STANDARD
     BEARER                                                                         ^.
/-A REFORMED SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE                                            -c





    I am  co,nvinced that the  one' great
 need of God's people regarding marriage
 is a better knowledge of the Word of
 God. Consequently, this  boo.k was born
 out of the needs of the congregation and
 out of the wrestlings of the pastorate.
The sermons were preached with the
 practical purpose that the. married and
youth alike might know and honor
God's institution of marriage. The book
is published with the same desire. May
God use it to glorify Himself through a
people faithful in marriage.
-D. Engelsma,  Marriage:  .Tbe  Mydery of Christ
                      and the Church (Preface)


                                      Volume  LII, Number 2, October 15, 1975  2


530                                                          THE STANDARD BEARER




                            CONTENTS:                                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER
                                                                                  Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July, and August.
Meditation  -                                                                    Published by the Reformed Free Publishing Association, Inc.
                                                                                     Second Class Postage Paid at Grand Rapids, Mich.
   Running In The Race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 530               Editor-in-Chief: Prof. Homer C. Hoeksema
                                                                               Department Editors:,  Prof. Robert D. Decker, Rev. David J. Engelsma,
Editorials  -                                                                  Rev. Cornelius Hanko, Prof. Herman Hanko, Rev. Robert C. Harbach,
                                                                               Rev. John A.  Heys, Rev. Jay Kortering, Rev. Dale H. Kuiper, Rev.
   AGem! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..53 3        George C. Lubbers, Rev. Meindert Joostens, Rev. Marinus Schipper,
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   Our Australasian Tour (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533                 Editorial Office:  Prof. H. C. Hoeksema
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MEDITATION


                                         Running In The Race
                                                                   Rev. M. Schipper


              Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witlzesses,  let us lay
              aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience
              the race that is set before us. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith; who
             for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down
              at the right hand of the throne of God.
                                                                                                                          Hebrews 12:  1, 2.



   No one reading this text in its context can escape                            first of all, by the very first word in the text. The
the conclusion that there is a very close  con-                                  word "wherefore," or as we prefer to translate it,
nection to what the writer to the Hebrews had                                    "consequently then," signifies a conclusion, that
written in the preceding chapter. This is indicated,                             which is drawn from something that precedes. It


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  531



affirms, establishes the preceding, and deduces from         This is not to be understood as mere spectators in the
it a conclusion. In the preceding chapter the various        stadium, but in the most literal sense-witnesses who,
heroes of faith and their acts are described. From           by their testimony, encourage the athlete. As you will
their descriptions the writer to the Hebrews now             see, these witnesses are themselves former athletes
deduces what our calling and walk must be. In the            who have run, wrestled, fought in the arena and were
second place, this close relationship is indicated in the    declared victors. And last, but not least, the text also
expression, "seeing we also are compassed about with         speaks of the judge, who is enthroned higher than all,
so great a cloud of witnesses." This cloud of witnesses      who by his position is an incentive, and gives power
can be none other than the heroes of faith described         to the athlete, and finally also presents the awards to
in the preceding chapter. Here the attempt is made to        those who performed victoriously.
line up the Hebrew Christians, the church of Christ in
the world, alongside all the glorious believers of the         As was said, all this presents figuratively the reality
past  - our faith, our strength, our conflict, and our       of the Christian life.
crown, all being the same with them.                            The Christian is precisely such a wrestler,  .pugilist,
  All this, along with the rest of our text, is written      or runner in a race. He wrestles not with flesh and
with a view to quickening the believing church, you          blood, to be sure, but against the spiritual powers and
and me, believing children of God, for the spiritual         principalities in high places. When he fights, he keeps
contest in the arena of life.                                his body in subjection, and learns not to beat the air,
   Scripture often chooses to describe the Christian         but to strike the opponent with blows that will beat
life in the figure of a contest and contestants. Paul,       him to the canvas. When he runs in the race, he
for example, tells us that we wrestle not against flesh      stretches every spiritual muscle to `attain to the prize.
and blood, but against principalities, against powers,       The race, according to the text, may be conceived of
against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Eph.           as an obstacle race, where various objects are set in
6: 12). In his own case, he informs us that he had           the path of the runner, with which he must cope,
fought a good fight, and finished his course; he had         which he must hurdle, which he must overcome to be
kept the faith, and therefore awaited the crown. (I          successful in the race. The Christian race is not set on
Tim.  4:7).                                                  an even course. Rather there are obstacles that must
                                                             be overcome. The text speaks of every weight which
   So also in our text is suggested the figure of an         must be laid aside, and explains these weights as being
arena in which contests are held, in which contestants       sins which easily beset us. There is much, therefore,
vie with one another to obtain a victor's crown.             that stands in his way, much that will make running
  Whoever the writer to the Hebrews was, he must             most difficult. And in the arena of life the Christian
certainly have been acquainted with the Grecian              may hear the testimony of the great cloud of wit-
games, with a large arena or stadium in the center of        nesses to encourage him in his running. 0, to be sure,
which were the athletes, whether they were wrestlers,        these witnesses are not the spectators one will find in
pugilists, runners, or any others who were trained for       the common arena. They do not literally sit along the
athletic feats. Around the arena, on all sides, row          runway to observe our running. They are all in
upon row, sat the spectators, looking down from all          heaven, far removed from the present scene. But they
sides upon the athletes, ready to cheer or boo, all          still speak. Of the heroism of their faith they still
depending on whether the athletes performed well or          testify. Listen to. them! There is the witness of Abel,
badly. But there was also the judge, seated in such a        who by faith brought a better sacrifice than Cain.
place where he could fairly determine whether the            There is the witness of  Enoch, who by faith witnessed
contest was performed according to the rules, and            against a wicked generation, and was not, for the
where he would place the wreath of victory on the            Lord took him. There was Noah, who by faith over-
head of the winner.                                          came the world, and perished not in the deluge, but
  Notice how these various elements which describe           was saved by the waters of the flood. There was
any athletic contest are enumerated in the text. It          Abraham, who by faith offered his only son, believing
speaks of the athlete. Apparently he is a runner in a        that God was able to raise him from the dead. There
race. Such a runner will  first undergo intensive            was Jacob, who all his life long struggled with his own
training. One does not run in a race who has not first       sinful nature, and finally struggled by faith with
of all fully prepared himself, getting off all excessive     weeping and supplication to victory with God. There
fat by proper diet and strenuous exercise. Each day,         was Joseph, who endured by  .faith much affliction,
and perhaps several times in a day, he exercises             and in his death gave commandments concerning his
proper breathing, taking long sprints. And when he is        bones. There was Moses, who by faith refused to be
ready to run he stretches every muscle, striving with        called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather
great endurance, suffering no impediments that can           to suffer affliction with the people of God, because
retard his progress. Also the text speaks of witnesses.      he had his eye on the reward.


