        TANDARD
         BEARERS
f- A REFORMED SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE                                   -4





                                 Volume LI, Number 5, December 1,  19741


98                                              THE STANDARD BEARER


MEDITA TIO N


                            The Saving Grace of God

                                                   Rev. M. Schipper
                "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that,
             denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this
             present world;"
                                                                                             Titus 2:11, 12


      Obviously our text is not a complete sentence. It        the fundamental idea of grace. We further insist that
ends in a semicolon; which means that more is                  grace is a more comprehensive concept than is
following. The complete thought includes also the              expressed in unmerited favor.
verses 13 and 14. To these verses we will call                   In Scripture in general, and in the text in
attention, the Lord willing, in our next Meditation.           particular, the fundamental idea of grace is beauty.
What we must see now is the truth that the grace of
God teaches us how to live in the present world. What            Grace is that goodness of God according to which
we will see next time is: that this same grace of God          He is beautiful and lovely in Himself.
makes us to hope for the final appearance of the great           When the Word of God speaks of God as the
God and our Saviour, Jesus Christ.                             gracious God, as it so often does, the Word of God
      The little  conjuntion  "for" which introduces our       reflects, first of all, on the beauty and loveliness of
text expresses the ground or reason for the entire             God Himself. Apart from any relationship He may
preceding context. Not merely is our text connected            have with the creature, God is everlastingly the good
to the two verses which immediately precede it, as             and beautiful God. Though no man by searching can
some insist; but the text serves as ground for all that        find out God so as to comprehend Him, for He is a
the apostle writes from the beginning of the chapter.          great deep; nevertheless all the searching into His holy
                                                               self-revelation will only produce a good and beautiful
      Titus is exhorted to speak that which becomes            God. Negatively and reverently speaking, there is
sound doctrine. He is to speak it in such a way that it        nothing that is ugly and repulsive in Him. In one
applies to all: aged men and aged women, young                 word, He is the beauteous, infinitely perfect One.
women and young men, to servants in relation to
their own masters. In the concluding verse-of this               When God reveals Himself to the creature, all that
chapter Titus is exhorted to speak the Word and                the creature can say is: How beautiful Thou art!
exhort with all authority.                                       This is the grace of God in God Himself.
      For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath          Moreover, when God gives His grace to the
appeared to all men!                                           creature, it is His design to draw that creature to
      For that reason and on this ground he is to preach       Himself in favor, whereby He blesses him and gives
the Word with authority to all!                                him beauty and glory, even though the creature is
The grace of God, that is, the grace that bringeth             most undeserving, guilty, and corrupt.
salvation, has appeared!                                         This is the grace of God for the creature!
      Most generally the grace of God is conceived of as         Undoubtedly it is this grace of God to which the
unmerited -favor. And we have no objection to this             text refers. The grace of God is that grace of which
explanation of grace as such. It can be shown from             He is the sole possessor and dispenser. Grace
Scripture that grace does have this interpretation. It         therefore has its source and fountain head in God. If
must also certainly be admitted that whatever is               there is any grace revealed in the world, it must come
implied as coming to us of grace is surely favor that is       from Him. That it is the grace of God, means that He
unmerited. We do, however, object when it is                   is the one Who bestows it. It is His gift. "For by grace
maintained that unmerited favor is the sole meaning            are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves,
of grace. We even insist that unmerited favor is not           it is the gift of God." Eph. 2:8.


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  99


  The grace that bringeth salvation!                           In fact, even his speech was in reverse. Since the fall
  The words "that bringeth" are commentary, and                man says continually No to God; and he says Yes to
inserted by the translator. There can be no serious            evil. When grace which saves makes its appearance, we
objection to the translation provided that we do not           are taught to change our speech, as well as our lives.
conclude two separate ideas here: grace and salvation.         We are taught to say No to all ungodliness.
Literally we read: "For the grace of God, salvation to            Ungodliness, as the word suggests, signifies what is
all men, hath appeared." Very plainly the apostle              thoroughly characteristic of the natural man, namely,
identifies salvation with grace. In other words, he            that he will have nothing to do with God. Sometimes
says, "the grace of God which is salvation, hath               the word is translated: "impious". Ungodliness is the
appeared, etc." The meaning is: the grace of God               withholding from God His due. It implies a standing
which realizes salvation, the purpose of which is to           in open opposition and rebellion against God.
make us beautiful as God is beautiful, hath appeared.             To this the apostle adds: "and worldly lusts."
  0, you knew it all the time, that this grace of God          Naturally when man forsakes God, he goes to craving
which realizes salvation has appeared in and through           that which God has forbidden. It is the desire for
Christ Jesus, and through the Spirit of Christ. Of this        what the world under sin proffers.
the apostle speaks in the verses to which we call                 In respect to these, ungodliness and worldly lusts,
attention next time. Now, however, we must point               grace teaches us to say emphatically: No! Grace hates
out that the central appearance of the grace that saves        all that is ugly, profane, and worldly. And it reveals
is in the cross, the cross of Christ. There He redeems         this hatred in emphatically and consciously speaking
us by His precious blood. There He ransomed us from            against it.
all iniquity. And by the Spirit of Christ this grace of
God is sanctified to us. Not only does it appear                  Positively grace teaches us to say: Yes!
objectively in the cross, but it also appears                     Not only does grace teach us to live antithetically,
subjectively in our hearts and in all God's people..           but also thetically. We must not only learn to say No
  As we have pointed out before in another                     to the evil; but we must also learn to say Yes to that
connection, this grace which realizes salvation is             which is good, the beautiful, the divine; to that which
threefold. It is for us. It is in us. And it is through us,    is pleasing to God, and in harmony with His gracious
that is, it works in our spiritual consciousness so that       being and will.
we react to it. Though all three are inseparable, yet             This we do, first of all, by living soberly. And this
the latter receives the emphasis in our text. This is          must mean that we live temperately and discreetly,
plain when we consider next what this grace of                 with a sound mind, and with complete control over
salvation does.                                                our senses. Secondly, we are taught to live
  Negatively, it teaches us to say: No!                        righteously, that is, justly, agreeably to the law of
                                                               rectitude, and of what is right. Thirdly, we are taught
  0, indeed, saving grace teaches us! It is a                  to live godly, piously, in reverence with respect to
pedagogue. Like the teacher who instructs small                God. In one word, it means to be God-like; and as
children, so the grace of God, which saves, instructs          God is beautiful, so are we to be beautiful in all our
us with good and practical doctrine. We are the                living.
children who must be taught, that is, the church of
Christ, including Paul and Titus. Always the church is            And that, so long as we live in the present world!
subject to the pedagogy of the grace of God which                 Here the apostle does not have in mind the
realizes salvation. There is no time when you graduate         cosmological world, the world of creation, in
from the class. Never does the instruction cease. All          distinction from heaven. Though, of course, it is true
our life long we are in the school of the Spirit of            we also live in this created world. Rather, he has in
grace.                                                         mind the world from the point of view of this age, as
                                                               it lies under the power of sin and darkness, the world
  That we are taught to say No, first of all, is implied       asit develops in sin and wickedness.
in the statement "denying ungodliness and worldly
lusts." What we have here concretely is the doctrine              In that world we live. It is in that world that the
of the antithesis. And this doctrine is as old as              new life of saving grace must come to manifestation,
Paradise the first. You remember how God                       as it expresses itself in our Yes and No. In that world
introduced this doctrine for the first when He placed          we are to live the life that flows to us through the
man before the tree of life and the tree of knowledge          grace that saves, the life that is pleasing to God, that
of good and evil. To the one (the tree of life) man            reflects His beauty over-against all that is ugly, evil,
was to say: Yes; and to the other (the tree of                 and corrupt.
knowledge of good and  evil) man was to say: No.                  This is the calling of all who have received the
After the fall man could no longer speak as he should.         saving grace of God!


  100                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



     That this saving grace of God hath appeared unto          respect to all classes of men the gospel is to come, in
  all men, cannot mean, as the Arminian would have it,         which appears the good news of the saving grace of
  that God gives this saving grace to all men                  God. And the divine reason is that God has His
  individually and universally. Against this philosophy        people not only among the rich, but also the poor;
  all Scripture but also our text violently militates.         not only among the enlightened, but also the
     It should be abundantly clear that the grace of God       ignorant; not only among the aged, but also the
  is never common, but extremely particular. It                young; not only among the masters, but also the
  beautifies only those to whom it is given in the             servants or slaves.
  sovereign good pleasure of God.                                And so in the multiformity of the church which
     Here, as always in Scripture, the "`all men" must be     God is gathering out of every nation, tribe, and
  determined by the context in which these words are          tongue, there shall shine in rich variations the
  found.                                                      beauteous grace of God.
   . If you look back into the context, you discover             And when this present age is finished, and the
  -that the "all men" refers to all classes of men. They      counsel of God shall have been realized, there shall
  are enumerated for us as, "old men and old women"           stand before Him a host which no man can number,
  (vss. 2, 3)' "young men and young women" (vss. 4-8)'        and each one in that host reflecting to Him according
  "servants and masters" (vss. 9, 10).                        to the capacity He has given, the wonderful grace of
                                                              God.
    To all these classes of men Titus is commanded to
  preach and to teach with authority, because in                 And He shall forever be glorified!


  EDITORIALS

                        The Evangelical Presbyterian Church-
                                     - An Encouraging Contact

                                                  Pro5 H. C. Hoekserna

    Late last summer I had the distinct privilege of          matters of mutual interest and concern with respect
  having as a guest in my home for a few days the Rev.        to the truth of God's Word, and to lay some plans for
  Charles  Rodman, pastor of the Evangelical                  future contact. In the course of the Rev.  Rodman's
  Presbyterian Church of Launceston, Tasmania,                visit some of our local ministers also had the
  Australia. Perhaps some of our readers will recall that     opportunity to make his acquaintance and to learn
  in connection with my as yet unfinished series of           about the Evangelical Presbyterian Churches. I believe
  editorials on "The Free Offer" I made reference to          that they will all join me in saying that it was a
  the Evangelical Presbyterian Churches and to their          genuine pleasure to become acquainted with the Rev.
  excellent pamphlet entitled "Universalism and the           Rodman, and that they will agree with me that we
  Reformed Churches: A Defense of Calvin's                    appear to have much in common.
  Calvinism." In this booklet they opposed the error of          I spoke of the "amazing story" of the origin of the
  the "free offer." Up to this time we had had some           Evangelical Presbyterian Churches. Prior to the Rev.
  contact with the brethren of these churches through         Rodman's arrival, I had already received a cassette
  correspondence and through an exchange of                   tape which told in detail the first part of this story.
  literature. During the summer, however, Rev.                When Pastor Rodman was here, in his inimitable way
  Rodman had an extended leave from his congregation          - and I might add: his charming but sometimes
  and travelled to Canada, to our country, and to             difficult to understand Australian accent - he told us
  England and Scotland. It was a real joy to have him as      the whole story. Through the wonder of God's grace
  our guest for a few days and to have the opportunity        these brethen moved from the rankest Arminianism
I to become personally acquainted, to hear the rather         and decisionism to a soundly Reformed position, a
  amazing story of his denomination, to have                  position in which they are in essential agreement with
  fellowship  .with one another, to discuss various           us also as to the crucial subjects of common grace and


