        The
     :STANDA.f?D
     ~  BEARE.?
.         A REFORMED SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE





      In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward
        the) first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene
        and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.
      And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for- the
        angel- of the Lord descended  .from heaven, and
        came and rolled back the stone from the door, and
        sat upon it.
      His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment
        white as snow:
      And for fear  .of him the keepers did shake, and
        became as dead: men.
      And the angel answered and said unto the women,
        Fear not ye:. for I know that ye seek Jesus, which
        was crucified.
      He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see
        the place where the  Lord lay.
      And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen
        from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you
        into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo,  I have told
        you.       `1
                                                - Matthew 28 : l-7



c                                      V o l u m e   L I ,   N u m b e r   1 3 ,   A p r i l   1 ,   1 9 7 5 - J


290                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER


MEDITATION

                           The Necessity of the Cross. `,
                                                       Rev. C Hanko

              "Ought not the Christ to have sujfered these things, and tb enter into his glory?`!
,:                                                                                                Luke 24:26

      It was the day of our Lord's resurrection.                  Of one thing they are convinced: Jesus of.Nazareth
:' Two men, wrapped in intimate conversation, were              is indeed the Christ, the Son of the living God, Who
leaving the Holy City as the afternoon shadows                  came from God to redeem Israel from all their sins.
lengthened. The intermingling of amazement and                  Proof for their conviction lay, first of all, in the fact
fear, of mild hope and deep sorrow in their                     that He was a `prophet sent of God. No man ever
conversation reveals them as disciples of Jesus.                spoke as this man, with a power and authority that
Although not of the eleven, they are included with              put the scribes to shame. What He said was so
those who refused to give up the conviction that He             completely  f.ounded upon  ' the Old Testament
was indeed the Christ, the Son of the living God. One           Scriptures that no one could contradict  .Him. He
of them, who does most of the talking, is Cleopas.              could say, "Thy sins are forgiven thee," and the guilt
The other is probably Luke, if we may conclude that             of sin fell away like a heavy load from one's soul.
from his extensive account of this event in his gospel          Besides that, He sealed His testimony with signs and
treatise.                                                       wonders. He spoke, and the dead arose. He
: The travelers are so completely. absorbed in their            commanded, and devils obeyed Him. Even the winds
conversation that they do not even consider it an               and the waves of the sea were quieted at His word. He
intrusion that a third person quietly comes up behind           instilled faith, a faith so strong that it could be
them, falls in step between them, and joins in their            severely shaken, -but never destroyed.
discussion. What does seem so very strange to them is             Hesitatingly they carry one. This is a bit more
the fact that He seems to know nothing of the events            difficult to put into words, but His attentiveness
of the past few days that, have set all Jerusalem and          -encourages them  to. go on. This Jesus died last
Judea in turmoil. Wonderingly they ask: "Are you               `Friday afternoon.  yes, you understood us correctly,
the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know all            He died. Now listen to this. Early this morning some
the things that are happening here?"                            women, who cherish the same convictions of Him
                                                                that we do, went to His tomb. They came back with
To that they receive the answer: "What things?"                 the upsetting, -yet wonderful tidings that He is risen.
Still they do not recognize Him as Jesus. One                   We hardly dare' accept that, but here is the evidence.
reason for this is that the resurrection was something          First, they  actualIy.saw that the tomb was open and
so new, so strange to them, that they can not yet               His corpse was gone. Second, they saw angels there,
grasp it. Another reason is, as Mark tells us, that He          as they tell us,. who said that He was risen. Third,
appeared in another form. Luke says that their eyes             others went to investigate this seemingly impossible
were held, that they would not recognize Him.                  report, .and they came back confirming every word of
Wisely, Jesus approaches them as a stranger to -help           it.. Fourth, we keep thinking that this is the third day,
them with their -problem. Wisely, He urges them on to          for somehow Jesus attached .importance  to that third
put their problem into words, and thus to unburden              day when He was still with us.        _
their souls.                                                      Now for the real problem.
      What things?                                                As we said, He died last Friday afternoon. Had He
That simple question is all that it took to break              died an ordinary death at the early age of thirty-three
open the floodgates, causing a stream of words to              years, we would have been sorely disappointed, but
burst forth from their troubled, burdened hearts.              He died the worst death conceivable. He died the
They have a problem, an enigma, that must be solved            shameful and accursed death of the cross as the'worst
before they will ever find peace. Not only their peace         of sinners. No, it was not Pilate, the representative of
of mind, but even their salvation depends on having            the Roman government, who took Him under arrest
their problem solved. Jesus is aware of that, and lets         and `sought to kill  Him. Our own rulers, our High
them talk.                                                     Priest and our Sanhedrin, whom we were always


                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 291


taught: to respect as representatives of God in meeting             acquainted with grief, that everyone hid, as it were,
out justice, captured Him, tried Him, and condemned                 his face from Him. .Even Isaiah could tell, that He was
Him to death, seeking the aid of Pilate to carry out                led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep dumb
the death sentence. Why, if He was innocent of any                  before its shearers, so He opened not His mouth."
crime, did these rulers condemn Him? Why, if He is                    That, and obviously many more mysteries were
indeed the Christ, did He submit to such an infamous                unfo1de.d during. the seven mile journey from
death?  .:                                                          Jerusalem to  Emmaus. As patiently as He had
  Why? 0; why? The cross is the real'enigma.                        listened,  `so. eagerly. He now draws away the veil
* Added to that, there is the second problem, if He is              revealing step by step the wonder of grace in sending
risen from the dead, where is He? Why did He not                    Jesus into the. world to! seek and to save that which
come to the -home of John and Mary to stay with                     waslost. .
them?, Why is He in hiding? Why does He not come to                   The travelers hearts were all afire. This Stranger
us and be with us as before? We simply .do not                      knows His Bible.. He speaks with the authority of
understand!                                                         God, as no man has ever ,spoken before. Never had
                                                                    they understood. prophecy as clearly as He explains it.
  It was a relief to put. it all in words. Their attentive          Never had anyone shown so convincingly from
listener had made it so easy for them, urging them to               the Scriptures that every piece of the puzzle fits,
pour out their souls completely. He was so amazingly                even falls into  ,place, when  : the cross is centered
understanding, that even as they talked they                        as it: should be. Jesus is indeed the Christ, powerfully
wondered Who He might be.                                           proven to be the Son of God, the only possible
  The cross is their problem, as it still always  Iis.              Savior, by His death and resurrection from the dead.
Actually, it is a double problem, for there is also the             Indeed, Christ was working His power in the Hearts
mystery of the resurrection. This will always remain,               of these travelers as the power of God unto salvation,
unless we listen by faith to Him Who knows all!.              `,    even as. He spoke. "Were not our hearts burning
  "Ought not the Christ. to  .have. suffered these                  within us.."           _
things?"                                                              Here is`an inescapable "ought".
  Jesus strikes at the very `heart  .of the  pioblem:                 "Ought not the Christ to suffer these things and
These men have their hands full of pieces of a puzzle,              enter into His  glory??'    .,
none  : of which seem to fit. Jesus picks out the one                 God. is not compelled by circumstances and
piece, the key to the solution; holds it up for them to             conditions outside of Himself to do something that
see and- then fits it in its proper place, so that all the          He never intended or wanted to do. God is GOD. Let
other: pieces fall into position.                                   no one in any way deprive Him of His glory. He
  This divine Instructor says: "Let us begin here:                  eternally knows the, only possible way in which He
Jesusi is indeed the Christ, the Son of, the living God,            may reveal Himself in all His infinite perfections as
Your,evidence stands, Everything that happened since                the all-glorious, ever blessed covenant God. He knows
only lconfirms that fact. We must, however, look at it              how to take His people into His covenant fellowship,
in the light of the Scriptures;             I  j_       ,           that they may forever enjoy His dazzling majesty,
  "What do the Scriptures say about Him? Let us                     radiating the light of His life in intimate covenant
begin with Genesis with the promise of the Seed of                  communion with Him. God knows how to do that in
the woman, the Christ, Whose heel is bruised as it                  Christ Jesus, our Lord. He carries out that purpose in
bears down heavily upon the head of the serpent,                    all of history. His counsel stands and He does all His
Satan. Consider that God Himself covered Adam and                   good pleasure. I stammer to say that there could be
Eve from His penetrating, condemning eyes when He                   no other way, there simply is no other way possible,
gave them skins of animals to hide their nakedness.                 in which all creation may be united to declare: "My
Think of the sacrifices of innocent lambs that were                 God, how great Thou art." This is so true, that God
slain, the rivers of blood that flowed throughout                   did not hesitate to surrender His Son, the Only Son
the old dispensation, which never atoned for a single               of His bosom, to infamy and the horrors of hell. God
sin, but spoke of better things to come. Listen to                  spared not His only begotten Son, but gave Him as a
David as he mournfully sings in a minor key of the                  ransom for the sins of His people. There was a
sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.             "must" in God that demanded the way of the cross
Hear, Israel chant `in solemn strains of their promised             to bring many sons into glory. "0 the depth of the
Messiah, `The offering on the altar burned gives no                 riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God:
delight to Thee; the hearing ear, the willing heart,                How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways
Thou givest unto Me.' Consider Isaiah's suffering                   past finding out." (Rom. 11:32,33)
Servant, the Man of Sorrows, so thoroughly                            There was also a divine "must" for the Christ.


 292                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



   What a joy for Him to be able to talk about that           light began to dawn on their sin-weary souls. Our
 divine necessity that had led Him by way of the cross        Shepherd laid down His life for His sheep. We all like
 to His wonderful resurrection.                               sheep have gone astray. It belongs to our very nature
  , Christ thinks of the angel Gabriel visiting Mary to       to be like stubborn, wayward sheep, prone to wander
 explain to her the wonder of the virgin birth. He            from the fold, and once lost, unable to find our way
 recalls how He lay as a helpless, poverty stricken Babe      back, defenceless  over against the enemies, perishing
 in a borrowed cattle stall, already hated, rejected,         in our sins. The Good Shepherd loves His sheep,
 hunted as a beast of the forest. Jesus recalls His tender    comes to seek them, to take them into His bosom,
 age of twelve, when He was in the temple asking His          and to carry them safely all the way, even into the
 mother, "What, wjst ye not that I must be about my           sheepfold of glory.
Father's business?" There were the forty days in the             The light begins to dawn.
 wilderness when He asked: "Father, what wilt Thou               There still remains that needling question: "but
 have Me do?" And the answer came in the form of
 Satan and their bitter encounter. Yes, there were            Him they did not see."
 those bright moments, when the voice from heaven                At this point Jesus could well remind the travelers
 cpnfirmed Him saying, "This is My Beloved Son in             and us once more, that we are fools and slow of heart
 Whom I am well pleased." There was that                      to believe. all that is written of Him. We are of the
 unforgettable experience on the mount, when He               earth, earthy, minding earthly things. How difficult it
 spoke with Moses and Elijah and was given a brief            is for us to fathom heavenly things! Yes, that is not
 foretaste of the glory that God had prepared for Him         only difficult, but impossible. We need the
 before the world was. But there was also that anxious        enlightening power of Christ through His Spirit to
 night in Gethsemane, when drops of real blood oozed          give us eyes of faith, eyes to behold that which eye
 from Him, as He cried: "Father, if it is not possible        cannot see, ear cannot hear, and never can enter into
 that this cup pass from Me, Thy will be done." Well          the heart of man.
 Christ remembered the powerful, sustaining hand of             What these men still had to learn was that the risen
 the Spirit as He bent His back to the smiters and            Lord was now heavenly, spiritual, immortal. The man
 turned His cheek to the spit of His mockers. He had          Jesus was no more among them as before. He had
 prayed: "Father, the hour is come; glorify Thy Son           passed from death into life to bring them with Him
 with the glory that He had with Thee before the              into Father's house with its many mansions.
 world was." Here is the answer in His presence among           Jesus waits until they have arrived at their
 them! He speaks of a confidence of victory that these        destination. He pauses yet for them to ask Him to
 men cannot yet fathom.                                       tarry with them. He sees a hasty meal prepared for
   He also puts the question to them, and to  -us:            them. Then He assumes the position of Host. He
 ought not your Christ to have suffered these things,         prays for a blessing upon this food, and they take no
to  bring,you glory?                                          offence, for before the men recover fully from their
  As personal as the question was for Jesus Himself,          surprise, they see Him!
 so personal it was also for His attentive audience.            The Lord is risen; is risen indeed!
   Perhaps they did not fully understand at the
moment. Surely they did not understand as clearly as            And our salvation is complete. Hallelujah!
they would later, or as we see it today. Finally the            My Savior and my Lord!