     532                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



       0, the list goes on, and includes a multitude of          and fixing them on the author and finisher of our
     witnesses, a list so great that the writer` to the          faith, Jesus.
     Hebrews ceases to mention them all by name, and
     informs us that in the host are included those who             On Jesus, Who is Jehovah, the God of our salva-
     quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the      tion, manifested!
     sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed                 Who is the author and finisher of our faith!
     valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the
     aliens . . . they were stoned, they were sawn asunder          Our faith has its beginning and end, its origin and
     were tempted, were slain with the sword, they               fulfillment in Jesus, the God of our salvation. We do
.    wandered about in sheepskins and goat skins, being          not have it of ourselves, nor do we realize it to its
     destitute, afflicted, tormented. All these obtained a       perfection of ourselves. Faith is of God. It is His gift
     good report through faith . .  and their witness still      of grace. It is He also Who causes faith to work to its
     speaks.                                                     end.
       Indeed, a host of faithful witnesses!                        The idea of the text is not, as we see it, that Jesus
       Of witnesses who still testify of their faith!            is our example Whom we are to emulate, our prede-
                                                                 cessor in the race Whom we are to follow. But the
       These by their witness still surround the arena of        text urges us to keep our eye on Jesus from Whom
     life in  ,which the Christian runs by faith, and we hear    our faith comes, and Who also is the one Who realizes
     their testimony which must quicken our pace, and            faith in and through us, until it attains to the things
     encourage our spirits.                                      hoped for. As we are told earlier in the Epistle (11:  l),
       Of course, as in any athletic contest, so in the          faith is' the substance of things hoped for, the evi-
     arena of life, the race course is not of the runner's       dence of things not seen. Until we see the things not
     choosing. It is laid out for him, and he is expected to     seen, therefore, we must keep our eye on Jesus Who
     run not anywhere or everywhere, but on the course           will see to it that we shall have that which eye is not
     laid out for him. In the arena of life the Christian        now able to see.
     does not determine where and how he shall run, but
     the Lord Himself determines this. It is He Who lays            And why is it so important that we keep our eye
     out' the course, and predestines the outcome of the         on Him? Because as Jehovah, the God of our salva-
     race. This is implied in the text when it speaks of the     tion manifested in the flesh, He is set down on the
     race set before us. And it is He Who exhorts us to          right hand of the throne of God. He there receives the
     run. The matter of running or not running is not left       power to apply unto us His saving grace, to implant
     up to us. It  is.He Who determines the course, and it is    saving faith in our hearts, to build up and strengthen
     He Who calls us to run.                                     that faith that it may endure to the end and be
                                                                 crowned with the victor's crown. And how did Jesus
       As to the manner of running, the text suggests            receive that power? For the joy that was set before
     both negative and positive aspects. We are to lay'aside     Him He endured the cross, despising the shame, and is
     every weight. As we said, the text tells us what is         therefore as a reward of merit set down at the right
     signified by these weights. They are the sins which so      hand of the throne of God, where all power in heaven
     easily beset us. We may suffer no encumbrances to           and on earth is given unto Him as the Savior of His
     impede our running, least of all, our besetting sins. In    people to save them unto the uttermost. That is the
     the race to heaven you cannot carry along the burden        answer.
     of your sin. The sin burden must be seriously and
     properly dealt with. We shall see in a moment how              Look away from yourself, dear runner, and put
     this is to be done. And positively we are to run            your eye on Him; and there is no possibility that you
     through patience. Literally the text says: "through         shall fail in the race.
     patience let us strive hard to perform the contest             Look not to an arm of flesh, nor to your own
     lying before us." Patience is that virtue, that grace,      strength which will always fail. Look not even to the
     that spiritual power and ability to bear up under the       heroes of faith, whose witness you ought to hear, but
     most extenuating circumstances, and to remain               whose power cannot give you the victory.
     standing. In the Christian race you cannot elude the
     obstacles, but you are required to bear up under the           Look only to Jesus!
     most oppressing circumstances, while you persistently
     keep on running.                                               He is not only the author and finisher of your
                                                                 faith, but He is also the author and finisher of your
       The way to victory in the race is sure when your          victory.
     eyes are fixed on Jesus, Who is the author and fin-
     isher of our faith. Literally the text says: "Looking          Look away from yourselves unto  Him, you cannot
     away," i.e., turning your eyes away from other things       fail in the race!


                                                           THE STANDARD BEARER                                                     533



EDITORIALS'
                                                               A Gem!

                                                              Pvof H.C. Hoeksrna


  A t   l o n g ' l a s t   t h e   R e v .   D .   Engelsma's  b o o k .    written. And it is loaded with instruction concerning
Marriage: fhe Mvstery  of Christ and The Church, has                         the Biblical principles of marriage, but also with in-
come from the press and is available. We are sorry                           struction that is  `!practical" in the right sense of that
about the long delay, especially after it was an-                            term.
nounced that the book would be ready in June. But
the book was certainly worth waiting for.                                       Who should read this book?
  There seems to be a glut of, books, both religious                            Certainly, married couples may benefit from it.
and secular, about marriage, sex, sex education, etc.,                          But especially do I urge that  J'oLLylg married
on today's market.                                                           couples read it. And more especially still, I urge
  But this book is a gem!                                                    young people who are looking forward to marriage to
  And the underlying reason why it is a gem is that it                       read it and discuss it with one another.
is thoroughly Scriptural in its presentation.                                   The price is only $3.50. You may obtain the book
  The book is not large. It is by no means tedious in                        from: Reformed Free Publishing Association, P.O.
its exposition. It is well written and interestingly                         Box 2006, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49501.





                               Our Australasian Tour  (2)

                                                               Prof H.C. Hoeksema



  For a proper understanding of our activities in New                        Confession among their creeds, their membership is
Zealand, a little background information concerning                          for the most part of Dutch background; and these
the ecclesiastical situation in that country is neces-                       churches have never succeeded in attracting many
sary. Our contacts in New Zealand were, for the most                         members from the conservative element in the Pres-
part, with people and churches of two denomina-                              byterian Church of New Zealand. Over the years
tions. The first is the Reformed Churches of New                             there have been fairly close ties between this denom-
Zealand. With these, however, we had no official con-                        ination and their sister denomination in Australia, as
tact; we did have contact with a considerable number                         well as the churches in America and in the Nether-
of people from these churches. This is a small denom-                        lands which are members of the Reformed Ecumeni-
ination of Dutch Reformed background which was                               cal Synod. Our readers who have followed the
established in New Zealand after the post-World War                          accounts of our contacts in Australasia in the
II immigration into New Zealand from the Nether-                             Standard Bearer  in recent years will recall that this
lands. In this denomination, according to the latest                         denomination is one of the supporting churches of
statistics which were available to me, there are 15                          the Reformed Theological College in Geelong,
congregations. Five of them are in the Auckland Pres-                        Australia. Several of the ministers in these churches
bytery (classis); six are in the Wellington Presbytery;                      are graduates of the RTC in Geelong. If we were to
and four are in the Christchurch Presbytery. Accord-                         compare the various denominations in the Reformed
ing to their 1974 statistics, the total membership was                       Ecumenical Synod, we would certainly rate the New
2,333. While they have included `the Westminster                             Zealand Reformed Churches as one of the more  con-


