     STANDARD
      BEARER
          REFORMED SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE





         This was in many ways, we believe, a very
      significant  Synod. It was this simply because it
      dealt exclusively with matters pertaining to the
      life and calling of the Church of Jesus Christ as
      instituted in the world. . . . Only matters con-
      cerning or directly related to  the preaching. of.  `.
      the gospel, the administration  ,of the sacraments,
      and the exercise of Christian discipline"  v&e
      treated. Thus the Synod was busy exclusively
      with the Christ-assigned task and calling of the
      Church. For this  we are grateful and our prayer
      is that God may keep our Churches faithful to
      that task.
                                            - See page 447





.                                   Volume LI, Number 19, August', 1975


434                                                       THE STANDARD BEARER



                           CONTENTS:                                                                THE STANDARD BEARER
                                                                              Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July, and August.
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Meditation  -                                                              Editor-in-Chief: Prof.  Homer  C. Hoeksema
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   The Secret of the Believer's Life . . . . . . . . . . . .434            Rev. David J. Engelsma, Rev. Cornelius Hanko, Prof. Herman Hanko,
                                                                           Rev. Robert C. Harbach, Rev. John A.  Heys. Rev. Jay Kortering, Rev.
                                                                           Dale H. Kuiper, Rev. George C. 1-ubbers, Rev. Marinus  Schipper.  Rev.
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   Thoughts On Our Golden Anniversary (4) . . . .437                                            4975 lvanrest Ave.  SW.
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MEDITA TIQ N
                      The Secret Of The Believer's Life
                                                                Rev. C. Hanko
                  "I have set the Lord always before me; Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be
             moved.  "                                                                                                         Psalm 16:8
  There is a secret. . . .                                                   worshipfully poured out their thanks to God for the
                                                                             simple meal set before them. In times of severest
   There is a secret, hidden reason why saints
throughout the ages have been able to sing songs even                        persecutions, saints have had the courage to walk to
in the night, to rejoice through their tears, and to                         stake or scaffold with peace in their hearts, putting
count it all joy when they meet the severest trialsiand                      their persecutors to shame.
temptations.                                                                     You and I, who so often falter in the face of
   You read that contentment on their faces when                             temptations, who grow weary and distressed under so
they lie on beds of anguish. You see it in their eyes                        few burdens of life's cares, must needs ask: What is
when they mourn the loss of a dear one; yes, also                            the secret of the believer's life? What is it that makes
while they themselves are passing through the final,                         it possible for him to face the worst of trials in quiet
darkest phase of the valley of shadows.                                      contentment, assured, that all is well?
   Lowly mothers, withered and bent with age, have                               The sixteenth Psalm tells us about that secret.
sat with folded hands and trembling lips as they                                 What immediately impresses us when we read, it, is


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  435


 the fact that it is a joyful Psalm that rings with praise    that we may learn to repeat it -after him. He was a
 to God.                                                      man of like passions as we are; he was taught of God
   True, in the background we discover that the               to know the secret of conquering faith. We can know
 composer experiences great anxieties brought on by           it also by the same God.
 his enemies. The Psalm opens with the bitter cry:               The secret of faith, what is it?
 "Preserve me, 0 Almighty, in Thee do I put my
 trust." Toward the close of the Psalm he sees his soul          In one word: Jehovah!
 in Sheol, the threat of corruption eating away his              "I have set Jehovah before me." I have set Him in
 flesh. His enemy is determined to plague him until all       front of me with the determination to keep my eye
 his hope should perish forever. Yet in his darkest           fixed upon Him, never to lose Him from my thoughts
 hour he experiences an inner peace and joy that              or from my sight!
 makes it possible for him to rejoice through his tears.         Jehovah is GOD. Let us say so in holy wonder, for
 "The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places, yea, I     He is the only true and living One. All idols are the
 have a goodly heritage." "The Lord is the portion of         product of man's foolish imagination, but our God is
 my inheritance and of my cup: Thou maintainest my            in the heavens. He is the infinite fullness of His own
 lot." "For Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell:              dazzling holiness, and yet He is so very near to us,
 neither wilt Thou suffer Thy Holy One to see cor-            that we exist under His watchful eye as in the very
 ruption."  "Thou hast shown me the paths of life: in         palm of His hand. He knows all things. He even
 Thy presence in fulness of joy: at thy right hand            knows the end from the beginning, because He has
 there are pleasures for evermore."                           determined that end before there was a beginning.
   I read this. I marvel at this expression of faith. I       God knows the only possible way in which He may
 know that all that the Psalmist says is so true. In          attain His glory through every single creature that He
 Jehovah are pleasures forevermore. I have the whole          makes. He knows how to manifest His love and mercy
 Bible to confirm this for me. But I, I have my cup           in His chosen people in such a way, that all eternity
 often overflowing with sorrows, even to the point            will praise Him for it. He loves His people as His
 that I complain: "My enemy grown strong with pride           prized possession, bestowing on them all His grace,
 would take my life away." Darkness floods my soul,           mercy, lovingkindness and everlasting compassion. On
 so that I ask: How can the Psalmist express such             the dark background of reprobation, sin, death, and
 perfect contentment even in the face of death?               hell, He shows the glorious brightness of His grace,
   I remind myself that this Psalm is strongly mes-           choosing, redeeming and sanctifying a people unto
 sianic. Our Lord was taught to sing this Psalm, even as      Himself which He takes into His own bosom to enjoy
 the Spirit of prophecy had prepared it especially for        covenant fellowship with Him forever.
 Him. Christ sang this Psalm over and over again as He          Jehovah is our Creator. The heavens declare His
 walked among us with that heavy shadow of the cross          glory, the firmament showeth His handiwork; day
 pressing upon Him. I hear Him singing it especially          unto day it tells something new about Him, while
 during the forty days of temptation while the wind           night after night it reveals the secrets of His heart. His
 howled through the crags of rock in a waste and              Name is near, so very near, in the rumbling of the
 weary land. I recognize the plaintive cry as darkness        thunder and in the raging of the storm, but also in the
 hides His prostrate form in the dust of Gethsemane:          sighings of the wind, the rustle of desert sands, the
 "0 my Almighty, preserve me, I have no one else in           humble buttercup, and the busy ant that races across
 whom I can trust." We follow Him in our thoughts as          our path on the sidewalk. We need but look about us
 He stands before the raging foe that plots and               and tune our ears to listen in order to hear from a
 schemes to kill Him. At the cross we hide our faces as       thousand voices the song of creation, telling their
 we hear Him sing: Thou wilt not leave my soul in the         Maker's praise.
grave: Thou wilt not suffer the enemy to triumph                Jehovah is our Father. Our adoption papers are
 over me! Jesus saw His complete victory in heavenly          made out from all eternity, even when the world and
perfection during that rleeting  second when He cried:        its history was planned. These adoption papers have a
 "It is finished." He could do this because He certainly      seal on them, the bloody seal of Calvary, showing
understood the secret of true peace and contentment           that the highest price that could ever be demanded
that makes it possible to rejoice in the Lord always.         has been paid to redeem us unto God. How do I
   But I? Surely when the Psalmist wrote this he was          know that these adoption papers bear my name? I
drawing from his own experience. Although he wrote            have received the sign of baptism, which is daily
under the guidance of the Spirit of prophecy, he              sealed in my heart by the Spirit of Christ, assuring me
nevertheless gave expression to his own dark night            that I am a son, teaching me to stammer: "Abba,
and the joy that he realized through it. This was             Father." Behold what manner of love the Father has
written and preserved in the Scriptures for our sakes,.       bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons


436                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


of God. Now we are sons, and it does not yet appear         bows before a block of wood or a lifeless piece of
what we shall be: But we know that when it does             stone, who worships a snake or a calf. Yet I find
appear, we shall be just like Father, for we shall see      myself putting my trust in my own strength, my
Him exactly as He is.                                       proud self. I feel no great need to pray for daily bread
   Our Father is none other than our Covenant God.          these days, because the table is always well supplied,
He establishes His covenant with us by restoring in us      and there is even bread to spare in the bread box. We
the image of our elder Brother, Christ Jesus. He made       live in an affluent time when it is said that no one
us friend-servants, to love Him, to know Him in love        need be poor. If one does have need, there is always
and to serve Him in love. Ours is the privilege as well     some government agency that will come to the
as the duty, the capability as well as the desire to        rescue. Mammon is a god that I can see, can touch,
serve Him with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength,     can hold. All this appeals to me, for the simple reason
to crucify our old nature, and to walk in a new and         that I am evil, born in sin.
holy life before Him. He is the Master Craftsman Who           I catch myself playing the practical deist. No,
has skillfully formed us with our own personal gifts        theoretically I condemn deism, which holds that God
and talents to perform that certain task, which we          created all things in such a way that they can
only, and no one else, can perform. It is the task for      function and operate by themselves. God is, in that
which we are chosen of God, for which we were born          instance like a machinist, who watches the machine
and placed in this world, for which we are eqipped by       run, sees to it that all the parts remain well-oiled, and
the Holy Spirit, even as God has assigned that task to      only interferes when .something  goes wrong with the
us from eternity. Only when that work is done can           mechanism. Often from a practical point of view I
we lay down our weary heads to sleep the sleep of           make the same error. In case of illness, one's first
death.                                                      thought seems to be to call a doctor, making sure that
   Our Covenant God is our Protector. As a shepherd         he is well-qualified. Only as an afterthought do we
jealously guards his sheep, as a mother shields her         resort to prayer. I ride along the highway in my car;
child with her own life, as a father has compassion         I'm a bit in a hurry, because I am late. To my
upon his children, so our Heavenly Father cares for         complete disgust, those red lights are all against me. I
us. He cares. We are His chief concern, as written in       tend to ball my fist in anger, only then to be
the palms of His hands. In Him we can place our             reminded that God had deliberately turned that light
implicit trust, both as to body and soul, both in life      red in front of me. He wants to remind me that He is
and in death.                                               Lord of my life, not I. I had better slow down and
                                                            remember my utter dependence on Him.
  This Covenant God draws us to Himself in intimate
communion of life as our Sovereign Friend.  Enoch             How often God is not first in my thoughts. How
experienced that when he walked with God. Noah              often I turn my back to Him, as if I would keep Him
knew what that meant when he found grace in the             out of my affairs, to go my own willful, sinful way
eyes of the Lord. Abraham tasted the blessedness of         without Him.
being God's friend. Moses communed with God face              Yet God is always there - right at my side!
to face, more than any other. David could say: "I am          Even when I was not aware of it, He already was
Thy servant, Lord; my trust is in Thy Name." We             there.
echo this in prayerful worship: "In sweet com-                I did not seek Him; He sought me. I did not
munion, Lord, with Thee I constantly abide. My hand         approach Him; He approached me. He spoke; I heard
Thou holdest in Thy own to keep me near Thy side."          His voice as He spoke from the Scriptures. What I
                                                            heard was by no means pleasant. God did not talk to
 I have placed the Lord right in front of me, before        me about a love for all men, also for me. God did not
my very eyes, to keep Him there always. In every            tell me that He ignored the fact that I was a sinner,
circumstance of joy or sorrow, both in the pleasant         beckoning me just to come. Quite the opposite.
hours of the day and in the weary, fearful hours of         Proud speck of dust that I am, vaunting myself to be
the night, I keep the Lord before me. This is the           something in the face of the Most High; God showed
secret of my life.                                          me what a rebellious wretched sinner I am in His
  Is this not a proud boast?                                sight. God humbled me, put me to shame, pressed
  I keep the Lord always before me. This was                upon my guilty soul the burden of my sin. I stood
certainly true of Christ. It, no doubt, was also true of    condemned, head hanging low. I saw myself as a
David; but am I, a man of low degree, to be compared        filthy, misshapen leper, deserving only to be cast
to a great saint like David?                                away forever. Yet when I cried to Him, He heard me
                                                            and drew me unto Himself, taking me into His
  How often the opposite is true in my life. My             everlasting arms and assuring me over and over again:
sinful inclination draws me to idols as metal is drawn      Forgiven! Forgiven! through the precious blood of
to a magnet. I may look with scorn on.the pagan who         Jesus Christ, God's dear Son.