EDITORIAL
              More Light On The Woudstra-Geelong Affair
                                                 ProJ: H.C. Hoeksema

   There continues to be much ignorance of the facts          inform the churches and the people specifically as to
 concerning the dismissal of Dr. S. Woudstra from the         what has taken place. This is not due to the fact that
 Reformed Theological College at Geelong, Australia;          what has taken place is of a private nature. For it
 and, as a result, there is no little confusion in the        concerned Dr. Woudstra's public labor as professor at
 situation. This is not a subjective judgment on my           Geelong. Nor is it due to the fact that the churches
part, but is an objective fact. As of the date of this        and people are not entitled to know what has taken
 writing no one "down under" has done anything to             place at Geelong. For while it is true that the


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                               293



Reformed Theological College is operated by an                 Meanwhile, as of this writing those clear,
association, it nevertheless remains true that it is from    unambiguous answers have not been forthcoming. In
this college that the Reformed Churches of Australia         this country,  The Banner  simply carries an
and New Zealand receive their candidates for the             announcement that Dr. Woudstra has accepted a call
ministry. Moreover, the college is under the                 to Hobart, Tasmania (the island state south of
supervision of synodical deputies from these                 mainland Australia), without reference to his having
churches. Hence, it is very plain that the churches have     been at Geelong and certainly without any reference
a real stake in the college, and therefore they. are         to the fact that he was dismissed from Geelong. Yet it
entitled to be adequately informed.                          should be remembered that Dr. Woudstra is on loan
  Yet they have been kept in ignorance. Neither the          to Australia from the Board of Foreign Missions of the
Board of Directors of Geelong nor the synodical              Christian Reformed Church. In Australia, no one has
deputies has seen fit to shed light on the situation.        furnished adequate information thus far. Also the
                                                             Rev. van Brussel is a synodical deputy. But he sheds
  And there are complaints about this. Thus, for             no light when he writes under "Australian Gleanings"
example, in a little paper published by  Classis             in the December, 1974 issue of Trowel arid Sword.
Queensland (Church Review, December, 1974) a Mr.             He only adds to the confusion by writing: "There is
A. Tigchelaar writes under the title "Quo Vadis?" and        some considerable confusion round the decision of
complains about this lack of information: "An                the Board of Directors of the Association for a
Editorial in the November issue of `Trowel & Sword'          Christian University to bring Dr. S. Woudstra's term
and a Statement by the President of  the'  .Board of         of ministry as a professor at the Reformed
Directors of the Reformed Theological College at             Theological College to a close. Many members and
Geelong, the Reverend Mr. J. J. van Wageningen, have         even sessions are not quite informed on the official
finally broken the long period of official silence           rules for such a-`decision. Some are also wondering
surrounding the dismissal of Dr. S. Woudstra from his        about the consequences for Dr. Woudstra's ministry
teaching position at the R.T.C. Both the Statement           in connection with all this. It was a helpful initiative
and Editorial are an apologetic intended to clarify          of the Geelong session (where' Rev. Deenick is pastor,
and justify the dismissal. Both fall very, far short of      HCH) to request a special meeting of Classis Victoria
the mark as neither article really comes to grips with,      to consider Dr.. Woudstra's position as a minister in
or justifies the action taken, by submitting properly        the Reformed Churches. This meeting has been held
documented evidence that the dismissal was' indeed           on November 16.
justified or even stating that such evidence exists.
This  `is particularly puzzling with, respect to Mr.           "After a long and open interview with Dr.
Deenick's Editorial since he is one of the Synodical         Woudstra on several points of doctrine, the  classis
deputies who recommended to the Board of Directors           concluded that from its thorough discussion with him
of the R.T.C. that Dr. Woudstra be dismissed."               the churches were satisfied that Dr. Woudstra's
                                                             ministry in the church was faithful to the gospel.
   It is not clear whether the writer is for or against      Since this decision was not fully unanimous and since
Woudstra. But that is not important in this                  Dr. W oudstra's ministry in the church and his
connection. What is clear is that he is complaining          position as professor at the college are two different
about being kept in ignorance. He is rightly critical of     matters the classis decided to postpone to its meeting
the same editorial in  Trowel and Sword  which I             of November 30 a decision on the question whether
earlier criticized. He criticizes the Rev.  Deenick for      an  ap,proach should be made to the board of the
making indirect and oblique accusations against              theological college."
Woudstra when he (Deenick) refers to "the theological          Again, no light!
confusion in the (Dutch oriented) Reformed
communities." And he goes on to state: "In                     Besides, it should be kept in mind that while from
summarizing the Editorial in T  & S, my general              a formal point of view Woudstra's ministry in the
reaction is one of puzzlement. I cannot understand           church and his position at the college are two
that  ,the author, who was so closely and intimately         different matters, from a doctrinal point of view they
associated with the events at the R.T.C. as, a               are not. Both positions require the same doctrinal
Synodical Deputy, wrote such a vague and                     allegiance `to the Reformed confessions. And if the
uninformative article dealing with the event. One            synodical deputies, Revs. Deenick, van Brussel, and
gains the impression that the editorial was intended         van Dam, took the stand that Woudstra should be
to soothe rather than inform." And I can certainly           dismissed for -doctrinal reasons, they should never
agree with this: "What the Reformed Church of                tolerate his being cleared in  Classis Victoria and his
Australia community now needs is some clear,                 being allowed to accept a call to the congregation of
unambiguous answers to the questions that have been          Hobart.
raised by the recent events at the R.T.C."                     Yet this has now happened.


294                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


 i To compound .the confusion and ignorance, it is             All this would be plain beyond a shadow of a
being noised abroad now that there is nothing wrong         doubt if only the facts concerning Dr. Woudstra's
with Dr. Woudstra's preaching, but that it is the           dismissal were made known. I can assure the readers
teaching which was at fault  - as though it were            on the basis of unimpeachable evidence that if the
possible to be a faithful Reformed preacher, but a          facts concerning this case were made known, it would
doctrinally unsound teacher, unfit to teach future          become plain:
ministers. It is even being suggested that it was not so    1. That Dr. Woudstra deviated from the confessional
much the content' of Woudstra's teaching, but the           position of the Reformed Theological College with
method of approach to his students which was at             respect to the truth of the authority of Holy
fault. And it is also suggested that,if the college was     Scripture, and that, too, in such a way that he opened
supported by the Reformed Churches only,  .there            the way for a distinction  : between reliable and
would. not have been any problem. This last                 unreliable aspects of Scripture, between the core of
statement, by the way, is probably true. It appears         the truth and the periphery which may be erroneous.
that Dr. Woudstra could have  been' retained at             This, by the way, is quite in harmony with our earlier
Geelong only at the expense'of losing support' from         report that Woudstra was hiding behind the Christian
the Free Church and  - even more  - only at the             Reformed Report 44 on the Nature and Extent of the
expense of losing from the faculty the services of          Authority of Scripture.
Prof.  Harman, the newly appointed Old Testament
professor, and Prof. Barkley. Nevertheless, if this is      2. That Dr. Woudstra deviated from the confessional
true, it puts the synodical deputies in a very              position of the Reformed Theological College with
uncomfortable position, as we shall see: for they very      respect to the doctrine of predestination, specifically
definitely condemned Dr. Woudstra on  doctrinal             with respect to the doctrine of eternal and
grounds,  and that, too, on doctrinal grounds which         unconditional reprobation as taught in the Canons of
are confessionally valid also in the Reformed               Dordrecht, I,' 6 and 15.
Churches. And therefore the question may well be            3. That there were reasons for suspicion with respect
asked whether they  were,,acting merely from                to Woudstra's views on Church government and the
expediency (because it  was. either Woudstra or             principle of presbyterianism, rule by elders.
Harman and  Bai-kleyj, or were. they acting from            4. That Dr. Woudstra by his teachings had fomented
principle?                                        7         considerable doubt and concern among the students
 Further to compound the confusion, Dr. Woudstra            of Geelong with respect to his views on Scripture and
is now remaining on the Australian scene, having            o n   p r e d e s t i n a t i o n .
accepted the call to Hobart, Tasmania. This gives him          If the above is incorrect - and I assure you that it
the opportunity to continue to curry the favor of the       is not - then let `either the Board of Directors or the
Reformed clergy and people  - among whom he is              synodical deputies show this from the official record.
already said to be popular  -' and to enhance his              Now there are important implications in all this.
popularity. It will also give him the opportunity  -
and this possibility` has already been talked about -          In the' first place, this simply confirms what I
o:f eventually seeking reinstatement at Reformed            wrote and predicted before Dr. Woudstra ever arrived
Theological College. Apparently there can be no             in Australia in connection with a sermon which he
further action in the case until the next Synod in'         preached in the Borculo Christian Reformed Church,
11976. But should there be a change in the Board of         a sermon in which he plainly  .questioned  the
Directors of Geelong by that time,' and should              authority of Scripture. Geelong might have avoided
W oudstra's condemnation get the Synod's                    the present problem if they had heeded my warning
disapproval,  i it can readily be understood that the       at that time. And I know that they had the evidence
attempt might be made to get Prof. Woudstra back            at that time.
into the college. However this may be, even the fact           In the second place, everyone will recognize that
that Woudstra  ,remains on the Australian scene as a        the matter of Scripture and that of reprobation are
pastor  - ousted from, Geelong for serious doctrinal        the very same problems with which Geelong was
errors, but approved by  Classis Victoria because his       `confronted in connection with the teachings of Dr.
"ministry in the church was faithful to the gospel" -       Runia. At that time, you will recall, there were
adds to the confusion of the situation because of its       official complaints against Dr. Runia on these
obvious, inconsistency.  .For how, pray tell, can a         matters. The  Standard  Bearer  commented on these
man's ministry be called faithful to the gospel when        matters, as did also the little .paper published at that
he. is guilty of serious doctrinal error? To put it         time in New Zealand, the Refdmed Guardian. And at
bluntly, Dr. Woudstra is a heretic! And a heretic is        that time the objections against Dr.  .Runia were
not faithful to the gospel; he is the very opposite.        rejected. And while I maintain that Dr. Woudstra is


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                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                               295


now quite properly dismissed from Geelong, the                       Impossible,! And how can one's preaching be ,faithful
question may well be asked whether they measure                      to the gospel if he denies what our fathers called "the
with two measures at Geelong. Today Dr. Runia                        heart ,of the church" - predestination? Impossible!
belongs to a denomination which has set aside the                      In the fourth place, it is nice to philosophize about
binding force' of Canons I, 6 and 15 and which openly                keeping Geelong and the Australian churches from
tolerates the denial of the authority of Scripture. It               being identified with developments in other
would be interesting to know whether he would still                  Reformed communities. As I said before, this is really
be received at, Geelong and whether he would be                      impossible in today's world. And the thing to do is
given' access to the pulpits in the Reformed Church of               not to attempt such divorce, but to take a correct and
Australia, especially in the light of the fact that                  sound stand with respect to1 those developments and
Runia's erstwhile defenders have now condemned                       to strive to keep the churches free from the evil
Woudstra's doctrinal deviations.                                     influences of false doctrines- and false teachers. But,
  In  jthe third place, it is obvious to everyone that               surely, if this is to ,be done, then Geelong had better
calling Woudstra's ministry faithful to the gospel is                stop importing teachers from the Christian Reformed
flying in the face of facts. In the light of the grounds             Church and/or the Gereformeerde Kerken. It seems as
for his dismissal is this possible? I ask this not only              though they do not realize in Australasia that the
because the confessional standards of the Reformed                   likes of Runia and Woudstra in this country and in
Church of Australia, the same  `as those of Geelong,                 the Netherlands are very common.
have  abeen violated. But I ask it, too, in the light of               In conclusion, the churches "down under" had
the  nature  of these doctrinal errors. They go to the               better, wake  u.p. If they  do. not, then they will very
very heart of the preaching! How can one's preaching                 quickly go the way of many others in the Reformed
be faithful to the gospel if he denies the authority of              community today, the way of apostasy. The hour is
the very Scriptures which he is supposed to praclaim?                late!
                                                        .