534                                             THE STANDARD BEARER



servative, as is also evident from the `fact that they      conservative ministers and parts of their congrega-
have been rather outspoken in their criticism of devel-     tions, beginning in 1969. There are five congregations
opments in the Gereformeerde Kerken of the Nether-          or preaching stations in this group of churches. There
lands. However, many of our readers will recall that        is a congregation in Manurewa (a suburb of
this denomination, when confronted by the concrete          Auckland), where the Rev. George McKenzie is
instance of the errors of Prof. K. Runia, who was at        pastor. Other locations on the North Island are
that time teaching in the theological college which         Whakatane  (in the Rotorua area) where the Rev. J.A.
they supported, failed miserably to uphold the pro-         Mitchell labors, and Napier-Hastings (in the Hawke
tests of several faithful members of the  denomina-         Bay area) where the Rev. G.A. Adams is minister. At
tion. And later, when Prof. Runia left for the Nether-      this stage I may mention also that there is an un-
lands, these churches bade him farewell with the tes-       organized little group in Wellington, consisting of
timony that he was a champion of the Reformed faith;        men who separated from the Reformed Church, who
moreover, they did not warn the churches in  the            have recently also been in contact with the Orthodox
Netherlands concerning his errors at the time. This         Presbyterian Churches. More about this later. On the
crisis led to the separation from that denomination of      South Island there is a congregation in Christchurch.
several members, especially in the Christchurch and         This is a young congregation, very recently estab-
the Wellington area. Probably because of their close        lished, with the brethren W. van Rij and A. Young as
contact with sister churches `in the Reformed  Ecu-         elders. They are without a pastor. There is also a
menical Synod, these churches are afflicted by many         congregation in Stoke (Nelson) at the north end of
of the weaknesses which are also to be found in vary-       the South Island. This congregation separated from
ing degrees in other Reformed denominations today.          the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand a little more
In our judgment, this denomination can hardly be            than a year ago, under the leadership of their pastor,
said to maintain a strongly Reformed stance; and we         the Rev. Ivo G. Bishop. We may add that this little
were confirmed in this opinion by a good many               denomination has not as yet assumed its final ecclesi-
people of these churches with whom we came into             astical structure. As yet they have not formed a
contact. Especially in the Auckland area we met a           Presbytery. But they do meet quarterly in a Council,
goodly number of people from this denomination              which is expected eventually to evolve into a Pres-
who not only gave  ~1s  a hearing, but showed consider-     bytery. Recently these churches have also begun pub-
able interest in our distinctively Reformed testimony,      lication of their own quarterly magazine, the  Gospel
as well as expressing dissatisfaction with the situation    Witness,  a commendable and respectable effort,
in their own churches and a desire to grow in the           which compares favorably with many other religious
Reformed faith. We may also note that the Christian         magazines published- by Reformed or Presbyterian
school movement is not strong in New Zealand. This          people. Incidentally, we may mention that they have
may be due in part to the smallness of this denomina-       already requested and received permission to take
tion; nevertheless it was not until this year that the      over in their magazine materials from our  Standard
ve.ry first Christian school was opened by parents          Bearer.  We believe that this magazine will also serve as
from the Reformed Churches. What I have written             a means of acquainting others with this young de-
above is not to be taken as a blanket characterization      nomination. In our contacts among these churches,
of all the churches and ministers. It is rather a char-     we met with a very warm and friendly reception,
acterization of the denomination as a whole.                found the people ready to receive instruction and, on
  The second group of churches, and that with which         the whole, very receptive to the Reformed truth.
we had considerable contact and from whom we                  We may also mention that when we came to the
received a very warm reception, is the young denom-         people and ministers of these denominations in New
ination known as the Orthodox Presbyterian                  Zealand, we certainly were not entirely unknown. We
Churches in New Zealand. Lest there be any con-             have become known to a good many people through
fusion on this score, we mention from the outset that       our literature, both our  Standurd  Bearer  and our
they have  `no ties with the Orthodox Presbyterian          books and pamphlets, chiefly through the distribu-
Church in America. The subordinate standards of             tion efforts of our good friend and brother, Bill van
these churches are the Westminster Confession of            Rij.  Moreover, without boasting, 1 believe that I  may
Faith, and the Shorter and Larger Westminster cat-          truthfully say that among many of these people we
echisms.- For the most part, the membership of these        are respected  for our distinctively Reformed position.
churches has come from the large and liberal  Pres-
byterihn Church of New Zealand, one of the mainline            A word or two about the general ecclesiastical
churches in that country which is at present involved       situation in New Zealand may conclude this descrip-
in a huge merger movement with other liberal denom-         tion. We have already made mention of the mainline
inations. It was especially this merger movement            Presbyterian Church there. And in general, the situa-
which.  precipitated separation on the part of several      tion in that church and other large denominations in.


                                               T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                         535


the country is very much like that in our own                      present situation there. It has deteriorated today to
country. In a word, they are liberal. In fact, they have           the point that, according to this student, there is no
been liberal and heterodox for a long time already. But            one of the faculty who even believes the truth of
as is also true in our own country, there remained in              vicarious atonement; and there was only one faculty
some of these churches pockets of conservatives. And               member who would as much as concede that the doc-
it seems as though especially the merger movement of               trine of vicarious atonement was an option. That will
recent years has been a sort of catalyst, serving to               aive  YOU an idea of the sad situation in those churches
awaken some people and to precipitate separations.                 a n d   o f   t h e   s o r e   n e e d   o f   r e f o r m a t i o n   through
We expect that a degree of such separation will  cori-             separation.
tinue for a time, but it is not to be expected that the
separatist movement will be large. Nevertheless, there                With characteristic efficiency and organizational
appears to be a definite possibility of growth for the             ability, brother van Rij had planned a busy tour for
Orthodox Presbyterian Churches. And they are to be                 us in New Zealand. He saw to it that there were no
encouraged and helped as much as possible. More-                   wasted moves and not many leisure moments. And all
over, they must by all means understand that their                 our meetings were well planned and well advertised.
only expectation of sound and healthy growth is in                 Moreover, we had been briefed as much as possible
maintaining a distinctively Reformed stand on the                  before we left our home shores as to what to expect,
basis of their Presbyterian Confessions. And it is our             what kind of questions were uppermost in people's
hope and prayer that the Lord our God will give them               minds, what kind of subjects should be discussed, and
the spiritual strength and courage to maintain such a              what would be good subjects for lectures. Without
distinctive position. Certainly, as far as the Presby-             friend van Rij's  help in organizing and planning our
terian faith is concerned, the mainline denomination               tour, we certainly would not have been able to cover
is far down the road. Perhaps some of our readers will             the ground we did nor would we have accomplished
recall that several years ago our  Standard Bearer                 as much as we did. Our sincere thanks to him and to
reported concerning a controversy in that denom-                   all who assisted him!
ination involving Prof.  Geering,  who denied the res-                With this we must conclude our report for this
urrection and the life hereafter. He was an instructor            issue. Next time, the Lord willing, we will relate some
,at the Knox Theological College of the Presbyterian              of the details of our various visits in beautiful New
Church in New Zealand. I had opportunity to                       Zealand.
inquire of a student at that school concerning the