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                              437


  Jehovah is still always at my side. This is not a           But Jehovah is my Rock.  He. took me from the
mere mystical experience, as if there are times when I     miry clay, and set my feet firmly on that immovable
go to Him, sit by Him and hear Him talk to me by           Rock; none other than Christ Jesus, my Savior, my
some mystical message in my heart. Jehovah's pres-         Lord.
ence is very real. He dwells in my heart by His Spirit.       Jehovah is for me a Refuge, a High Tower, even as
He speaks to me through His Word, particularly             a Rock in a weary land, a shelter in the time of storm.
through the preaching of the Word in the communion
of saints. I can approach Him through prayer, any             Jehovah fights my battles for me by making me
time, any where. I need no appointment. I need no          alert and strong against every foe. For underneath are
receptionist to invite me into His chambers. I need no     always the everlasting arms, the arms of the mighty
instrument through which to talk. I can pray, and in       God of David.
praying experience communion with Him Who in-                 I sense the lowliness and meekness of David when
habits .the High and Lofty Place. He is so very far        He sang: "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.
above me, yet so very near. He even makes me                  "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the
God-conscious, so that I see His handiwork in all His      shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with
creation; I see His handwriting, His seal of genuine-      me. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all
ness on every creature. I know that God is near; His       the days of my life, and I will dwell in the House of
wondrous works tell me so.                                 the Lord forever."
  What an abiding comfort!                                    Or to take up Paul's victory cry: Nothing, ab-
  "With Jehovah at my side I shall not be moved!"          solutely nothing, can separate me from the love of
  When my back is turned to Him, I walk in stygian         God which is in Christ Jesus my Lord.
darkness. Then I fear a thousand fears. Satan is              I have the Lord before me!
always on the alert, seeking out every `weak spot in          He was there first.
my armor. The world still has a strong appeal to my
flesh. My worst enemy is my own sinful  selfi Left           He makes His presence known.
alone I should certainly perish. All my will power, all      He has promised He would never leave me nor
my determination, all my ingenuity to resist the           forsake me.
onslaughts of sin avail me nothing.                           For this God is our God forever and ever.


EDITORIALS

      Thoughts On Our Golden Anniversary (4)
                                              ProJ: H. C. Hoeksema

   One of the important aspects of our heritage as         of our existence, we must commemorate this aspect
Protestant Reformed Churches is the church political       of our heritage also. And when we resolve anew, by
aspect of that heritage. As we commemorate our             God's grace, to hold fast to that heritage in the
Golden Anniversary as a denomination, and as at that       future, we must resolve also to hold fast to the
occasion we are reminded of our heritage, our              principles and the form of church government which
thoughts undoubtedly turn -primarily to our doc-           we have.
trinal and confessional heritage, the heritage of the        In general, I am referring to what is known as the
truth. And if at all, then only secondarily do we          presbyterian-synodical form of church government,
probably think of the heritage which is ours from a        set forth in the Church Order of Dordrecht. And I am
church political point of view. And this order is quite    referring specifically to the principle of what is
natural and proper. Nevertheless, we must not forget       known as the autonomy of the local consistory and
that we have such a church political heritage. And         congregation.
while we may perhaps characterize that aspect of our         What is meant by this principle?
heritage as secondary, we certainly must not char-
acterize it as being of little value and of minor            It is the principle, first of all, that the authority
importance. That would be a grave mistake. When we         and the power of the offices of minister, elder, and
commemorate the heritage which- the Lord our God           deacon reside strictly in the local congregation. And,
has given us to have and to hold for these fifty years     therefore, the authority and the power to preach, to


438                                             THE STANDARD BEARER


administer the sacraments, to discipline, and to exer-      churches, it very often results in the same evil,
cise the office of mercy belong strictly to the local       namely: hierarchy, or lording it. When the churches
consistory and congregation. In the second place,           in common, either of  classis or synod assume to
according to this system, a number of like-minded           themselves power within a local congregation, this is
congregations have banded together in a church fed-         hierarchy. It results in what Article 84 of our Church
eration for the purpose of expressing their unity and       Order calls "lording it" over a local consistory and
for the purpose of mutual advice, counsel, assistance,      local office bearers. But when one consistory and
and cooperation  - without, however, in any way             congregation go their independent way, ignoring the
conceding or delegating the afore-mentioned powers          rules according to which all have agreed to live within
- and agreeing to be governed, both locally and in          the church federation, this also can result and does
their federative functions, according to the 86 articles    result frequently in that one congregation lording it
of the Church Order of Dordrecht. And. thus, in             over those with whom it had agreed to live together
addition to our local assemblies, each of which has         and to act together within the church federation. In
the power and authority within its own congregation         deepest principle, therefore, there is only a fine line
to preach, to administer the sacraments, and to             of distinction between independentism and  col-
discipline, we have also broader assemblies. We have        legialism. And our presbyterian-synodical form of
regional assemblies, our classes, with well-defined         church government requires the churches, in a sense,
jurisdiction, but no jurisdiction  within  the local        to tread a very narrow course between  indepen-
congregation. And we have our national, or broadest,        dentism and collegialism.
assembly, our synod - .again with certain well-defined        This narrow course we have trodden be it some-
powers, but absolutely no jurisdiction within the local     times with much difficulty, during the fifty years of
congregation.                                               our existence. And this principle of Reformed church
  Negatively, our church political heritage implies         government we have maintained until this day.
that no classis and no synod can in any sense exercise        To hold fast to this part of our heritage is not a
the powers of the offices which Christ has appointed        matter of little importance. First of all, this is true
in His church. A classis cannot engage in preaching of      because this principle of Reformed church gov-
the Word. A synod cannot administer and celebrate           ernment is a Scriptural principle. And just because it is
the sacraments. And historically, of course, this prin-     a Scriptural principle, it is our calling as churches to
ciple came into sharp focus in connection with the          maintain it. But there is more. There is a connection
origin of our churches in 1924. And it came into            between this aspect of our heritage and the doctrinal
focus not in connection with the question of                aspect of our heritage. Historically it has frequently
preaching or the question of the sacraments, but the        been the forces of hierarchy which were also the
question of  discipline. Can a  classis or a synod          forces which promoted heresy and which succeeded
suspend and depose from office ministers, elders, and       by their hierarchical actions in foisting false doctrine
deacons? In 1924-1926 the Christian Reformed                upon the churches. Not only was this the case when
Church answered,  .yes to that question. We have            our own churches had their origin, but it has been
always insisted and do still insist that the answer to      true very often in the course of church history. There
that question is No.                                        is a lesson in this. And the lesson is that we must
                                                            guard against hierarchy in order to hold on to the
   Such, briefly, is the church political aspect of the     heritage of the faith once delivered to the saints.
heritage which we celebrate at this Fiftieth Anni-
versary . It is to be distinguished, on the one hand,         We may ask the question: is there any danger of
from rank independentism, which completely ignores          losing this part of our heritage? Or, to put it pos-
any ties of church federation. And it is to be              itively: how may we hold fast to this heritage of
distinguished, on the other hand, from collegialism,        Reformed church government?
which, in effect, considers every consistory and con-         TO this we would answer, in the first place, that it
gregation as but a branch of one large church. And let      is always true that we can only maintain our heritage
me remind you that this principle is expressed in our       through constant vigilance and by guarding it
very denominational name. We. are not, as a de-             zealously. We must never simply take it for granted,
nomination, the Protestant Reformed Church in               nor ever consider it a thing of minor significance.
America, but we are the Protestant Reformed                 Then we will surely lose it. This does not mean, to.be
Churches in America. Our denomination is not one            sure, that we must see the bogeyman of hierarchy
church, but it is one federation, or communion, of          lurking around every corner. And it certainly does
autonomous churches.. Moreover, although  in-               not mean that we must not-accord to our broader
dependentism and collegialism may in a sense be said        assemblies their .rightful place and powers and duties.
to lie at opposite poles, yet when either one of them       Then, too, we will go in the wrong direction, that of
comes to manifestation in a Reformed communion of           rank independentism. Nevertheless, we must be on

                                           ,


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                439


the alert. History shows that in Reformed Churches it        Order and Rules of Procedure of Synod; and these do
has been very easy to go in the direction of hierarchi-      not appear in our Church Order. In addition, we
cal&m. And in this direction we never begin to go. In        became incorporated as a denomination in 1962; and
the second place, sometimes clouds, though they be           the corporate By-laws, as adopted in 1962 and 1963,
perhaps only the size of a man's hand, appear on the         do not appear in our Church Order. It is high time,
horizon in this regard. Perhaps thoughtlessly some-          therefore, for the orderly transaction of the work of
times we can catch ourselves referring to classis or to      the churches, that we have a new edition of our
synod as higher and highest ecclesiastical assemblies.       Church Order Manual.
But remember: this is the language of hierarchicalism.         In the second place, I would like to suggest that -
Classis and synod are not higher and highest assem-          if I may put it that way - it is time for us to grow up
blies respectively, but broader and broadest assem-          as churches. We are 50 years old. And yet there is one
blies. Another such cloud, I believe, appears when           important respect in which our churches have been
upon occasion we create a disjunction between the            hesitant to make a change. I refer to the way in which
local church and the broader assemblies. There is no         our synodical committees are structured; and
separation, you know, between the churches and the           especially do I refer to the structure of two very
classis, or the synod, as though the latter have             important committees which conduct much of the
substance and existence in themselves. We must not           work of the churches-m-common, namely, our
forget that synod is not and cannot be an entity in          Mission Committee and our Theological School Com-
itself. We must not begin to speak of "the synodical         mittee. Both of these committees conduct business in
level" in distinction from the local level or the            behalf of all the churches. And yet both of these
classical level. At synod the churches-in-common are         committees are limited in their membership to the
represented. And at a classical meeting the churches-        Grand Rapids area. This is not good. It is not good
in-common of a certain region are represented and            from a practical point of view because it constitutes a
act together. And a local consistory must not imagine        severe stricture upon the membership of these com-
that when classis acts or when synod acts, that local        mittees and because it means that a very large burden
consistory is not acting. The fact of the matter is that     of committee work falls upon a comparatively few
the local consistory is not excluded, but is simply          ministerial committee members. And it is not good
acting in concert with its fellow churches. And the          from the point of view of principle: for while these
local consistories must not feel left out nor consider       labors are the labors of the churches-in-common, the
themselves excluded in such instances. To do so is           only time when the churches-in-common actually
already to make concessions in our thinking to the           participate in this work is the time of our annual
error of hierarchicalism. Against these dangers and          Synod, when reports are heard and when policies are
against such thinking and such language we must be           set. It would be far healthier if there were active
on the alert. And we must be on the alert, too, to live      participation and input in these important com-
as much as in us lies by the principles and regulations      mittees from the denomination at large. I am aware,
of our Church Order. We must never consider the              of course, of the objections that have commonly been
latter to be of no importance. We must never act in          made. These objections have been that a change in
any of our assemblies as though any part of the              this regard would be impractical because of the
Church Order can simply be dispensed with, for               amount of travel and the expense involved. I would
whatever reason. If we do, we shall someday wake             point out that these are objections of a practical
up to the realization that we have forfeited this part of    nature, not objections of principle. Nor do I believe
our heritage.                                                that they are insurmountable objections. Some years
  We may ask the further question: are there any             ago considerable study of this matter was made, and
areas in the life of our churches in which improvement       concrete proposals were brought to Synod; but the
can be made from a church political point of view?           proposals and suggestions were rather unceremo-
  To this question I believe the answer is affirmative.      niously dumped by Synod without thorough con-
                                                             sideration. I' believe that it is time that our churches
  In the first place, I have a suggestion of a rather        once more give careful attention to this matter. The
mechanical nature. That is that our Church Order             truth is that as far as our Theological School Com-
Manual ought to be brought up to date. The present           mittee is concerned there has been retrogression in
edition of our Church Order was published in 196 1.          this respect. There was a time when the affairs of our
Since that time many of the constitutions of the             seminary were taken care of by a  Curator&n.  And
various standing committees have been revised; and           this Curatorium included representatives from all the
some of those revisions have been sweeping. If I am          churches at the time when we still had a General
not mistaken, there is only one committee con-               Classis in the early years of our history. But today all
stitution which has not been revised in some way.            the affairs of our school are conducted by a com-
Besides, there have been changes in the Rules of             mittee from the Grand Rapids area. One or more of


  440                                            THE STANDARD BEARER


  our consistories should make a new study of this                In the fourth place, I believe that it would be for
  matter and should bring an overture to synod con-            the benefit of our churches if Classis West would give
  cerning it.                                                  serious consideration to meeting more than twice per
    In the third place, there is a problem which ought         year. Ever since the time that our churches were
  to be cleared up. In our Rules of Synod, Article 5, B,       divided into two Classes, Classis West has met only
  sub-2, we read: "No proposals of importance shall be         twice per year. The reason for this is presumably the
  presented to Synod that have not appeared on the             reason suggested in Article 41 of our Church Order,
  agenda, so that Consistories and Classes may have            where we read that the meetings of Classis "shall be
  opportunity for previous deliberation. All matters           held at least once in three months, unless great
  appearing in the Agenda must be dealt with by Synod          distances render this inadvisable." It is true, of
  before its adjournment." Under our present structure,        course, that  Classis West has the problem of "great
 this regulation constitutes a wax nose. The Agenda is         distances." But it is at least a question whether these
  published by the 5th of May. But neither Classis East        great distances render three meetings or four meetings
nor  Classis West meets after that date; and therefore         of Classis per year inadvisable. With Classis West meet-
 there is no opportunity for either of our classes to          ing only twice per year, the meetings of that Classis fre-
  deliberate on matters in the Agenda of Synod before          quently become too busy and too crowded. Besides,
 the Synod meets. Besides, it seems to be a common             especially when there are matters of protest and appeal
  understanding among us that consistories can send no         pending, it is not good for the welfare of the churches
  comniunications concerning matters in the Agenda             that these must be delayed for such a long time. In
  directly to Synod. Personally, I do not agree with           these days of air travel, I believe that  Classis West
 this. I do not believe, of course, that a consistory can      could very easily meet at least three times per year.
 send any matters for the Agenda directly to Synod;               Finally, I have this suggestion. I wish that our
 these ought to come by way of  Classis. But I do              consistories and our Classes could pay more attention
 believe that a consistory may send a communication            and could come more frequently with positive sug-
 to Synod concerning matters already in the Agenda,            gestions and overtures with regard to matters per-
 provided that in such communications a consistory             taining to the churches-in-common. As matters stand
 does not present new matters for the Agenda. As               now, there is a certain danger of boardism in our
 matters stand now, for the most part our Agenda of            denomination, due to the fact that almost all the
  Synod is merely a matter of information; it offers           business of Synod comes by way of the reports of
 opportunity for previous deliberation only to those           standing committees. It would be a much more
 who are actually delegated to Synod. This situation           healthy situation if the local consistories and the
 ought to be corrected. Perhaps this would mean an             Classes would have a greater voice in the affairs of our
 earlier date for the Agenda; and perhaps it would             churches. Consistories and Classes could well devote
 mean a change in the date of the meetings of Classis          more time to positive suggestions and constructive
 East and Classis West. But as matters stand now, there        proposals with respect to the work and the activities
 is a hiatus in our ecclesiastical structure. And I believe    of the churches-in-cornmop. This, I believe, would be
 that it is a hiatus that is out of keeping with the spirit    all to the good.
 of Reformed church polity.