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 101



the free offer. I asked the Rev. Rodman while he was       appeared as though the pamphlet wanted to hold on
here whether I might tell that story in our Standard       to the idea of common grace, while it wanted to
Bearer, and he gladly gave me permission to do so.         reject the error of the free offer. I suggested that this
Afterwards, however, I thought better of this, and         was inconsistent. While he was visiting here, the Rev.
decided that it would be more interesting for our          Rodman discussed this matter with me; and I believe
readers to learn this story from the Rev.  Rodman          that we see eye to eye on this matter. After Mr.
himself. I have, therefore, transcribed the tape which     Rodman%  departure, however, I received the May
he had sent me, and I intend to publish this transcript    issue of The Evangelical Presbyterian, the quarterly
in three installments, beginning in this issue. These      magazine of these churches and I noticed that in this
three installments, however, will tell only the first      issue there is an editorial response to my criticism.
part of this story. I hope that meanwhile either the       Hence, rather than inform you about our discussion
Rev.  Rodman or one of the other brethren in               of this subject, I propose to publish that response and
Tasmania will send us another tape with the                to make some comments about it. This, however, will
conclusion of this story. I would rather have our          have to wait until the following issue of the Standard
readers get the story from them than receive it            Bearer.  And now I invite you to enjoy the first
secondhand from me. However, I do not know                 installment of the Rev. Rodman's story.
whether that second tape will reach us in time to
continue and conclude the story. For via one of the                     The Birth Of The Evangelical
students of these churches Prof. Hanko recently                             Presbyterian Church
learned that the Rev. Rodman suffered a heart attack,      [The following is the first installment of the
and will have to curtail his activities for some six       transcript of a recorded address on the above subject
months. We want Pastor  Rodman to know that we             by the Rev. Charles  Rodman, who will identify
remember him in our prayers. If it be the Lord's will,     himself in the first part of this transcript. Rather than
may He restore our brother to health and to his            try to describe the story of these churches from
labors in the cause of His church and covenant.            memory, I thought it appropriate that we allow Rev.
  The Rev.  Rodman informed me that the brethren           Rodman to tell the story himself. Responsibility for
in Tasmania were as surprised to learn about us as we      the transcript  - paragraphing, punctuation, etc.  - is
were to learn about them. They thought that they           mine. In one or two instances it was a bit difficult to
were all alone in their position in respect to common      understand the tape, but for the most part I believe
grace and the free offer, and they were amazed to          the following transcript is accurate. HCH.]
learn about our churches and their history and to            Well, tonight, as promised, we are making this
learn, in fact, that our denomination is older than        recording concerning the Birth of the Evangelical
theirs and had passed through the entire common            Presbyterian Church, formerly known as the
grace free offer controversy long before they had. For     Reformed Evangelical Church. The speaker, for those
this reason, we were assured, the brethren in              who are listening, is the Reverend C.  Rodman,
Tasmania looked to us for instruction and help. They       minister of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in
are very interested in what we have to say, and            Launceston, Tasmania. Tasmania is the southernmost
interested in our  Standard Bearer  and all our other      state of Australia; it is an island state: It is not
literature. In fact, when Rev.  Rodman and I paid a        Tanzania, in case you should confuse it, but
visit to our Business Manager, the Rev.  Rodman            Tasmania. Well, I suppose we ought to start
thought that he had found a veritable gold mine; and       somewhere; and perhaps we ought to start with
while he was in Grand Rapids he made arrangements          events before what led up to  -the formation of this
to have a goodly amount of our publications sent to        church. It is wonderful tonight to have you young
his address in Tasmania. We were also assured that         people in this congregation, as it is your meeting; and
representatives of our churches would be heartily          you will perhaps learn something tonight because of
welcome in Tasmania, and that there would be               what we have gone through. It will save you learning
opportunity for conferences, lectures, and preaching.      in the same manner in which we had to learn, and
Pastor  Rodman gave me his personal assurances on          that was the hard way.
this score; but he assured me that though he was not         Nearly all the foundation members of the church
speaking officially for his churches, he was certain
that they would welcome us. We therefore look              belonged to an undenominational meeting known as
forward to face-to-face contact with these brethren        the Ambassadors for Christ. This body conducted
                                                           Saturday night meetings in the. various centers in
sometime in mid-l 975, the Lord willing.                   Tasmania. They called it "the brightest spot in
  Some of our readers will recall that in an earlier       town." They also conducted youth camps,
issue I criticized a paragraph in the pamphlet to          evangelistic campaigns. Sometimes they conducted
which I referred above. I criticized it because it         three or four of these large campaigns every year,


102                                            THE STANDARD BEARER'



when they invited a speaker either from the mainland       front, and therefore they were claiming that there
or from overseas. The meeting consisted of bright and      was nothing in it. They said that they did all we had
breezy singing, with whipped up testimonies,               said to do, and it didn't work. And the fallout was so
whipped up hymns and choruses; and there were              bad that in the end we found it very difficult even to
stirring testimonies, and then a stirring message; and     get people to go to these campaigns  - never mind
after that there was a long appeal for people to make      whatever stunt that you might put on to attract
their decisions for Christ. And for those who had          them. Those who often made their decisions or
made their decisions, then there was an appeal for         professed to be converted, they often brought
those who had back-slidden to be restored; and for         reproach upon the gospel, because the way they lived
those who had been restored, there was another             was not a Christian life. Their work mates just
appeal for the second blessing, or the overcoming life,    laughed at them; and then, of course, when they
of the crucified life, or something like that - one or     returned to their own ways, even their work mates
the other. It merely meant, of course, that everybody      thought there was nothing in Christianity. Hence, not
ended up, if they were at the back, they ended up at       only was it a hindrance to the persons themselves, but
the front. Now this movement commenced in                  also what they did was a hindrance to others.
approximately 1939. As I have said, it is consisted of       And then there were the workers, who prayed for
people from all the various denominations, and it          the extension of the kingdom of Christ: they were
went on for approximately twenty years.                    becoming very disappointed and discouraged. When, I
  It was during the last years of this movement that       suppose, they were at their lowest ebb, an American
the majority of the leaders were concerned about the       evangelist came to the state, who was a follower of
dreadful fallout of these meetings and these               Charles G. Finney. He brought with him, he thought,
campaigns. Although God in His great mercy brought         the recipe for revival; and, of course, we all thought,
many souls to a saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus         "Well, something new; it might revive us again." But
Christ, yet the leaders who were in responsible            whilst this did stir up the energies of those fatigued
positions were concerned about people who had              and bewildered workers, finally they found that after
made these so-called decisions for Christ, that their      about twelve months they were left in a sort of
last state was worse than the first. Under the pressure    hopeless state of legalism and despair. Having
of strong appeals, the people made responses. That is,     supposedly experienced every religious blessing that
they would come out to the front. They would put           was hawked around by all manner of evangelists, we
up their hands first, then they would stand up, then  '    now found ourselves in a wilderness of confusion.
they would come out to the front. And they would           And I can say from bitter experience that
be taken away in some room; they were asked                Arminianism leads to atheism.
whether they would receive the Lord Jesus into their         It was the mercy of God that brought us to the end
heart, and if they said yes, they would utter a prayer     of the road and gave us the grace to be honest, to face
and they would sign a card; and they took their card       up to ourselves and to ask God to deliver us from this
.home, and a copy was kept. But .what happened, that       state, whatever the cost may be. And about that time
many of those who made these decisions, their last         there was an old lady who used to attend these
state, as I said, was worse than the first?                meetings. She said she had a book, and the author
  Under the pressure of these strong appeals many of       was a great preacher. And she thought that book
the folks were emotionally disturbed. And under the        would be a help to us. The book was entitled
pressure of the preacher and the long drawn out            "Religious Affections," and it was Jonathan Edwards'
appeals they went out to the front. But the next day,      treatise on that subject. Now all of the group had
when their emotions had subsided, they believed that       -undergone remarkable conversions. However, when
they had made fools out of themselves. And we              we heard about this man Jonathan Edwards, and how
found that if ten people went on in the faith, ninety      that God had blessed him, and how that there had
of these people who made such professions  - they          been a gracious revival of the Spirit of God under his
went back. And the reason for all this was laid at the     ministry, we thought perhaps that in that book was
door of the churches. They, of course, were not            the key to our problem, or perhaps to a revival. But
geared to cope with people looking for somewhat of a       on reading the introduction of this old copy, we
theatrical, evangelical kind of meeting. But after ten     found that what had happened in New England was
years of the most enthusiastic activism, we found          exactly what had happened in our own island state,
there were some unhealthy signs that appeared. And         that whilst we were so busy under the notion of
it was a strong indication that something was wrong.       serving God (we thought we were serving God), we
People were having nervous breakdowns. Many of the         were in fact doing the work of Satan. We were in fact
people who made these so-called decisions, as we said      taken by the snare of the devil, who inspired us to use
before, were untouchable. People had gone out to the       certain means to advance the work of God; but in the


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 103



end it brought the work of God into disgrace, because       Abounding," by John Bunyan, was another book that
what we were doing was not in the Word of God to            came into their hands. And another was the
be done. And it was just the same as the devil did to       testimony of Walter Marshall. And when we read
Adam and Eve. He said to Adam and Eve, "If you              these volumes, we found that these men had passed
will embark on this course, and do this, you'll             through the same experience that we were going
b e c o m e   a s   G o d . " And afterwords when they      through. They spoke the same language. And God
embarked upon it, of course, He showed them their           used that ministry of those old divines to speak to
nakedness. And after we embarked upon what we               our hearts. Oneimember read Martin Luther's preface
did, then we could see our nakedness - of all of what       to the Romans. Having read it, he prayed all night;
we had done. And it pleased God to use the                  and in the dawn of the morning he said the great
expounding of the Scriptures in that book to reveal         truth of justification broke over his soul. He could see
the true motives of our heart that lay beyond all our       what he was doing. He could see that he was trying to
activism, all our getting to get people to make             appease God with his tears, and with his sorrow, and
decisions, and conversions. We found that we were           with his heartbreak. But then he realized that God
doing it because, when you had a certain number of          had made satisfaction in Christ. And He was the only
people converted under your ministry, then, of              One in Whom righteousness could be obtained. And
course, you were looked upon as a great evangelist.         there and then he confessed to God what he had been
And we, as we used to call it, liked to string as many      doing. And peace came to his heart. But he said that
fish as we could, to say that they were converted           on his way home he was thrown off again from
under our ministry. Well, I might say that many never       walking by faith, and drifted into the dreadful
doubted their conversion; but when Jonathan                 despondency and darkness that he had been in for
Edwards in that book explained the hopes of a               years. But the next time it came, it came a little
Pharisee (and their hopes could never be shaken),           longer; he walked in the light of it a little longer. It
while the hopes of a child of God could be so easily        went again. It came back again. He grasped again by
shaken because they wanted never to be deluded,             faith, and then gradually he could go for a week, and
wanted to enter into the kingdom of heaven  - then          eventually he walked by faith and was delivered from
this brought a tremendous reaction to the hearts of         that awful darkness.
those who read it. In fact, one man who read that             It was during this time that the members of this
book tells us that he rolled on the study floor, crying     group (there was a certain number of these members)
to God that if he was deluded, it might please God to       could see that God was the Author of salvation. They
deliver him from that delusion.                             did not understand all that that meant. But they
  But unfortunately this awakening (it was very             could see that they had converted people before. And
subjective) was followed by long periods of darkness        also they observed that the devil could imitate
in the minds of those workers. In fact, one member          conversion. He could come along, and he could give
honestly believed, that he was the antichrist. And          people a legal fear. They would be absolutely
another one believed that he was Judas incarnate.           terrified. And in the moment these people made their
One said he could not bear the awful darkness any           decisions there would be joy, and afterward there
longer. He went into the lounge where he had often          would be joy; but eventually that joy would leave.
wept before because of the awful dilemna which they           But having seen that they had pressured people
had drifted into. And he prayed to God, Who, he             into making decisions they now ceased to make any
believed, held his destiny in His hands. And he said to     public appeals in their preaching. They believed that
God: "I don't know if ever You could forgive me for         if it is the work of conversion, it had to be the work
what I've done, but You have the right to damn me.          of the Spirit of God. The Lord Jesus is the great
But if You cast me into the lowest hell, that is where      Counsellor; and therefore it was the work of the
I rightly belong; and I will still love You, for Your       Spirit to convict men of their sins, to regenerate men,
Self's sake." He said that when he opened his eyes, he      and to bring them to a knowledge of the Redeemer.
expected to  find himself in hell; but to his great         Other people weren't happy with that. Outside of the
amazement, he found himself kneeling on the                 group there was another larger group who said, "Well,
lounge-room floor where he had previously                   if ten people go on out of a hundred, at least we have
commenced to pray.                                          ten." But the smaller group whom God had been
  That state continued in the lives of many of the          dealing with said, "No, we would prefer rather than
leaders for a period of about four or five years. And it    delude ninety, when we preach these other ten
was only a miracle of grace that was able to deliver        percent will be converted,  and; the other ninety
them `from such a dilemna. But in the providence of         percent won't be deluded." Now when they took that
God the works of John Owen were given to one of             particular course, that is, not making any public
the members of this group. And then "Grace                  appeals, no high pressure evangelism, then