ALL AROUND US


                                       Reprobation Ignored

                                                  Rc11.  H.  Veldmarz



  We noted last time that it was stated at the recent                However, the  News Bulletin of  the  Associutioll  oj
Christian Reformed synod that all should appreciate               Christian Reformed Laymen, July, 1975, page 7, also
the concern of Dr. Boer who had requested the synod               quotes the Rev. J. Postman,  Classis Toronto, who
to furnish scriptural proof for the doctrine of                   spoke at that synod, and we quote:
Reprobation as set forth in our Canons of Dordt. One                       I want to support this Motion (this refers to a new
may well ask: Dr. Boer's concern about what? Are                       motion to "accede" to the Boer request  - H.V.). We
not the Canons full of scriptural proof for the                        are a confessing church not a church of confessions.
                                                                       And I submit, Mr.  Chairinan, that presently we are
doctrine of double predestination, election and repro-                 not confessing reprobation. It's not a living matter
bation? What is his  coticern?  Is he concerned about                  amongst us. It does not flow issue from our pulpits in
this doctrine because it is his desire that this doctrine              a dynamic Word-directed way. We all circumvent it,
be emphasized, preached and taught? This question is                   we  all"avoid it, yet we somehow hold on  td our con-
surely pertinent.                                                      fessions as a relic . . .


536                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER



  So, there you have it. I do not know whether                    avoided by all. I refer, we understand, to the doctrine
anyone at the synod objected to this remark of Rev.               of Election as set forth by the Canons, the truth of
Postman. Anyone with any love for the truth of the                divine and sovereign election. The truths of election
Word of God certainly could not permit this remark
to go unchallenged. But, the truth of Reprobation is a            and reprobation either stand or fall together. One
relic, is not a living matter in that church, is  circum-         cannot  .maintain the one without maintaining the
vented and avoided by all. This means, of course, that            other. What a sad state of affairs in the Christian
the doctrine of Election is also circumvented and                 Reformed Church today!


           National Manifesto Against Abortion In The  Hague
  In the  Kevlc Bode  of June 14, 1975 the following                  action against the intended legalizing of the  abortus
article appeared (we translate):                                      provocatus. Until now the action has delivered the
                                                                      great number of more than a  half million signatures,
          The Netherlands Youth-group for Life  (NJAL)                and many will follow. Are the people awakening?
       organizes on next Saturday, June 21, (in cooperation
       with the Netherlands Committee SAVE THE                      We consider this a very interesting news item.
       UNBORN CHILD), at the "Malieveld" in The Hague             According to this article there is a movement on foot
       a great national demonstration against  "abortus           to prevent the legalizing of this terrible sin. In our
       provocatus" (abortion induced).                            country this terrible sin has already been legalized.
                                                                  We consider it striking that this action purposes to
          The gathering begins in the morning at  10 o'clock      defend the defenceless unborn child from the
       with three addresses: of Prof. Dr. W.H. Velema, Prof.
       Dr. Jac. van Essen and father Leopold Verhagen. In         moment of conception. This assumes that the child
       the afternoon at 1 o'clock a quiet march will be held      exists already at the moment of conception. With this
       to the "Binnenhof," where a petition will be pre-          I agree. I am sure that we are aware also of activities
       sented to M. vn Agt, minister of Justice. In this peti-    in our country to counteract this sin of abortion.
       tion it will be urged to maintain and execute the          However, we do well to understand that, fighting this
       existing abortion law and the actual defence of the        crime of abortion, we should do so upon sound and
       defenceless unborn from the moment of conception           scriptural grounds. Today we hear much of the move-
       with effective help and honest guidance to the             ment to save the unborn child upon the ground that
       expectant mother with the saving of the life of the        such a child has the right to live. This ground we must
       child.                                                     reject. The "right to live" is certainly not a scriptural
          The Netherlands Committee SAVE THE                      principle. The sinner has a right to nothing. It is
       UNBORN CHILD is a resort in which nine anti-               surely better to oppose abortion because it is a trans-
       abortion  orgtinizations  are cooperating. This com-       gression of the law of God, and specifically of the
       mittee is carrying on a great established signature        sixth commandment: Thou shalt not kill.


                             Christian Reformed Synod Approves
  In the  Banner  of June. 27, 1975, appear, on page              they are serving during that service. This is serious.
27, items approved by the synod.                                  This does not merely mean that these ministers
          Synod approves:                                         recognize these consistories (we, too, recognize the
                                                                  Christian Reformed Church, and the Reformed
          -Reformation Sunday, 1975, as day for pulpit
       exchange or joint worship with Reformed Church of          Church of America as churches), but it means that
       America, subject to local option and arrangements.         one submits himself to the jurisdiction of that par-
                                                                  ticular consistory. If the undersigned were to lead a
  This exchange of pulpits between the Christian                  Christian Reformed worship service, this would imply
Reformed Church and the Reformed Church of                        that he would lead that service as it is conducted by
America is subject to local option and arrangement.               the Christian Reformed Church and according to the
Churches, therefore, can also refuse to go along in               doctrines of that church.
this. This, we understand, has already been going on                 We know that there has been talk of a merger
between these churches. But now the synod has ap-                 bet  ween the Christian Reformed and Reformed
proved.                                                           Church of America. If one consider the grounds for
  We assume that this means that whenever these                   their separation in 1857 (I believe this was the year),
pulpit exchanges occur,. the various ministers  place             and judging these churches in the light of today, one
themselves under the consistories of the churches                 wonders why this separation should continue.