                                                                                                                        -

 TAKING HEED TO THE DOCTRINE

          "Hyper-Calvinism" and the Call of the Gospel (12)
                                                by Rev. David Engelsma

    It has been our purpose so far in this series of           that God is gracious in the preaching of the gospel of
 articles to show that denial of the well-meant offer of       Christ to all hearers, not only to the elect. Expressed
 the gospel is not hyper-Calvinism. Hyper-Calvinism            as the teaching that God is favorable to all and
 we have defined as the heresy that denies that God's          sincerely desires the salvation of all, this doctrine of
 external call in the preaching of the gospel goes out         universal grace in the gospel is, in principle, the denial
 to others than the elect and that inevitably results in       of election and reprobation; the denial of total
 the restriction and, finally, the loss of lively, pro-        depravity; the denial of limited atonement; and the
 miscuous proclamation of the gospel. We found the             denial of sovereign, efficacious grace. Opposition to
 essential evil of the well-meant offer to be its doctrine     the offer, therefore, neither stems from nor leads to


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                               441


hyper-Calvinism, but is grounded in the Reformed             is as honorable as is claimed for it and whether it has
faith, or Calvinism itself and is necessary for the          a right to parade so regally in the robes of historic
maintenance of the Reformed faith.                           Reformed Christianity. Perhaps, after all, the offer is
  Over against the offer-theology, we have contended         an ill-begotten progeny of Pelagius, Rome, Erasmus,
that the preaching of the gospel with its call, "Believe     and Arminius in the Reformed family and the Prot-
on Jesus Christ," - which call is seriously made by          estant Reformed doctrine of preaching as particular
God Himself - goes out to both elect and reprobate           grace, a genuine son of the fathers.
men, but that God's purpose with the sending of the              Before we begin, several observations are in order.
preaching is exclusively the gathering and saving of         First, the ultimate authority for the Church's con-
the elect. The preaching is God's great draw-net cast        fession and the ultimate criterion for judging doc-
out into the waters of mankind to catch the elect,           trines is Holy Scripture  - not councils, classes, or
and the elect only, from all nations, tongues, and           synods and not the fathers and their writings. This
tribes. In the preaching, God is favorable to the elect      was Luther's response when his opponent, Erasmus,
hearers only. His attitude of love and grace  - His          appealed to the church fathers against Luther's doc-
sincere desire to save - is towards them only, and He        trine and pulled from the corpus of their writings
gives the power of grace to them only. God's grace is        certain citations that favored Rome and contradicted
particular - it is for the elect alone. As regards others    the Reformation: "We hold that all spirits should be
who come under the preaching, God hates them, is             proved in the sight of the church by the judgment of
justly angry with them, and purposes their judgment          Scripture." In asserting the sole authority of Scrip-
and condemnation  - through the preaching of the             ture, Luther was not conceding that the fathers were
gospel.                                                      in fact altogether against him (on the point in
  Is our doctrine historical Calvinism? Is it the            dispute: the bondage of the will)  - for he claimed
Reformed faith as this faith has developed in history?       Augustine, the best of all the fathers  - but he was
Or is the offer-theology the representative today of         recognizing that the saints, even the greatest, were
the Reformed faith in history, whereas our denial of         weak, sinful flesh: "All that I say of those saints of
the offer is a novelty, a recent speculation pasted          yours  - ours, rather  - is this: that, since they differ
onto the Reformed faith, and, therefore, to be dis-          among themselves, those should rather have been
missed as "hyper-Calvinism," or "ultra-Calvinism," or        followed who spoke best (that is, for grace against
"high-Calvinism," or "hard-Calvinism," or what have          `free-will'), leaving aside those who through weakness
you?                                                         of the flesh testified of the flesh rather than of the
                                                             Spirit. So, too, in the case of those who are in-
  Advocates of the offer have clothed their doctrine         consistent, the places where they speak from the
in the impressive garb of Reformed antiquity. To             Spirit should have been picked out and held fast, and
change the figure, they have baptized the well-meant         those where they savour of the flesh let go. This is the
gospel-offer as the legitimate off-spring of the Re-         right course for the Christian reader. . . But as it is we
formed fathers, all the while scorning our denial of         abandon our judgment and swallow everything indis-
the offer as a bastard. In each of her "Three Points of      criminately; or else (what is more wretched still) we
Common Grace," the Christian Reformed Church                 reject the better and acclaim the worse in one and the
ostentatiously wrapped herself in the flowing robes of       same  author."2 So, the writings of the saints  -
classic Reformed thought by stating: "while it also          including Luther himself and Calvin!  - must be
appears from the citations made from Reformed                judged by the clear, consistent, infallible Scripture.
writers of the most flourishing period of Reformed           The Belgic Confession insists on this sole authority of
Theology that our Reformed writers from the past             Scripture, as "the only rule of faith," in Article VII.
favored this view." Of late, certain Baptists have           This holds true for the doctrine of the well-meant
taken it upon themselves to give us instruction in the       offer. The decisive question is not, "Do the Reformed
history of Reformed theology, alleging that Calvin,          fathers teach it?"; much less, "Are there now and then
the Reformers, and the Reformed creeds teach the             in the Reformed fathers statements, inconsistent
offer and charging that it is "the opposers of the           with the overwhelming thrust of their theology,
historic Reformed position" who deny the offer. I            which seem to favor the offer?"; but the decisive
  We intend now to take a look at "the historic              question is, "Does Scripture teach it?"
Reformed position." We will examine, not a few                   Secondly, there is place in the Reformed Church
citations snatched from here and there, but the body         for 
of Reformed thought, as expressed in the Reformed                    development of the truth. Because the Reformed
                                                             faith is the truth of Scripture, the gospel, the living
creeds, as sharpened in controversy, and as developed
in certain of the outstanding Reformed theologians,             `Cf.  Errol1  Hulse,  "The Free Offer," pp.  9ff.
including Calvin, Turretin, and Abraham Kuyper. Let             2Martin Luther, The  Bondage  of  the  WI/,  tr. Packer and Johnston,
us see whether the parentage of the well-meant offer         (London: James Clarke  & Co., Ltd.,  19571,  pp.  109ff.


   442                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


Word of God, the Church does not only hand it on to         universal atonement. Commenting on the phrase in
the next generation unimpaired - although she may           Roman3 5: 18, "the free gift came unto all men to
never do less! - but she also grows in her knowledge        justification of life," Calvin says: "Paul makes grace
of the truth, by the enlightenment of the gracious          common to all men, not because it in fact extends to
Spirit, so that there is ongoing development of the         all, but because it is offered to all. Although Christ
truth  - richer, deeper, fuller knowledge and con-          suffered for the sins of the world, and is offered by
fession. That which lay implicit is made explicit; that     the goodness of God without distinction to all men,
which was hidden is made plain; that which was              yet not all receive Him" - exegesis that is patently
taught only in rudimentary beginning is carried             false, for the apostle does not say that the free gift
through to its conclusion; a truth largely ignored is       attempts to come to all men, but comes to all men, so
dealt with and given its proper place. Nor is it            that all men actually have the justification of Christ's
impossible that foreign elements get mixed into the         cross and possess eternal life. Calvin's error here rests
theological thinking of the Church, which must then         upon his failure to see that "all men" in the phrase
be purged, always by the fire of the testing Scriptures     refers to all those represented by Christ, that is, the
and always in accordance with the fundamental prin-         elect. The Reformed faith did not spring full-blown
ciples themselves of Reformed theology. Just think          from the head of Calvin, but develops.
how foreign. elements appeared in the apostolic               Reformed preachers and theologians do not de-
churches: works-righteousness;  gnosticism;  anti-          liberately set about to concoct something new and
nomism. Just think how they were soon found in the          different. To teach and to hear some new thing is the
Church after the apostles: denial of the Deity of           lust of philosophers, heretics, and itching ears in the
Jesus; the innate goodness of man; the papacy. Just         pews. But the servants of the Word labor with the
think how they were not absent from the amazing             Scriptures - real toil! They do this, praying earnestly
Luther: the physical presence of Jesus' body and            and without ceasing for the Holy Spirit's guidance.
blood in the Supper. Think how they soon corrupted          They do this, gratefully receiving the theology of the
Lutheranism: synergism, which is essentially nothing        Church in the past, especially as contained in her
else than free will. Even Calvin, who as an exegete         confessions. The Reformed theologian  enters into
and theologian towers over all others, does not             Reformed theology of the past  - he knows it,
escape. There are, e.g., in Calvin, statements regarding    wrestles with it, and makes it hi3 own - and he allows
the extent of the atonement that not only suffer            himself to be guided in his work with the Scriptures
from lack of clarity but that are also erroneous,           by this theology. Thus, there is development of the
statements that are contradicted, to be sure, not only      truth, as naturally and inevitably as a seed sprouts,
by the essence of Calvin's own theology, but also by        grows, blossoms; and flowers in rich, dark soil.
Calvin's explicit statements elsewhere; but state-
ments, nevertheless, that head in the direction of                             (to be continued)


STUDIES IN ISAIAH

          God's Judgments Humbling Sinners--Isaiah  2:10-22.
                                               Rev. Robt. C. Havbach

   1. God will stagger carnally secure sinners (10).        Actually, refuge  from  God is to be found only by
Read the text in your King James Bible and compare          taking refuge in God. For there `is no shelter but in
with the Hebrew offered as we consider verse by             God and in the things above. The things of earth and
verse. "Go in the rock and hide thyself in the dust         earth itself shall be shaken, and the concussions of
from the faces (God is triune) of the terror of             heaven's blasts against earth and all its corruption will
Jehovah, and from the splendor of His majesty"              dissolve the most iron-hearted resistance to God.
(Hebrew). With judgment ready to fall there is              "Hide thyself from the terrible looks of Jehovah."
nothing left but for the nation to dive into the rocks      The prophet is not speaking so much of the fear  :,
to bury itself in the dust to hide from the many            which the Lord inspires, but the terror which He
faceted terror of Jehovah. Not a call to repentance,        displays in judgment. The wicked will be terrorized
this is a warning of impending judgment; and not            by the presence of the Lord coming in judgment, "in
sarcasm (Gill), but terrific earnestness. We understand     flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not
Isaiah not literally, for hiding from God is impossible.    God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  443


Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting de-            against everything lifted up, and it shall be brought
struction from the presence of the Lord and from the*         low" (v. 12). The whole earth will be brought to such
glory of His power" (2 Th.  1:9), or, as here, "from          total ruin that everything man puts confidence in
the splendor of His majesty." God in judgment is              shall be destroyed. Men may mock the idea of a final
glorious and terrible. Despisers of God, in many ways,        judgment day, but the Word of God assures us "there
are underground in their habitual evil activities. They       is a day of the Lord of hosts." The Lord has this day
are from beneath. They love darkness, not light, just         in reserve, and at the right moment will produce it for
because their actions are evil. When judgment comes           His purpose. The Lord has His appointed day, re-
they will go deeper underground to hide from the              corded in His decree, which He will bring out of the
face of Him who sits on the throne and from the               secret of eternity into the history of time, a day of
wrath of the Lamb. If the hopelessness of this is not         world-wide judgment, which will be the leveler and
now apparent to sophisticated, bored, blask, drowsy,          equalizer making everything high to sink down low
couldn't&re-less,  indifferent haters of God, it will be      into the dust at the feet of the Judge of all men.
in that terrible day of judgment. For then they could           That day of the Lord will also come against
wish the grave to hide them. Then they could wish to          everything exalted in nature. "And against all the
die like a dog. Then they could wish their vain dream         cedars of Lebanon, the high ones and the lifted up
and philosophy of annihilation and extinction of              ones, and against all the oaks of Bashan, and against
being at death a reality. What a comfort the doctrine         all lofty mountains, and against all the hills lifted up"
of annihilation would be to deniers of God, if there          (w. 13-14). The cedars are trees of the Lord, of His
were any more truth to it than any other philosophy!          planting (Ps.  104:16); they praise God  (148:9). His
God by the ungodly is to be feared, and will be,              voice shatters them (Ps.  29:5). But .the beauties and
according to the measure of His manifested glory.             glories of nature, in which men boast apart from their
That means that in nameless dread tlrey shall tremble,        Creator, shall all be laid low in the day of the Lord.
faint, fall and become as dead men, until they hear           So with the representatives of all nature, trees and
the Judge's sentence, "Depart ye cursed, into ever-           mountains  destroy&d, the earth itself is destroyed.
lasting fire," and are cast into the outer darkness,          Why this judgment on nature? Because the creation
where there is the weeping, the wailing and the               was subjected to vanity, to the bondage of corrup-
gnashing of teeth. But before this great and terrible         tion, so that the whole creation groans and travails in
day of the Lord shall come, the political and national        pain until now, waiting for a physical redemption
Israel of the Jews would be swallowed up into                 (Rom. 8:20-23). For all nature itself is destined to a
oblivion as to ten of its tribes in the captivities, while    Palingenesia (Mt. 19:28), a regeneration, or a time of
remaining Judah and Benjamin would be wiped out               restitution of all things (AC. 3:21), when the creation
of God's kingdom in that destruction of Jerusalem in          itself shall be delivered from the bondage of corrup-
70 A.D. (Mt. 21:43). The result of this will be that,         tion to the liberty of the glory of the sons of God,
  2. God will humble wickedly proud sinners                   which shall take place as Peter describes in 2 Pet.
(11-17). "The looks of proud man shall be brought             3:10-13.
low, and high men shall be bowed down, and Jehovah               Yet not only against nature, but especially against
alone shall be exalted in that day" (v. 11). In the day       the world of men and their evil works shall judgment
of Jehovah, man will be abased and God exalted.               come. "And against every high tower, and against
Pride was the very first sin of man when he assumed           every fortified (inaccessible) wall, and against all the
to be as God. Pride increases when men "imagine that          ships of Tarshish, and against all the pleasure ships"
they are higher than God" and in competition with             (w. 1516). The Lord will be against every high
God. The sin of pride culminates in the Man of Sin            tower. All of them shall fall (Isa. 30:25). There is no
"who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is          place secure from attack, no place to hide when God
called God or that is worshiped, so that he as God            is the invading enemy. Nor. shall "almighty, invinci-
sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he         ble" man be able to contend against Him. This goes
is God," and who blasphemes the name of God, His              for every fortified wall. No iron curtain shall remain
tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven (2 Th. 2:4;         before Him. No Chinese or Russian wall shall stand
Rev. 13:6). He shall be thrown down, abased, put to           against `Him. The tower of Babel was and modem
shame and destroyed with the breath of Christ's mouth         Babel-building is a matter of atheistic man laboring to
and. the brightness of His coming. "The Lord alone            establish an antichristian hierarchy as a refuge and
shall be exalted in that day," when He shall have put         shrine of false confidence in the universal sovereignty
down all opposing rule and all authority and power            of man over the powers of heaven and earth. So, from
(I Cor. 15 :24). He will be exalted among the nations         the pseudo-security of his mighty tower of inter-
(Ps. 46: 10) then in that day.                                national education, world currency, cosmopolitan
  What day is that? "For (there is) a day to Jehovah-         philosophy and united nations armed forces, man
tsebhaoth against everything high and great, and              yawns sophisticatedly, stretches luxuriously and


  444                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


  looks down on heaven and earth as though he were            names and memory (Isa.  17:7-8;  Zech.  13:2). What
  not steward but owner.                                      nothings their, idols are, they shall then see, throwing
                                                              them away in contempt. Their gods never could help
     "And against all the ships of Tar-shish, and against     them. Mere nothings will not do so then
  all the pleasure ships." The KJV has "pleasant pic-
  tures." But the NBV (New Berkeley Version) is                  Then what will idol worshipers do? "And they
  probably closer to the original here with its "pleasure     go into the caverns of the rocks, and in the caves of
  yachts." All shipping, navies and foreign trade,            dust (the ground) from the face of the terror of
  together with the luxuries they provide, including          Jehovah (from the terrible looks of Jehovah), and
  these luxury liners and pleasure ships will end in the      from the splendor of His majesty, in His rising up to
  ruin of all maritime commerce. So calamities at sea         terrify the earth. In that day the man shall throw
  occur. (Read Rev.  8:8-g). A woman boarding the             away the idols of his silver and idols of his gold,
  Titanic asked a purser whether the ship was safe. His       which he made to him to bow down to, to the
  answer was, "Lady, even God can't sink this ship!"          mole-holes and to the bats" (w. 19-20). In v. 10, they
  But this is God in history: just when evil systems and      are told to go to the rocks and hide among them. But
  evil causes are at the zenith of their power, worldly       now it is `said they will, do so; they must enter rocks
  might and glory, the Lord suddenly causes them to           and caves, their last, but ineffectual resort, in vain
  wither and crumble. The Spanish. Armada, arro-              attempt to hide from the wrathful eye of Jehovah.
  gantly called the "Invincible Armada," sailed with all      But there is no place to hide. Also they  will  throw
  possible speed for the coast of England to crush that       away their idols to the moles and to the bats. These
  Protestant power and its fleet. Invincible it seemed,       they had valued the most, for they made them of
  with its huge -ships, the armed personnel of soldiers       their silver and gold. Gold was their god. But as they
  and sailors and weapons of destruction. But He that         flee in terror from the wrath of the holy God, they
  sitteth in the heavens laughed. He held them in             realize what nothings idols are. There comes a time
  derision. He brought a thick fog into which the             when for terror merchant seamen dump their wares,
  British fled to the safety of their land. Then a storm      including wheat, into the sea (Jonah  1:5; Acts
  brew and smashed the Invincible Armada on the               27: 38) ; when for terror armies flee to leave behind
  rocky coasts of the British Isles. The memorial the         their camp, their booty and their military material (2
  English made at the time recalls the overthrow of the       Kings 7: 13); when for terror the thief throws away
  Egyptians in the Red Sea in the words, "Thou didst          his stolen goods because pursued and liable to search.
  blow with Thy wind, the sea covered them" (Ex.              Here, idolaters, for terror, but also for shame and
  15: 10). The great glory of the earth and of man's          disgust at their own folly for having anything to do
  greatest successes in cultivating the earth were in         with idols, throw them into the fittest places for
  ancient Babylon. So that Babylon is the name given          blind, sightless images, - to mole-holes and bat caves!
  to the universal kingdom of antichrist, when the            In such a case, sin is both loathed and left, yet not
  world shall be brought to a unified cultural develop-       repented of; loathed because glutted with it; left,
  ment of military, political, religious, commercial and      only because no opportunity to commit it, but
  aesthetic glory. But when it is all crushed, overthrown     because, as now, all sin,  Lultimately,  must  be
  and destroyed by the coming of Christ and of His            abandoned. It is plain, then, why their idols are so
  kingdom of glory, and in one hour Babylon and its           suddenly and willingly abandoned: "to go into the
  riches come to nothing, men who love the world,             fissures of the rocks and into the cleft of the cliffs
  every ship's pilot, all who sail the seas, mariners, and    (Heb., high rocks), from the face of the terror of
  all who work the sea for their living, shall weep as        Jehovah, and from the splendor of His majesty, in His
  they watch it all going up in smoke. Then their ribald      rising up to terrify the earth" (v. 21). Fleeing from
  sea songs will be silenced. Then they will wail, "Woe!      God, they find their idols in the way. (See comment
  woe! for the great city where all who had ships at sea      on v. 10.)
  grew wealthy from her great wealth! For in a single           In that day men will have no confidence in any-
  hour she has been laid waste!" (Rev. 18: 17-19, NBV).       thing in which they formerly trusted or on which
                                                              they had depended, including their own arrogant
     3. God will put these sinners to everlasting shame       selves. `Cease you from the man whose breath (is) in
  (18-22). "And," so in this way, "shall the proud man        his nostril, for in what (is) he to be regarded?" (v.
  be bowed down, and high men brought low, and                22). Man is a bad foundation on which to rest. Man is
  Jehovah alone shall be exalted in that day" (v. 17).        a very perishable article, and so really worth nothing
  Especially on men shall God's final judgment come,          as a ground of confidence. "In what is he to be
  (though its effects also extend to the whole realm of       regarded?" - in himself? Apart from being in Christ,
  nature) - on men, on men's idols and all their false        he is nothing. The text speaks of the condition of
  religions. "And the idols (nothings), the whole (lot of     mankind ("the man, i.e., mankind) apart from God.
.. them) shall pass away" (V. 18), their images, worship,     Mankind, fallen, totally depraved and dead through


                                                  THE STANDARDBEARER                                                        445


trespasses and sins puts its hopes in man. Nebuchad-                ly end in man as the highest manifestation of God
nezzar's image symbolizes man's idolizing of                        (2 Thes. 2:3-4). "The greatest need of man is to reject
"almighty" man. All idolatry and pantheism ultimate-                man and seek" the true and living God.


THE VOICE OF OUR FATHERS

      "The Holy Spirit: True And Eternal God"
                                                  PVOJ Robert D. Decker

             We believe and confess also, that the Holy Ghost, from eternity, proceeds from the Father, and Son; and
          therefore neither is made, created, nor begotten, but only proceedeth from both; who in order is the third
          person of the Holy Trinity; of one and the same essence, majesty and glory with the Father, and the Son:
          and therefore, is the true and eternal God, as the Holy Scriptures teach us. The Belgic Confession, Article XI
  This Article marks the conclusion of the Creed's                  begotten, but only proceedeth from both. .  ." The
treatment of the doctrine of God (Theology). In this                article states that the Holy Spirit  proceeds  from the
section the Reformed believers confess: "That God is                Father and the Son. This means that the Holy Spirit
one in Essence, yet nevertheless distinguished in three             is neither made nor created by the Father; rather, He
Persons." (Articles VIII, IX); "That Jesus Christ is                proceeds from the Father and the Son. It also means
true and eternal God." (Article X); and now: "That                  that the Holy Spirit is not begotten as the Son is
the Holy Ghost is true and eternal God." (Article XI).              begotten of the Father. In this respect the Holy Spirit
While the Article is very brief (also by comparison                 is personally distinct from both the Father and the
with the others in this section of the Confession), it              Son. And this is the personal property of the Holy
does capture beautifully the doctrine of the Holy                   Spirit. This, namely that He proceeds from the Father
Spirit as this is taught in the Word of God. The                    and the Son and is neither made, created, nor be-
Article teaches that the Holy Spirit is the third Person            gotten, distinguishes the Holy Spirit from both the
of the Trinity, that" He is a Person, that He proceeds              Father and the Son. His name, Holy Spirit, expresses
from the Father  ahd the Son, and that He is very                   this personal property. The Holy Spirit is literally
God.  This  doctrind of the Holy Spirit as taught in                "breathed forth" from the Father and the Son and in
Scripture and summed up in this article of the Creed                this way proceeds from them both. Thus, what was
is very significant not only for the faith of the Church            confessed in Article VIII concerning the personal
but also for its life. This truth has been the subject of           properties of the three Persons of the Holy Trinity, is
no little dispute in the Church from its earliest                   explained with reference to the third Person.
history. In fact it was largely over the doctrine of the               Further, this article stresses that the Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit (especially His procession from the Father              proceeds from both the Father and the Son.  This
and the Son,  filioque)   that the "Great Schism"                   does not mean that the Holy Spirit proceeds from
between East and West, the Greek and the Latin                      both as two Spirits, the Spirit of the Father and the
Church took place in 1054. And this truth has taken                 Spirit of the Son. As one Holy Spirit He proceeds
on added significance in recent years on account of                 from the Father to the Son and is breathed forth
the influential (unfortunately even among Churches                  from the Son to the Father. Thus, in the Spirit, God
of the Reformed tradition) errors of neo-Pente-                     triune enjoys the perfect fellowship of  Hi3  Own
costalism. It is important that we examine this truth               divine Being.
in the light of the Scriptures so that we may clearly
understand "what we  h&eve in our hearts and con-                      This doctrine of the Holy Spirit was developed
fess with our mouths" concerning the Holy Spirit.                   rather early in the history of the New Testament
                                                                    Church in connection with the doctrines of the
                                                                    Trinity and of Christ. There were those (many of the
THE HOLY SPIRIT PROCEEDS FROM THE                                   Arians) who denied the divinity of the Holy Spirit.
FATHER AND THE SON                                                  He was considered a Person but not true and eternal
  This doctrine the article emphasizes with the                     God. The Holy Spirit was said to be the creation of
words: "We believe and confess also, that the Holy                  God and of lower order than the Son. The Council of
Ghost, from eternity, proceeds from the Father and                  Nicea (A.D. 325) only declaring: "We believe in the
Son; and therefore neither is made, created, nor                    Holy Spirit", said nothing definite concerning the