104                                             THE STANDARD BEARER


i'mmediately they lost their faith, because they               didn't know where he was going. I spoke to him, and
couldn't produce a high rate of people making                  he said he wanted to get right with God. It was the
decisions for Christ. But it was during this particular        Spirit of God convicting men of their sins. And
period of time that it pleased God to bless their              people that night were converted to God, and those
labors. And they saw such wonderful working of the             people went on. They are still in that congregation,
Spirit of God and the grace of God in the lives of men         which is now a congregation of our church.
through their preaching. I'm just thinking of just two           On another occasion, the same minister was
occasions. One occasion was in the Taranna Church -            preaching in Winneleah. Some people there were
what is now the Taranna Church, which was then, of             unhappy, and they had formed a fellowship away
course, not a church; it was only a group of people            from the church and used to go to the church on the
who had come away with their pastor. The people of             Lord's day. They invited him to take a mission. It was
that congregation said they didn't want their pastor,          during that mission, under the preaching of His Word,
and the people who loved God went with him. The                that the fire of God came on that district. And under
Reverend Hugh  McNealy was the preacher. He was                the preaching of His Word, one man who was sitting
conducting a mission there, and I was assisting him.           in the service said to him out loud in the midst of that
But one night after he preached, or during the                 hall full of people, "You are pointing at me!" This
sermon, the power of the Spirit of God and the glory           preacher pointed his finger, had the habit often of
of God came to that place. I suppose 1'11 never                pointing his finger; and this man yelled out in the
witness that again, maybe not until I reach glory. But         congregation: "I. know you are pointing at me!" And
that night the hearts of men and women were melted             men and women in that area  - senior men and
by the power of the Spirit of God. And after he had            women - they were brought to a saving knowledge of
finished preaching, it was as though people were               the Lord Jesus Christ. There were other instances of
almost drunk. I still remember one man who was                 which we haven't time to tell you about.
walking the aisle to go home, and I looked at him: he                                               (to be continued)


THE VOICE OF OUR FATHERS

                                  The Belgic Confession
                                                 Prot Robert D. Decker

Introduction, cont.
       In our previous articles we have dealt with the life    does not hesitate to condemn the "popish mass" as
of Guido de Bres, the author, of the Belgic                    an "accursed idolatry". (cf. Lord's Day, XXX,
Confession. We have discussed the value of Creeds in           question 80) The Gallican Confession, which had
general and of the Belgic Confession in particular. In         such a profound influence on the Belgic Confession,
this connection we answered some objections which              as we saw in our last installment, is decidedly  anti-
are commonly lodged against the Creeds. In the                 Rome. It would certainly appear, therefore, that de
present article, the last of the introduction to the           Bres deliberately chose not to write anything
exposition of the Belgic Confession, we wish to take           explicitly anti-Rome. Why? The answer is not that
note of two outstanding characteristics of this                the Reformers were motivated by fear of reprisal on
particular creed and give a brief `outline of its              the part of the Romish political leaders of the time.
contents.                                                      The life and death of de Bres himself precludes this
       Strikingly the Belgic Confession says virtually         possibility.
nothing explicitly concerning the doctrine and                   There are three factors which contributed to this.
practice of the Church of Rome. We say, strikingly,            First, we must understand that there were hundreds,
because this stands in sharp contrast with the creedal         perhaps thousands of tracts and pamphlets being
statements of the Protestants of the time which                written in those days which spoke of specific abuses
contained sharp polemic against Roman Catholicism.             and heresies perpetuated by Rome. There was no real
Our own Heidelberg Catechism, which treats the                 need for de Bres to add to this in the Confession of
Reformed faith from an experiential point of view,             Faith. It must be understood, in the second place,


                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                            105



that the Reformed Faith so beautifully expressed in         letter. The Reformers had little sympathy for the
the Belgic Confession was in itself a clear and strong      movement.
and sustained protest against the doctrines and               It stands to reason that this kind of subjectivism
practices of Rome. And, thirdly, in this cbnnection  it     and mysticism would lead to all `kinds of wild
ought to be remembered that there were thousands of         excesses in both doctrine and practice. There were,
saints of God who had little opportunity to become          for example, the Anabaptistic Zwickau prophets who
familiar with the doctrines of the Reformation. They        came to Wittenberg during the time Luther was being
were oppressed and kept in ignorance by the                 held in  Wartburg and accused the Lutherans of a
hierarchy of Rome. To win these for the faith was the       half-hearted reformation. These men predicted that
prayer and aim of the Reformers. It may very well be        within five to seven years the world would end, at
that in the mind of de Bres and his contemporaries it       which time all the wicked would be slain while all
was thought that a positive exposition of the truth of      believers who had been rebaptized would be saved.
the Word of God would serve better to convince              Thomas Munzer was an adherent of these views and a
others than an all out attack on the papists.               famous Anabaptist leader in Germany. This man
  In the light of this characteristic one would not         believed that a special inner voice was needed in order
expect the Belgic Confession to condemn so strongly         to understand God's Word. Whatever was learned
the abuses of the Anabaptists. This is most assuredly       from this inner voice had far more value than any
the case. The errors of the Anabaptists are singled out     teaching of the Church and her theologians. He
time and again through the thirty seven articles of         conceived for his special assignment as being called to
this creed. No less than three times the Anabaptists        usher in the Kingdom of God after the example of
are mentioned by name.                                      the time of the Apostles. He argued passionately for
  To understand why this emphatic condemnation of           equality of social status and community of goods. He
Anabaptistic errors is present in the Belgic Confession     also taught that if the Kingdom could not be brought
we must know something of this movement. The                peacefully then believers would be forced to fight
term Anabap tist (which means, rebaptism, because of        with the sword. One of God's elect, Munzer believed,
their insistence on baptizing again those who had           could strangle a thousand of the enemy; two could
received the sacrament in infancy), denofes a religious     slay ten thousand. In the Peasants' War (1525)
movement which began in Switzerland under the               Thomas Munzer was killed in battle.
leadership of Conrad Grebel and Felix Manz. This              By far the most horrible story of Anabaptism is
move'ment soon spread to northern and western               the dark story of Munster. The leaders here were two
Europe, and it continued until after the death of           Dutchmen; John Matthyszoon of Haarlem and John
Menno Simons  (1496-1561), when the term                    Beukeszoon of Leiden. These men were inspired by
Anabaptist  was replaced by the name  Mennonite.            the teachings of Melchior Hoffman, who foretold an
While the precise origins of this movement have been        imminent return of Christ. They encouraged their
the subject of rather intense study and debate, its         followers to accompany them to the city of Munster
teachings are rather clearly known. From its                in Westphalia where they said Zion was going to
beginning under Grebel and Manz Anabaptism held             a p p e a r in full glory upon earth. The leaders
the View of a radical separation of church and state.       undermined the legal authority and power of the
Any cooperation or affiliation between the two was          town council, with the result that soon the city was
considered to be a denial of the teachings of Jesus         surrounded and besieged by the forces of surrounding
Christ. The Church, according to the Anabaptists, was       cities. Matthyszoon was killed when in a mad frenzy
the company of visibly regenerate. For this reason          he ran out of the town to attack the enemy. The
baptism could only be administered to adults upon           power fell into the hands of John of Leiden and all
the confession of their faith and conversion. In the        restraint was thrown to the winds. Twelve elders were
early years the movement was opposed to all                 appointed by John to rule under him. All previous
violence. They insisted, for example, that military         marriages were annulled, and polygamy was
service was sinful, the payment of taxes to a               practiced. John, himself, had sixteen wives in
government in war was a violation of the Word of            addition to Divara who had been the wife of
God. Doctrinally the Anabaptists were afflicted with        Matthyszoon. Meanwhile, other Anabaptists were
a good deal of subjectivism and mysticism. They             urging that all monks and nuns be slain, and some
looked for guidance through visions and dreams and          even dared to advocate the abolition of all civil
religious experiences. They held open the possibility       authorities and governments. It. is no.wonder that not
of new revelations in addition to the inscripturated        only the Church of Rome but also all branches of
Word of God. Apart from special illumination of the         Protestantism opposed these excesses of.Anabaptists.
Holy Spirit, which alone enabled believers to               The difficulty was that the civil authorities lumped
understand the Scriptures, the Bible remained a dead        the Anabaptists together with the Reformers and


 106                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



  their followers. Hence, de Bres and the leaders of the       Articles 23 and 24, Article 25 treats the subject, The
  Reformed Faith were concerned to disassociate                Abolishing of The Law, and Article 26 speaks of
  themselves from the Anabaptists. This accounts for           Christ's Intercession. The Doctrine of the Church
  the repeated and severe condemnation of the                  (Ecclesiology) is covered in Articles 27-35. Article 36
 Anabaptists and their views which we find `in the             speaks of the Magistrates, and the Doctrine of the
  Belgic Confession.                                           Last Things (Eschatology) is the subject of Article 37.
    The Confession of Faith was intended to be an              Thus the Belgic Confession, in distinction from the
  apology for the Reformed Faith, a clear statement of         Heidelberg Catechism which speaks of the truth as it
  its main tenets so that all might know the truth             is the experience of the child of God, follows the well
  concerning the Reformed movement.                            known division of dogmatics into six loci or points of
                                                               doctrine. It is more objective in its approach. One
    As to its contents the Belgic Confession is made up        must not, however, expect to find in this Confession
  of some thirty-seven articles. Articles l-7 are of an        a treatment of Reformed Dogmatics. Certainly, while
 introductory nature. Article 1 expresses belief in            the whole of the Reformed Truth of the Word of God
 God. Revelation is the subject of Article 2; while, in       is simply stated and summed, the Belgic Confession is
 Articles 3-7 the creed speaks of the Reformed faith           no Dogmatics text.
  concerning the Scriptures. In Articles 8-11 the                It is, however, as we have emphasized before an
  Doctrine of God is treated (Theology) and in Articles        eloquent statement of what we as Reformed
  12- 15 the Doctrine of Man is developed                     Christians, Protestant Reformed Christians, all believe
  (Anthropology). The Doctrine of Election  is, the           with our hearts and confess with our mouths. That
 subject of Article 16 and Article 17 treats of the           we may grow in that belief and confession is our aim
  Recovery of Fallen Man. The Confession speaks of             as we study this gem among the Reformational
 the Doctrine of Christ (Christology) in Articles 18-22       Creeds article by article in the light of the infallible
 and of the Doctrine of Salvation (Soteriology) in            Word of God.