                                                      THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                                  537


                                 A House Divided Against Itself
  In Waarheid en Eenheid  (Truth and Unity), a paper                           Prof. Kuitert does not confess this and does not
in the Netherlands of the "Verontrusten" (the dis-                         maintain this. And now becomes a pre-advisor regard-
turbed or ill-at-ease because of conditions in the                         less? In the world about us it happens that they play
                                                                           with the truth and with reality, but. . . . . in the
Reformed Church in the Netherlands), appears the                           church of Christ?
following article, May 17, 1975, page  1, and we quote                    Yes,  this does  happen in the church of  Christ.   Of
it in part (we translate):                                           course, this is a "house divided against itself." A pro-
       Who would not consider it a strange matter that               f e s s o r   t e a c h e s   t h i n g s   t h a t   h a v e   b e e n   c o n d e m n e d
    the synod of Maastricht has also invited or permitted            synodically and then is asked by a synod to serve it as
    Prof. Kuitert as advisor? Strange, inasmuch as also the         its advisor? Well may these people of  Waarheid en
    church surely asks an advisor because he shall serve            Eenheid  be alarmed! But, what is to be done about
    the Reformed churches in wisdom, with a sense of                it? It is indeed true that these things occur within the
    responsibility and with inner oneness of spirit. And is         church of Christ.  And when they happen within the
    it not exactly Prof. Kuitert who, because of his denial          church of Christ, then it is far worse than when it
    of the historicity of the fall into sin, continues to
    stand under the judicial declaration of the synod of            happens in the midst of the world. To play with the
    Sneek, namely that what the confession declares in              truth and with reality in the world is bad. Of course!
    Lord's Days 3 and 4 concerning the origin of sin and            But it is far worse when it happens in the midst of the
    the results of the fall are of essential importance for         church of God and of Christ. And this is true because,
    the proclamation of the Gospel and that it should be            when it happens in the midst of the church, the truth
    maintained as authoritative?                                    is wilfully and consciously despised and rejected.


                                                                 Satan
  In a small magazine, published in the Netherlands,                      The final lot of those
and called  IN DE  RECHTE  STRAAT,  which,  trans-                         who follow him                                        Matthew  25:41
lated, would mean, "In The Straight Street,"                              The final lot of satan                               Revelation 20: 10
appeared a very short'article, in its June number and                     A menacing admonition
on page 23. We quote (we translate):                                       to all believers                          2 Corinthians 11: 14,lS
                                                                          Yet, for the believers there
      In this time, when Satan is increasingly revealing                   is "No fear" because                                   Matthew 28: 18
   his power, it is for every Christian of the greatest
   importance, that he or she becomes conscious of                                                                            J.W.H.M. Brunklaus
   what the Holy Scriptures teach us concerning this
   figure. For he is not fiction, but a hard, absolute
   reality.                                                               I believe that we can take this short article to
                                                                    heart. It is well for us to be aware of the presence and
   The original majesty and                                         power of the devil. He is very real. It is well for us to
    sinless state of satan                 Ezekiel 28:12-15         take to heart the admonition of the apostle as
   His dramatic rebellion                                           recorded in Eph. 6: 11, 12: "Put on the whole  armour
    against God                             Isaiah 14: 12-14        of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles
   His present kingdom                      Ephesians 6 : 12        of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and
   His part in the fall
    of the first people                                             blood, but against principalities, against powers,
                                              Genesis 3 : l-7
   His present restless                                             against the rulers of the darkness of this world,
    and dark activity                           I Peter  5:8        against spiritual wickedness in high places."



                                                    CHANGE OF ADDRESS

                           Please note the following change of address. Mr. Richard H. Teitsma, serving as
                     Secretary of The Protestant Reformed Theological School Committee and who also is the
                     Treasurer of The Protestant Reformed Seminary Building Fund has changed his mailing
                     address. After October 10, 1975, please address all correspondence regarding these
                     matters to: Mr. Richard H. Teitsma, 3681 Mohave Dr., SW, Grandville, Ml  49428s-3  ~
                                                                                                          &f$jL$  ,I  (rg
                                                                                                                       2


538                                             THE STANDARD BEARER



FROM HOLY WRIT

                          Exposition of Hebrews (13:  8)

                                                       Rev.  G. Lubbers




THE UNIQUE ALTAR THE NEW TESTAMENT                              could not be the case from the very nature of the
CHURCH HAS (Hebrews 13: 10, 11)                                 types and shadows. All the sacrifices and the  feast-
                                                                days culminated each year in the feast of the. Great
  We must not be carried away with divers and                   Day of Atonement, which was in the seventh month,
strange doctrines and teachings of heretical men. We            the tenth day. That was a day of the affliction of the
must draw straight lines of the Bible which insist that         soul, a day of fasting. It was the only prescribed fast
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever;         in Israel. This was one day in which there was no
it is our duty to see the total implications and conse-         rejoicing. The day proclaimed that all was unclean
quences of such a changeless Christ. Then we shall see          because of sin: temple, altar, all the people, including
type and fulfilment in their proper relationship; it            the priests and the high priest himself. A sacrifice
will then be clear what it means that God hath                  must be brought that would remove all the sin of all
spoken in these last days in His Son. (Heb. 1: l-2)             the people. The high priest must first bring a sacrifice
                                                                forhimself and then for all thy people. (Lev.  16:6, 15,
   Perhaps it was the contention of the Jewish                  16, 17; Hebrews  5:3, 4) The profound implication
teachers that if we left the Old Testament tabernacle           was that all was unclean until a better sacrifice would
ministry then we would not have an altar which                  be brought upon a better altar and in a better temple,
sanctifies the gift. (Matt. 23: 19) We would lose the           that is, a heavenly one. And the altar which we have
main part of the ministry. It is quite likely in view of        is not besmirched  .with the blood of goats, bullocks
this that the writer places emphatically on the fore-           and sheep, but is an altar in which Christ brings his
ground -that we do "have" an altar. It is not that we           own blood offered in perfect obedience through the
have an altar and that in the Old Testament they did            eternal Spirit. God never desired such sacrifices for
not; rather it is that we  Izasc  an altar notwithstanding      sin. They could not expiate guilt and corruption.
all the gainsaying of those who deny the faith in Jesus         That is why they were repeated each year again. They
Christ as the fulfilment of the promises of God. How-           were futile. But our altar is such that even though it is
ever, we have an altar of which those who still cling           an altar on the great day of atonement for sin  - we
to the Old Testament ritual cannot eat. The force of            can eat of the sacrifice; yea, we are enjoined by Christ
the present participle  (hoi tee  skmzer  latreuontes)          to eat from that altar which is the New Testament in
should not be overlooked. These very people who                 His blood. (Matt.  26:26, 27)
deny the reality in  Christ cannot eat from our altar
which is Christ. Our altar is unique in that it is                Such is our unique altar. Unbelief in Christ cannot
spiritual and it really dedicates all things to God,            eat from this altar which sanctifies all things, yea,
heaven and earth and all things, the good angels and            which is such that the Old Testament veil in the
the redeemed of all ages. (Col. 1: 18-20) And we eat            temple must be rent from top to bottom. This altar
from our altar and its benefits, which are the recon-           still stands in our midst in the form of a table in
ciliation which we have in Christ's blood of atone-             which we eat and drink Christ and all his benefits by
ment. We eat Christ's body, and we drink His blood.             faith. However, let it be underscored that those who
We eat the sacrifice which was brought for our sins             continue to minister in the Old Testament temple, as
and for the sin of the world by the Lamb of God.                if the veil had not been rent by God Himself, cannot
(John 1: 29)                                                    eat from our altar. They have no  right  to eat from it.
                                                                As many as received Him to them gave He this right
  However, such an altar the adherents to the Old               to be called the sons of God, who are born not of
Testament shadows and types do  not.halje.  They do             flesh, nor of blood, nor by the will of man, but who
not have such an altar for the simple reason that               are born of God. (John 1: 11, 12) That we  havesuch
Jehovah did not institute such an altar of atonement            an altar which is limited to those who believe in
in the Old Testament economy of salvation. This                 Christ crucified is our great privilege and right!