446                                         THE STANDARD BEARER


matter. In 381 the Council of Constantinople con-         the Holy Spirit as an impersonal power or influence.
tributed a bit more by saying: "We believe in the         Those who know the Word of God know better. The
Holy Spirit, the lord and giver of life, Who proceeds     term "Spirit" in Scripture is neuter but the Bible
from the Father, Who with the Father and the Son is       always uses the masculine pronoun in reference to the
worshipped and glorified, Who has spoken through          Spirit and never is the Spirit called "it" in Scripture.
the prophets." But, as one readily notices from the       Our Saviour promised the "Comforter"; not merely
above quotation, the Council said nothing of the          comfort to the church. (John  14:26;  15:26;  16:7)
place of the Holy Spirit within the Trinity, and His      Besides, personal characteristics are ascribed to the
relationship to the Father and the Son. This whole        Spirit by Scripture. The Holy Spirit creates (Gen.
point became the subject of very sharp controversy.       1:2); strives with the spirit of man (Gen. 6:3); teaches
The controversy really  focussed on the question of       Christ's disciples what they ought to say (Luke
the word,  `Jilioque",   "and the Son." The question      12: 12); brings to their remembrance the Savior's
was, did the Holy Spirit proceed from the Father          words (John 14:26); convicts the world in respect of
only, or from both the Father and the Son? The            sin and righteousness and judgment (John  16:8);
Synod of Toledo (A.D. 589) officially settled the         commands (Acts 8:29); raises the dead (Rom. 8: 11);
question in favor of the word,  `filioque,"  "and the     makes intercession for us with groanings which can-
Son." The controversy and resultant unrest con-           not be uttered (Rom.  8:26). None of these gracious
tinued, however, to plague the Church for centuries       activities can be ascribed to mere power. They are
and finally issued in the Schism between the Greek        personal and assure us that God as the Holy Spirit
(Eastern) and Latin (Western) Churches in 1054. The       works with and in the hearts of  His people. In the
former denies double procession while the latter          Spirit, God in Christ lives with us and deals with us in
teaches this truth.                                       a profoundly personal way, and this is our comfort.
  The Scriptures clearly teach this truth of double       The Lord never leaves or forsakes His people.
procession in many passages. Scripture speaks of the
Holy Spirit as "the Spirit of your Father" (Matthew       THE HOLY SPIRIT IS VERY GOD
10:20) and as "the Spirit of Jesus Christ" (Phil.           "Of one and the same essence, majesty and glory
1: 19). Jesus promised that He would pray the Father:     with the Father, and the Son: and therefore, is the
"and he shall give you another Comforter, that he         true and eternal God. . ." is the way the Creed asserts
may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of            the divinity of the Holy Spirit. Thus the  fulness  of
truth. . ." (John 14: 16, 17). The Savior in this same    the divine being and attributes belong to the Holy
chapter told the disciples that the Father would send     Spirit. Just as the Father and the Son are God so the
the comforter "in my name" (verse 26). Thus in the        Holy Spirit, co-equal with them, is "true and eternal
Spirit both the Father and the Son make their abode       God."
with us. (John 14: 23). Finally, in this connection,
Jesus said concerning the Holy Spirit (The Com-             This, the Bible teaches throughout. Scripture
forter):  ". . . whom I will send unto you from the       assigns divine names to the Spirit. He is repeatedly
Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth        called the Spirit of God (I Cor. 3:  16), the Spirit of
from the Father, he shall testify of me."  (Jolm          the Lord (II Cor. 3:  17), and the Holy Spirit of
15:26) These and other passages teach that both           promise (Eph. 1: 13). The Apostle Peter identifies
Father and Son send the Holy Spirit.                      Him as very God (Acts  5:3). As God, many divine
                                                          perfections are ascribed to the Holy Spirit. He is
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS A PERSON                               everywhere present (Psalm  139:7-10); He knows all
   The Confession speaks of this when it says of the      things and searches even the deep things of God
Spirit:  ". . . in order the third Person of the Holy     (Isaiah  40:13, 14; I Cor.  2:ll); all power belongs
Trinity. . . ." That the Holy Spirit is: "in order the    unto Him to perform signs and wonders (Rom.
third Person of the Holy Trinity", does not mean He       15: 19); He is called eternal (Heb. 9: 14) and holy (I
is inferior in rank or in glory and majesty to the        Thess.  1:6); and creation (Gen.  1:2); the renewal of
Father and the Son. That our Confession cannot            the face of the earth (Psalm  104:30); regeneration
mean that is obvious from the words: "of one and the      (John  3  :5,6); and the resurrection from the dead
same essence, majesty and glory with the Father and       (Rom. 8: 11) are also ascribed to the Holy Spirit.
the Son". The "in order" simply refers to the fact        Therefore the Church does not hesitate to confess
that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the     that the Holy Spirit is God to be worshipped and
Son.                                                      glorified together with the Father and the Son.
  Of greater danger is the tendency to disregard the
personality of the Holy Spirit and to think of Him as     THE HOLY SPIRIT AS THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST
an "influence" or "power". Certain heretics espe-           Scripture makes a distinction which our Creed does
cially of the ancient church persisted in referring to    not between the Holy Spirit as. the third Person of the


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                447


Holy Trinity and the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of our        assured His disciples that they would be baptized
Lord Jesus Christ. We read for example in John 7:39:         with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5, 8). Thus Paul writes
"This spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe        the Galatians: "Because ye are sons, God hath sent
on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not            forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying,
yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified."        Abba, Father." (4:6).
Strikingly, the original Greek does not have the word          As the Spirit of Christ the Holy Spirit is the source
"given" so that the text reads:  ". . . the Holy Ghost       of the diversity of gifts in the Church (I Cor. 12-14);
was not yet. . . ." This cannot mean that the third          the One Who seals the elect unto the day of redemp-
Person of the Trinity was not yet, for, as we have           tion (Eph. 1: 12-17 and 5: 9) and the One in Whom
seen, He is true and eternal God. The reference.here is      Christ comes to apply to the hearts of believers all the
to the third Person of the Trinity as He is given to         blessings of salvation (II Thess. 2: 13, Titus  3:5,
Christ. The Holy Spirit is given to Christ upon His         et al.)
exaltation to glory, and, as the Spirit of Christ, He is       The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Holy
poured out into the church on the Day of Pentecost           Trinity, very God, and the Spirit of our Lord Jesus
(Cf. Acts 2 especially verse 33). To this Christ alluded     Christ. Thus with the Church of all ages the Re-
often in His ministry especially as the day of His cross     formed believer confesses: "I believe in the Holy
approached (Cf. John 14: 16-18; 15:26; 16:7-15). On          Spirit, true and eternal God, the God of my
the mount moments before He ascended the Savior              salvation."


                    A Report of the Synod of 1975
                                               Prof. Robert D. Decker

  The General Synod of the Protestant Reformed              Joostens, the second Clerk. After the delegates arose
Churches in America met this year in our Hull, Iowa         to express agreement with the Public Declaration of
Church. While this is our 50th Anniversary as               Agreement With the Three Forms of Unity,  a Com-
Protestant Reformed Churches, this was the 36th             mittee on Committees was appointed to apportion
annual meeting of Synod, since the Churches did not         the work of the Synod, and Synod was ready to
organize into the Classical-Synodical structure until       plunge into the rather large Agenda and its supple-
the year 1940. The sessions of Synod began on               mentary reports. The work as usual was divided into
Wednesday, June 11, at 9:00 A.M. and continued              four parts and assigned to four Committees of  Pre-
daily through Tuesday, June 17, when at 7:00 P.M.           advice. Matters pertaining to the mission work of the
the Synod of 1975 adjourned. The  Synodical Prayer          Churches were assigned to Committee I consisting of
Service was held under the auspices of the Hull             Revs. Engelsma and Woudenberg, Elders Kalsbeek
consistory on Tuesday evening, June 10. The Rev.            and Kuiper with Prof. Decker serving as advisor. The
David J. `Engelsma, President of last year's Synod,         Report of the Theological School Committee and
preached a powerful and inspiring sermon based on           related matters were handled. by Committee II con-
Psalm 89: 15, 16 entitled: "The Blessedness of the          sisting of Revs. C. Hanko and J. Kortering and Elders
People of God". There was sound direction for both          Brunsting and Kooienga. Committee III, which con-
the Synod and our Churches in the exposition of this        sisted of Revs. Joostens and Lubbers and Elders De
Word of God. The next morning Rev. Engelsma                 Vries and Haak, was given miscellaneous material
presided over the opening session of Synod. The             among which were two overtures, the Foreign Mission
credentials indicated the following delegates present:      Committee Report, and the Report of the Committee
from Classis West; Revs. D. Engelsma, J. Kortering, G.      for Contact with other Churches. Committee IV,
Lubbers, and B. Woudenberg; Elders; R. Brunsting, J.        consisting of Revs. Van Baren and Van Overloop  and
Flikkema, J. Haak, and J. Kalsbeek; from  Classis           Elders Flikkema and Lotterman, advised the Synod
East: Revs. C. Hanko, M. Joostens, G. Van Baren, and        on all financial matters. We shall deal with each of
R. Van Over Loop; Elders; G. De Vries, D. Kooienga,         these in turn, but before we do we wish to make
H. Kuiper, and D. Lotterman. Only one of our three          some general observations on this Synod.
Professors (R. Decker) was able to attend this Synod
as advisor. Officers chosen for the `75 Synod were:         GENERAL OBSERVATIONS  -
Rev. J. Kortering, President; Rev. G. Van  Baren,              It is always striking that our Synods meet without
vice-President; Rev. R. Van Overloop  served capably        any note being taken of their sessions in either the
as first Clerk; and he was assisted by Rev. M.              secular or religious press (with the exception of our


448                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



Standard Bearer).  Not even the little  Hull (Sioux         tions have been laid, deeply imbedded in the Rock of
County) Index  reported on the work of our Synod.           the Truth of Scripture as expressed in the Three
This is partly because our denomination is so very          Forms of Unity. Our Churches at this moment are
small compared with other churches. But we believe          standing exactly where they stood fifty years ago
this is also because, not only the world, but also the      when God called them into existence to maintain and
ecclesiastical world is not interested in the affairs of    defend, preach and teach the Reformed Faith in all
our churches. This does not at all mean that our            its purity. We ought to pause too, in order to pray
churches are engaged in trivia. This was in many            that God may keep us where we are in the days to
ways, we believe, a very significant Synod. It was this     come.
simply because it dealt exclusively with matters per-         Finally, by way of general observation, it may be
taining to the life and calling of the Church of Jesus      noted that the Report of the Yearbook Committee
Christ as instituted in the world. There was nothing        indicates that our Churches increased in membership
on the Agenda concerning the problems of the world          by some 4 1 families and 150 souls. While numbers are
which occupy so much of the attention of other              not significant in themselves and while "the Lord's
churches' Synods and General Assemblies. No pro-            hand is not shortened to save by many or by few,"
nouncements were made concerning world hunger,              we believe that this too is reason for thanks to God.
amnesty for draft dodgers, or homosexuality. Only           This growth for the most part is internal since no new
matters concerning or directly related to the preach-       churches have been organized in the interim of last
ing of the gospel, the administration of the sacra-         and this year's Synods. This too is indication of God's
ments. and the exercise of Christian discipline were        covenant faithfulness to us. His covenant of friend-
treated. Thus the  Syriod was busy exclusively  .with       ship is being preserved with us and our children by
the Christ-assigned task and calling of the Church.         His grace in Jesus Christ.
For this we are grateful and our prayer is that God
may keep our Churches faithful to that task. This too       MISSION MATTERS
is the reason why we have every confidence that what
was decided is terribly significant for the cause of our      The Synod of 1975 was a "mission-minded"
churches not only, but for the cause of God's Church        Synod. This perhaps is the distinguishing feature of
in all the world.                                           this year's Synod. It was the first Synod in many
                                                            years privileged to receive reports from not one but
  This. year's Synod was not hasty in its decisions         two missionaries and from one of our pastors, Rev. B.
and deliberations. Under the wise and capable leader-       Woudenberg, on his work in Edmonton, Alberta,
ship of its President, J. Kortering, Synod took its         Canada. The bulk of Synod's time (the better part of
time in dealing with the matters before it. There was       two full days) was spent dealing with missions. This
full discussion on all issues before it. And throughout     ought to discredit the old notion and criticism that
these careful discussions great care and concern were       the Protestant Reformed Churches "do not believe in
constantly expressed that the Churches remain faith-        missions".
ful to Scripture and the Confessions of the Reformed
Faith. This is rare on the ecclesiastical scene these         Synod dealt at length with the Jamaican Mission
days and reason for profound gratitude to our faith-        and its sometimes knotty problems. There were
ful covenant God. There is, in this respect, no cause       lengthy discussions on all points relating to this
for proud boasting on our part for it is only "of the       mission field. Synod rejected the proposal of the
Lord's mercies that we are not consumed" by the             Mission Committee (a proposal which had the
apostacy of our times. Great is God's faithfulness          support of the Jamaica emissaries; Rev. J. Heys and
indeed!                                                     J.M. Faber) that a calling Church be designated for
                                                            the sending of a missionary to that island. This
   Again we were impressed with the predominance            rejection came on the grounds that the Mission
of "new faces" at Synod. With three exceptions, the         Committee did not spell out in detail the method of
veterans among our clergy and elders were not               labor for the missionary and Synod felt it would be
present. Two of Synod's officers were serving for the       too costly at this time. The sentiment was also
first time in their ministerial careers and Rev. Korter-    expressed that at least two men should be sent to
ing occupied the presidency for the first time in his       Jamaica since the burden is far too great to be borne
career. All this indicates  that the first generation is    by one missionary. It was decided that Rev. Heys
gradually passing from the scene and being replaced         remain in contact with the ministers in Jamaica, that
by the second and third generation. As churches we          correspondence courses be initiated with the newer
ought to pause and give thanks for the great things         ministers there, and that emissaries be sent for a
God has done for us through the faithful and often          period of two to three months to aid the Jamaicans
extremely trying labor of our older ministers and           and report on the spiritual progress  df the saints
elders. Through them solid denominational founda-           there.