ALL AROUND US
                        The Abortion Question In  The GKN
                                                             Prof H. Hanko

  The Gereformeerde Kerken in the Netherlands                                   The committee was agreed that human life is never
have now also faced the' question  of. abortion.                         without value either in its beginning or in its  final
Apparently the Synod has spoken, and the decision                        stages and must, therefore, always be `respected.
which was taken proved to be a major concession to                       Abortion is also not an acceptable mesins of family
those who favor abortion. The whole matter is                            planning. The question, however; was raised whether
reported in the RES News Exchange under the title,                       the fetus in the womb has a value equal to that of a
                                                                         full-fledged human being.
"Netherlands (GKN) Synod Speaks Out On Abortion."
The article reads:                                                              Dr. Klaas Runia and the Rev. J. C. Seegers framed
                                                                         a counter-proposal which broke the impasse.  The
     : At a previous sitting, the Synod of the Reformed                  Synod stated that  11) the church, which confesses that
   Churches in the Netherlands (GKN) refused to make                     man is created in the image of God, testifies to
   a statement on abortion because opinion was divided.                  society regarding its deep reverence for life, also in
   Rather than issue a pastoral statement which had the                  the process of becoming. 2) Arbitrary administration
   support of a scant majority, the Synod requested its                  of  abortus   p r o v o c a t u s   s h o u l d   t h e r e f o r e   b e
    study committee to resume the discussion and come                    condemned. 3)  Abortus   Rrovocatus  (Induced abor-
   to a formulation that would be acceptable to a larger                 tion, H.H.) can only be acceptable if the mental                               '
   number.                                                               or physical well-being of the mother is seriously
                                                                         threatened. 4) In doubtful situations the church
    In the discussion several expressed the opinion                      should not give general guidelines: here office-holders
   that the. new report did not represent a  convergende-                will have to provide pastoral guidance on the basis of
    of the two different positions but only combined the                 their own responsibility. Both parents, or, if an
   two o&inal  directions, side by side. A pastoral letter,              unwed mother  .is involved,  the..mother will ultimately
    one held, cannot be drafted to include differing                     have to decide in responsibility toward God and man.
   positions. "The church should not speak if it has                     5) The church and its members must do  everything
   nothing to say." It was also argued that the church                   possible to see that the newborn child is received and
    should not attempt to provide guidelines for border                  cared for in love: this means, i.e., insisting that the
  situations; this should be left up to the doctor and                        possibilities for adoption be speeded up and made
    pastor.                                                              more effective. (RES N E 3/4/75)


266                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



  There are a number of remarks which a decision of          really judge this. No doubt, the Synod felt the force
this nature prompts. In the first place, there is little     of this because it adds, "Both parents, or, if an unwed
evidence of principle in such a decision. According to       mother is involved, the mother will ultimately have to
the  first paragraph, Synod postponed a decision             decide in responsibility toward God and man."
because of divided opinions. Whatever the position of        Hence, at any time the parents decide that an
the "scant majority" may have been, Synod was                abortion is justified, the church can say nothing
afraid to express it officially because there were too       about their decision. It is theirs alone to make. And
many opposed to it. So Synod decided to refer the            the church can only express its approval.
matter back to a committee to come up with a
position which would be "acceptable to- a larger               This is the same `position which the world takes:
number". This  .is not the way of principle, but the         for the world, too, has liberalized its abortion laws on
way of expediency. Synod was not concerned about             the grounds that the ultimate decision rests with the
the rightness or the wrongness of abortion, but was          parents, or perhaps with the mother alone. Hence,
interested solely in making a decision which most of         murder is condoned.
the delegates could accept.                                     We have written concerning this matter before. But
  Dr. Klaas Runia and Rev. J. C. Seegers formulated          we want to emphasize again that abortion in all cases
a proposal which apparently contained the gist of            except where the choice is very concretely between
what Synod finally adopted. And the way of                   the life of the unborn child and the mother is murder.
compromise was the way of approving abortion. This           And it is ,murder  because it is the killing.0f.a person.
is inevitable. A compromise is' always a devil's             To speak of "life in the process of becoming" is a
compromise. The truth, cannot be compromised                 subterfuge. To ask the question, when a, fetus
without losing it. This is what happened in Synod's          becomes viable, i.e., when a fetus can live apart from
decision.                                                    its mother, -is to ask an irrelevant question. The child
                                                             in its mother's womb is a,person  from the moment of
  In the second place, the statement ,numbered  "1"          conception. Abortion is the destruction of a person.
sounds, at first reading, to be rather pious. `One           This is, by definition, murder.
wonders, of course, why a Reformed body has to
testify to society that it has a deep reverence for life.      When the world condones: murder, it is a dreadful
But, be that as it may, it is always good to have such       thing, for abortion is even contrary to nature. There
a'deep reverence for life. But this first point adds that    are many in the world who recognize this. There are
it' has a reverence for life "also in the process of         many members of various "right-to-life'" groups who
becoming." Now this `latter expression is not new            are not Christians. There are many, even of the world,
with the.Synod of the Gereformeerde,Kerken. It was           who shudder at the idea of abortion. There are many
an expression used  d number of years ago in the             doctors and nurses who refuse to performabortions
Aeforhzed  Journal  when Dr. Henry Stob also gave            even though they have no faith. They do so because
qualified approval to abortion. But the point is that        the very idea of taking the life of a person is contrary
this expression makes a distinction between human            to nature. It. is opposed to the natural knowledge of
life as such and human life in the process of becoming.      the law of God which every man has. Paul speaks of
In other words, the fetus is not human life as such,         this in  Remans 2: 14, 15 : "For when the Gentiles,
but is only human life in the process of. becoming. I        which have not the law, do by nature the things
have no idea of how anyone. can make any real sense          contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a
out of that distinction; but the fact is that the            law unto themselves: Which shew the work of the law
distinction is exactly pertinent because it provides a       written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing
handy ground for the approval .of abortion. When a           witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing
fetus is aborted, so the `argument -goes, human life is      or else excusing one another."
.not taken; rather human  life. in the process of              But when the Church condones murder, one can
becoming @`destroyed. And thus abortion is supposed          only shake his head in puzzlement. After all, the
to be freed from the charge of murder. It is apparent        Church not only knows the law of God as it is
from what follows that this is exactly the argument          contained in the whole of the Scriptures, but it has
of the decision.                                             no other reason for  e&stence than to uphold that
 I In the third place, .the grounds given for abortion       law, defend it, ,fight for it and condemn at the top of
are the mental and physical well-being of the mother.        its voice all those who oppose it. This can only be an
At any time the , mother's mental and physical               indication of how apostate the Church has become.
well-being is threatened, an abortion may be                   There is something. terrible here. It involves the
performed. This, however, is purely subjective. Who is       whole matter of the, conscience. The conscience of a
to judge when especially the mental well-being of the        person is, after all, the voice of God testifying in a
mother is threatened? Only the mother herself can            person concerning God's law. This conscience is not


                                                       : THE STANDARD BEARER                                                       297


    some sort of inner light, some sort of inner voice of                 to use an expression of Scripture, seared with a  hot           ,
   God which speaks only subjectively. It is always the                   iron. (See I Timothy  4:2) It is, from a certain point
   inner  i voice of God which, speaks subjectively in                    of view, impossible for a man to continue to violate
   connection with the objective testimony of God's                       the. voice of his conscience. A violation of his
   Word. The objective testimony of God's Word may be                     conscience will drive him insane. And so he must still
   in creation, for Paul writes in Romans 1 that "the                     it. He must silence it to preserve his own sanity.-This
   invisible things of him from the creation of the world                 he does by inventing all kinds of specious arguments,
   are clearly seen, being understood by the things that                  making all kinds of foolish distinctions, committing
   are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so                       repeatedly the sin of intellectual dishonesty by which
   that they are without excuse." Even in creation God                    he persuades himself that the position which he
   testifies to the wicked that He alone is God and that                  knows is wrong is after all right. Such subjective
   He must be obeyed. The conscience is never apart                       persuasion is indeed possible. In fact, really every
  from that objective testimony. But those who are                        man does this more or less. The only escape ever from
   born and raised in the, sphere of the gospel have the                  this perpetual self-deception is confession of sin.
   testimony of the Scriptures which are so much clearer
   than the testimony in creation. The conscience of                         But having succeeded in convincing himself that
   these: people speaks all the more clearly; for the                     the wrong is right, he has silenced his conscience.
   nearer one stands to the center of the testimony of                    Then he can sin with impunity. He may still have his
   the truth, the more clearly does' also his conscience                  moments when doubts arise; but he is now adept at
s p e a k .                                                               silencing any doubts, so that he may continue his evil
      This is why it is always very hard first to condone                 way. This is a terrible thing, for this is exactly what
   and  ! practice a sin. One must fight against his                      Scripture means when it speaks of hardening. For one
   conscience. But if one persists and continues to                       who is hardened, there is no hope. He is of a
   practice such a sin, gradually the voice of the                        reprobate mind. This is what is happening in the
   conscience is stilled. It doesn't speak any. more. It is,              world. This is now also happening in the Church.


   THE VOICE OF OUR FATHERS
                                  The Sufficiency of the Scriptures
                                                        Prof. Robert D. Decker

               `We believe that those Holy Scriptures fully contain the will of God, and that whatsoever man ought to
               believe, unto salvation, is sufficiently taught therein. For, since the whole manner of worship, which God
               requires of us, is written in them  at.large, it is unlawful for any one, though an apostle, to teach otherwise
               than we are now taught in the Holy Scriptures: nay, though it were an angel from heaven, as the apostle
               Paul saith. For, since it is forbidden, to add unto or take away anything from the word of God, it doth
               thereby evidently appear, that the doctrine thereof is most perfect and complete in all respects. Neither do
               we consider of equal value any writings of men, however holy these men may have been, with those divine
               Scriptures, nor ought we to consider custom, or the great multitude, or antiquity, or succession of times
               and persons, or councils, decrees or ,statutes,  as of equal value with the truth of God, for the truth is above
               all; for all men are of themselves liars', and more vain than vanity itself. Therefore, we reject with all our
               hearts, whatsoever doth not agree with this infallible rule, which the apostles have taught us, saying, Try the
               spirits whether they are of God. Likewise, if there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive
               him not into your house."
                                                                                           Article VII, The Belgic Confession

      This article completes the Confession's treatment                   are or may be considered of equal value with the
   of the doctrine of the Word of God. This' statement is                 Bible; and, 3) That whatever disagrees with the
   in effect a summation of the points of doctrine                        Scriptures is to be rejected, and all other writings are
   presented iri Articles II through VI. Thus, too, it                    to be judged according to the criterion of Scripture.
   expresses beautifully that which we as Reformed                        We consider each of these truths somewhat in detail.
   believers confess with-our mouths and believe in our
   hearts concerning the Holy Scriptures. In general, this                The Perfection and Completeness of Scripture
   article teaches: 1) That the Holy Scriptures are                          Our  Confession of Faith  in this statement of
   complete and perfect in themselves and, therefore, are                 Article VII underscores a major and fundamental
   sufficient unto salvation; 2) That no human writings                   difference between the Churches of the Reformation


298                                           THE STANDARD  BEA,RER


and Rome. The Roman Catholic Church does not                 writes to the saints at Galatia: "But though we, or an
believe that "those Holy Scriptures fully contain the        angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you
will of God." Rather, Rome accords "tradition" a             than that which we have preached unto you, let him
place of equal authority with God's Word: That this is       be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If
true is obvious from this statement from "The                any man preach any other gospel unto you than that
Canons and Decrees Of The Council Of Trent": "[the           ye have received, let him be accursed." (Gal. 1:8, 9)
Synod]  folloiving  the examples of the orthodox             This is also the word of Christ Himself: "For I testify
Fathers, receives and venerates with an equal                to every man that heareth the words of the prophecy
affection of piety and reverence, all the books both         of this book, If any man shall add unto these things,
of the Old and of the New Testament - seeing that            God shall add unto him the plagues that are written
one God is the author  .of both  - as also the said          in this book: And if any man shall take away from.
traditions, as well those appertaining to faith as to        the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall
morals, as having been dictated, either by Christ's          take away his part out of the book of life, and out of
o,wn word of mouth, or by the Holy Ghost, and                the holy city, and from the things which are written
preserved in the Catholic Church by a continuous             in this book." (Rev. 22: l&19)
succession;" (Schaff, Creeds'of Christendom, vol. II,
p; 80) Over against this error our Creed maintains the       The Unique Value of Holy Scripture
"sola  Scriptura" principle of the Reformation
without compromise. The Holy Scriptures fully                  This, too, we confess! Because the Scriptures fully
contain the will of God and "whatsoever man ought            contain the will of God and whatever man ought to
to believe unto salvation, is sufficiently taught            believe unto salvation, those Scriptures are of
therein."                                                    incomparable value. Nothing can be considered of
  This means that Scripture fully contains the will of       equal value with the teaching of the Bible. This is true
                                                             of the writing of men, "however holy these men may
God, i.e.' the counsel of God with respect to all            have been." The. reference here is to holy, that is,
things. That God created all things, that He created         outstanding men in the history of God's Church. Men
ail things by and for Jesus Christ (John 1 :lff., Col.
1 :  15,  16), that God's ultimate purpose is the            such as; Luther, Calvin, and others are meant. This is
                                                             not to deny the importance of these giants of the
manifestation of His glory in the elect in Christ as         faith. God certainly used these and others in mighty
that shall be realized in the new creation (Eph. 1: 3ff.;    and wonderful ways. But their writings may never be
Eph. 3: 17-21, Col. 1: 17-20),  and that, therefore, all     considered of equal value with the Bible. In fact their
things must serve the salvation of the elect in Christ       strength lay precisely in the fact that they adhered so
(Romans 8:  28ff.), all this the Scripture fully             carefully and faithfully to the truth of the Scriptures.
contains. Still more, all that man must believe unto
salvation is sufficiently taught in the Scriptures.            The same may be said for "custom" or tradition in
Scripture contains, this means, the whole will of God        the Church. No matter how old or well established
concerning the faith and life of believers in the midst      that "custom" may be, it may never be considered to
of this world. This is further emphasized when the           be equal with the Word of God. Likewise we`may
creed speaks of "the whole manner. of worship which          never regard the "great multitude or antiquity" of
God requires of us" being writtenin the Bible. This          equal value with the truth. The majority can never
"whole manner of worship" refers to the actual,              decide what shall be the truth. "Succession of times
formal worship of the church. How the church is to           or persons" (such as the pope) may not be judged
worship her Lord; by singing "psalms and hymns.and           equal with the truth. The same is true of "councils,
spiritual songs," by preaching and teaching, by the          decrees, statutes" of the church. This includes even
giving of our offerings, and by prayer, all these are        our Three Forms of Unity. This is not to deny the
taught by Scripture. But not only this, also our whole       significance of the doctrinal pronouncements of the
life of thankful service as the redeemed of the Lord is      Church or the value of our creeds. It is, however, to
written in Scripture. Scripture plainly teaches exactly      say that these can never approach the value of the
how God wills to be served by us.'                           Scriptures themselves. In fact, the value. of the
  Hence, the doctrine contained in the Word of God           decisions of  th'echurch  and of her doctrinal
is perfect and complete. The Reformed believer               statements  and, creeds lies exactly in the fact that
cpnfesses  that that doctrine, because it is perfect,        these are expositions and faithful presentations of
cannot be improved upon or corrected. It is perfect,         Scripture. The value of these is always derived from
without error. And it is complete. Nothing can be            the Word of God.
taken from that doctrine and nothing can be added to           The reason for this is stated in no uncertain terms:
it. Neither is this merely something which the creed         ". . . for the truth is above all; for all men are of
says about the Word of God. This is the express              themselves liars, and more vain than vanity itself."
testimony of the Bible itself. The inspired Apostle          Men of themselves, men by nature, are incapable of