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                               539



 JESUS SUFFERED OUTSIDE OF THE GATE                          did this till He said "It is finished". There was no
 (Hebrews 13: 1 l-l 4)                                       more sin to be carried away. There never will be
    There is a tremendous type and symbolism in the          again. And He changes the altar of the Cross on which
 fact that the beasts which were slain in the Old Testa-     He sacrifices Himself through the eternal Spirit to
 ment day of atonement were not eaten by the priests.        a table from which the believers may eat. But that
 All other sacrifices which were brought were in part        means that we will need to go outside of the gate of
 for the ministering priests. They represented the           the Old Testament limitation, even though this means
 people in eating from the altar. And this eating from       that in so doing we shall be bearing the reproach of
 the altar by the priests prefigured our eating from the     Christ. We then shall be doing what Moses did when
 altar of God on which Christ was slain. But, as was         he left the riches of Egypt, esteeming the reproach of
 said, there was one sacrifice designated which was of       Christ greater riches than all the treasures of Egypt!
 such a nature that no priest might eat of this sacri-         There is something very impelling in this "Let us
 ficial animal. This refers to the  .bullocks  that were     go forth therefore." It means that this must be done
 slain for the sins of the priest (Lev.  16:6) and to the    by the entire church in the New Testament.
 one goat (the other was the scape-goat sent into the        Principally this was done by the church at Pentecost,
 wilderness) which was slain for the sins of the people      which was fully come. They entered into the com-
 and whose blood was shed as a typical removal of all        pleted work of Christ  - never to return to the types
 the sins and uncleanness of the temple, the altar and       and shadows. And that is what the Hebrews must do
 all the people. This sacrifice pointed pre-eminently to     without doubt and fear; resolutely they must go out-
 Christ Jesus, our Lord. Hence, in this sacrifice we         side to Christ, to the fulfilment of the Scriptures. We
 have the twofold element, the twofold typical ele-          must do this, too, and never return and eat from our
 ment of two goats. These two goats were ideally one:        altar from which the Old Testament saints could eat
 yet, they represent the twofold aspect of the sacrifice     in hope of a better priesthood.
 of Christ that He not only atones for our sins, but
 curvies  them  awa~~.  He is the sin-bearer, who carries    THE CITY WHICH WE SEEK (Hebrews 13: 14)
 them without the camp! It is for this reason also that        The believers in this world are but pilgrims and
 even the skin and the dung of the sacrificed animals        strangers due to election of grace and through the
 had to be burned without the camp.                          resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. (I Peter
    It was the divine intent that this was a picture of      1:2, 3) Such was Abraham when he lived in a tent
 the future reality that the Cross of Christ would be        with Isaac and Jacob his sons. They confessed that
 set up in the place of a skull outside of the city of       they were such pilgrims and strangers in the earth.
 Jerusalem, called Calvary. (Luke  23:33) After the          That is why they did not return to that country of
 soldiers had mocked Jesus, and Pilate had condemned         Haran or of Ur of the Chaldees. They could have
 Him to the death of the Cross, then He was led forth        returned as far as the time and distance were con-
 outside of the gate bearing his Cross. And then we see      cerned. However, they refused to return to that
 the scape-goat which is called  Asahel, who is not a        country: for they were seeking a better country, that
 picture of Satan as do the Seventh Day Adventists           is, an heavenly. They looked away from that which
 teach, but who is the very type. and symbol of the          was so dear to the flesh and so earthly. They had a
 Christ of God Who carries away the sins of His people       better treasure in heaven. And the Hebrews, too, have
 on the Cross. He carries away the sins of all His           a better city, the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the
 people whether they be in the Old Testament or in           living God, where the church of the firstborn is now
 the New Testament. He does not carry away the sins          with Jesus the Mediator, Whose blood speaketh better
 of either Jews or Gentiles as such. He reconciles to        things than Abel.  (Heb. 11: 15, 16) For that city
 God all whom the Father has given Him. All His              which abides and is eternal is already "prepared" for
 sheep He delivers, and He brings them under the one         them. It is such a beautiful city that God is not
 shepherd, who thrones between the Cherubim in the           ashamed to be called the God of Abraham, Isaac, and
 Most Holy place. Wherefore, the Cross is set not            Jacob.
 within the narrow confines of the city of Jerusalem,          Now if the Hebrews must leave the earthly city and
 nor within the enclosure of the law of ordinances and       "go outside to Christ," it should not be too sorrow-
 separation, but in the wide plain of the world, "with-      ing. Fact is, that it should give great joy! Moses
 out the gate"!                                              accounted the sufferings of Christ to be greater riches
   Here Jesus  sujyered   for the sins of the people. It     than the treasures of Egypt. We are to account the
 was the suffering of bearing the wrath of God against       glory of the new Jerusalem so far to pass the glory of
- the sins of the whole human race. Jesus did not suffer     the earthly city of David, that a little reproach for
 for his principles, or as a good example. He bore the       Christ is not worthy to be compared. This city of
 wrath of God against the sins of His people. And He         David is not a continuing city. That is its very nature,


540                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



as became evident in the Babylonian captivity, the           to return in that capacity. It  has become a desolation
destruction of the temple, and the breaking down of          for which only those who have no eye for the
the palaces and bulwarks of that city. Yes, it was           heavenly city can vie, as do the Jews and the
rebuilt under Zerubbabel, and so was its temple under        Arabians. But we have  lzere no continuing city. The
Ezra, only because God had an immovable kingdom              time shall come when men shall neither worship in
in store for Israel. (Hebrews  12:25-29)                     the hill of  Samaria, nor in the temple at Jerusalem,
  That earthly city did not continue.When that city          says Jesus to the Samaritan woman. God is a spirit
ceased to be the place where God would place His             and they that worship Him must worship Him in
Name and call His people to worship Him, the temple          spirit and in truth! Let us therefore go without the
can be and is destroyed by the hordes of the Roman           city bearing Jesus' reproach, being evilly spoken of
armies. Then the city can pass from the scene never          and reviled for His sake.


SEMINARY CONVOCATION.