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                              449


   Synod heard an interesting oral report from the           they "earnestly contend for the faith once delivered
missionary working in Houston, Texas, Rev. Robert            to the saints."
C. Harbach. Missionary Harbach, obviously enthusi-              Synod also appointed Rev. Kuiper to write a
astic about his work, reported that the saints there         -pamphlet in consultation with Rev. Harbach briefly
love Calvinism, are learning to know and appreciate          explaining the stand of our Churches. This pamphlet
our Psalter, and are making real effort to live sancti-      is to be tailored for use on the Home Missions fields.
fied lives. Attendance at the morning worship is
about 3540 and the evening service draws about 25.              Synod, in response to the report of the Foreign
The missionary is busy instructing the children in           Mission Committee, decided to continue the  study-
catechism, preaching two services on the Lord's Days         sheet program in Indonesia. Rev. C. Hanko and Prof.
and leading a mid-week meeting where they have               H. C. Hoeksema, who expect to be in Jakarta this
finished a study of the  Belgic  Confession and are at       summer, hope to make some personal contact with
present studying the Epistle of James. The saints            the people who benefit from this program. The
there also support and maintain a small Christian            Foreign Mission Committee was instructed to pursue
School for the children of the covenant. While there         its contacts in Ghana during the coming year. The
are some problems remaining and more work to be              Committee was also instructed by Synod to make
done it appears as though a Protestant Reformed              further investigation concerning other possible fields
congregation may be organized in Houston in the not          of labor in foreign missions.
too distant future. Our brothers and sisters and our
missionary need our encouragement and our prayers.           SEMINARY MATTERS
  In connection with the work in Houston the calling           The report of the Theological School Committee
Church (Hope of Grand Rapids) sent a request via the         and the Rector's report both indicated that our
Mission Committee that Synod appoint a study com-            Theological School is prospering under God's bless-
mittee to deal with the question of administering the        ing. Synod was informed that the Professors were
sacraments (especially Baptism) on the Mission field.        laboring faithfully under rather heavy teaching loads.
Synod acceded to this request and appointed: Revs.           The instruction is soundly Reformed and capably
D. Engelsma, J. Kortering; Elders J. Haak and J.             given, the Committee reported. Synod also learned
Kalsbeek; and Prof. R. Decker as a study committee           that if the pledges were paid the new Seminary
to serve the Churches with advice on this matter. This       building would be paid for. Our people gave liberally
committee is scheduled to report to the 1976 Synod.          to this cause and we are grateful for this blessing of
                                                             God. The Seminary is now properly licenced  with the
  Synod was also privileged to be addressed by Rev.          State of Michigan and approved by the Immigration
Dale H. Kuiper, Missionary to Skowhegan, Maine.              and Naturalization Service so that foreign students
Rev. Kuiper preaches twice per Sunday to three               may receive visas. A special resolution of thanks was
families (9 souls) in addition to his own. There are         adopted by Synod to Jon Huisken for all of the work
some visitors from time to time. He also conducts a          he performed in this regard. Enrollment continues to
service in Portland, Maine where a few continue to           increase, Synod learned, with two new students
hear the Word. The missionary also reported that he          approved for entrance into the Pre-seminary depart-
visits as many families as possible `in their homes. Rev.    ment in the fall of this year. Synod also learned that
Kuiper also conducts a weekly radio broadcast. There         no problems were encountered in connection with
are only a very few who seem to be at all interested in      our Seminary's instructing the students from the Free
the Reformed faith. Missionary Kuiper commented              Reformed Church of North America. We are happy to
that Maine is an area where the church has long ago          have these students in our school and thankful to be
departed from the gospel. This makes the work                of service to the cause of the Reformed faith in this
extremely difficult and the contacts very few.               respect. A request of the faculty via the Rector's
Certainly Rev. and Mrs. Kuiper and their family need         Report that Synod consider the possibility of calling
our prayers. May God preserve the little remnant in          a fourth professor was referred back to the faculty as
Skowhegan.                                                   a matter to be brought by them to the Theological
  Rev. B. Woudenberg, pastor of the Lynden,                  School Committee.
Washington congregation, addressed the Synod con-
cerning his work in Edmonton, Canada. Pastor                 MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS
Woudenberg meets every other week with a group of              The Committee for Contact with Other Churches
soundly-Reformed believers in a Bible Study Class.           reported on the Australasian tour to be made this
Synod decided to continue to underwrite the cost of          summer by Prof. Hoeksema and Rev. C. Hanko.
the trips of Rev. Woudenberg and other ministers             Synod approved this report and remembered these
who may be sent to Edmonton. Let us remember                 brethren often in its prayers. This Committee also
these brothers and sisters and Brother Woudenberg as         reported that contact was being made with brethren


450                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


of the Reformed Church in the U.S. (Eureka Classis,         correct the present Constitution of the Mission
German Reformed). Synod also approved of this               Committee" upon several grounds. This matter was
contact. Hopefully these efforts will bear fruit in a       placed in the hands of a study committee to report to
denomination-wide conference between our Churches           the Synod of 1976. Synod appointed the brethren:
and their's in the future.                                  Revs. C. Hanko, M. Joostens, and R. Van Overloop,
  Reports from the Stated Clerk, Catechism Distribu-        and elders to serve on this committee.
tion Committee, Board of Trustees, the Fiftieth
Anniversary Committee, the Emeritus Committee,              STATED CLERK
and the Synodical Treasurer were read and dealt with          The Rev. D. H. Kuiper, whose second three year
appropriately.                                              term as Stated Clerk of Synod had expired, asked not
  Synod approved of the work of the Catechism               to be considered for reappointment to this office. He
Book Committee and decided that work should con-            felt, and Synod concurred in this, that it was  no't
tinue on the revision of some of the books currently        practical for him to serve as Stated Clerk while
in use. Rev. Engelsma is working on the Essentials of       serving as a Home Missionary. Synod passed a resolu-
Reformed Doctrine  book and Rev. Kuiper is busy             tion of appreciation to Rev. Kuiper for all his work as
preparing a workbook to be used with the Heidelberg         Stated Clerk. From a nomination of three Synod
Catechism book.                                             chose the Rev. Marinus Schipper to serve as its Stated
                                                            Clerk for a three-year term.
OVERTURES                                                     After dealing with financial matters and electing
  Synod dealt with two overtures this year. It re-          the various members to the Synodical Standing Com-
jected the overture of the Hope, Grand Rapids               mittees the 1975 Synod adjourned. May God cause
Consistory regarding Student Aid and decided to             that the decisions taken at this Synod be of benefit to
continue providing aid to our theological students          our churches, and to the church universal in order
through the Synodically appointed committee.                that His Name may be praised.
  A brother from our Redlands, California congrega-           Synod will meet, D.V., the  firs" Wednesday of
tion overtured Synod to: "study, evaluate, and              June, 1976 in our South Holland, Illinois Church.


FROM HOLY WRIT
                         Exposition of Hebrews  13:4
                                                 By Rev. G. Lubbers
THE HONORABLENESS OF MARRIAGE IN THE                        that Christ has come to sanctify the institution of
LORD  - continued.                                          marriage and to make it a "mystery" of the basic
                                                            relationship of Himself and the church which He has
  Only those who hold to the faith in Christ Jesus          come to cleanse and make pure in His own blood, and
have a reason for holding to the sanctity and honor-        to present her spotless to the Lord in the reconsti-
ableness of Marriage. Our faith in God is a faith in the    tution of all things. (Ephesians 5:22-33) The less men
"Creator" of heaven and earth. Those who do not             live in the faith that "God was manifested in the
worship. the Creator must needs worship the creature.       flesh" (I Timothy 4: l-3) the more they will seek to
(Rom.  1:25) These change the glory of the incor-           find the solution to all the problems of sin connected
ruptible God into the likeness of the image of              with marriage and our earthly existence in "for-
corruptible man, birds, four-footed beasts and creep-       bidding marriage". Unless we see that marriage is of
ing things. They do not hold to marriage as an              the Lord Himself, we shall never see the truth that
institution of God as it was from the beginning.            marriage is honorable in all. Marriage, too, will seem
(Matthew  19:8) It is the Christian who finds his           like something which defiles the conscience. It will
rock-bottom joy in knowing that God in Christ               then be no different from the life of adultery. Fact is,
always speaks concerning what was "from the be-             that if the one, to wit, marriage defiles the con-
ginning". (Gen. 1: 1; John 1: l-3) That lays the            science, and adultery defiles the conscience  - then
foundations bare, the very foundations of God's             there is but one alternative left. It is to live the life of
primordial ordinances in creation and in re-creation.       the ascetic which is then more holy than wedlock.
  How honorable marriage is, is proven by the very          But that is trying to be wiser than God. He has given
contrasts which we see in all those who do not .see         to sinful man, also his sinful saints, an area where he


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                               451