                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                             299


 fimding and unwilling to speak the truth. The truth is      the church. The tragedy of all this is that the sheep of
 always the truth of the Word of God.                        God are impoverished and even led astray. May God
                                                             give us grace to maintain the truth so beautifully set
 The !$xiptmes, the Sole Criterion                           forth out of Scripture in this article of the Confession
                                                             of  Faith.  This, too,  is Scripture. The Apostle John
 The conclusion is inevitable. With the fathers we           warns: "Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in
 maintain that everything must be judged by the              the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth
 criterion of the Bible. Without hesitation our              in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and
 confession is: "Therefore, we reject with all our           the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not
 hearts, whatsoever doth not agree with this infallible      this doctrine, receive him not into your house,
 rule, which the apostles have taught us, saying, Try        neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him
 the spirits whether they are of God. Likewise, if there     God speed is partaker of his evil deeds." (II John
 come, any unto you, and bring not this doctrine,            9-l 1) May we be given the courage to "Try the spirits
 receive him not into your house." In this sense the         whether they are of God: because many false
 Scriptures are to be received by us as completely           prophets are gone out into the, world." (I John 4: 1)
sufficient unto salvation. Obviously this cannot be            It follows from this truth that we may never
 taken to mean that' the Word of' God needs no               approach the Scriptures with- an open mind to
 interpretation or that the church may not preach or         determine for ourselves what is inspired and what is
 elicit `a system of doctrine from Scripture. But most       not. When one, for example, begins to tamper with
 emphatically this does mean that whatever doctrine is       the simple account of creation given in Genesis 1 and
 developed, whatever creed is adopted, whatever may          2 by calling this not a literal rendering of what
 be written concerning the teaching of Holy Writ must        actually happened but only a "teaching model," this
 agree' with the Holy Scriptures. Whatever is produced       is exactly what he does. He sets himself above the
 by the church through  .its theologians and councils        Scriptures and becomes the judge of what is God's
 must ibe subject to the test of the Word of God. And,       Word and what is not. This must never be our
 whatever is found to be in disagreement with the            approach. WE are under sacred obligation to bow
 Scriptures must be unconditionally rejected.                unconditionally before the Scriptures, to believe
   In  `our times of doctrinal apostasy, compromise,         them without question or doubt. Our calling is to
 and tolerance it is well that we be reminded of this        search them as the "light which shines in the dark
 confession. According to this "voice of our fathers"        place" of this world. They are our meat and drink for
 the church is called to a holy intolerance of all which     "man doth not live by bread alone, but by every
 cannot meet the test of Scripture. We do well to hear       word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord
 the voice today. In our times the plea is for unity at      doth man live." (Deut.  8:3, Matt.  4:4) In childlike
 any  ipriCe. Theologians plead for the freedom to           faith we are to feed on God's Word. In this way, and
 discuss and theologize. Meanwhile the truth is assailed     only in this way, will we experience the power of the
 on all points and all manner of error is tolerated in       Word in our daily living.


 THE DAY OF SHAD0 WS
                               Blessed Of The Better
                                                   Rev. John A. Heys

    It! would be a serious mistake to take the position      only from Genesis 14: 13, where we read of men who
 that' because God called Abram out of  Ur of the            were confederate with Abram, but also from Genesis
 Chaldees and into the land of Canaan in order there          14: 18 where we read of Melchizedek king of Salem
 to establish His covenant with him, Abram, Sarai, and       and priest of the most high God. We may be sure that
 Lot  ! were the only believers in the whole land of         Abram would not be confederate with unbelievers.
 Canaan.                                                     He, who would not buy or fight for one square inch
    The whole land was given over to idolatry. It            of the land, because God promised to give it all to
 contained some desperately wicked cities such as            him, would not do anything but that which is
 Sodom and Gomorrah. But there were dwelling                 recorded of him in Hebrews 11, namely, live as a
 within it also devout children of God. How many we          pilgrim and stranger. And that means that he lived
 do not know. But that they were there is evident not        according to the principle of the psalmist in Psalm


 300                                          THE STANDARD BEARER


 119 when he declares, "I am a companion of those              Abram, for the sake of Lot, his spiritual brother
 that fear thee." Abram did not join himself to the          and physical nephew, went to fight these four kings
 ungodly of the land.                                        of the north and east and restored to Sodom and
                                                             Gomorrah the inhabitants with their goods, including
   !Melchizedek is another matter. He is literally called    Lot.
 priest of the most high God, and is mentioned again
 in; Hebrews 7. In this chapter he is called the better        A gift from the king of Sodom Abram refused, lest
 who blessed the lesser, namely, Abram. And all this         he should boast that he had made Abram rich. But a
 after Abram had returned victoriously from his battle       blessing he did receive from Melchizedek. Now
 with the four kings of the north and east who had           Melchizedek stands here on the pages of Holy Writ as
 taken Lot captive together with the inhabitants of          an unique figure. And if we are of the opinion that
 Sodom and Gomorrah. He, Melchizedek, lived thirty           God called Abram out of Ur of the Chaldees and
 and more miles from Sodom and Gomorrah. For he              brought him into Canaan "to preserve the true
 was king of Salem. And today we know that city with         religion," we had better revise our thinking. For here
 the addition to it that makes it  Jeru-Salem.  To him       is a priest of God in the land of Canaan who was king
 Abram gave tithes of all that which. he had taken           over a city that undoubtedly feared God. He was
 from the four kings that was beyond the possessions         certainly not a lone figure that believed in God and
 of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah.                        was priest of the most high God. A priest serves
                                                             people and sacrifices and prays for them.
   The attack upon these cities together with three            And why should we think this to be strange? At a
, others was due to the fact that they rebelled against      much later date we also find a Jethro in Midian  who
 the four kings from the north and east. Although            is a priest of God. Even in the days when deacons
 they had come from far  - as far as the place where         were appointed to insure the support of the Grecian
 the tower of Babel had been partially erected, and Ur       widows in the early New Testament church there is
 of the Chaldees from whence Abram had been,called           an Ethiopian eunuch who had come all the way to
 -: they had direct connection with these inhabitants        Jerusalem to worship; and, if you please, he had a
 of the five cities of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah,               copy of the prophecy of Isaiah in a day when the
 Zeboim and Zoar.                                            Word of God was precious and men did not have the
    This is a. rather interesting item. to note. Although    scrolls of the Old Testament books in their homes as
 after the confusion of speech Ham's descendants had         we have Bibles today. Then even before this there was
 moved away from the plain of  Shinar and gone to            the Queen of Sheba, who came to Solomon to
 Canaan and down into Egypt and Africa,  .all                enquire concerning things spiritual as well as material
 connection between them and Shem's descendants              of his reign.
 who remained in the area where the tower of Babel              But the striking thing is that Melchizedek is called
 was built was not broken off and ended. It may              "better," and Abram in Hebrews 7 is called the
 quickly be added, however, that it was not a friendly       "lesser." Melchizedek appears very briefly in this
 relationship. But those of Shem's descendants who           account; he is mentioned almost in passing. And yet
 had come out of Mesopotamia to attack the                   in Hebrews 7 he occupies a position higher than
 descendants of Ham in Canaan had sought to lord it          Abram. We read, "Consider how great this man was,
 over Ham's descendants. They subjected them to              unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth
 taxation for twelve years. This was not, however, a         of the spoils. And verily they that are the sons of Levi
 fulfillment of Noah's prophecy thatcanaan's children        ,who receive the office of the priesthood, have a
 would be servants unto their brethren. The                  commandment to take tithes of the people according
 explanation of this subjection may perhaps be found         to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they
 in the fact that-between Sodom and Gomorrah and             come out of the loins of Abraham: But he whose
 the Gulf `of Aqaba there -were rather rich copper           descent is not counted from them received tithes of
 mines which were under the control of these five            Abraham, and blessed him that had the promises.
 cities. And the envious, and at that time superior,         And without all contradiction the less is blessed of
 forces of the descendants of Shem subjected these           the better." Hebrews 7:4-7.
 peoples and taxed them to get a share of the wealth
 that was mined out ofthe earth. It is the old story of         Now the idea is not at all that Melchizedek
 greed. And the effect of the confusion of speech is         individually and personally was of superior spiritual
 here in that no friendly relation exists, but one of        strength over Abram. The word "better" in the text
 bitterness, which manifests itself in rebellion on the      does mean stronger, more powerful and better in that
 part of the descendants of Ham and a campaign of            sense. But it must not be applied to Melchizedek
 war on. the part of Shem's descendants to. punish           personally, as though he outshone. Abram in-spiritual
 those who rebelled.                                         strength. Nor does it mean that those who are in


I                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER                                                      301

     office' in the church of God today are naturally                    and have a priesthood to do this., God taught man in
     superior in spiritual strength and faith. They should               paradise already to come before His face with a
     be men of faith. They should walk a strong life of                  sacrifice. Adam taught this to his sons, and that is
     faith.; But the mere fact that they are in office does              why we fmd Cain and Abel sacrificing to God, Abel
     not make them superior. You may find `some very                     by faith and in the God-ordained way of coming with
     strong women, for example, who are never in the                     the life of an animal, Cain in unbelief with the fruit
     office in the church, whose faith is unusually great.               of his garden. We read of Noah using the clean
     These women according to God's ordinance will never                 animals to sacrifice to God after the flood. Of Abram
     serve in any office in the church; and yet they shine in            it is recorded that when he came into the land of
     the congregation as brilliant lights, manifesting                   Canaan he built an altar unto God, and that is the
     tremendously strong faith.                                          same as to say that he sacrificed burnt offering unto
        In ,his office of being priest of the most high God              God. And so it is not strange to find Melchidezek at
     and King of Salem Melchizedek was above and over                    this point of history as a priest who sacrifices for His
     and better than Abram. Abram also recognized this                   people. and is priest of the most high God.
     fact and therefore gave him tithes of what he had                      Being priest he also blesses Abram. This is part of
     captured from the four kings who had attacked                       the  .work and  .duty of a priest, and certainly is an
     Sodom and Gomorrah. Abram was conscious of the                      important part of Christ as our only High Priest.
     fact.that  he owed Melchizedek tithes of all that which             Because the priest was the one who brought the
     he had gotten. It was not a gift to this priest-king. It            atoning sacrifice (only typically, of course) that
     was an obligation whch he had to fulfill.                           spoke of the blotting out of sin, he was also the one
                                                                         through whom God would speak the blessing of
       And consider once that Christ is a priest after the               salvation and of His covenant. The priest after the
     order of Melchizedek, and not after the order  ,of                  order of Aaron and from the line of Levi would not
     Aaron who came out of the loins of Abram. That is                   only receive the sacrificial animal and slay it and offer
     why we read of Melchizedek that he was without                      it up. In the name of God he would also bless the one
     father and mother. This refers to his office and means              who brought that sacrifice and assure him that his
     that, he obtained his office as priest without                      sins were blotted out and that God's blessing rested
     consideration of who were his father andhis mother.                 on him. And when Abram brought tithes to
     He certainly had an earthly father and mother. Only                 Melchizedek, he, in the name of the God Whom he
     Adam and Eve had no such earthly parents. Even                      represented, pronounced God's blessing upon Abram
     Jesus had an earthly mother. But Melchizedek's                      for this work which he had accomplished of rescuing
     priestly office was his even though he was not - and                Lot.
     how. could he be? - of the seed of Levi, the son of                                                     .
     Jacob whose descendants became the priests after                       And then Melchizedek fades into the background
     Israel's sojourn at Mt. Sinai. Neither Melchizedek `nor             again while Abram stands forth on the foreground.
     Jesus came out of the loins of Levi. Jesus was from                 He was the "better" in his office. But he was not the
     the tribe of Judah concerning which God gave no                     one in whose seed God would establish his covenant.
     commandment about serving in the priesthood. He                     In that respect Abram was the greater and the better.
     was `in the line of the kings of Israel. Melchizedek,               And Abram became the father of all believers. To
     born years before, yea, generations before Levi ever                Abram this was a rare privilege even as Abram. We
     appeared on the scene, before Abraham begot Isaac                   have repeatedly spelled his name that way because he
     and , Isaac begot Jacob and Jacob begot Levi, was                   does not become Abraham until Isaac is born. Then
     priest of the most high God. And this means that he                 he begins to be the father of many nations. Up to this
     sacrificed and offered up sacrifices to God for his                 point he is childless. But he is not without a rich and
     people in Salem.                                                    wonderful promise which God will soon begin to
I                                                                        fulfill. And it is while he is still Abram that
       Itlis a mistake to think that only after Mt. Sinai did            Melchizedek is presented as the "better" that blesses
     the Israelites begin to sacrifice burnt offerings to God            him in the name of God.