                       Convocation Address, 1975
                                                   Pro5 H. Hunko


  Beloved people of God. As our chairman men-                controversies through which our churches have
tioned in his prayer at the beginning of this meeting,       passed. Never was the seminary some kind of ivory
we celebrate this year not only the 50th anniversary         tower far removed from the battlefield; but always
of our Protestant Reformed Churches, but also on             the seminary took a leading role in all these contro-
this convocation night, the 50th anniversary of our          versies and difficulties. It participated actively in the
Protestant Reformed Theological School. That in              expansion of our churches, especially in the years
itself is an extremely significant thing. It is signifi-     immediately following upon 1924. It provided the
cant, I think, for especially two reasons. It is signifi-    church with all her ministers from the beginning until
cant, in the first place, because of the fact that those     today. And, especially during the years of Revs.
men whom God used at the very beginning of our               Hoeksema and Ophoff it played a major role in the
history to form the Protestant Reformed Churches;            development of the positive truth of sovereign grace.
were obviously so convinced of the rightness of their        All of these things show that the seminary has never
cause and of the blessing of the Lord in the future          been separated from the life of the church.
upon their fledgling denomination that they im-
mediately established a seminary for the instruction            But what is particularly significant and particularly
of men for the ministry of the Word. In the second           true is that the  seminal-9 has always stood in the fore-
place, it is significant that we celebrate tonight the       front of the life of the church from the point of view
50th anniversary of our seminary because of the fact         of doctrine. And in connection with that fact, I want
that the affairs of the seminary have always been inti-      to call your attention tonight for a `few moments to
mately entwined with the affairs of the church to            some thoughts in connection with the prophecy of
which we belong.                                             Hosea 4, the first part of vs. 6, where the prophet
                                                             Hosea, as the mouthpiece of Jehovah and by the
  And in so far as we commemorate God's covenant             Spirit of Christ, gives this diagnosis of the sad state of
faithfulness to us as churches, we commemorate               affairs in the Northern Kingdom. "My people are
God's covenant faithfulness to us also as a seminary.        destroyed for lack of knowledge." Admittedly that is
Never has our seminary occupied a position separate          a negative text; nevertheless, it implies, in the  first
from our churches. Always the affairs of the seminary        place, a very important positive truth; and it implies,
were very closely connected with the history of our          in the second place, a very urgent and serious warn-
congregations and with the history of our denomina-          ing.
tion. The seminary was born out of the same conflict
which brought about the existence of our own                    From a political, economic and social point of
Protestant Reformed Churches. The seminary stood             view, for the nation of Israel the day during which
in the vanguard during the troubles and doctrinal            Hosea prophesied were days of unparalleled prosperity.


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 541



The power of Syria had declined. Syria had been, up              The idea is, first of all, that God addresses the
to a short time before this point, Israel's arch-enemy.       nation of Israel, the Northern Kingdom organically.
The power of Assyria had not yet reached its zenith.          That means especially three things. It means, in the
And in that lull the Northern Kingdom of the 10               first place, that the nation of Israel was God's people
tribes flourished, especially under the rule of               from the viewpoint of her historical origin, and from
Jeroboam II. The nation was prosperous; the nation            the viewpoint of the history which she experienced
was wealthy; the nation was engaged in active trade;          throughout all the ages of her existence. That nation
there was affluence and luxury such as it had never           was part of God's people which claimed Abraham as
known. There was peace and quietness within the               its ancestor. That nation was part of a people whom
borders; no foreign invaders threatened.                      God had separated from all the nations of the earth,
                                                              and led them out of the house of bondage, through
  But although all this was true from a political and         the wilderness, and into the land of promise. That
an economic point of view, nevertheless, from a               nation was a nation which had been given special
spiritual point of view, the nation of Israel had fallen      privileges. It had received what Paul called the oracles
on bad times. We need only read very briefly in the           of God; it had received the revelation of God in all
prophecy of  Hosea to realize how bad the spiritual           His mighty  ,works and wonders which  H(: had per-
condition in the nation had become. The sin of image          formed. And as such, because that nation was
worship and idolatry which had been begun by                  specially preferred throughout all her history, sepa-
Jeroboam I and which had received strong impetus              rated as a special people, that nation goes under the
under the rule of Ahab had continued to develop to            name of "God's people."
the spiritual detriment of the nation. And along with
the sin of idolatry went all the abominations of the            In the second place, that nation is called "`God's
heathen, so that there was not one sin which had              people" because of the fact that there was present in
been committed at any time among all the heathen              the nation throughout all her history, two seeds: the
nations which surrounded Israel which was not also            seed of the elect kernel, of the 7000 who had not
to be found in the Northern Kingdom. The people               bowed the knee to Baal, and whom God preserved
had become immune, it seemed, to rebuke. The                  even in the days of  Hosea the prophet; and the
people loved their luxuries; and a spirit of  world-          reprobate and carnal seed. And in so far as the elect
lymindedness, of carnal pleasure, of enjoyment in the         kernel (the remnant according to the election of
good things of life, to the exclusion of spiritual values,    grace), was still preserved there, that people still went
prevailed throughout the entire nation.                       under the name of "God's people."
                                                                In the third place, the nation as a whole manifested
  It was, therefore, if I may say so, a time in the           itself as wicked. The diagnosis which God makes of
Northern Kingdom which compares rather closely to             the nation is a diagnosis which applies to the nation
our own; especially in this country. Certainly there is       in her organic unity. God's people were present  - of
no one who would dispute the fact that the church,            that there can be no doubt. But the nation mani-
in this country, lives and shares in a time of un-            fested herself in her national life, through her kings,
paralleled prosperity. The church has wealth, and             through her priests, and through her prophets. As
affluence; the church is materially strong, financially       that nation came to manifestation, therefore, before
in possession of huge assets, both of property and            the eyes of her sister Judah, and before the eyes of
money. But while this may be true from a material             the whole world, the diagnosis of the ailments of that
point of view; there are few, too, who would dispute          nation is this, "My people are destroyed for lack of
the fact that the church has fallen on bad times. The         knowledge." That was  the  trouble. That was  the
materialism and affluence and prosperity which                problem in the nation.
characterize the church have constituted a fertile seed         If we ask the question, to what does the prophet
bed in which the seeds of worldliness, godlessness,           refer when he speaks of knowledge, the answer to
and carnalmindedness have grown and flourished and            that question is this: the prophet refers especially to
brought forth a dreadful fruit. If the diagnosis which        the knowledge of the mighty works and deeds of
God offered through  Hosea the prophet, therefore,            Jehovah God. That is mentioned many times in the
fitted the nation of Israel, that same diagnosis of the       Old Testament Scriptures. You have, for example, in
ailments which plague the  .church fits also the church       the book of Judges the statement at the very
of today.                                                     beginning of the book: "A generation arose which
  The first question to be answered is: What does the         knew not the Lord, neither  the mighty works  which
prophet mean when he speaks of God's people; and              He had performed for Israel." That statement at the
what does God Himself mean when He addresses this             very beginning of the book of Judges is intended to
nation as "My people?" I can say only a few words             be the explanation for the many calamities which
about that.                                                   befell the nation during the period in which the