can live honorably before God and man. No man               under the just judgment of God. In the Greek the
thinks it dishonorable for a man to live chastely with      ttrm  pomos  is a fornicator, a male prostitute in all
the wife of his choosing, be she the wife of his youth      the forms of it. It is one who has a Caramite, a boy
or of his advanced years. And children, born in             kept for the purpose of sexual perversion. Here we
wedlock, have a deep sense of comfort that their            must refer the reader to the vivid and composite
parents are united in holy wedlock  - till death do         description which Paul gives of those who are given
them part. And the child which is received into a           over by means of their sinful lust to all uncleanness in
family, where the parents are married, feels that he is     order that they may dishonor their bodies between
now in a protected sphere where the Lord's blessing         themselves. (Rom.  1:24) These were they who
rests upon hini.                                            changed the truth of God into the lie, and who
   Do not forget that marriage is honorable in "all".       worshipped and served the creature more than the
For "all" that is included in marriage, all the aspects     Creator, who is blessed forever, Amen. Basically,
and relationships of marriage are "in the Lord". Yea,       pornography is here analyzed for what it is in its
even the bed upon which the children are conceived,         deepest essence, and the Word of God here is very
is honorable. That bed is so honorable that when            sharp as a two-edged sword, dividing asunder even the
another comes to this bed to lie with a man's wile,         marrow and bones, and is a searcher of the intents of
then and then only is that bed "defiled". Thus Jacob        our hearts. (Hebrews 4: 12) The text also speaks of
says in Genesis  49:3, 4: "Reuben, thou art my              "adultery"! This is the sin against the holy bond of
firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my                matrimony by bringing in another party, which  ad-
strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excel-         alters the situation. It really breaks the sacred bond;
lency of power: unstable as water, thou shalt not           it is a direct defiling of the bed which is "undefiled"
excel; because thou wentest up to thy father's bed;         as such. This is the only ground for divorce. It is
then  defilest   thou it: he wentest up to my couch."       really the most horrible aspect of the sin against the
Oh, the sanctity of the bed of wedlock even if it is        seventh commandment which warns against and for-
but a "concubine wife" as was Bilhah, Rachel's maid.        bids all uncleanness as being accursed of God. (H.C.
Oh, the deep wound in Jacob's soul for this; we hear        Question 108) Now whoremongers and adulterers are
it in the brief statement in Genesis 35:22, "and Israel     placed in one class in the text. There is really no
heard it." Even though Reuben was his "firstborn"           essential difference between these two; both dishonor
son, he "heard it". It passed deeply into his soul, a       the sanctity and holiness of God as this is expressed
wound and a scar that will not heal. Reuben is forever      in the honorableness of marriage, as instituted by
in dishonor. He desecrated the sanctity of the "bed         God. Neither has God in all his thoughts. They
which was undefiled". No doubt, Bilhah too is a             worship the creature rather than the Creator!
desecrated woman. We do well to remind ourselves              But God is not mocked. God will judge  (krirzei)
here of the words of the Proverbs of Solomon, "Men          such. This judgment of God may be to the final
do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul     condemnation in hell. We read in Rev. 22: 15, "For
when he is hungry; but if he be found, he shall restore     without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers,
sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house.    and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth
But  whoso  committeth adultery with a woman                and maketh a lie." That will be the judgment of God
lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his      upon whoremongers and adulterers, who are not
own soul. A wound and dishonour shall he get; and           brought to repentance by grace. Paul says repeatedly
his reproach shall not be wiped away. For jealousy is       concerning whoremongers and adulterers that they
the rage of a man: therefore will he not spare in the       shall not inherit the kingdom of God. (I Cor.  6:9;
day of vengeance. He will not regard his  ransom:           Gal. 5: 19-21; Col. 3:5,6; Eph. 5:5)That is the way in
neither will he rest content, though thou givest many       which God will judge such sinners. He gives to each
gifts." (Proverbs  6:30-35)                                 one according to his works. But God will also judge
                                                            such sinners in this life. A life of whoredom entails
WHOREMONGERS AND ADULTERERS JUDGED                          untold (and told) woe for those who..are enslaved in
OF GOD (Hebrews 13:4b)                                      it. Think of the physical sicknesses which are the
  There is here a rather sharp contrast drawn               reward of the whoremonger. Ask the doctors and
between those who walk in the honorableness of              nurses in our hospitals. It is all the "due reward" for
marriage and those who walk in fornication and              the uncleanness of lusts in which God delivers the
adultery. The term in the Greek for "whoremongers"          wicked. This is God's legal "retribution meted out to
is  pourzous, from which derives the term "por-             apostasy" from the living God for all sexual vice. It is
nography", a description of "whores," a glorification       God's judicial infliction of His justice upon sin. Men
of whoredom. The Dutch translates this term as hoer-        got caught. in the snares of sin, but fell under the
eerders, that is, giving honor to whpres. One who gives     awful judgments of God. Thus we see women leaving
his honor to such women has lost his honor and falls        the natural use to do what is against nature


452                                            THE STANDARD BEARER


(Lesbianism) and men with men committing worse               Spirit." Let us then work out also the good work of
than bestial sodomy. (Today this is simply called:           our marriage with fear and trembling. We must also
homosexualism.) And many an insane asylum is                 here perfect sanctification in the fear of God. (II Cor.
filled with those who would try to flee from the             7:l)
wrath of God upon their bestial sins. When man tries            The Hebrews evidently .needed  this warning from
to drown out these fears `and terrifying accusations of      the writer. They had been told that they were come
bis conscience, he tries to find relief in drinking, and     to Mount Sion, the city of the living God. They were
he becomes a drunkard. He had no sanity and                  no longer under the terrible darkness, tempest of
sobriety before this. Then to save his face he calls this    Sinai before which even Moses exceedingly feared and
drunkenness with the euphemism: alcoholism. He               trembled. Now they hear the law as a rule for their
saves neither his face nor his soul before the living        life of thankfulness; however, they hear it read to
God into Whose hands it is terrible to fall. For He is a     them by the minister in quiet prose, without this
consuming fire.                                              thunder of Sinai. They are under the blood of
  Now this is written for our warning, lest we should        sprinkling. Now they must also walk as such who are
walk in these sins. It is good that our young people,        under this blood of the covenant, who have their
too, be warned as well as our married fathers and            consciences purified from dead works to serve the
mothers, yes, even those who are past the  three-            living God in spirit and in truth. They must cease
score-year span of their life. It is good to remember        from such sins, as did evidently the Samaritan woman
that the bed which is "undefiled" be, even kept so.          who was`told of her sin in one short sentence "Go
God hates all uncleanness both inside and outside of         call thy husband." She had no husband. She was
wedlock. This is not some Calvinistic-Puritanic ethics       walking in adultery. Now she sees her sin and says,
and social strictures, but such is the word of God as        "Come see a man that told me all I ever did!" The
written by Paul in I Thess. 4:3-8, "For this is the will     woman taken in adultery is told, "Go and sin no
of God, even your sanctification, that ye should             more". And that is what the Hebrew Christians, too,
abstain from fornication: that every one of you              are told. And we are told this here by the writer. God
should know how to possess his vessel in sanctifica-         will judge fornicators, whoremongers, and adulterers.
tion and honour, not in the lust of concupiscence,           Depart from wickedness. Arise, thou that sleepest,
even as the Gentiles which know not God. For God             and Christ shall give thee light. Ye were darkness, but
hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holi-          now are ye light in the Lord. Walk as children of
ness. He therefore that despiseth (this), despiseth not      light.
man, but God, who hath also given us his Holy


GUEST ARTICLE
                         "Should We Use Unleavened Bread
                                 in the Lord's Supper?
                                               Rev. Mark H. Hoeksema

   Last summer while vacationing in Minnesota for a          use unleavened bread in our observance of the sacra-
couple of days I happened to meet a Lutheran                 ment? I immediately saw the implications of his
minister. After becoming acquainted somewhat, we             query and realized that my answer would make me
fell to discussing matters of religion and theology,         vulnerable to criticism, but had to answer truthfully
especially the differences between the Reformed and          that we did not. He, of course, pointed out the
Lutheran branches of the Reformation. As could be            &consistency, which I was forced to admit.
expected, the subject of the meaning of the Lord's              This conversation made me stop and think about
Supper came up, and along with that the question of          the subject, and then investigate it further. My
the symbolism involved. My acquaintance volun-               investigation proved fruitless as far as our churches
teered the information that in some  .Lutheran               were concerned; to the best of my knowledge our
churches grape juice is used rather than, wine in the        Protestant Reformed writings have not touched the
observance of the sacrament. When I challepged  this         matter; a search of my memory revealed that the
practice, he readily conceded its error, but immedi-         subject never came up in the course of my seminary
ately countered  tiith a question of his own: did we         training; and even a' colleague was nonplussed when I


                                               THE STANDARD  BEARER                                                                   453


put the question to him. All of this served to increase      doctrine and influence. Thus we can agree with
my curiosity about the subject, so I began to study          Fair-bairn, who states: "There can be no doubt that it
and delve into it, coming up with the facts and              mainly pointed . . . to holiness in heart and conduct,
conclusions presented in this article. There are several     which became the ransomed people of the Lord - the
questions which must be answered about this matter           uncorrupt sincerity and truth that should appear in
in order to arrive at a proper understanding and             all their behavior."'
solution to the problem.                                        Secondly, did Christ use unleavened bread in the
  First, what is the significance of unleavened bread        institution of the Lord's Supper as the fulfillment of
in Scripture, particularly in connection with the Old        the Passover? We may answer that without doubt He
Testament feast of the Passover, which is closely            did. As a Jew who observed the law of God perfectly,
connected with the Lord's Supper?                            He certainly obeyed the command respecting the use
  The meaning or significance of unleavened bread is         of unleavened bread during the entire Passover. There
two-fold; In the first place, from a primarily historical    simply could not have been any leavened bread at the
perspective, it symbolized the bread of affliction           last Passover in the upper room. And since the Lord's
eaten by the children of Israel when they departed           Supper was instituted at the same time as and in
from the bondage of Egypt, and which they had to             direct connection with that last Passover, it neces-
eat annually in the Passover feast in commemoration          sarily follows that unleavened bread was also used in
of their deliverance. Evidently this unleavened bread        the institution of the sacrament of communion,
was of a somewhat bitter taste, and not the most                Third, how important is the symbolism of the
pleasant or appealing of foods. In this respect it was       sacrament? It goes without saying that the symbolism
intended to remind Israel of the bitterness of their         is a necessary part of the proper sacrament; if the
bondage and affliction under the Egyptians, so much          symbolism is removed, the sacrament becomes totally
so that in Deut. 16:3 this bread is called the "bread        meaningless. Indeed, the symbolism is very im-
of affliction." Also, it was intended to remind Israel       portant. Not, of course, after the manner of Rome,
of the speedy nature of their delivery from bondage,         which makes it an end in itself. But certainly in the
an exodus so swift that they did not even have time          sense of the relationship between the sign and the
to prepare leavened bread. Such is the direct teaching       thing signified the symbolism is indispensable.
of Deut. 16:3: "Seven days shalt thou eat unleavened         Because the sacrament is intended to convey spiritual
bread therewith, even the bread of affliction; for           truths to God's people through the use of earthly
thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste:         symbols (cf. the Heidelberg Catechism, Question and
that thou mayest remember the day when thou                  Answer 79, the Belgic Confession, Article 35), there
camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of        must be the closest possible unity and harmony
thy life." In the second place, and most importantly,        between the symbol and the thing symbolized. This
unleavened bread is in Scripture the symbol of               will become clearer and will be applied presently.
spiritual purity. Leaven was the symbol of corruption                                       *****
and impurity, and by implication the absence of
leaven implied freedom from impurity. Just as in the            In the light of these Scriptural facts, what is to be
physical sense of the word the yeast placed in bread         our position and practice? Should we as Protestant
dough spreads throughout the lump, and in a way              Reformed Churches use unleavened bread in our
introduces impurity into it (though that impurity            observance of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper? I
may be desired), so also in the symbolic sense: leaven       believe that we should, for three main reasons.
represents the pervasive and powerful influence of              The first reason is that we should stay as close to
corruption. Because of this Israel was expressly             Scripture as possible. This is always a good principle
forbidden not only to use, but even to possess or            to follow in all matters of doctrine and practice; the
come into contact with leaven during the entire seven        more Scriptural we can be, the more sound we are.
days of the Passover feast, on penalty of being cut off      And this applies also to our practice regarding the
from the congregation, cf. Ex. 12:  18-20. That the          Lord's Supper. If the symbolism of the Supper
presence of leaven meant corruption can be seen              includes the use of unleavened bread, particularly as
further from Ex. 23: 18 as corroborated by Ex.               instituted by Christ, then this should be our practice
34:25: "Thou shalt not offer the blood of my                 also. We must not become "symbolistic," i.e., put too
sacrifice with leavened bread." Clearly the implica-         much significance in the outward signs. Neither,
tion is that leavened bread would corrupt the sacri-         however, may we ignore or subordinate a proper and
fice. This idea is also directly supported by Christ         significant Scriptural symbolism when it is there. To
Himself, for He warns His disciples in Matt.  16:`6,         put this matter into perspective: we would not think
"Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees         of using milk or even grape juice in place of the wine
and of the  Sadducees." As verse 12 of the same
chapter indicates, He referred to their corrupting           `Patrick Fairbairn, "The  Typology  of Scripture," Vol. I  I, p. 388.