                                                           ATTENTION!!!
                                      Secretaries of standing and special committees of Synod must
                                   submit their reports to the undersigned by April 15, 1975, if they are
                                   to appear in the Agenda of the 1975 Synod.

                                                                 Rev. D. H. Kuiper, Stated Clerk
                                                                 346 Water Street
                                                                 Skowhegan, Maine 04976


 302                                          THE STANDARD BEARER


FROM HOLY WRIT

               Exposition of Hebrews 12: 18-24 (continued)
                                                  Rev. G. Lubbers

THE GLORIOUS REALITY OF THE HEAVENLY                        68:16-18)`For  this is the mountain in which it shall
JERUSALEM (Heb. .12:22-24)                                  be seen what the Lord has in store for His people in
  Sharper and more telling contrast could hardly be         fulfilling His oath to Abraham; here we see
imagined than what is drawn here by the writer of           "Jehovah-Jireh" spoken of at the occasion of the
.Hebrews between Mt. Sinai and Mt. Zion, the city of        sacrificing of Isaac by his father Abraham. (Gen.
the living God. What is so striking is that in the case     22: 14) The Lord declares the decree: I have set my
of the latter we are told beautiful and comforting          Ring upon my holy hill of Zion. (Ps. 2:6, 7)
details of the life of the New Testament church, while          This city in our text is not the earthly, but it is the
in the case of the former we are simply told some of        heavenly Jerusalem. It is, therefore, not found on the
the awe-inspiring dreadfulness of a touchable               earthly hill of Zion where David's throne was placed
m'ountain, which if touched, even by a beast, would         in the earthly land of Canaan. It  is not here below;
incur death upon it. However, here we take the shoes        but it is above, where Jesus ascended when He passed
from off our feet, and we can draw nigh with full           through the heavens. In this respect it also is different
assurance of faith. God is come very near to us; He         from the earthly mount. It is outside of the world of
has come to dwell with us, and we with Him.                 our experience, natural. experience. It cannot be
  :Mt. Zion is a mountain which is beautiful for            touched, seen, nor ascended by any natural man.
situation. For Jehovah is great in Zion, His holy           David never could have brought the Ark of the
misuntain. It is beautiful, the joy of the whole earth.     Covenant into this heavenly Jerusalem. The readers of
God has made known Himself in her palaces for a             the Hebrew Christians must, therefore, look away
refuge. (Ps. 48: l-3) This glorious mountain on which       from the earthly city, which `in character is the
,is situated the city of the living God is pictured here    smoking mountain which can be touched, to the
to us in Hebrews 12 as the "city of the living God."        heavenly city, whose builder and maker God is, by
And it is a mountain to which we "have come" as the         His own fiat, as Creator and Recreator of heaven and
New Testament saints.                                       earth. -This is the city of peace; it is the true "Salem ",
                                                            the peace which is brought about by the blood of
   Historically, in the prophetical history of Israel,      atonement and of reconciliation. (Col. 1: 15-20)
the church of the Old Dispensation never even "came
to" typical Mt. Zion until David became king over all          It is to this city that "we have come." The city is
Israel. It was then that David dwelt in the stronghold      all ready and prepared. For the sake of this city God
of Zion and called it "the city of David." (II Sam.         is not ashamed to be called our God. (Heb. 11: 16)
5:7-l 0) In a certain sense Israel  then came to Mt.        This city is so wonderfully great in manifesting the
Zion, the city of the living God. Something of what         glory of God's gracious purpose and design from
Abraham saw from afar was realized at that historic         eternity in His Son over His people, that it is an
occasion; we see a little of the city whose builder and     honor and a glory forever to the builder and architect
maker is God. (John 8: 56; Heb: 11: 10, 13) But this        of this gracious work. Surely, He need not be
was not yet the resting place of God's ark. David did       ashamed to be called our God. Had nothing more
soon bring the Ark of the Lord to Zion; he built a          been done for us than what we received at Sinai, the
new tabernacle in the place of the one which had            words of the law written upon tables of stone, we all
come to Shiloh in the tribe of Ephraim.1 However, it        would die. This is the letter which killeth. Then God
was not till he actually brought the Ark of the             would not have been able to bring us into the land of
LORD, carried by the priests, to Jerusalem that we          the heavenly kingdom. Moses' plea for Israel would
have the typical-symbolical fulfillment of the              have forever gone unheard, were it not for the
ascension of Christ into the heavenly Jerusalem. Then       "exodus at Jerusalem" (Ex.  32:7-l4; Matt.  17:1-8;
the Ark comes to the mountain which God has                     I) It appears that after the Lord had made Shiloh a desolation,
desired for His abode. All the wicked may look              removing the Ark from there, that the tabernacle proper also was re-
askance at the church of God in the'world, yet the          moved from Shiloh. God made Shiloh entirely desolate forever.  (Jer.
Lord will dwell in His Church, His Zion, forever. The       7:12, 14;  26:6,  9) However, the tabernacle was set  up,in   Gibeon,  the
                                                            highplace, where also Solomon went to sacrifice and where the Lord
God Who appeared at Sinai, with His `chariots               appeared unto him. Howbeit, the Ark of the Covenant was never again
thousand-thousandfold here ascended before the              set in that tabernacle, but was removed from the houses of Abinadab
                                                            and Obededom respectively to a new tabernacle in Jerusalem, which
"humble David" to Zion to give gifts unto men. (Ps.         later David made.  (II Sam.  6:4, 12  ff.)


                                                THE,STANDARD  BEARER                                                               303


 Luke'9:28-36) But now "we are come" to a better               heavenly city. Their names are registered there. They
 covenant, and we have come to the heavenly                    have a right to be there. They are called church of the
 Jerusalem. Such is our legal status. We are not under         "firstborn" with good- reason. They belong to the
 the law, but we are under grace! And to this city of          firstborn Son among. many brethren. The firstborn
 peace, city where the living waters of grace flow             Son is the Firstborn of all creatures. In the womb of
 softly, we have come. Here the living waters flow             the counsel of God, the Son of God has the
 from' the throne of God and of the Lamb, waters               preeminence. All things are there because of Him.
 which. are for the healing of the nations.                    And all things are not only because of Him, but also
    Do not overlook that the text calls this city: the         by Him and unto Him. He has the central place and is
 city of the living God. He is not a dead God like the         set as the head over all things, in heaven and in earth.
 idol-gods of the nations. In His very character and           (Eph.  1:9, 10; Col. 1: 18) And He is the Firstborn
 being He is a living God. He is the Creator, Preserver,       over all things as the Firstborn out of the dead. In
 and Governor of the world. He was the living God              this death and resurrection He is set high above all the
 Who spoke at Mt. Sinai, as Moses says, "for who is            heavens, that He might fdl all things. The church in
 there: of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of the         heaven is, therefore, the church composed of those
 ,hving God out of the midst of the fire as we have, and       who are, with Christ, born out of death, and set over
 live?" (Deut.  5:26) That the Canaanites are driven           all things with Him. Thus Israel is brought from sin's
 from~ before the face of Joshua is evidence and proof         bondage of Egypt and set in the Jerusalem above as
 that the "living God" is in their midst. (Josh. 3: 10)        God's firstborn. (Ex. 4:22) And the firstborn sons of
 David cannot endure that Goliath defies the armies of         God are sanctified to the service of God in the
 the "living God." (I Sam. 17:26) For the living God           church, to be a kingdom of priests unto God.
 fulfills His counsel; His thoughts and action are             Everyone of the children of God is a  fnstborn son.
 always alike. Well, now, we have come to the city of          Each has his own preeminence in the great
 the living God, Whose power and glory are great in            preeminent Firstborn Son out of the dead. Thus they
 delivering Israel and in destroying the armies of the         are recorded in heaven. (Ex. 13 :2) None of this was
 wicked nations who would destroy the city of God.             possible at the mount of the law-giving. To this great
 (Jeremiah 23:36)                                              privilege of the firstborn we have arrived. No Levitical
                                                               p r i e s t h o o d   n e e d   t o   r e d e e m   u s   f r o m   t h e
    Such is the glorious reality of the city of God, the       temple-service; we have been redeemed unto the
 heavenly Jerusalem, and of our abiding and certain            temple-service of the living God.
 status before the throne of the living God, the Judge
 over all.                                                        Yes, as such sons we have arrived to the judge over
                                                               all things, God. He is the final and perfect Judge. He
SOME DETAILS OF THE GLORIOUS HEAVENLY                          sits in judgment over all things, and also over the
 CITY OF GOD (Heb. 12:23, 24)                                  church. His is the final verdict. He judges in strictest
   What strikes our attention here in this passage of          justice according to His law. It is the law which He
 Hebrews is that the city of the living God is really          Himself has spoken out of the darkness, the tempest,
 inhabited. It has all the earmarks of a city where            with a loud voice, the sound of the trumpet! And
 there is life.                                                now He adjudges that we are worthy of the name of
    There are myriads of angelic hosts in this heavenly        sons, fnstbom.  He delivered Christ for our sins, and
 city. lThey are portrayed as being in festal array. It is'    raised Him for our justification. (Rom.  4:25) His
 a heavenly "panegyric," the assembly of the entire            throne of judgment is called elsewhere: the throne of
 angelic world, having come to the eternal festal              God and of the Lamb. He is the Lamb standing on
 occasion of the church of God having come to Mt.              Mt. Sion. (Rev. 22:l; 14:l)
 Zion: These angels are not in the status of "sons" but           This heavenly city of the living God also has the
 of ministering spirits in the church. They do not             "spirits of just men made perfect" dwelling there.
 simply come to present the law of God, within the             These evidently are those saints who are now in glory
 thunder' of Sinai, in the hands-of the Mediator, Jesus,       and who are not yet reunited with their bodies which
 (Gal. 3: 19; Deut.  33:2); but they see now that the          are in the grave. That is why they are called "spirits."
 fiery oracles were fulfilled by the Mediator, Jesus.          They are called spirits of men,' to distinguish them
 That is cause for great rejoicing in the angelic hosts of     from the angel-world. They are called "perfected"
 heaven.                                                       spirits. The term  perfected  means: come to full
   Besides, the text calls attention to the.presence  of       maturity, and the highest potential of sons as
 the %hurch of the firstborn, written in heaven." This         firstborn. They need not go through the trials and
 is the church as she is called, gathered, and defended        discipline of the heavenly Father of spirits again.
 and `preserved by the Son of God out of the whole             They have finished the course, run the race; their
 human race. They are citiiens  of heaven and of this          dying was not a payment for sin, but was a dying


304                                                         THE STANDARD BEARER


unto sin and an entering into eternal glory. They have                         these spirits of just men made perfect have attained.
here their permanent and everlasting abode in the city                         (Heb. lO:l, 14; 11:40)
of the living God. What the law could not do, that


TAKING  HEED,TO THE DOCTRINE

            "Hyper-Calvinism" and the Call of the Gospel (8)