  THESTRENGTHOFYOUTH

                            Spiritual Growth -- The Means (1)
                                                    Rev. J. Kortering

        "How can I grow spiritually?"                         SEEK YE THE LORD
        This question is asked frequently, not out of            A time of spiritual crisis demands of us careful self
  intellectual curiosity, but out of an urgent desire to      examination. Naturally, the solution to the problem
  be able to face life's problems and to go on living. A      that we face must come from somewhere. The most
  parent may have died, the world of a young person           important question we face is: what kind of solution
  seems to cave in. There are sobs of grief, deeply           are we looking for? Do we simply want to get rid of
  rooted fears, some bitterness. Such a child or young        the problem, or do we  ,want to learn something
  person is searching for help; how can they face life,       through the experience? Is the answer simply in
  where can they find strength? A person faces serious        getting our way, or is it that we begin to realize that
s u r g e r y ; that is no pleasant prospect, yet it is       God has a useful purpose in every trial and that we
  necessary; and such a one is grasping for assurance         will be better in serving Him because of the crisis He
  and strength. Sometimes young people have deep              has sent? If we will be selfish, our solution can only
  emotional crises over broken love; at such a time one       be found in getting rid of our problem as fast as
  is trying to overcome anger with courage to face life        possible, so that we don't have to be inconvenienced
  and a healing of deep wounds. Almost always we face         by it. If we will be spiritually sensitive, we will
  the tempting voice of  satan and bad company                 conclude that God has something to say to us
  beckoning us to come along for a good time, and that         through this  eiperience and that we must have the
  spells trouble.                                             heart to understand and benefit by it.
        Where do we go for strength to face this everyday        It is this strength that must come to us from God.
  stress of life as well as the crises? Let's face it, we     This energy is divine, it has its fountain in God
  need an extra source of energy at such a time.               Himself. This the Bible stresses over and over. "None


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                   107


can keep alive His own soul," Ps. 22:29. Instead all       hotel room, motel, doctor's office, and I suppose
blessings come from Jehovah, "Thou, 0 God, didst           almost every home. And yet there is no Book that
send a plentiful rain, whereby thou didst confirm          goes unread and unheeded more than the Bible. Look
thine inheritance, when it was  wealy," Psalm  68:9.       at yourself; you are sad, you are hurt because of
Listen to the beautiful confession of Isaiah, "Lord        something that happened during the day, you feel
thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast          bitterness. Do you really turn to that Bible and find
wrought all our works in us," Isa. 26: 12. Jesus           the light of day? Is it really read and reread by you?
expresses it this way, "I am  lhe vine, ye are the         Are the pages of your Bible grimy through use? Do
branches; He that abideth in me, and I in Him, the         you underscore passages that mean a great deal to
same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me ye          you, so that you can return to them over and over?
can do nothing," John  15:5. Without me ye can do             It takes something divine to make the Bible the
nothing! There is the clue for strength. Positively,       source of comfort and strength that God has intended
with God all things are possible, Matt. 19: 26.            for His people.
  Let this speak to you, young people. You have
times of spiritual stress, that's a fact. Where do you        And what is that? Grace!
go for help? It may be ever so interesting to read Ann        Grace is the energy that flows from God Himself
Landers or Dear Abby; some of their advice may be          which makes the ugly beautiful, the contemptible
so practical and full of common sense; yet what is         sinner fall on his knees to seek forgiveness, the
lacking is the Word of God. Guidance without God is        captive sinner unshackled from  the. tyranny of the
not reliable; at best it is the wisdom of the world        devil. It brings joy to the sorrowful, hope to those in
which is foolishness with God, I Cor. 1. Similarly,        despair, peace to the troubled, understanding to the
you can read books on marriage counseling, you can         simple, conviction to the unsure. Grace makes all the
try the Norman Vincent Peale approach of "Positive         difference. It is God's energy for a truly Christian life.
thinking", you can implement the latest "How to do            And how is grace brought down to us? By none
it books" on character building and such like.             other than God Himself, Who sends His grace to us
Remember this one thing, you are a Christian; you          through the Person of the Holy Spirit. The Holy
are not just a human being, as Humanism would have         Spirit is the One who brought to reality the creative
you imagine. You need a Christian solution, and there      Word of God in the beginning, Gen.  1:3. The Holy
is no guidance for a Christian without God Himself         Spirit as the Spirit of Christ now opens the eyes of
giving it.                                                 the blind, gives understanding to the lowly, and saves
   Hence, we go back to that basic injunction, "Seek       the children of God through the power of grace, Eph.
ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him        2:8. For this reason He is called The Comforter or
while he is near," Isa. 55:6. And how do you do that?      literally, The Helper, John 15 : 26.
Not by trying to cast upon yourself or others some
mystical trance, not by transcendental meditation,         MEANS OF GRACE
not by some emotional experience that will let all            Let's pursue this line of thinking a little more. We
your pent up energies break forth irrationally.            need the Bible as God's directive. We need the Holy
Rather, it comes by contemplating carefully the Word       Spirit Who brings grace to us that enables us to seek
of God. God's will and guidance toward a solution of       and believe this Word of God. Now we may well ask:
life's trials is found within the covers of His Holy       in what way does the Holy Spirit work this grace in
Word. It is the light upon our pathway, Psalm              us? The answer is that He does this by the preaching
119: 105.                                                  of the Word and thesacram-ents.
JEHOVAH'S HELP                                                We must avoid two extremes. The first is that we
                                                           imagine that going to church guarantees for us the
   So far we have concluded that we do have a Book,        r e c e p t i o n   o f   g r a c e .   T h e r e   i s   n o   m a g i c a l
a reference work, which contains God's counsel for us      communication of grace in church. This is
in the time of need. This is important, for God's          particularly important for you young people. I'm
message of hope is not confined in the minds of            afraid some of you think that your soul's health is
certain people, not hidden away in a technical             guaranteed simply by going to church. To some of
"journal," but in our homes, in our own bedrooms, in       you it makes no difference how you worship: you
our churches and schools. It is the clear and objective    may be entertained, you may sleep, you may
testimony of the Word of God.                              daydream, but after all, you went to church! This is
   There is another question that we face. How can         wrong, grace is conveyed through  worship,  not by
we be brought to seek and understand this counsel of       your bodily presence in God's house alone. The
God's Word? You know as well as I do that the Bible        second extreme to be avoided is that going to church
is the best seller of our day. You can find it in every    isn't all that important. Sometimes young people react


108                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



to church going simply because they cannot                  those sacred moments of worship. The Holy Spirit
appreciate WORSHIP! Most young people are turned            and grace accompany us as we return to our homes
on by the ear shattering noises of rock. There is none      and work. This is the proper relationship between
of this in our churches. They are entertained by the        worship and life. If we do not woiship God and if we
silly humor of television; thankfully there is none of      neglect the means of grace, we cannot imagine that
this in our worship services. The Psalter by contrast       the Holy Spirit is with us and that grace is given to us.
seems so "dead." The preacher is so long-winded that        The Spirit does not work  apart  from the Word
you can't concentrate that long anyway; why try?            preached. He works through that Word, and by that
The congregational prayer is a time to catch up on          Word abides with us and fills our whole life and heart.
neglected sleep. If so, why go at all? Why not be              Hence, we must continually busy ourselves with
honest and stay home? So just turn off and tune out!        that Bible, pray daily for the Holy Spirit to abide
Such a solution is radical and a young person must          with us, that God will give us grace to deal with all
realize that by doing this, he is separating himself        life's problems.
from God's energy of salvation. Quitting church is
not simply solving a boring problem, it is an act of          The Bereans understood this, "they received the
separation - separation from God.                           word with. all readiness of mind, and searched the
                                                            scriptures daily whether those things were so," Acts
  We are exhorted to "grow in  grace,  and in the           17 : 1. The preaching of the Word gives the guide lines
knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ," II          for our faith and life. It is our duty to read that Bible
Peter 3: 18. Interesting, that one of the first words we    and prayerfully apply it to our daily lives. Hence,
hear on Sunday morning is, "Grace, mercy, and peace         Bible reading and personal prayer is an integral part
be granted unto you from God our Father, through            of our spiritual growth. I'm sure that your personal
Jesus Christ our Lord, by the operation of the Holy         experience is much like mine: when I am closest to
Spirit," II Peter  1:2. There is a reason for this: the     God in my prayer life and daily devotions, then I am
preaching of the Word and the sacraments are God's          more able to deal with the trials of life. This is not a
appointed means of grace. Through prayer we                 coincidence, it indicates we are making use of God's
approach God's throne of grace, Heb. 4: 16. We sing         energy which He gives to those who prayerfully ask
the psalms. The entire worship service centers around       them of Him.
G,od's Word. As the Holy Spirit works in us through
the Word, we grow. in understanding, we learn God's           Before going to bed, do you fill your soul with
will, we are exhorted to godly living and how we            trashy reading, senseless television programs, or do
must express this, we are encouraged, warned, built         you take time to be holy and wrestle in prayer with
up. By the preaching of the Word and sacraments the         your God as you open His Word. What a difference
Word of God dwells in us, so that we hear it and by         this makes. You love music? Fill your soul with the
God's grace do it, James 1: 19-22. Now then, you see        great choral music that edifies instead of tearing
the need for spiritual growth in your life? What is         down your soul. Talk with your parents and share
your attitude toward worship? What do you do to             with them your frustrations instead of letting them
prepare? Are you diligent in your worship? This is the      bottle-up and weigh you down. Pray sincerely, not
most important!                                             using a little memorized prayer  that may have
                                                            sufficed in your childhood; pray fervently and
THE ABIDING WORD                                            specifically for your particular needs for that day or
                                                            night.
  By the Holy Spirit's applying  the Word and
sacrament, we are able to take that Word of God and           Grace is God's gift to lift us up.
be guided, by it. The Holy Spirit is not confined to          Do you experience this?
the four walls of church, neither is grace confined to        Grow in grace.





                   Do you receive. the STANDARD BEARER regularly?


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                109


TAKING HEED TO THE DOCTRINE

          "Hyper-Calvinism" and the Call of the Gospel (6)

