of
Classical Committee was a schedule to be followed for                              thanksgiving was raised by Elder T. Engelsma.
                                                                                                                                 (continued on back page)





              RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                                `.                                            NOTICE
   The following societies of the Hudsonville Protestant Reformed                     The address of the Stated Clerk of the Protestant Reformed
Church wish to extend their sympathy to Mr. and Mrs. Bernard                       Churches from now until the next Synod, is as'follows:
Brunnick in the passing of their infant child:                                                            Rev. D. H. Kuiper
                                      Ladies Aid                                                          346 Water Street
                                Adult Bible Class                                                         Skowhegan, Maine 04976
                                  Sunday School                                                           Phone 207-474-9116

   It is our prayer that their confession may be the same as Job's, "The              Church Order books, Acts of Synod and various forms may be
Lord gave, and the Lord hath  taken  away; blessed be the name of the              obtained  by writing to the above address.
Lord." Job  I:21





              RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
   The Martha Ladies Aid Society of the Hull (Iowa) Protestant                                      Know the standard
Reformed Church wishes to express its heartfelt sympathy to two of its
members, Mrs. Ben Bleyenberg and Mrs. Tom De Jong, in the recent                                          and follow it.
death of their sister and mother-in-law MRS. GERBEN DE JONG.
         1
   "And we know that all things work together for good to them that
love God."  (Remans   8:28).                                                                                   Read the
                                                      Rev. J. Kortering, Pres.
                                                  Mrs. Nellie Brummel, Sec'y.                 STANDARD BEARER!

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





 72

       Two other items of business that were not routine
were also considered by the  classis. First, was the
request by First Church for the approval of the
temporary emeritation of Rev. G. Lubbers.  Classis did
so, but one could not help `but note that in Rev.
Lubbers' letter to First Church he expressed a desire
to continue to work if God so calls him. Second was
The matter of the request from our sister church in
Forbes, North Dakota for permission to contact the
churches in  Classis East for financial help to reduce
their indebtedness.  Classis readily granted approval.
       Kalamazoo requested classical appointments for
the next three months.  Classis approved this request
and adopted the following schedule: October 13  - H.
Veldman; October 20  - M. Schipper; October 27  - R.
Van Over-loop; November 3  - M. Joostens; November
10  - J. A, Heys; November 17  -  G., Van  Baren;
November 24  - C. Hanko; December 1  - H. Veldman;
December 8  - M. Schipper; December 15  - R. Van
Overloop; December 22  - M. Joostens; December 29  -
J. A. Heys; January 5  - A. den Hartog; January 12  -
G. Van Baren.
  The Finance Committee, constituted of Elders T.
Engelsma and D. Dykstra, reported, and  classis
approved, expenses of $690.42.
  The church visitors had no final' report. Prospect
Park must still be visited. The question was raised
`again whether Prospect Park's visitation could be
carried out at the time of  classis to save traveling
expenses.  Classis, however, as in the July meeting,
rejected this idea. The feeling of the  classis was that
by traveling to Prospect Park, the church visitors
could visit with the entire congregation and thus
could encourage and strengthen them all.
  After the questions of Article 41 of the Church
Order were asked and satisfactorily answered, Rev.  C.,
Hanko offered the closing prayer.  Classis East stands
adjourned until January 8, 1975 which  ,meeting  will
be held in First Church.
           _     _     .               .,          _.

                                 Respectfully submitted,
                                             Jon Huisken
                                        r    Stated Clerk
                                              Classis East