                                                              Rev. David Engelsma

 j The Reformed doctrine of the preaching of the                               counter-balanced by the proclamation of the sinner's
g o s p e l   m u s t   s a i l   b e t w e e n   t h e   S c y l l a   o f    responsibility and of God's sincere offer of salvation
hyper-Calvinism and the Charybdis of &minianism.                               to all without  discrimination."1 Lately, the
Gn the one, hand is the rock of hyper-Calvinism which                          Calvinistic Baptists have been echoing these charges.
denies that the call of the gospel comes, in all                               In his booklet, "The Free Offer," Erroll  Hulse calls
seriousness, to everyone who hears the preaching,                              the rejection of the offer "hyper-Calvinism," which
elect and reprobate alike. On the other hand is the                            denies that all men should be "invited" to come to
whirlpool of Arminianism which makes the preaching                             Christ  (p. 14); denies that faith is a duty (p. 14);
a: well-meant offer of God to all who hear. The                                minimizes the moral and spiritual responsibility of
Reformed view, and practice, of preaching must                                 sinners.  (p. 15); and threatens the church that
neither be smashed on the one nor sucked down into                             succumbs to it with death (p. 14).
the other.                                                                           Significantly, Harold Dekker used precisely the
   We have already defended the Reformed conception                            same arguments when he pleaded for the implications
of preaching against hyper-Calvinism in the second                             of the well-meant offer: universal redemptive love
and third articles of this series. It remains to give                          and universal atonement. He wrote: "The doctrine of
account of Reformed preaching over against                                     limited atonement . . . impairs the principle of the
objections raised against it by those who maintain a                           universal love of God and tends to inhibit missionary
free offer.                                                                    spirit and activity."* This same thought he later
                                                                               expressed positively: "The conviction that God loves
 I Those who advocate a well-meant offer of grace                              all men and that Christ died for all . . . could
insist that the offer is essential for free, unfettered                        revolutionize the missionary motivation and program
preaching, especially for preaching directed to the                            of our Church and make us truly effective in the
unconverted in missions. They argue that, the denial                           evangelization of the United States and Canada."3
of an offer inhibits missions, or `evangelism, by
restricting the call of the gospel. Their argument                                   The various defenders of the offer of the gospel are
seems to be, first, that a church, or preacher, that                           agreed. that, unless a church believes that God is
does not believe that God is gracious to all men, will                         gracious to all men and desires to save all men, it will
not desire, or dare, to preach to all men; secondly,                           not zealously carry out Christ's command to go into
that *this church, or preacher, will not have a message                        all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
to bring to every man; and, thirdly, that such a                               Dekker merely brought out what is inherent in this
church, or preacher, will be unable to call every man,                         position when he insisted that, unless a preacher can
urgently and seriously, to repent of his sins and                              say to every man, "God loves you, and Christ died for
believe in Jesus Christ.                                                       you," it is impossible to do the work of missions.
                                                                               Essentially, this is the position that the basis of
   Through the years, this has been the defense of its                         missions is universal grace.
doctrine of the well-meant offer by the Christian
Reformed Church. H. J. Kuiper was representative                                     Dekker's unambiguous, forthright defense of
when he wrote: "One of the most serious aspects of                             universal redemptive love and universal atonement in
the present denial of the doctrine of Common Grace
is the denial of the general offer of salvation. It robs                             "`The  Three Points of Common Grace" (Grand Rapids,  Mich.:
                                                                               Eerdmans,' 1925).  p. 13.
the gospel of its evangelical note. It is bound in time
to create an attitude of religious passivism and                                     *"God So Loved-All Men!,"  The Reformed Journal,  Dec., 1962, p.
                                                                               7.
fatalism which has been the curse of every church                                    3"Limited  Atonement and Evangelism,"  The Reformed Journal,
where the preaching of election was not                                        May-June, 1964, p. 24.


                                                              THESTANDARD  B E A R E R                                                 305


 the name of missions was a singularly clear indication                           gospel as a saving power to the elect. The preaching
 that the kindred defense of a well-meant offer as                                of the gospel as the power `of God unto salvation is
 something indispensable for missions is nothing else                             dependent on and governed by God's eternal decree
 than a  variationof the old, old charge by the                                   of predestination. Romans  8:30 teaches this:
 Pelagian-Roman Catholic-Arminian party, that the                                 "Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also
 R e f o r m e d   d o c t r i n e   o f   e t e r n a l ,   s o v e r e i g n    called." God sends the gospel as a saving power only
 predestination, election and reprobation, destroys                               to those whom He has predestinated to be conformed
lively preaching, especially to those outside the                                 to the image of His Son, and the gospel efficaciously
 Church. Now, it. is indeed true that the Reformed                                saves every one to whom it is directed.
 faith `denies - and the Pelagians, Roman Catholics,                                But this doctrine did not stand in the way of Paul's
 and Arminians have always understood this well, thus                             engaging, fervently and energetically, in the work of
 showing themselves wiser than many who claim the                                 missions. (To state such an obvious truth seems
 name Reformed  to'day  - that preaching in general                               faintly ridiculous  - those who assail predestination
 and missions in particular have any basis in a love, or                          and the Reformed faith as inimical to missions are
 grace: of God for all men or a desire of God that all                            responsible for this  ,foolishness.)  The greatest
 men be saved. But  .the Reformed faith has always                                predestinarian was the greatest missionary, and he
 repudiated as wholly groundless and totally false the                            ,was the latter because he was the former. He went
 allegation that this in any way hinders the full, free                           preaching the glad tidings to the ends of the earth,
 activity of `preaching the gospel, whether that be                               and he willingly endured every imaginable hardship in
 preaching within the established church or preaching                             the course of this labor (recall the marvellous list of
 to the unconverted.                                                              sufferings in II Corinthians 1 1), "for the elect's sake,
    The proof. of the Reformed position is evident .to                            that they may also obtain the salvation which is in
 all. The apostle Paul was an avowed, ardent                                      Christ Jesus with eternal glory" (II Tim. 2: 10).
 predestinarian, ho 1 ding double predestination,                                   Are we really, to suppose that,  when.it  came to
 election and reprobation (Rom. 9). As a                                          missions, the apostle set aside the doctrine of
 predestinarian, he did not believe,  .nor did he ever                            predestination, as a teaching irrelevant to missions at
 preach, that God loved all men, was gracious to all                              best or as a teaching detrimental to missions and
 men, ,and desired the salvation of all men, i.e., he did                         embarrassing at worst, in order to ground the activity
 not believe nor teach the well-meant offer  ,of the                              of missions in, and to motivate the missionary by,
 gospel. On the contrary, the apostle believed and                                notions of a universal love and grace of God and a
 proclaimed that God loved and chose unto. salvation                              desire of God to save all men, notions that are not
 some'men, and some men only (Rom. 9: 1 l-1.3; Rom.                               merely extraneous to the doctrine of predestination,
 9:21-24; Rom.  11:5), hating and reprobating others                              but that are in direct conflict with it?
 (Rom.  9:13; Rom.  9:21, 22). He taught that God is
 gracious only to the elect (Rom. 9: 15; II Tim. 1:9),                               Is this, really, a Reformed man's defense of
 enduring, blinding, and hardening the others (Rom.                               missions today - that missions are possible'in  spite of
 9:22; Rom.  9:18; Rom.  11:7). He held that the                                  predestination?
 preaching of the gospel, so far from being,grace  to all                            How utterly foreign to Paul's thought!
 hearers, is a  savor of death unto death to some (II.                               How demeaning to the doctrine .of predestination!
 Cor. 2: 15, 16), in accordance with God's purpose in
 bringing the Word to them, which purpose is not a                                  How inherently  destructive  of the doctrine of
 saving purpose, but the purpose to render them                                   predestination! If lively, unfettered preaching,
 inexcusable and harden them (Rom.  9:18 - cf. also                               evangelism, and missions' cannot find, their solid
 Jesus' words in John 12:37-41). Paul did not regard                              foundation and dynamic impetus in predestination,
 the preaching of the gospel as an offer of salvation to                          then predestination has to go - such is the Christian
 everybody, directed to everybody in a universal love                             consciousness.
 of God and providing everybody with a chance to be                                 The basis for missions, for urgent proclamation of
 saved. Instead, he viewed the preaching of the gospel                            the gospel to all and sundry, is the theology of
 as the power of God unto salvation (Rom. 1: 16), as                              predestination; With this conviction, gotten from and
 the' creative call of God that calls the things that be                          strengthened by Holy Scripture, we proceed to give
 not as though they were (Rom. 4:  17),  .and as the                              account of our denial of a well-meant offer, in
 mighty voice of the risen Christ that raises the `dead                           response to the charge that, without a love of God for
 (.I1 Tim. 1 :  1.0). Such a quickening, renewing,                                all and a desire of God to save all, we destroy
 enlightening power is the preaching unto God's elect.                            m i s s i o n s .
 This is true, not merely because it turns out to be the
  case that only the elect are saved by the gospel, but
 because God in the sovereignty of His grace limits the                                                (to be continued)


3d6                                              THE STANDARD BEARER


STUDIES IN ISAIAH

                             The Church's Glory And Duty
                                                 Rev. Robt. C Harbach

 "The word which Isaiah the son of Amotz saw                  Lord's house, "which shall never be destroyed." The
upon (the subject of) Judah and Jerusalem. And it             gates of hell cannot prevail against it. "The Lord's
shall come to pass in the last days, the mountain of          house" is the church, as the very word church itself
the house of Jehovah is set up in the summit of the           literally means "the Lord's house." (From  kuriake:
mountains, and is exalted more than the hills; and all        kutiou,  the Lord's, plus  oikos,  house. Cp. Ger.,
the goyim shall flow unto it. And many peoples shall          Go tteshaus).
go, and they shall say, Come, go, up unto the                   "The mountain of the Lord's house shall be set up in
mountain of Jehovah, unto the house of the God of             the summit (head) (i.e., Zion. v. 3) of the mountains. "
Jacob, and He shall teach us out of His ways, and we          Christ's kingdom tops all kingdoms, and He himself is
shall go in His  .paths; for out of  Zion.shall go forth      the head and ruler of the kings of the earth (Rev. 1: 5).
law and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem" (Isa.             His kingdom is "secured in the everlasting and
2': 1-3, Heb.)                                                electing love of God, and in the unalterable covenant
  I. The Church's Glory. 1. The establishment of the          of grace, founded on the Rock, Christ" (John Gill).
Christian Church. The subject of this prophetic word          Christ is the Head over all things, and in the last day,
is the same as the title of the book,`except  that there      in His church He alone shall be exalted (2: 11, 17).
Isaiah saw a vision, where here he saw the woid. "The         "And (it .is) exalted (lifted up) from (more than) the
word which he saw" refers.to the spiritual insight he         hills." The false gods had their mountains; Mt.
had into what was divinely revealed., Like John the           Olympus, the Seven Hills of Rome; Capitol Hill and.
Apostle, what was too blinding to, behold with the            even Mt. Sinai are superceded by the spiritual Zion.
physical eye he saw "in spirit" (Rev. 1: 10).                 The disciples of Christ are like a city on a hill which
  "And it shall come to pass in the last days. . ." This      cannot be hidden (Mt. 5: 14). So the wisdom of God,
is a prophecy of the last days, which are the gospel          the mystery of the gospel, outshines all the world's
times, when the heavenly Jerusalem (Heb.  12:22)              wisdom, philosophy and politics.
that is, the above-Jerusalem (Gal.  4:26) would be              2. The Gentiles Entering into It. "And all the
established. We are now'living in the last days. (See         goyim shall flow into it." At the tower of Babel the
Heb. l:l-2; I Jn. 2:18;Ac. 2:17;IPet. 1:19-20). This          nations were scattered in judgment over the face of
is the time in which `Christ appeared in His first            the earth. On Pentecost the nations by grace flowed
coming (Heb. 9:26) and in which Blso we must look             into the  ch,urch at Jerusalem. Then was, and
for His second coming (9:28). This is the time when           throughout this age of the last days, is fulfilled, "unto
the church would be exalted and the Gentile world             Him shall the gathering of the people be" (Gn.
brought into it (Isa. 2: l-4; see Mic. 4: 1-4; Isa. 4:2-6;    49: 10). Goyim were forbidden to come to the temple
9: 1, 2), and looks down to the end, to the heavenly          at Jerusalem, but Isaiah prophecies they shall come to
Jerusalem of the last days  (1:26,  27), to the               it. Now the middle wall of partition is broken down,
destruction of Antichrist and his minions (Is. 2: 12,         and all the (elect) goyim flow into the Lord's house.
18-21 with Dn. 8:9-14, 24, 25; Rev. 6: 12-17), and to           3. The Mutual Encouragement of Its Members in
the kingdom of glory (2:4) and the New Jerusalem of           their desire to be instructed in the religion of
the New Earth (Rev. 21: 10, 24, 26). Isaiah has no            Jehovah, and in the only place where they may learn
earthly millennium in his view.                               of the true God, Zion, the church. For it is in the,
 , "In the last days shall be set up the mountain of          church where God will teach them. In the Old
the house of Jehovah." By the  mountain  of the               Testament, the nation of Israel was the center of
Lord's house is meant the  kingdom  of Christ. A              truth. In the New Testament, the heavenly Zion is the
mountain in scripture symbolism represents a                  center of truth, and the spiritual Zion is made up not
kingdom, as in Dn.  2:35, "the stone that smote the           only of one nation, but "many nations," in fact, of
image became a great mountain and filled the whole            "all nations" (v. 2). Gentile converts, speaking here,
earth." (Cp.. Rev. 17:9, 10). This is not an earthly          persuade others to join them in the spiritual Zion to
millennial kingdom, for "it shall stand" not just for a       share and enjoy the gospel of salvation. They
thousand years, but "forever" (Dn.  2:44). The                enthusiastically encourage one another: Let's go! go
Christian Church and Christianity (the religion of            up to the mountain of Jehovah! to the House of God
Jehovah) will in those days be the mountain of the            of Jacob! and He shall teach us of His ways! Where