                                               Rev. David Engelsma

   The previous article began to show that the              which we have no doubt in many cases, the doctrine
rejection of the offer of the gospel is motivated, not      of the well-meant offer contains the germ of that
by hyper-Calvinism, but by Calvinism. It was argued         heresy and will, I predict, result in open ecclesiastical
that the offer, since it universalizes the grace of God     confession of free will where the offer reigns, just as
in Jesus Christ, is inherently a denial of the              it has already resulted in official ecclesiastical
sovereignty of grace.                                       approval of universal atonement.
   The only alternative to the truth of sovereign grace        Certain steps are already being taken in the
is the teaching that salvation depends upon the free        direction of a formal confession of free will by
will of the sinner. This is another aspect of the theory    Reformed Churches. One of these is the widespread
of the offer that a Reformed man objects to. We             representation of faith as a condition to salvation by
appreciate the fact that in the past defenders of the       Reformed theologians. Invariably, a defense of the
offer within the Reformed sphere have vehemently            offer of the gospel will stress that salvation is
repudiated free will, despite the inconsistency of their    conditional and that the condition is man's faith. This
repudiation with the doctrine of the offer itself.          is true of A. C. De Jong's defense of the well-meant
Nevertheless, the teaching of free will is necessarily      offer against Hoeksema in his The Well-Meant Gospel
implied in the doctrine of the offer and can only be        Offer. In criticizing Hoeksema's denial of the offer,
repudiated by repudiating the offer itself. First, the      De Jong felt it necessary first of all to attack
idea of the concept "offer" in the context of a             Hoeksema's contention that the covenant, the
universal love of God and a desire of God to save           promise, and salvation are unconditional (pp. 72ff.).
everyone, is that salvation depends upon the sinner's       His own defense of the offer took the form of
acceptance or rejection of the offer. In the past, the      emphasizing that salvation is conditional: "For
word "offer" from the Latin word offer0 was used by         implicit in the concept of offer is the idea of
Reformed men to describe God's activity in the              conditionality" (p. 100); "Hoeksema argues as if God
preaching of the gospel, because the word has               does not will that his conditional offer be accepted"
originally the meaning "bring to (someone), present         (p. 123). The condition, of course, is faith. De Jong is
(something or someone to somebody)." All                    representative of all those who defend the offer.2
Reformed men hold that Christ is presented in the              De Jong is correct when he states that the idea of
preaching to everyone who hears the preaching. In           conditionality is implicit in the concept of the offer.
this sense, He is "offered" in the gospel. Calvin used      That God loves all and desires to save all, while not all
"offer" in this sense, and so does the Canons of            are actually saved, implies that salvation depends
Dordt: "It is not the fault of the gospel, nor of           upon man's fulfilling the condition of faith. That God
Christ, offered therein . . . that those who are called     saves by offering Christ and salvation to men implies
by the ministry of the word refuse to come. . ." (III,      that salvation depends upon the condition of
IV, 9). But this is not the meaning of the word when        accepting, that is, faith. But the Biblical and
it is used in connection with a universal love of God       Reformed doctrine is that salvation is unconditional.
and a desire to save everybody.1 Secondly, the truth        If the glorious truth, "by grace ye are saved," does
of sovereign grace has only one alternative: salvation      not mean this, it means nothing. The Reformed
dependent on man's willing or running. Since the
doctrine of the offer denies the sovereignty of grace,         `Others have noted, with regard'to Calvin's use of "offer," that
it necessarily affirms that salvation is dependent on or    offer0  meant "to present, to exhibit or set forth" (cf.  Calvin's
                                                            Calvinism,  Eerdmans, 1956, p. 31, footnote). Although our quarrel
conditioned by man's acceptance of the offer by his         with the offer is not a quibbling over words, the word "offer" should
own free will. Faith is then generally viewed as man's      be dropped from the Reformed vocabulary. Not a Biblical term, it is
all-important acceptance of the offer by his own free       today so loaded with Arminian connotations that it is no longer
                                                            serviceable. instead of an offer of the gospel, we should speak of the
will.                                                       call of the gospel - as Scripture does.
   In spite of the insistence of those in the Reformed         3For  a defense of the offer by means, necessarily, for a defense of a
sphere who defend the offer that they reject the            conditional covenant and conditional salvation from a different quarter,
doctrine of free will, concerning the sincerity of          cf. the Englishman, Peter  Toon,  The Emergence of  Hyper-Calvinism  in
                                                            English Nonconformity  (London: The Olive Tree,  1967).  pp.  59,60.


110                                                       THE STANDARD BEARER


doctrine of "unconditional election" explicitly                       will, which is the teaching that all of the others hinge
describes salvation as "unconditional." Election is the               on. One likes to say to Dekker: "Look here, your
source and foundation of all salvation; if it is                      entire theology demands the doctrine of free will. If
unconditional, so also are the atonement,                             you maintain your theology of universal redemptive
regeneration, sanctification, preservation, and                       love, universal atonement, and universal grace in the
glorification. It is the  creedal Reformed position  -                preaching, take the last step too, so that everybody
not the private speculations of Herman Hoeksema -                     knows what is what. But if you seriously hesitate to
that salvation is unconditional - not conditional, not                affirm free will, the only alternative is God's
conditional and unconditional, but unconditional.                     sovereign salvation of some particular sinners: He
The Canons of Dordt reject any and every form of                      freely and sovereignly saves some in distinction from
conditional salvation, especially the form that makes                 others for no other reason than His own good
faith a condition, in the rejection of errors under                   pleasure. But this is the utter destruction of your
Head I:                                                               doctrines of universal election and universal
        ". . . the Synod rejects the errors of those . . . who        atonement. If you maintain salvation by sovereign
        teach . . . that he (God) chose out of all possible           grace, in distinction from free will, what have you
        conditions . . . the act of faith which from its very         gained by your doctrines of universal election and
        nature is undeserving . . . as a condition of                 universal atonement? You can now preach to all men
        salvation. . ."                                               that God loves them with a redemptive love and that
        `C . . . the Synod rejects the errors of those . . . . who    Christ died for them to save them from their sins, but
        teach . . . that . . . faith, the obedience of faith,         at the same time you must whisper to yourself, `But
        holiness, godliness and perseverance are not fruits of        He will only actually save some of you, and He will
        the unchangeable election unto glory, but are                 not save others of you, according to His own
        conditions . . ."                                             sovereign will.' What you whisper to yourself makes
A condition of salvation is an act that man must and                  the message of universal love, universal atonement,
can perform of himself and that salvation depends on.                 and a universal desire to save, which you proclaim
A conditional salvation is, in principle, a salvation                 loudly, a fraud."
dependent upon the free will of man. If the idea of                      Even though Dekker did not give free will as the
conditionality is implied in the concept of the offer,                answer to the question, "How is it that not all men
there is nothing to be done with the concept of the                   are saved? 0' the answer that he did give was a step in
offer than to cast it out of the Reformed tent like an                the wrong direction. Dekker's answer was: "Let us
Ishmael. But the Reformed churches today are                          . . . (leave) the unexplainable where it belongs  - in
permeated with the notion that man's faith is the                     the infinite mystery of the heart of Him who is
condition unto salvation. Thus, they are already on                   Himself love. On the side of divine sovereignty, then,
the way to a formal confession of free will.                          there is mystery. On the side of human responsibility,
       Another step in that direction is taken when                   however, there is no mystery at all. The answer is
Reformed theologians, in the midst of their defense                   plainly a matter of unbelief." It is true that, as
of a well-meant offer, answer the question, "Why, if                  concerns man's responsibility, the reason why many
God loves and desires to save all men, are not all men                perish is their own unbelief. The fault is man's own.
saved?," by appealing to a "mystery." This was the                    But it is not true, as regards God's sovereignty, that
answer of Harold Dekker, professor of missions in                     one can only refer to the mystery. The Scriptures
Calvin Seminary, in the course of his argument for                    teach that the reason why not all men are saved is
universal atonement on the basis of the doctrine of                   that God has eternally reprobated some men,
the well-meant offer of the gospel. Having said that                  eternally decreeing that they perish in their sins, and
God loves all men with a redemptive love and that                     that God, according to His decree, does not bestow
Christ died for all men, he asked, "If God loves all                  faith upon them, but hardens them in sin. In Romans
men with a  redemp,tive love, how is it that not all                  9, in explanation of the fact that some in Israel were
men are saved?"3                                                      saved and others were not (vss.  6-8), Paul plainly
       In fairness to Dekker, he did not take the last step           teaches that God loved and chose some, but hated
into full-fledged Arminianism by adopting free will.                  and reprobated others (vss. 11-13). According to this
This leaves him in a curious position. On the one                     double predestination, God has mercy on some, but
hand, he embraces the Arminian doctrine of universal                  hardens the others (vs. 18). The reason why there are
election ("God loves all men with a redemptive love")                 "vessels of mercy . . . afore prepared unto glory" (vs.
and the Arminian doctrine of resistible grace (God's                  23) is that the Potter has "power over the clay . . . to
grace, which Dekker correctly insists is one  - the                   make one vessel unto honour" (vs. 21). The reason
saving grace in Christ  - fails to save many towards                  why there are "vessels of wrath fitted to destruction"
whom it is directed). On the other hand, he stops                        3"God's  Love for Sinners  - One  or Two?,"  The Reformed Journal,
short of maintaining the Arminian doctrine of free                    March, 1963, p. 15.


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                111



(vs. 22) is that the Potter has power also "to make           `free and sovereign grace of God, which we who are
. . . another (vessel) unto dishonour" (vs. 2 1).             saved can only adore. But there is an answer to the
  In the Qld Dispensation, salvation was enjoyed by           question, "Why are some saved, while others are not
one nation, while all the other nations perished. The         saved?" That answer is the sovereignty of God in
explanation is not shrouded in "mystery." Rather,             predestination. Such an answer is the death-blow to
the ex p la nation is the sovereign, discriminating           free will. To refuse to give this answer, but instead to
actions of Jehovah: "He sheweth his word unto                 speak of a "mystery" is to open up the way to a
Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. He         future solving of the "mystery" in terms of the free
hath not dealt so with any nation . .  ." (Psalm              will of man. Not only is this answer the death-blow to
147: 19, 20).                                                 free will, but it is also the death-blow to universal
                                                              love, universal atonement, and a universal desire to
  Christ did not hesitate to reveal to the unbelieving        save, that is, to the offer of the gospel.
Jews that "ye believe not, because ye are not of my
sheep . . ." (John  10:26). On the other hand, the               In the meantime, before there is official adoption
reason why other men do believe and have eternal life         of free will, free will is widely preached and taught in
is that they are Jesus' sheep, given to Him of the            Reformed churches. When ministers pm&se the offer
Father in divine election (vss. 27-29).                       of the gospel, proclaiming to their hearers that God
                                                              loves them all, desires the salvation of everybody, and
  The Canons of Dordt explain why some men are                now offers them salvation, they are telling the people
saved and others are not: some receive, the gift of           that salvation depends upon man's decision for
faith from God, and others do not receive it. And             Christ, and this is the message that comes through to
"that some receive the gift of faith from God, and            the people loudly and clearly, even though there is no
others do not receive it proceeds from God's eternal          official decision of the church approving free will and
decree" (I, 6).                                               even though the preacher does not explicitly say, as
  Why God has chosen to save some, in distinction             many today do, "Now it is up to you."
from others, is indeed a mystery, the mystery of the                                                 (to be continued)



FROM HOLY WRIT

                             Exposition of Hebrews 11:35 -38
                                                     (CONTINUED)

                                                     Rev. G. Lubbers

THE CRUEL TREATMENT OF "OTHERS"                               abominable swine's flesh". And, again, we read in the
(Hebrews 11: 36-38)                                           same chapter: "And when the first had.died after this
                                                              manner, they brought the second to the mocking; and
  2. Here we come to a great catalogue of cruel               they pulled off the skin of his head with the hair and
treatment of the saints. We need not go into too great        asked him, wilt thou eat before thy body be punished
detail in explaining this cruelty; yet we ought to tarry      in every limb?"
a bit and reflect upon the enormous suffering which              Then there was the more slow and lasting suffering
only faith in God could endure. Here is a faith which         of "bonds and imprisonment." Was not Micaiah put
believes that God is and that he is a rewarder of those       in prison because he spoke the word of God to Ahab
who seek Him.                                                 in the presence of king Jehoshaphat concerning the
                                                              outcome of the battle  with the king of Syria at
  We read that "others" endured cruel mockings and            Ramoth in Gilead? We read that Ahab says, "Put this
scourgings.  This was pure trial, a horrible experience       fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of
in soul and body, in marrow and in bones. The                 affliction and with water of affliction, until I come in
mockings were inflicted. on their soul; they were             peace." Or, to cite another instance, think of what
sharp, direct strokes on soul and on body. We read in         the Jews did to Jeremiah because he prophesied that
II Maccabees 7: 1: "And it came to pass that seven            Jerusalem would be destroyed by the king of
brethren also with their mother were at the king's            Babylon. We read, "Wherefore the princes were wroth
command taken and shamefully handled with                     with Jeremiah, and smote him and put him in prison
scourges and cords, to compel them to taste of the            in the house of Jonathan the scribe: for they had