454                                             THE STANDARD BEARER


in the sacrament. Why don't we be Scripturally                ing of the child of God.
consistent and use unleavened bread as well?                     Thirdly, this meaning becomes even fuller and
     The second reason concerns the necessity of pre-         richer when we realize that the sacrament is a reflec-
serving the unity between the sign and the thing              tion to us of Christ. The elements of the sacrament in
signified. The bread and wine are obviously the major         the final analysis point not to our experience, but to
elements in the. sacramental symbolism. With the              `Christ. The wine is the symbol of His blood, not only
significance of the wine we are probably familiar.            as to its color and its being poured out, but also as to
Wine in Scripture is the symbol of joy: Psalm 104: 15         its significance of the joy of forgiveness to be found
says that God gives wine "to make the heart of man            in the blood of Christ alone. And the unleavened
glad"; Ecclesiastes 10: 19 tells us, "A feast is made for     bread points to Christ's body, not only as to its being
laughter, and wine maketh merry." Bread, on the               broken or as to its being the staff of life both
other hand, (in this case unleavened bread) is the            physically and spiritually, but also as to its signifi-
symbol both of bitterness and affliction and of purity        cance. It points us to the bitter affliction that Christ
and uprightness. Now why did God choose bread and             suffered for us, even to the extent that He  allowed
wine to be the symbols of the sacrament? Surely               His blessed body to be nailed to the cross in our
there must be a reason. Christ through the sacrament          stead. And it also points us to the great truth of
means to teach and apply to believers certain spiritual       Christ's purity: He was the sinless one in His whole
truths. What does He teach and apply in the eating of         being, also as to His body, for He was God in the
unleavened bread? He teaches the bitter knowledge of          flesh. He who knew no sin became sin for us, even in
sin and corruption. Through proper self-examination           the way of partaking of the bitter bread of affliction
the believer knows his sins and the curse due to him          unto death.
for them; and that knowledge is not pleasant, but
bitter and distasteful. And when he comes to the                 The use of unleavened bread: Scripturally correct,
table of the Lord, he eats the bread of affliction, the       a practice instituted by Christ and fulfilled in His own
bread of the bitter knowledge and consciousness of            death, and the experience of the Christian in par-
his sins: But at the same time he eats the bread of           taking of the Lord's Supper. Should we adopt this
purity and freedom from guilt and corruption, for he          practice? By all means, at the same time remembering
has confessed those bitter sins and knows that for the        that this is a matter of practice, not of doctrine,
sake of Christ's death and resurrection they are              though it is connected with and based on doctrine, as
forgiven. Then, and only then, does he drink the cup          all practice must be. Obviously this is not a matter of
of joy, the joy of the forgiveness of his sins. Thus the      earth-shaking doctrinal importance, nor is it a matter
bread is always first and the wine follows, both in the       of spiritual life or death for the Christian. But it is a
sacrament and in the experience of the Christian. In          matter of practical Scriptural consistency. Thus it is
the way of the bitter acknowledgement and con-                not mandatory, but desirable; not necessary, but
fession of his sins, and in the way of spiritual purity       advisable, to adopt this practice. Let us as churches
for Christ's sake, the believer is assured joyously that      adopt this practice as a continuing part of our
his sins are forgiven. In this light the eating of            contribution to the development, practice, and
unleavened bread takes on a full and beautiful mean-          preservation of the Reformed faith of Scripture.


                                           Book Review
                                                     Pro8  H. Hanko

PEACEABLE FRUIT,  by Gertrude Hoeksema; Re-                      As far as the general contents of the book are
formed Free Publishing Association, 1974; 310 pp.,            concerned, the author treats first of all the important
$5.95.                                                        questions of who and what is the child, discussing this
!                                                             from a spiritual and psychological viewpoint. With
     There is a great lack of good material on covenant       chapter three, the book divides the life of the child
instruction and child-training which is written from          into specific periods and treats each period rather
the perspective of Scripture, which is suitable for           extensively. The divisions however, are not arbitrary,
covenant parents who are dedicated to "bringing up            for each time the author discusses what character-
their children in the fear of the Lord" and who are           istics are uniquely those of the child during each
aware of the difficult task this really is. This book can     period of his physical, psychological and spiritual
and will go a long way towards filling that lack.             development, and how covenant training must be


                                                                   THE  STANDAR,D BEARER.                                                                    455
                                                                               ,,       `.


  directly adapted to these characteristics. There  are                               Godly parents. It has been said that the book is
  chapters on "Preparation for the Child", "Birth of                                  somewhat idealistic and loses considerable value be-
  the Child", "From Birth-to Nine Months", "From                                      cause it does not reckon sufficiently with the reality
  Nine Months to Two Years", "From Two to Five                                        of sin both in the child and in the parents who are
  Years", "The kindergartner", "Early Primary Years",                                 called to engage in this difficult task. There probably
  "Later Primary Years", "Early Adolescence", "High                                   is some truth to this assertion; but there are two
  School Adolescence." The author uses an imaginary                                   matters which come to mind in this connection. In
  child by the name of Timothy to bring the book                                      the  first place, Scripture also holds before our eyes
  more down to earth and practical.                                                   the ideal. Scripture does this fully aware of the fact
                                                                                      that we are sinful people and that we shall never
     It is uniquely characteristic of the Reformed faith                              attain perfection on this side of the grave. But the
  that the beautiful truth of God's covenant is taught                                ideal is nevertheless held before us so that we may
  and emphasized in such a way that it pervades the                                   continue to strive for it, for this is our calling. In the
  whole confession of those who hold to the Reformed                                  second place, I read both the original manuscript and
  faith. The doctrine of the covenant is however, not                                 the final product, and it was my experience that the
  objective and cold theory, but is warm and vibrant,                                 second reading of the book was more fruitful than
  filled with practical implications for the whole life of                            the  fast. I think therefore, that the book is valuable
  the child of God. This book proceeds to describe                                    for repeated reading and for study. Parents can and
  covenant  instruction. The truth of God's covenant                                  should consult the book often and refer to it again
  pervades the whole of the book and affects every part                               and again as they face the concrete problems of
  of it. It will give to those who love this doctrine a                               raising a family. From this point of view, it is
  greater appreciation for this glorious truth and a                                  somewhat too bad that the book does not include an
  greater realization of its profound and awesome                                     extensive index of subjects.
  implications for covenant instruction in the home.                                     The format of the book is excellent and makes for
     The book is also filled with practical suggestions of                            easy and enjoyable reading. We recommend this book
  a very concrete kind. It is not merely fine-spun                                    highly to all our readers and to all such as engage in
  theory, but brings instruction into the every day                                   the high calling of covenant training. May God bless
  problems of life in a way which can be of use to                                    the use of the book in many covenant homes.



                                    NOTICE!!!                                                         RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
     Classis  West of the Protestant Reformed Churches will meet in                      The Consistory of the Hudsonville (Michigan) Protestant Reformed
  Isabel, South Dakota on Wednesday, September 3, 1975. Material for                  Church expresses sincere sympathy to their fellow-elder, Kenneth  Lan-
  the agenda must be in the hands of the Stated Clerk thirty days before              ning and his family in the loss of their mother, MRS. FANNIE  LAN-
  Classis convenes. Delegates in need of lodging should notify the Clerk              NING. "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints."
  of the Isabel consistory.                                                           (Psalm 116:15).
                                                 Rev. David Engelsma                                                             Rev. C. Hanko, Pres.
                                                 Stated Clerk.                                                                   Hib Kuiper, Clerk.

                                                                                                      RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
              ANNIVERSARY ANNOUNCEMENT
                                                                                         The Church Council of Southwest Protestant Reformed Church of
     Jehovah God, who delighteth in mercy, has bound in holy matri-
  mony our loving parents, REVEREND AND MRS. GEORGE C.                                Wyoming, Michigan extends its heartfelt sympathy to our fellow
  LUBBERS these FORTY-FIVE YEARS.                                                     Office-Bearer, Deacon William De Kraker and his family in the loss of
     We extol the faithfulness of Jehovah when they celebrate this mile-              Mr. De Kraker's mother.
  stone of their lives on August 17, 1975.                                               May our Covenant God comfort and sustain them in the knowledge
     "Jehovah is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou                  that  ". . . if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have
      maintainest my lot. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places;            a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the
     yea, I have a goodly heritage. Psalm 16:5-6."                                    heavens." (I I Cor. 5: I).
                                Their grateful children and grandchildren,
                                Miss Agatha Lubbers                                                                    Southwest Protestant Reformed Church
                                Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Newhof, Jr.                                                                      Phillip J. Lotterman, Clerk
                                  and five children
                                Mr. and Mrs. Case Lubbers and two children                           RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
                                Mr. and Mrs. Lamm Lubbers and six children
                                                                                         The members of the Ladies' Aid Society of the First Protestant
                  RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                                              Reformed Church of Grand Rapids, Michigan, extends heartfelt and
                                                                                      sincere Christian sympathy to their vice-president, Mrs. Lucy  Wouden-
     The members of the Hudsonville Ladies' Society express their                     berg, in the passing of her husband, MR. BERNARD WOUDENBERG,
  sincere sympathy to their vice-president, Mr. Kenneth Lanning, and his              SR. Our prayer is that she and her family will find comfort in the Word
' family in the passing of his mother, MRS. FANNIE LANNING. "For                      of God as expressed in Habakkuk 3, vss. 18 and 19  - "Yet I will rejoice
  we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we             in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my
  have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the                strength, and He will make my feet like hind's feet, and He will make
  heavens."  (II Cor.  5:l).                                                          me to walk upon high places."
                                                 Rev. C. Hanko, Pres.                                                            Mrs. Tom Newhof, Sr., Pres.
                                                 Mrs.,J. B. Lubbers, Sec'y.                                                      Mrs. Charles Pastoor, Sec'y.


                                                                                        1
THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                     /       SECOND CLASS
       P.O. Box 6064                                                                    I      POSTAGE PAID AT
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506,                                                                GRAND  RAPlDS, MICH.
456                               _._~~                                   _,-_-_
                            N--ews From Our Churches
  It happens that, because of an unusual summer                                        *****
schedule, this column was written on June 12  -                 From the May 25 bulletin of Faith Church we
w'hich shouldn't really make a particle of difference, s     learn that' the consistory there has decided that the
since the  Standard Bearer  news is never current            entire congregation will join in unison in the con-
anyway. I just finished my copy for the July 1 issue,        fession of faith as it is found in the Apostle's Creed.
and I find that I still have some material left over. I         And a June. 8 bulletin from Hudsonville noted that
figured that, if it would have been good enough for          that consistory had decided "to continue for a time
July news, it ought to be good enough for the August         the song service for ten minutes before the morning
column too. (What we need is a new news writer.)             service."
  Let's start with an item wh.ich,could  have made the          How about this after-recess topic of discussion in
May 1 issue. On March 34 Rev. Slopsema, pastor of            an end-of-the-season Senior Young People's Society
our Edger-ton congregation, led the chapel services at       of Hope Church  - "Is Vacation From Society
Edgebrook Rest Center. Students from the lower               Necessary?"
room of our  Edgerton Protestant Reformed School,                                      *****
provided the special number.                                    Near the beginning of May, as we learn from a Hull
   On May 2, the Young People's Federation Board             bulletin, Rev. Kortering and Rev. Moore spent a few
sponsored a Church League "All-Star" basketball              days in Omaha and Beatrice,,.Nebraska, to meet with
game in Grandville Junior High School Gymnasium.             groups there who had shown interest in our churches.
Special half-time entertainment was a volleyball game
which pitted the Federation Board members against               I imagine that that interest came in response to
the students of the Seminary.                                efforts of the Reformed Witness Committee, of
                                                            ."Doon, Edgerton, and Hull. That committee plans, by
  On May 7 the young people of Faith and Hope                the way, to hold five lectures in the Rock Valley area
sponsored a casserole supper in Hope School's Gym.           next fall and winter. Plans are, too, to send pamphlets
Donations were "for transportation expenses for              to all the boxholders and residences in that town and
three girls to go to the convention from Houston,            the countryside.
Texas."                                                         An early June bulletin from Jenison, indicates that
  On Sunday evening, May 11, the people of our               Faith Church's consistory has decided to participate
Loveland congregation enjoyed a singspiration,               with Hope Church in the publishing of the article
directed by Mr. Gerald Kuiper. Special numbers               entitled "A Truly Reformed Meditation" which
included an accordion/piano/organ instrumental trio,         appears bi-weekly in three of the area newspapers.
singing by the Men's Quartet, and a couple of songs          Rev. Joostens will contribute periodic meditations for
,by the lower grades of the Sunday School.                   that purpose, and the cost of publishing is to be
   On May 16, Adams Street Protestant Reformed               shared by the two congregations.
School held its 25th Anniversary program. Numbers                                      *****
by the school's advanced band, and its two choirs,              Then there's one final announcement from the
preceded a very fine speech by Prof. Decker. The             Field Day committee:
speech was entitled, "No Greater Joy." The program
in its entirety was taped by Mr. Henry Vander Wal.              "Don't forget the Field Day. Still time to come
Mr. Vander Wal, incidentally, has graciously offered,        and unite with fellow-Protestant Reformed brethren
too, to make tapes of that program available on              in the praise of our God for His faithfulness.
request through the offices of the R.F.P.A. They sell        Douglas-Walker Park, 84th St. between Byron Center
for $3 a copy - for either reel-to-reel or cassette.        a and U.S. 13 1. Come at noon and enjoy a full day of
                                                             Christian fellowship."
  On May 21, the band of Covenant Christian High                                                                D.D.
School, and the -Junior High band of Hope School             Editor's Note: This copy was written early because
gave a combined concert in Grandville Junior High            our News Editor has left with his wife for an
Gym. And on Sunday evening, June 1, Covenant's               extended (six-week) trip to the Northwest United
Music Department presented a concert in First                States and the Orient. Their plans are to visit several
Church. The program included numbers by the band,            countries in the Orient, but to return in time to
by the school choir, and finally by the choir as it was      report on the Anniversary celebrations scheduled for
joined by various alumni who had themselves once             this month. We bid them Godspeed and refreshment
been part of the choir.                                      during their sorely needed vacation.