                                                    THE STANDARD  BEAkER                                                     ' 307


there is true spiritual life prevailing, there will be                   doctrine. True doctrine is here described as "His
great Idiligence  in taking huge delight in going up to                  paths" and "His ways," showing that without pure
the house of the Lord, and in exciting others to go                      doctrine we go astray from God. These paths go back
along! (Ps. 122: 1). When grace is in the soul there will                to eternity where they were ordained that we should
be a delighted concern for the house of God and His                      walk in them. These paths continue in Christ's goings
worship in it. Going to God's house frequently and                       forth in time, when God sent forth His Son into the
regularly will be regarded with pleasure, and though                     world to bring salvation, and sent forth His Spirit to
perhaps not without its difficulties, as duty, and                       apply it. All these paths converge in Christ. "So walk
privilege. God's ways are learned in His church, in                      ye in Him," and go on in the church of God.
communion with His people, and in the use of the                             4. The means through which this instruction shall
sacraments.                                                              be given: "the law and the word of the Lord." The
  At, this point Calvin says, "And shall say, Come.                      law is the law of Christ, the law as you have its
`By these words he first declares that the godly will                    exposition in the New Testament, the law of faith.
be filled with such an ardent desire to spread the                       The word of the law is to go out from Jerusalem (Lk.
doctrines of religion, that every one not satisfied with                  24:47; AC.  1:8; Ro.  15:19). The apostles were
his own calling and his personal knowled.ge will desire                  commanded to go and preach the gospel in the
to draw others along with him. And indeed nothing                        temple (on Mt. Zion, Acts 5:20), then from there to
could' be more inconsistent with the nature of faith                     take the word of the Lord to the ends of the earth.
than that deadness which would lead a man to                             This was the fulfillment of "Jehovah shall send forth
disregard his brethren, and to keep the light of                         the rod of Thy strength out of Zion" (Ps. 110: 2). The
knowledge choked up within  `his own breast. The                         rod of Christ's strength is the law of Christ, the word
greater the eminence above others which any man has                      of Christ, the "commandment of the Lord" (I Cor.
received from his calling, so much the more diligently                   7125; "his commandments," I Jn.  3:24), the
ought he to labor to enlighten others.                                   testimony of Jesus, which went out from Jerusalem
  `This points out to us also the ordinary method of                     "in these last days." The Church of Christ on earth
collecting a Church, which is, by the outward voice of                   had its establishment out. of Zion in Jerusalem. The
men;  1 for though God might bring each person to                        Christian Church has no heathen prigin, not even as
himself by a secret influence, yet he employs the                        to country. Opponents of the Church cannot validly
agency of men, that he may awaken in them an                             argue that it is the invention and product of
anxiety~ about the salvation of each other.  ; . Next                    heathenism. The Old Testament church, scattered
Isaiah shows that those who take upon them the                           among the nations, was regathered to its center and
office of teaching and exhorting should not sit down                     origin in Zion at Jerusalem. The New Testament
and command others, but should join and walk -along                      church began in Zion at Jerusalem, and through
with ;them as companions; as we see that some men                        persecution by the Jews was scattered abroad, going
are very severe instructors, and eager to urge others                    everywhere proclaiming as good news the word. This
forward, who yet do not move a step. But here                            word is the rod of Christ's strength, the sceptre to
believers, instead of addressing to their brethren the                   which Gentiles bow submitting to His sovereign rule
command, Go up, rather lead the way by their own                         of grace as He holds sway over the nations from His
example. This is the true method, therefore, of                          throne at the right hand of God. The preaching of the
profitable teaching, when, by actually performing                        gospel to the gentiles is, then, the fulfillment of Psalm
what 1 we demand, we make it evident that we speak                       110 and the prophecies of Isaiah. That everlasting
with sincerity and earnestness.' "                                       gospel is Christ's strong rod, His own Word preached
                                                                         in the power of the Holy Spirit. Finally, that word of
  "We will walk in his paths." When taught of God's                      the Lord from Jerusalem is no less than the word of
ways men will want to walk in his paths. True                            the King. Christ, who is Ring of nations, Ring of
doctrine motivates conduct in God's paths. Right                         saints, the Ruler of the kings of the earth, the King of
doctrine always results in right living. Doctrine and                    kings and Lord of Lords is most surely King of the
life are inseparable in the Christian scheme. Christian                  Church. The comparing of the two texts, Psm.  2:6
v, if it is stable and solid, is based on Christian                      with Heb. 12:22, 23 is proof of that!


                                                      TEACHER  NEEDED
                                  South Holland Protestant Reformed Christian School will be in need
                               of a teacher for grades 4, 5 and 6 for the 1975-76 term. Those
                               interested please contact G.F. Van  Baren,  15921-   Parkside  Ave., South
                               Holland, Illinois 60473, or call  (312)   331-3818.


3q8                                          THE STANDARD BEARER


FEATURE.
                                Church Deformation
                                                  Prof. H. Hanko

   In  his  book,  Tvactaat van de Reformatie Der          is necessary so that it may be manifest what is the
Kerken, Dr. `A. Kuyper devotes a large section to the      power of the faith which God has put in His church.
general subject of the, deformation of the church. In      So also the evil of sin is present so that it may be
this section, he discusses at some length the causes of    manifest what is the power of the destruction from
such deformation. His .remarks on this matter are so       which He has delivered her. But however much we
pertinent that they seem sometimes to have been            pay homage to the majesty of the counsel of the Lord
written in our own time. Parts of this section follow      without fear. and. with all resoluteness, so that God is
below. We offer these quotes to the reader for two         esteemed not only for tolerating this raging of Satan
reasons. The first is that .we may see more clearly how    in the church of Christ, but also for willing it, yet this
it is that churches go the way of apostasy and may         does not take away from the children of God their
understand the reasons for this. The second is that we     deep, shocking. and irresponsible guilt. We surely
may understand better the process of deformation in        confess from the heart that God's inscrutable decree
order to guard against it.                                 to permit the history of our race to go through sin
 ; Kuyper talks about the fact that Satan himself is       and grace mitigates in no respect the damnable guilt
the cause of much deformation. After explaining this,      of Adam. How much less can there be sought in that
he writes:                                                 counsel of God an escape from guilt for God's
                                                           regenerated children who have tasted the power of
 "This bitter enmity Satan has manifested in two           the coming age, who know the love of Christ, and
different ways, viz., external persecution and internal    who are able to lift up the shield of faith; and yet
ppisoning.  . . . (When Satan understands by hindsight     who have not quenched the fiery darts of Satan, but
that persecution) generally had the opposite effect        who have, with unholy pleasure, received these darts
(of destroying the church), and that a,new sprout of       into their own breast. And therefore we must not
the church of God shoots up from the  .blood  of           stay with the farthest cause of this deformation, but
martyrs. . . , he moves the world to contract peace        must also enter into the nearer causes which lie in the
with the church, prompts magistrates to overload the       sin of each individual and in the sin of the church as a
church with treasure, favor and honor; and when the        whole."
poor church, stunned by  so much brilliance and
glory, falls asleep in her triumph, then the evil enemy      After discussing individual sins in this connection,
comes in the still of the night and drops his deadly       (a section which we omit), Kuyper turns to the
poison in her veins, so that she, after not many days,     corporate sins of the church as a whole.
feels her spiritual strength give away and must once          "Besides the sins of individuals, there is a sin of the
more exchange her triumphal song for a bitter and          church as a whole. As members of the church, men
sad complaint of deadly exhaustion and spiritual           do many things together. Men form together a sphere
decline.                                                   of life in which a certain atmosphere reigns. They
 : "Yet Satan cannot bring this fearful evil on the        breathe out a certain atmosphere of communal life.
church of God in any other way than under the              They form common ideas. The shape a moral
approval and control of Almighty God. If God had           judgment. They create a common opinion which
willed that His church on earth had celebrated her         becomes a certain power. And thus it is that there is
cross-triumph in quiet peace, this would have              both corporate responsibility and corporate guilt,
happened. But this is not His good pleasure. Like Job,     which again works most perniciously on the few; and
God surrenders a church gathered from the wicked in        in doing this, it infects the whole of the body of
the midst of a wicked world again and again into the       Christ. At last even the holiest is affected, and sin in
hand of Satan. This partly because through spiritual       the church of God becomes general.
struggle and triumph, the truth would glitter; and           "This can go so far that finally also for the church
partly because the power of the Lord of lords is the       of the New Testament the word comes: `If you
glorious fruit of the preservation of a church -always     spread out your hands, then I hide my face, and if
under fiery attack. God is not the Author or Worker        you multiply prayers, then I do not hear. . . .'
of the evil which comes upon His church, but                  "All deformation of the church of God is apt to
nevertheless, this is brought about according. to His      begin with this, that faith loses its animation. The
eternal and unshakeable purpose. The evil of suffering     church hangs on Christ. Tendrils, half cut off from


                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 309


  the vine, begin to languish and,wither. At first, as the       proportions, creeping also into the shepherds. In the
  fruit of fearful struggles and oppressions, Christ             church of Christ, one is always able to know the
  obviously lives in His own, the thrill of His life is          turning point. If the church as church knows, in spite
  experienced, the warmth of His divine love radiates            of the evil which creeps in, how to hold high her holy
  through them. There is enjoyment of His salvation;             character, then one still always finds the shepherds
  the manifestation of His power. The Holy Spirit                being examples to the flock. In their priestly urgency
  works thus through the children of God to make                 they plead for the deliverance of the flocks with the
  sensitive, to adorn with spiritual adornment, and to           sound of the trumpet of  penitance, admonishing
  make! the purchased of the Lord live close and                 conversion. But if that sound ceases, the circle of the
  tenderly with their God. But then comes, one                   shepherds itself becomes unsound, and worldliness
  scarcely knows by what cause, an unrecognized                  creeps in among those who, as witnesses of God,
  cooling. There is a leaving of the first love. It becomes      ought to tight with and for the sheep. Then also the
  less tender, less close, less inward; and presently the        hour of spiritual decline has irrevocably struck - also
  observer sees that the inner fellowship of the Holy            for the church, and corruption begins to affect her
  Spirit; and by this the inner life of love with the            organization. Thus corruption begins to alter the
  Bridegroom, begins to depart from the heart of the             church in her public manifestation as church. She
  bride./ Really, already then the deformation of the            assumes, a corrupt form.
  church has happened, although it is not yet obvious.              "The `power of the lie creeps out of a congregation
  But this condition does not last long. `Indeed, `If thou       which has become sick and creeps into the shepherds.
  doest : well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou          And then, as a third stage; it creeps out of the
  doest `not well, sin lieth at thezdoor.' And so the work       shepherds who have also become sick, into the
  of the Holy Spirit is scarcely ceased or the door opens        doctrine and worship of the church, so that the
  and sin slips in. The ungodly heart is released from its       church abandons her confession. and .introduces  into
  holy `bond and begins to howl again in its own                 the Lord's house a self-willed form of worship. In this
  devilish lust. This begins in the smallest `way, with          way, heresy, getting to its feet, brings about a new
  trifles; which indeed work through. So sin `breaks out         devastation. Doubt comes in the place of faith. The
  more strongly. And finally one finds in the church of          things which were once fixed now are loosened.
  God whole groups which fmd the mask of piety                   Everything pressures and prompts a union of the
  burdensome and openly commit fornication with the              confession of the church and the confession of the
I world. In this stage by no means all the church is             world.
  seized, by this poison. On the contrary, in her large
  majority, she is still zealous against it. But that zeal is       "This happens to the worship services. There is no
  already too little energetic and too inanimate to              longer any satisfaction with a simple, spiritual
  banish the evil. The evil is still judged, but no one          character for worship services, but members take
  dares to condemn it openly. The faculty of faith for           flight into a sensuous way to radiate what is for the
punishing this moral operation with discipline is                eye and ear alone; and in this way they grieve the
  lacking. But this in turn makes sin and worldliness all        Holy Spirit.
  the bolder. The situation is quickly turned around.               "Thus the tension and opposition arise. The
  Instead of being able to rise with moral strength              limitations of church government are considered too
  against worldliness, the children of God themselves            narrow and are no longer tolerated. And so finally
  come under the pressure of the world. They. are                corruption creeps in and pulls loose the fabric of
  almost ashamed to maintain the old ways of life.               church government. And this tension does not rest
  They begin to excuse themselves instead of                     until the regulations of church government are so
  condemning the world. No longer does discipline                deformed that everything which rejects Christ is
  proceed from them upon the sinners, but the sinners            done, and everything which in the pattern of these
 proceed to exercise discipline over God's children by           regulations is attached to Christ is lost.
  intimidation  .and mockery. Thus the standard of                 "In this way corruption runs its course. It begins
  external spiritual life declines and finally sinks away.       with the loss of the first love. It proceeds to
  And the end result is that the Lord, by His righteous          worldliness. This inclination towards the world creeps
  judgment, punishing such faithlessness, gives His              out of the flock and into the shepherds. Through these
  church over into the power of.her adulterers, so that          shepherds, it finds its way into the doctrine; from.the
  she shall again have to learn to recognize her guilt and       doctrine,. into the worship services, in order finally to
  discover the way of prayer."                                   lay hold on the whole system of the church's
     After comparing. this "turning of the tide" with a          ordinances and to alter the church so that she
  set of balance scales, Kuyper goes on to say:                  becomes an instrument of Satan lying in wait for the
     "The church then is appalled at what has                    people of God, and, in this people, for God Himself."
  happened, and evil proceeds to take on greater                 pp. 91-96.