112                                          THE STANDARD BEARER                                    1
made that the prison," Jer. 37: 15. So sore was the         world were these meek ones; yet they had nothing.
affliction of Jeremiah that he, like Job, cursed the        Always they took joyfully the spoiling of their goods
day of his birth. Says he, "Cursed be the day wherein       in the hope of a better inheritance. Having their feet
I was born: let not the day wherein my mother bare          in the midst of the misery of this earth, they had
me be blessed. Cursed be the man whom brought               their heads in faith above the storm and the clouds.
tidings to my father, saying, A man child is born unto
thee; making him very glad. And let that man be as          THE BACKWARD GLANCE CONCERNING
the cities which the Lord overthrew, and repented           "THESE ALL." (Hebrews 11:39,40)
not: and let him hear the cry in the morning, and the          The question might be raised: why this long road
shouting  at noontide; because he slew me not from          of suffering through the centuries? What is the
the womb; or that my mother might have been my              meaning of this "history" of the church in her
grave, and the womb to be always great with me.             afflictions? Is there Divine wisdom and intent in this
Wherefore came I out of the womb to see labour and          all?
sorrow, that my days should be consumed with
shame?" Such was the outcry of the prophet in his              The fact that is outstanding is that from Abel till
cruel treatment of  mockings and  scourgings  and           the last saint which has suffered, there'is not one who
imprisonment.                                               received "the promise. " This promise here evidently
                                                            refers to the final consummation of the work of God
       Also the text speaks of sufferings to death and      in the day of Christ at the end of the ages. That will
short of death. And the intent of this was to "tempt        be the time when we receive our resurrection bodies,
to sin." We see this utterance of sinful outcries in the    and shall have immortality and life.
case of Jeremiah. That was the case when the saints
are stoned. Who does not think of Ztichariah  the son          Why does the writer emphasize this here? Was it
of Jehoiada, the aged and godly high-priest, who was        not self-evident that none of "these all" had received
stoned by those who conspired against him? We read          the promise, and that they all had gone to the grave,
"an stoned him at the commandment of the king in            to Sheol? It seems to us that this element is pointed
the court of the house of the LORD,." (II Chronicles        out for the very purpose that it shows up, on the one
24:21), Matt. 23 :27. And we also think of Stephen,         hand, the great patience of the saints throughout the
who testified to the Sanhedrin concerning the Christ,       ages, and, on the other hand, the great need of the
and the meaning of Old Testament History, that he           patience which the Hebrew Christians needed to
was stoned to death for the sake of Christ, (Acts           remain steadfast and not to fall back by unbelief into
7:57, 58). Yes, we think of the prophet Isaiah, who         perdition. They must walk the same difficult road as
tradition has it, was "sawn asunder." And also men          all the saints did and look beyond the horizons of the
and women were slain with the sword. Jezebel                present to the time when God shall fully give us to
attempted to do this to Elijah. Saul tried to kill David    receive the promise of complete victory over all the
with the sword. So great was the fury of the Jews           hosts of hell, whether these be in the church as
that they went and fetched Urijah, a prophet who            Sodom and Egypt, or whether these be the world
faithfully declared the word of the LORD out of             outside of the church, the nations who have been left
Egypt, whither he  l_ad fled, "and brought him to           to walk in their own ways.
Jehoiakim the king, who slew him with the sword,               Yes, these all received testimony by faith. It is only
and cast his dead body into the graves of the common        "faith" which is the secret of their life of suffering,
people," (Jeremiah 26 : 23).                                hope, obedience, action in the midst of the conflict.
       The final touch is given, which shows that the       And each generation and each individual "received
measure of the iniquity of the persecutors in this          testimony" that they were righteous and of the party
"world" is being filled up; in the text we read in          of the living God in the world, and that the world was
doleful. tones: "they wandered about in sheepskins          not worthy of them. They received this testimony
and goatskins." They had little to clothe them but          before God and men, angels and devils. Of this there
the bare necessities of life. They had to forego all        is no doubt. Faith was the victory that overcame the
adornments of society. They were veritable outcasts         world!
of society, the offscouring of the world. They never           But we must not lose faith and confidence. In the
rated in any of the high places of the world, and if        days of Peter mockers said, "where is the promise of
they did they were persecuted and cast to the lions.        his coming?" (II Peter  3:4). And these spoke of the
These "skins" were the symbol of their being rejected       Lord being slack (tardy) concerning his promise.
of the world. Their life was that of the destitute; they    They wilfully distorted the voice of history
always were pushed back.. They were afflicted and           concerning the great judgment of God in the flood in
evilly entreated. Theirs  ' was a life of one long          the days of Noah. They contended that there never
perpetual want, misery and discomfort. Heirs of the         had been any indication on the part of the Lord that


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                   113


He would come to judge the world in righteousness,         and the wisdom of God. It reflects the unsearchable
and to make all things new, and to realize the             riches of the love and wisdom of God's elective
promise, and to establish His eternal tabernacle with      purpose in Christ Jesus!
man. And they did their utmost to make the hearts of         That "better thing" is better for us, or really
the believers weary and impatient with the Lord's          "concerning" us. We are the great subject of the
seemingly tardy foot-steps in history.                     Divine concern in this matter. God will save the
  However, the key to the entire problem is that the       believers as a body; as a church! And every member
Lord would save the  entire  church. Not one of the        must be saved and that together in the day of Christ.
elect, both in the Old Testament and in the New            The saints of the Old Testament may not prevent the
Testament, may be lost, but they must all be brought       saints of the New Testament, and the saints in the
to repentance and to the knowledge of the truth.           New Testament which have fallen asleep in Jesus will
That is the teaching of II Peter. In Hebrews 11:40 the     not inherit the final promise before those who are still
reason is as follows, "God having provided some            living on earth when Christ appears upon the clouds
better things for us, that they without us should not      with the sound of the Archangel and with the trump
be made perfect. "                                         of God, (I Thes. 4: 14-18). History must be
  The term "better" (kreitton)  is very common and         completed; that which remains of the suffering of
also very significant in the epistle to the Hebrews. It    Christ must be filled up by the saints, (Col. 1:24).
refers first of all to Christ Himself in His exaltation      God "foresaw" this concerning the church. He
above the angels at the right hand of God: Christ is in    made a "provision." Such was his wisdom in His
the "better" estate, the higher and more powerful          eternal decree in the counsel of peace. And now He
position than the angels, who are but ministering          executes this decree in his Fatherly providence over
spirits sent out for the benefit of those who will         His people. And His decree concerning "all these" of
inherit eternal life. Melchizedek is great and better      whom the writer spoke in Hebrews 11 is that these
than Abraham when he goes to meet him when the             shall not be saved "without us."
former returns from the slaughter of, the kings,             God will "`perfect" the saints. That will be the
(Hebrews  1:4;  7:38). Christ brings in a better hope      highest and most glorious manifestation of Christ, the
than did the law (Hebrews 7: 19), and Jesus is made        Son, who is the expressed image of  His being, the
the surety of a better covenant, (Hebrews 7:22). And       effulgence of His glory. When that is manifested, then
the Hebrews are encouraged with the assurance that         the Son is perfected. This is the perfection which is
they have "in heaven a better and an enduring              His through suffering. He will bring many sons to
substance," (Hebrews  10:34), and the saints who           glory, (Hebrews 2: 10). As the Captain of our
refused a proffered deliverance did so in the hope of      salvation He shall be perfected, that is, He shall be
obtaining a better resurrection, (Hebrews  11:34). In      manifested as the Son of God in our human nature,
all of these passages the adjective, is in the             crowned with glory and honor. And this glory can
comparative degree. However, there is something            only be perfected in the saints after their long
grand and superlative about the term. It refers not        history of suffering; God has united cross and crown
merely to something which is relatively better, but        for His Son Jesus, but He has also united this cross
which is better because of its very nature; it is on a     and crown for us, the saints, who will be "perfected"
far higher and grander scale. It is incomparably           with Him.
better, because it is the expression of the love, grace



THEDAYOFSHADOWS

                            Abram, The Peacemaker
                                                Rev. John A. Heys

  On the pages of Holy Writ there are preSented  to us     believers whose works were destroyed while they
some giants of faith. Hebrews 11 gives us a whole list     themselves are saved as by fire.     :
of them and their deeds which they wrought by faith.         Lot was one of them. That he is to be classified
But Scripture also shows us some of the children of        with believers, and with the children of God, is
God who were extremely weak in their faith, frail          evident from Scripture's testimony that he vexed his


114                                            THE STANDARD BEARER


righteous soul in Sodom. The sin of Sodom bothered            they could not dwell together. They had large flocks
 him greatly. But it grieved him most of all to see the       and herds and no land. The Canaanites and Perizzites
 way his family was going, and how his daughters were         dwelt in the land before they came there, and they
 seeking their husbands among the wicked sons of the          had taken the good ground and the wells. And now
 world. However, he was a born again, believing child         when Abram comes out of Egypt with large herds and
 of God; and God never takes away the seed of that            flocks, and Lot comes with a goodly number of these,
new life which He gives in the moment of the rebirth.         the matter gets critical. God, watching over His
He does give grace to cause all these to persevere even       covenant people, does not allow the Canaanites and
to the end, though they may fall, and fall far. What is       the Perizzites to attack His children. Strife does not
that statement  .ti the book of Psalms, "Though he            originate from that direction. God is faithful to His
fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord         covenant promise; and, having brought Abram here
upholdeth him with His hand"?                                 with the promise of giving the land to him and of
   Although Chapter 12 does not mention Lot, we               making of him a great nation, He gives him perfect
may be sure from Chapter 13: 1 that Lot went with             protection from the Canaanites and the Perizzites.
Abram and  Sarai into Egypt at the time of the                  But within the sphere of the church strife becomes
famine. However, as a weak believer he put up no              a very real threat. Abram's servants and Lot's strive
argument to Abram, and he made no,attempt to turn             for land and for water. How that crafty old adversary
Abram aside from this sinful way and walk that                of the church, Satan, delights to foment strife within
showed lack of trust in God. He spoke no word of              the church! How he enjoys setting the brother against
rebuke, made no attempt to correct. He, too, was              the brother and making enemies within the sphere of
going to live by bread alone; and it all looked good to       the covenant! If he cannot set the world against the
Lot. Anything that would give him material                    church, he will strive to turn the church itself into a
advantage he was not ready to let go. If Abram went           battleground. Always we ought to be on our guard
for bread, Lot would go along for bread. If Abram             against him and live in the consciousness of his many
feared for his life, Lot feared for his life as fully, and    attacks within the church by the members of that
perhaps more so.                                              church. We have so many examples of it recorded for
   Being a younger man - and he was not a young lad           us in Holy Writ that we cannot say that God has not
- was no reason for him to remain silent when                 forewarned us as to this wicked device of Satan. And
Abram showed his intentions of going to Egypt for             when he stirs us up to attack the fellow believer for
bread. The elders in the church are usually exactly           some material advantage, or for our own cause, we
that, the older men in the congregation with years of         ought to tell him to get behind us and to resist his
experience. But it often pleased God to use the               every attempt.
younger to rebuke the older when they walked in                 Abram does not only do that, but he puts forth
ways of sin. It was the lad, Samuel, whom God used            positive efforts to make peace where a state of war
to bring tidings to aged Eli because of the sins of his       existed. We are to emulate Abram, and not Lot.
sons which he did not seek to prevent and to punish.          "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall see
And did not Paul write to Timothy, "Let no man                God."
despise thy youth"? No, it would not have been out              Now it is inconceivable that Lot knew nothing of
of place for the  you'nger  man to rebuke and correct         the strife between his  herdsmen and between
the older man, when he sets out, or makes known his           Abram%. Abram knew, and we may be sure that Lot's
plans to set out, on an evil way. That, after all, is a       herdsmen told him of their struggle for land and
work of love. And it is not love to leave one in one's        water with the  herdsmen of Abram. Lot's choice of
sins and make no attempt to turn that one from an             the best land indicates his selfish, self-seeking nature.
evil way.                                                     He may have given his servants orders to get out early
  Along with Abram went Lot, following Abram's                and obtain the best of the land in the region. We may
bad example, and glad that he, too, could get some            be sure that he was aware of the strife and approved
bread in Egypt. And he got more than bread. Both he           of the struggle of his  herdsmen for the best. He did
and Abram came home rich in cattle and servants.              not relish an open conflict with Abram. He was not
Abram, we read, was very rich in cattle and silver and        trying to pick a fight with him. But he was ready to
gold. With the latter he could buy servants to take           let his  herdsmen fight to get every advantage over
care of his herds which were too large for him to             Abram that he could without putting forth his own
handle alone. And of Lot we read in verse 5 that he           hand to hurt him. He is not the peacemaker, but one
had flocks and herds and tents. Verse 7 also indicates        who, while avoiding a confrontation personally with
that Lot had herdsmen, while verse 6 teaches us that          Abram, seeks to get an advantage over him.
the land was not able to bear them, that they might             Even in this respect and apart from his choice of
dwell together: for their substance was great, so that        the best land,  when Abram as the peacemaker