 310                                          THE STANDARD BEARER


                                          Book Review
THE NEW HERMENEUTIC, by Cornelius Van. Til;                  and to read it, in order that they may be aware of evil
Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., Nutley,            views which have already' made vast inroads into the
New Jersey;  230 pp., $5.95 (paper). [Reviewed by            Reformed community.
Prof. H. C. Hoeksema]                                           I have one negative criticism of the format of this
  This volume which,' I believe, is the latest from the      book. I dislike very much the placing of footnote
pen of Dr. Van  -TiI, was sent to me by the author           references at the end of a book. To place them at the
personally and was inscribed, "H. C. Hoeksema in             end of a chapter is  ,bad enough; I prefer to see
memory of your father. C. Van Til." I'appreciate this        references at the bottom of the page. But to place
personal gesture of. Dr. Van Til, and hereby express         them at the end of a book, especially when these
my thanks.' I also assume that the book was sent to          references include some comments, always irritates
me for review; but whether this assumption is correct        me.
or not, I wish to call attention to the book and to             I also have one comment concerning the content of
recommend it.                                                this book. I would have liked to see Dr. Van Til deal
   This is. a book intended for seminarians, ministers,      with the question whether the current developments
and theologians. As one might expect from the title,         in the Netherlands are at all to be traced to elements
Van Til deals in this volume with the  "new                  in the teachings of, Kuyper and Bavinck. Dr. Van Til
hermeneutic" which has made its appearance in the            traces the new hermeneutic of the Netherlands to
Netherlands. But he does more, than this. Van Til goes       that. of modern German theologians. And he states
back to the new hermeneutic of Ernst Fuchs and               correctly "The background of these theologians is the
Gerhard Ebeling, whom  "he treats as the "main               older modernism of such men as Schleiermacher,
representatives" of the new hermeneutic. Then he             Ritschl,.  Hermann and Hamack  ,and the new
devotes a chapter to the reaction of some modern            modernism, call it neo-orthodogjr if you will, of such
theologians to this new hermeneutic of Fuchs and            men as Barth  .and Bultmann.                   And Dr. Van Til
Ebeling. Next he devotes a chapter to the reaction of       appeals to those who espouse the new hermeneutic in
some orthodox theologians to this new hermeneutic.          the Netherlands "to build their  -hermeneutical
It is in this chapter that there is an excellent section    procedures on the theology of Calvin, Kuyper,
of some 70 pages on the views of Dr. H. M. Kuitert.         Bavinck, etc. . . ." .Nevertheless, the question arises
The  final chapter of this book speaks of the new           whether there were elements in the teachings of men
hermeneutic of Holland. In this chapter, which is very      like Kuyper and Bavinck which constituted
brief, Van Til writes of Wiersinga, Hartvelt, Koole,        weaknesses in their theology, and which became to
Baarda, and Augustijn. It certainly becomes-evident,        some extent the `occasion for. the Dutch theologians
by the way, that Van Til is no friend of Kuitert, and       of today to imbibe neo-orthodoxy and the new
that although he deals with Kuitert's views in the          hermeneutic. In other words, is what is happening'in
chapter entitled "Reaction of Some Orthodox                 the Netherlands today strictly a  departure  from
Theologians," he does not consider Kuitert to be            Kuyper and, Bavinck, or is it also in some sense a
truly orthodox. Dr.  .Van  TiI is a foe of the liberal      development from Kuyper and Bavinck?
theology that is currently being espoused in the
Netherlands.
  This is, in my opinion, an excellent book for                              A N N I V E R S A R Y   N O T I C E
anyone who wishes to gain an understanding of what
the new `hermeneutic is all about without delving into         On March  2&h,  1975, our beloved parents, MR. AND MRS.
the primary sources of such information. I believe          HENRY  HUISKEN, celebrated their fortieth wedding anniversary.' We
that it offers a dependable description not only of the     thank  God.for  His care of them during these years and we'thank Him
new hermeneutic but also of its failings. Nor is this       for the multitude of blessings which we, their children, have received
                                                            through them. In the past, and to this day we are blessed of God to be
book difficult to follow. While some of Van Til's           able to benefit from their instruction, example and counsel. Our prayer
books are, in  my  opinion, marred by the fact that         is that God will continue to bless them; we commit their care and
they employ too much philosophical language in              keeping in the days ahead to Him alone.
,dealing with things theological, that is not the case
with this work. Although Van Til traces this new                                                                    The families of
hermeneutic to its philosophical roots, the book is                                                     Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Nelson
                                                                                                        Mr. and Mrs. Larry Huisken
very plainly written and interestingly written and                                                     Mr. and Mrs. Darrel Huisken
highly readable. I believe that all our ministers and                                                    Mr. and Mrs. Jon Huisken
                                                                                                            and Beth  llene Huisken
our seminary students .would do well to get this book


                                                          THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                        311



                                       News  From Our Churches
                          March 13, 1975                                   bulletin, was to chair the meeting and provide for the
     Rev. M. Kamps declined the call extended to him                       lunch.
from  iKalamazoo.                                                              From the March 2 bulletin of Faith Church, this:
                               *****                                       "Today as a denomination we celebrate our 50th
    The denominational Office Bearer's Conference                          anniversary. We have much to be thankful for. The
held  .m South Holland on March 4 .was attended by                         Lord's hand has `not waxed short, but His faithfulness
nearly one hundred men. Discussions on the office of                       has been abundant. We are thankful that the Lord has
the diaconate were introduced by two papers - one,                        seen fit to preserve the truth among us and it is our
"Ministering to the Saints," by Rev. Lubbers, and the                      prayer that He will continue to keep'us in His grace."
                                                                                  1
other, "A Layman's Observation of the Office of                                                           * *:`*  * *
Mercy," by Mr. Milton' Alsum of our Loveland                                  Rev. Slopsema, pastor of our Edgerton`
Church. The discussions were, according to Hope's                          congregation, conducted the Sunday afternoon
bulletin, "stimulating and instructive."                                   chapel service at the Edgebrook Rest Center on
                               *****                                       January 26.
   March 2, as you know,. was designated the Sunday                           Rev. Joosten and family are settled in Faith
in which all of our congregations would                                    Church's brand new parsonage. A March 9 bulletin
commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Protestant                         announced that the Consistory meeting that week
Reformed Churches. In each of our congregations                            would be held  ,in "the meeting room at the
there were sermons which emphasized God's                                  parsonage."
covenant faithfulness, and our calling to be faithful.                        The Junior Young People's Society of Southwest
In addition, individual congregations held special ac-                     plans to hold a Pizza-Barbecue Supper in the
tivities which were; planned with a view to this                           basement of Southwest, on April 4 - likely in order
commemoration. In Edgerton, for example, there was                         to raise money for the up-coming Convention.
an evening singspiration, which included also ti short                     Members of the Randolph Young Adult Society
speech, by Rev. Moore, on the anniversary of our                           planned "a night of Fun and Fellowship"  .for the
churches. Hull, Doon; and Edgerton, incidentally, all                      people of their congregation. That was held on March
provided special numbers for that program.                                 1, in the Randolph Christian School gym.
   In Isabel, the February 23 Sunday evening group                            Randolph's new 1975 Church Directory does not
discussion  -centered  on the history of the Protestant
Reformed Churches. Recommended study. guides for                           include family pictures, as it did last year. But, again,
                                                                           there are what appear to me to be rather unique
that discussion were Prof. Hoeksema's lecture at                           features. The front cover includes a photograph of
Calvin Seminary (as it appeared in printed form in the
January 15 issue of the  Standard  Bedrer),  and Rev.                      the new church's interior. Following the
Hoeksema's book The Protqtant Reformed Churches                            "Congregational Statistics" there is a two page
                                                                           "Church History,"
in America.  Rev. Miersma, according to Isabel's                                                       which includes interesting facts
                                                                                                                             (continued on back page)




                 WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                                                       WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
    On April 10, 1975, the Lord willing, our parents, MR. AND MRS.            On April 13, 1975, the Lord willing, our parents, MR. AND MRS.
GERRIT  LUBBERS hope to celebrate their 45th wedding anniversary.          GILBERT  SCHIMMEL  will celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary.
   We,, their children, are thankful to our Heavenly Father for the        We, their children, are grateful to God for their covenant instruction
Christian home and instruction given us through them. It is our prayer     throughout the past years. It is our prayer that He may continueto
that God may continue to bless them as they go down life's path            bless and strengthen them in the days that lie ahead.               I.
together in the fear of their Lord.                                                                                         Their children,
                                                                                                                         Mr. and Mrs. James Schimmel
                                            Their children,                                                                           Daniel, Schimmel'
                                        Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Lubbers                                                                Deborah Schimmel
                                             Mr. and Mrs. Jay Lubbers                                                                  Ruth Schimmel
                                           Mr. and Mrs. Paul Schipper                                                                 David Schimmel
                                                       Glenn Lubbers                                                                Timothy Schimmel
                                        Mr. and Mrs. Ted Miedema, Jr.                                                               Thomas.Schimmel
                                          Mr. and Mrs. David Doezema                                                            and one grandchild -
                                                 and 25 grandchildren                                                                 Sarah Schimmel
Hudsonville, Michigan                           2 great-grandchildren.


:  ,.
                                                          _     .-
          THE STANDARD BEARER
. .                  P.O. Box 6064  '
         G&d Rapids, Michigan 49506





         312


         concerning the founding of the church in Randolph,
         concerning their past and present pastors, and
         concerning the construction of their  ,new building.
         The directory also contained the. 1974 Financial
         Report, the 1975 Collection Schedule, a calendar of
         birthdays and anniversaries  - all in addition to the
         usual .Membership Directory: Again, a very attractive
         and, certainly, extremely useful little book.
                                    *****
           I So much for the new news. (As one of the readers
         of this column remarked the other dayj there's always
         a little bit of that slipped in, in order to keep
         everyone reading it.) The old news item has been in
         rn:y box since 1973. It happened that, earlier in that
         year, I had included in several news columns some
         interesting correspondence received by Mr. Vander
         Wal, from faraway places. A subsequent bit of
         correspondence with Mr. Vander Wal,. by one of our
         ministers, carried reference to those columns. It read
         as follows:
            "With interest we have been reading in the S.B. the
         information you supplied the news editor re the out;
         reach of the  Standard Bearer  to distant and
         unexpected points. Last week I experienced in
         unexpected places the  nearness  of  :  the  Standard
         B,earer.
            "Upon entering the admitting room of the local
         hospital, to be booked for surgery the next day, my
         eyes fell at once on the  Standard Bearer  in that
         waiting room. I sat down next to the magazine stand
         where it lay and noted on the.cover, `Courtesy of the
         F$rst Protestant Reformed Church of Holland.' A
         delightful, unexpected surprise!
            "Upon being assigned to my room, I was
         introduced to the other patients. A little later, being
         questioned by one patient, an elderly (80 year-old)
         child of God, it became known to them that I was
         pastor of the local Protestant .Reformed Church. The
         response of this child of  -God was, `0, I get the
         Standard. Bearer,  and like it very much.' I can
         remember when people used to respond in such
         dircumstances,  `0, I knew Rev. Hoeksema.' Now it is,
         `0, I get the Stand&d Bearer.' The Standard Bearer
         was a link between our beds, and I had no strange bed
         fellow in that three-bed ward."
            Rather old news, surely, but interesting
         nevertheless.
                                                           D.D.