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                               115


suggests this to him, Lot showed himself to be an            experiences because the Spirit applied the truth to his
ingrate. When his father died, Abram took him under          heart.
his roof and provided for him as though he were his            Now as the peacemaker he has the confidence of
child. When Abram went to the land of promise, he            seeing God and of dwelling with Him in the glory of
took Lot along, who then already must have been old          His kingdom. "Blessed are the peacemakers for they
enough to stand on his own two feet and support              shall see God." All that Lot got to see and could see
himself. Abram was seventy-five when he arrived in           in his frame of mind is those green fields near Sodom
Canaan. Lot could have been in his mid-thirties or           and Gomorrah. All he saw was the material wealth of
early forties. Yet Abram looked after him as a son,          this world. And that is all we see when we walk in
and took him along as part of his family. Did Lot            strife with the neighbour. James drives the truth
appreciate it all? Did he have a warm spot in his heart      home when he writes, "From whence come wars and
for Abram? You would not think so to read the                fightings among you? come they not hence, even of
account here in Genesis 13. The strife between his           your lusts that war in your members?" James could
herdsmen and Abram's he made no attempt to halt in           have been talking to Lot, for his words do apply to
deference to the man who had befriended him all              him. He lusted, or otherwise he would have put a stop
these years. In peace he was not interested. In fat          to the fighting of his herdsmen. He would have told
flocks and herds, in gold and silver, in personal            them that the land was Abram's, spoken glowingly of
advancement and advantage were his interests.                all Abram had done for him, and would have gone to
  Abram is the peacemaker. And then we ought to              Abram and told him that he would move away since
place the emphasis upon the last part of the word. It        the land was promised to him. He would have
is one thing to be a lover of peace, or even to be a         thanked Abram and sought peace with him. No, Lot
seeker of peace. It is another thing to be a maker of        lusted, and he followed his lust to the plains of
peace. The peacemaker takes the initiative. He does          Sodom.
not say, "Let him come to me, and I will receive               He did not see God in the sense that he had the
him." He certainly does not say what many have said          assurance of God's approval and favour. He saw sin
in the heat of strife and disagreement, "Only over my        and sinners, and he came more and more in contact
dead body!" Abram could have driven Lot away. He             with those who hate God. He found himself getting
could have told him that this was enough, and if he          deeper and deeper involved with them. The
dih not instruct his servants to ,quit their fighting for    peacemakers shall see God, not those who fight
the land which God had promised him, he would take           because of the lust of their flesh.
measures to teach him that this was land promised to
him by God. No, Abram wanted no fight between                  And they shall see God because He is THE
himself and Lot. He did not want the fighting                Peacemaker Who took the initiative, sought out the
between the two groups of herdsmen. He wanted                rebel, sent His Son and sacrificed Him so that there
peace, and he did something about it. THAT is what a         might be peace with God, and that we might by the
peacemaker does.                                             Spirit of Christ, and on the basis of His shed blood,
                                                             be reconciled to God to fight Him no more. And all
   Abram was ready to sacrifice, to give up what was         His children by the power of that grace of
rightfully his to maintain and keep peace between            reconciliation will be peacemakers. They will seek out
himself and Lot. Vindication such a peacemaker will          the brother and go to him. They will not wait for him
leave to God. A reward he does not seek. He is               to come to them. They will give up what is rightfully
interested in knowing the approval of his God. He is         theirs for the sake of God, and leave the whole matter
intereSted  in walking in a way of love to God by            of vindication to Him Who declared, "I will
dealing with his neighbor in love.                           recompense saith the Lord." God's children will be
  And all this he did in the full confidence of his          imitators of God. And whereas He made peace by the
faith that God would fulfill His promises and give him       blood of the cross, they will make peace by denying
all that which had been promised. We see here a              their flesh and for God's sake live in peace and
different Abram from the one who in the weakness of          self-denial before the brother in Christ.
faith went down to Egypt to seek assurance that he             Whom do you emulate? Lot or Abram?
would live to inherit the promises. The restoring grace
of God is so evident, and Abram had learned from his           Emulate Abram, and you are an imitator of Gqd.



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


116                                             THE STANDARD BEARER



ALL AROUND US


                                                     ProJ: H. Hanko

                          Busing Of Private School Students

  In some twenty-seven states, busing is provided by          schools and will not rest until these schools are
the state for private school students as well as for          destroyed. Right now, this is apparently the tack our
public school studelits. Apparently this too will soon        enemies are taking: deprive Christian schools of all
cease. According to  Christianity Today,  the U. S.           aid of any kind in the hopes that they  will collapse
Supreme Court ruled that states have no                       because of inability to support them. This tack is
constitutional duty to provide free bus transportation        working well in some areas. There are many parochial
for students of private schools. The case originated in       and private schools which are losing students because
Missouri when a family sought such busing for their           those who have previously supported them, no longer
children. A lower federal court refused, and the              want to bear the burden of their support. The
Supreme Court upheld the ruling of the lower court.           students of these schools are gradually drifting into
  The decision does not forbid states to provide such         the public school system. Even where unbelievers are
busing. It merely states that the states have no duty         starting private schools because they are thoroughly
to provide it. The decision is tlierefore, left up to         disgusted with conditions in the existing public
each individual state.                                        schools, (and there are many places where this is
                                                              happening), one wonders how long people will be
  According to the same magazine, the Supreme                 willing to pay the high costs, especially in times of
Court also voided a California tax-credit plan which          economic decline.
was formed to help parents of private school children
pay tuition costs.                                               The one sure guarantee of continuing private
                                                              schools is deep, spiritual conviction. Those parents
  We are not unhappy with these decisions. While we           who solemnly believe that Christian schools are
recognize the unfairness of requiring the parents of          necessary for the fulfillment of their covenant
private school children to pay for the education of           obligations will be willing to support these schools no
their own children in addition to the children                matter what the cost. They will never abdicate their
attending public schools, we want no government aid           responsibility to train their children in the fear of the
to private schools. Government aid, as we have said           Lord, and turn over this responsibility to the godless
before in these columns, will ultimately lead to              state. No matter what the economic pressures, they
government control. And we cherish too deeply our             will continue to maintain their schools.
covenantal schools to do anything which will open
the door the slightest bit to government control.                What then will happen? We know that, in the long
                                                              run, the state will never tolerate this. Something will
  It is interesting though that this seems to be the          have to be done. If economic pressure alone will not
trend in our country. We know from the Scriptures             close those schools whose parents are committed to
that the devil is the implacable foe  6f the cause of         convenantal education, then some other means will
Christ, and that he will do all in his power to destroy       have to be devised. What form this will take, only
that cause. We may be sure that the devil and his             God knows. But we must rededicate ourselves to the
allies, the world of wicked men, hate Christian               cause of Christian education.



                            Government-Reared Children?

  We were talking about the threats which believing              Just today a sample copy of the magazine  Faith
parents face to the education of their children. These        came to my home. This magazine contained an article
threats are more real than we often imagine.                   entitled : "Coming Soon: Government-Reared


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                117



 Children". It was written by James Wesley Baker, a              How far is the program advanced? There are
 newswriter at radio station WMUU in `Greenville,             already many books on the market advocating this
 South Carolina. In this article the author points out        type of program. Popular magazines and television
 the fact that social activists who advocate government       programs have taken up the cause. But more
 training of children have already made considerable          ominously, already bills to set up such a program
 progress.                                                    h a v e   b e e n   b e f o r e   t h e   C o n g r e s s .   In  1 9 7 1
   There are a number of men who are' convinced               Representative John Brademas (Democrat-Indiana)
 that, if the training of children is left to parents, the    and Senator Walter Mondale (Democrat-Minnesota)
 world will never succeed in solving her many social          introduced separate but similar legislation in the
 problems. Several authorities are quoted. Dr.                House and Senate to finance such a program. The bill
 Reginald Lourie, president of the Joint Commission           provided for funding of such a program not only, but
 on Mental Health of Children, is quoted as saying:           it also provides for the use of "Child advocates". The
 "There is a serious thinking among some of the               idea behind child advocates is that certain specialists
 future-oriented child development research people            would be provided by the program to work with
 that maybe we can't trust the family alone to prepare        parents to teach them how to bring up their children.
 young children for this kind of world which is               If, in the judgment of those who are in charge of such
 emerging." This statement was made to a                      a program, parents are not doing a good job,
 congressional sub-committee. He is quoted further as         advocates would enter the home and direct education
 saying : "There is increasing evidence that we must          even within the home. Apparently, the authority in
intervene in the earliest years if we are to truly deal       the home would be transferred to these advocates. If
with the roots of many of the problems facing this            parents disagreed, the opinion of the advocates would
country . . . . Child development offers an                   take precedence.
opportunity to have access to children in need of help           This bill passed both House and Senate, but was
to avoid distorted development in these early years."         vetoed by President Nixon in December of 1971. A
Dr. Milton Akers, Executive Director of the National          revised version was introduced in the Senate in 1972,
Association for Education of Young Children, looks            and died in the House. But supporters of the
on such programs as necessary in our world: "It may           movement have vowed to continue the fight until
well be that means by which wars, social conflict, and        their measures are adopted. Senator Mondale is
human injustice are eliminated."                              quoted as saying: "I will continue fighting for child
   Those who favor such programs justify their                development and child care legislation until we get a
position by appealing to the fact that many homes in          bill enacted."
this country simply are not providing even a minimal             So far, the bills which have been introduced have
training for their children. The claim is that the home       made the program voluntary. But the article notes
is chiefly responsible for many, if not all, of the           that this is done only to attempt to quiet conservative
problems which the world faces today. If the home             opposition. There are already some who are
will not perform its duties, someone else will have to        promoting compulsory attendance and participation
do it. Hence these men argue: "It is not the parent, it       in such a program.
is not the child, it is society that has the                     There are a few points which are worth noting. In
responsibility." "Society has the ultimate                    the first place, while the program is ostensibly
responsibility for the well-being and optimum                 directed towards those homes where child-rearing is
development of all children."                                 not done, the whole point is nonetheless, that the
   And so a program is being pushed which is called,          government is determined that her citizenry shall be
 "Comprehensive Child Development". It assumes                so trained and educated that all the citizens are so
almost all the responsibility for rearing children from       many faithful followers of the men in power. And
the age of six months to at least six years  - and            this is surely Anti-Christ. It is not difficult to imagine
longer if necessary. It seeks a program which will            that the time will come when the government will
place the responsibility for all the care of the child -      consider genuine Reformed, covenantal education
educational, nutritional, and emotional  - upon               also a threat to her well-being. The government need
society as a whole; by which is meant, the                    not go much further in the direction in which it is
responsibility will be placed upon behavioristic              now going to take the position that Christians are a
educators, psychologists and sociologists who operate         threat to the state, and that the education these
government-financed programs. As now proposed,                Christians provide for their children produces people
this education would take place through "specially            who are similar threats. So the government will insist
designed health, social, and educational programs             on the right to train our children.
(including afterschool, summer, weekend,, vacation,              In the second place, such programs constitute the
and overnight programs.)"                                     gravest possible threat to the Church. From a human


118                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



p o i n t of v i e w , it seems impossible that God's             prevail against the Church. In every assault they are
covenant could ever be continued if such programs                 defeated, for Christ fights for His own cause. And He
were put into effect and made compulsory. God                     is sovereign.
Himself has tied the continuation of His covenant in                Finally, all these things give urgency to the calling
the line of generations inseparably to covenant                   to covenant parents to be faithful and train their
training. Take covenant training away, and the                    children in the way they should go. Included in this
covenant lines are lost.                                          training there ought also to be warnings of the
  In the third place, the people of God have the                  dangers ahead which we and our children will have to
assurance however, that the gates of hell cannot                  facebefore the Lord comes again.





                            The Orthodoxy of "Present Truth"

                                In the last couple of years, many of our people
                              have seen and read a magazine called "Present
                              T r u t h ". They have been impressed with the
                              orthodoxy of this magazine, especially with its telling
                              criticism of the Neo-Pentacostalist movement and
                              with its sturdy defense of the Reformational doctrine
                              of justification by faith alone.
                                Apparently however, this magazine is not as
                              orthodox as it sometimes appears to be.
                                In a recent issue of  Christian News,  the editor
                              points out that the authors of this magazine deny the
                              truth of the immortality of the soul. In fact, the
                              magazine is quoted as claiming that Luther himself
                              denied this truth. A writer in the magazine is quoted
                              as saying: "It follows that I dare not regard my death,
                              even under the aspect of biological mask, as
                              something that no longer strikes the real me, since I
                              am immortal, but moves on bypassing my soul. No,
                              all of me goes down into death. Nothing gives me the
                              right to reject the totality of man, which the
                              Scriptures proclaim in connection with the disaster of
                              death, and suddenly- split him into -body and soul,
                              into a perishable and an imperishable I-segment."
                                We are not sufficiently acquainted with the
                              magazine to know what the theology of the editors is
                              in other matters. It seems reasonable to conclude that
                              the denial of such a central truth would lead
                              inevitably to the denial of other truths as well. Those
                              who read this magazine are therefore urged to read it
                              with discernment.


                                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                       119


                                      News From Our Churches


                       November 14, I974                                          Last time I passed along a few excerpts of letters
    Among the many bulletins which form the major                              from Rev. Harbach. For lack of space, I had to forego
source of news for this column, I have one, this time,                         reference to some of their lighter parts. Perhaps I
of the Protestant Reformed Worship Services held in                            could insert a little of that here. In them, for
Memorial West Community Club, of Houston, Texas.                               example, he described, as only Rev. Harbach can, the
Since it gives s o m e t h i n g of a picture of Rev.                          Houston freeway traffic, with which he must
Harbach's regular labors there, I'd like to pass along                         frequently contend in the course of his work there.
some of its contents. "Sunday School (For Children                             "Advanced far beyond `clover leafs,' " he writes, "we
and Adults) 9:30 a.m. Today's Lesson (No. 13) is in                            now have `spaghetti bowls' merging into merges. . . .
the Book of Joshua  (l-4), on "The Crossing of the                             Cars mass over the winding strip of concrete like so
Jordan." Next Sunday's Lesson (No. 14), is in Josh.                            many ants scrambling pell-me11 over the serpentine
5 : 1 O-l 5  ; 6-8 on "The Fall of, Jericho and  Ai."                          coils of a monstrous fire-breathing dragon." Visitors,
Parents are urged to use `Our Guide' at home, going                            he continues, would likely not see much of that
over the lesson and the memory verses with the                                 "ominously buzzing, snapping, tail-lashing,
children.                                                                      fire-belching dragon." It's apparent, however, not
                                                                               only that Rev. Harbach finds it necessary to make
   "Morning Service - lo:30 a.m. Afternoon Service -                           frequent use of the Houston freeways, but that he's
   3:30 p.m.                                                                   never far from its sounds, because of the proximity of
    "Mid-week Meeting - Wednesday - 7:30 p.m. At                               his residence. "Even in the quiet and relative safety of
the homeof.. . . Studying the Reformed Confession,                             our beds," he says, "the dragon's roar is an
we continue with Art. 26, on Christ's Intercession,                            ubiquitous witness that it never sleeps."
noting that it is exclusive, it is particular, it is                             In another letter Rev. Harbach made mention of
compassionate, it is effectual, it is prevalent, it is                         the matter of becoming accustomed to the regional
perpetual . . .        .                                                       dialect. "The language barrier," he reported, "is
   "Reformed Witness Hour, KFMK, 98 mg, Every                                  slowly being overcome. E.g., two Texas words
Sunday at  2:30 p.m. Amid the din of cults,                                    learned: 1.  har  and 2.  yawl,  as in `Har yawl,
Modernism and Arminianism, the preaching of true                               podnuh?' "
Calvinism may be heard.                                                                             *  *  8 *  *
   "Catechism Classes, Saturday Morning, Pastor's                                From an October bulletin of First Church we read
Apartment."                                                                    the following concerning our former missionary to
                             * * * * *                                         Jamaica:                             (continued on back page)




                              NOTICE!!
   Classis  East will meet, the Lord willing, in regular session on January
8, 1975, at the First Protestant Reformed Church of Grand Rapids,
Michigan. Material to be treated in this session must be in the hands of
the Stated Clerk no later than ten days prior to the convening of this                Know the  standa
Session.

                                                              Jon Huisken                  and follow it.
                                                              Stated Clerk





              RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
   The Ladies Aid Society of the First Protestant Reformed Church
wishes to express its sincere sympathy to one of its members, Mrs. J.                                Read the
Synders, in the loss of her husband, MR. JOHN SYNDERS.

   May the Lord comfort her in her bereavement, and may she know                           STANDARD BEARER!
that He who controls all things doeth them well.

                                                    Mrs. T. Newhof, Pres.
                                                    Mrs. C. Pastoor, Sec'y.

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





120                 \

     "During the time that Rev. G. Lubbers awaits
God's direction concerning his future labors, the                                     THE STANDARD BEARER
                                                                Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July, and August.
consistory has requested of him to assist the pastor            Published by the Reformed Free  Pu,blishing Association, Inc.
and elders in the visitation of the sick. This he has              Second Class Postage Paid at Grand Rapids, Mich.
                                                             Editor-in-Chief: Prof. Homer C. Hoeksema
kindly consented to do. The pastor will continue his         Department Editors:  Prof. Robert D. Decker, Mr. Donald  .Doezema,
visits as here-to-fore, and the visits 6f Rev. Lubbers       Rev. David J. Engelsma, Rev. Cornelius Hanko, Prof. Herman Hanko,
                                                             Rev. Robert  C. Harbach, Rev. John A. Heys, Rev. Jay Kortering, Rev.
will be in addition to these."            :                  Dale H. Kuiper, Rev. George C. Lubbers, Rev. Marinus  Schipper, Rev.
                                                             Gise J. Van  Baren. Rev. Herman Veldman
     A couple of weeks later, incidentally, First's          Editorial Office:  &of. H. C Hoeksema
                                                                                  4975  Ivantest Ave. S.W.
bulletin rioted that Rev. Lubbers had received the call                           Grandville, Michigan 49418
                                                             Church News  E&r:          Mr. Donald  Doezema
from Pella.                                                              _              1904 Plymouth Terrace, S.E.
                                                                                        Grand Rapids. Michigan 49506
                           *  * * * *                        Editorial Policy:  Every editor is  ioleiy responsible for the contents of
                                                             his own    rtlcles. Contributions of general interest from our readers
     There have been a number of interesting                 and ques tons for the Question-Box Department are welcome. Contri-
                                                             butions #111 be limited to approximately 300 words and must be neatly
beginning-of-the-season gatherings recently, at least if     written o typewritten, and must be signed. Copy deadlines are the first
                                                             and the  f'fteenth  of the month. All communications relative to the
we're able to judge from topics announced in various         contents sL Id be sent to the editorial office.
                                                             Reprint  PO/icy:  Permission Is hereby granted for the reprinting of arti-
church bulletins. Among them are the following:              cles in our magazine by other publications, provided: a) that such re-
                                                             printed articles are reproduced in full; b) that proper acknowledgement
                                                             is made; c) that a copy of the periodical in which such reprint appears
     At the Convocation. Exercises  .of South Holland        is sent to our editorial office.
Protestant Reformed School, Rev. Engelsma spoke on           Business Office:  The Standard Bearer
                                                                                  Mr. H. Vander Wal, Bus. Mgr.
"The  Wisdom of an Ant." At the Fall Mass Meeting                                 P. 0. Box 6064
                                                                                  Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506
of the Sunday School Association, Rev. C. Hanko              Business Agent for Australasia:Mr.  Wm. van Rij
                                                                                                  59 Kent Lodge Ave.
spoke on "The Responsibilities of the Parents in                                                  Christchurch 4, New  Zealand
Relation to the Sunday School." At the Annual                Subscription Policy:  Subscription price, 57.00 per year ($5.00 for
                                                             Australasia). Unless a definite request for discontinuance is received, it
Reformation'Day Lecture in the Grand Rapids' area,           is assumed that the subscriber wishes the subscription to continue wlth-
                                                             out the formality of a renewal order, and he will be billed for renewal.
held this year in Hudsonville Public School                  If you have a change of address, please notify the Business Offlce as
                                                             early as possible in order to avoid the Inconvenience of delayed deliv-
Auditori,um, Rev. Van  Baren spoke on "The                   ery. Include your Zip Code.
                                                             Advertising Policy:  The  Standard Bearer  does not accept commercial
Relevance of the Reformation and the Creeds." At             advertising of any kind. Announcements of church and school events,
                                                             anniversaries, obituaries, and sympathy resolutions will be placed for a
the Mr. and Mrs. League Meeting, held in Southeast           $3.00 fee. These should be sent to the Business Office and should be
                                                             accompanied by the $3.00 fee. Deadline for announcements is the 1st
Church, Rev. Van  Overloop  spoke on "Marriage: A            or the 15th of the month, previous to publication on the 15th or the
                                                             1st respectively.
Battlefield? A Blessed Union? Or Just Co-existence?"         Bound  ihlUi?m:  The Business Office will accept standing orders for
                                                             bound copies of the current volume; such orders are filled as soon as
At the Men's League Meeting, held in Hudsonville             possible after completion of a volume. A limited number of past vol-
                                                             umes may be obtained through the Business Office.
Church, Prof. R. Decker spoke on "The Church in
Glory and the Continuation of History." At the                                              0         0       0
Ladies' League Meeting, held in Southwest Church,
Prof. Hanko spoke on "The Relationship of Mental                                            CONTENTS
Disturbance and Sin." And Prof. Decker delivered a
lecture in the Kalamazoo Christian High School audi-         "The Saving Grace of God" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .98
torium, on the topic "The Foolishness of Preaching"
-                                                            "The Evangelical Presbyterian Church -
       a lecture which he had delivered a week earlier in       An Encouraging Contact" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...... 100
Randolph, Wisconsin.                                         The Belgic Confession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
                           *  * * *  *                       Spiritual Growth - The Means (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
       On Monday, November 11, Prof. Hoeksema                "Hyper-Calvinism" and the Call of the Gospel (6) . . . . . . 109
underwent ear surgery at St. Mary's Hospital in Grand        Exposition of Hebrews 11:35-38 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Rapids. He returned to his home on Wednesday,
which was earlier than had been anticipated, and, at         The Peacemaker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1; . . . . . . . 1-13
the time of this writing, was making a good recovery.        All AroundUs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
He expected to be absent from his classes at the             News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .119
Seminary for a period of about two weeks.

                                                    D.D.