542                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



Judges ruled. You have the same expression used in          of the  heart,  as well as of the head. It is the knowl-
Psalm 78 in a slightly different context. In Psalm 78,      edge of faith; the knowledge which is spiritual in
godly Israel, through the mouth of the poet, promises       character; the knowledge which, when it becomes the
to teach her children the wonderful works of the            confession of a man, is breathed out in the whole of
Lord. And when the prophet, therefore, talks about          his life; the knowledge, in short, of which Jesus
the fact that the problem in the Northern Kingdom is        speaks in His High-priestly prayer when He says,
lack of knowledge, the prophet means by that: lack          "This is eternal life, that they may know thee, the
of the knowledge of God's mighty works which He             only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast
had performed for the nation.                               sent." There was a lack of that knowledge in Israel.
  We need not enumerate all those mighty works;               There were apparently two reasons for that. In the
you know them. They are the mighty works whereby            first place,. that knowledge was no longer beirig
God led Israel out of Egypt, preserved them for 40          taught. Parents were not teaching their children the
years in the wilderness, and gave them the land of          knowledge of God's mighty works which He had per-
Canaan for their inheritance. In that land He had           formed for Israel. Nor were those in the nation who
blessed them with milk and honey, had set upon the          were entrusted with the responsibility of instruction
throne of the kingdom David and Solomon, and had            in the broader sense, the priests and the prophets,
always spoken `to Israel of the fact that their             teaching the people the knowledge which they should
existence as a nation was exclusively and solely            have had.
dependent upon the mighty works of Jehovah.                   But while the blame for this lack of knowledge, no
  But it is well to remind ourselves of the fact that       doubt, must be laid at the feet of parents and
these mighty works of Jehovah which became a part           prophets and priests,  Hosea is very explicit about it
of the history of the nation of Israel, were mighty         that the people themselves share in that blame. In this
works which constituted, for Israel,  sacred  history.      same verse he says, "Because thou hast rejected knowl-
The history -of the nation, because it was filled with      edge, I will also reject thee." The meaning is that
all these mighty works, was the history of revelation.      although that knowledge was not being taught, the
And because these mighty works of Jehovah consti-           people did not want it. They did not want to hear of
tuted sacred history, the history of revelation, the        it. I suppose, fundamentally and basically, that was
contents of all that history were always the promises       because of the fact that they hated that knowledge.
of God. In all of these mighty works which God per-         Hatred of the truth is always characteristic of the
formed He was speaking His promises. And those              unbeliever. But in a certain sense of the word, the sin
promises are Christ. The knowledge of God's mighty          of the people was even worse than that; at least in so
works, therefore, was the knowledge of God's                far as it was manifested. It was not so much an active
wonders as He revealed Himself as the God Who               hatved  of the knowledge of God, as it was sheer, cold
promised to save His church through the seed of the         indifference. They didn't have the time for it. They
woman.                                                      didn't have any interest in it. They couldn't be
                                                            bothered with it. They were too busy in their pursuit
  Now I want to stress the fact, for a moment, that         of carnal pleasure' to engage in the hard work of
that was  knowledge:  hard knowledge; knowledge             acquiring the knowledge of God's wonderful works
which is the content of Israel's mind, and knowledge        which He had performed: They didn't want to be
which can only be the fruit of study and of learning.       bothered. The effort was too great. That was why
It is the product of hard learning, hard work, intellec-    there was no knowledge. That kind of an attitude
tual endeavor. It is not acquired by lying flat on one's    towards knowledge is born in an unregenerate heart.
back in bed and daydreaming; it is not acquired auto-
matically, so that it seeps in by some strange process        And that is characteristic of the church of today.
of osmosis. It is not innate in man, so that he is born     Who can deny it? There is no knowledge  - that is the
with it and need not acquire it. It is hard, theological    trouble; no knowledge of God's wonderful works, in
doctrine.  That kind of knowledge it is which can only      the first place, and principally as those works are
be acquired in the way of work.                             recorded for us on the pages of Holy Writ and as they
                                                            constitute for us the infallible record of the revelation
  And yet, at the same time, though it is that kind of      of God in the face of our Lord Jesus Christ. But no
knowledge, it is not only knowledge of the head. It         knowledge either of God's wonderful works which He
never was for believing Israel. A man does not stake        performed on behalf of  His church from the day of
his life on knowledge of the head. A Noah does not          Pentecost to today. No knowledge of how God
build an ark on `knowledge of the head. An Abraham          gathered His church from all the nations of the earth;
does not sojourn as a stranger in a strange land on the     how He preserved His church against the gates of hell;
basis of mere head knowledge. The knowledge of God          how He kept His church in dark and difficult hours,
is always, and was for believing Israel, the knowledge      when heresies threatened her very existence; when


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                543



enemies stormed her citadels; how He always                  sound doctrine, of the wonderful works of God; her
preserved  His own remnant according to the election         knowledge of them so that she  understands  them,
of grace, even when that preservation required refor-        understands them thoroughly, understands them so
m a t i o n , separation, the re-establishment of the        thoroughly that she can articulately speak of them.
church. And how God preserved that church when               And yet it is the kind of knowledge which is spiritual;
fierce persecutions arose, so that the truth which our       profoundly, deeply spiritual. And for that reason it is
fathers confessed was the truth written with their           always the personal knowledge that is the living,
own blood.  Those  mighty works the church today             pulsing confession of the child of God. That kind of
does not know. And it does not know them because             knowledge is the critical ingredient necessary for the
no one teaches them. Instead of hard knowledge,              welfare of the church of Christ.
something one can get his teeth into, there is pro-             And so, we are ready to begin another year in the
claimed from a thousand pulpits a diet of drivel and         seminary. God's mighty works which He has per-
bland, tasteless pap.                                        formed include also the history of our own Protestant
   But the fault does not only lie with those upon           Reformed Churches. But they include not only the
whom rests the responsibility for teaching. There is         history of our Protestant Reformed Churches as some
not love for the truth, no love for knowledge, no            interesting and significant historical data; but they
interest in sound doctrine, no time for it, no concern       include the history of our Protestant Reformed
about it among the people. "We can't be bothered.            Churches as God has kept  LE  as churches and semi-
Don't trouble us about these things." We live in this        nary, faithful to the truth of the Scriptures. That, I
age of tolerance where everybody, no matter what             tell you, is a wonderful work of God.
road he travels, is after all,  dn the road to heaven. We       And so we can do no better on this occasion of our
are reminded repeatedly and admonished a thousand            50th anniversary than to rededicate ourselves to that
times that we must not- be critical; we must not be          knowledge of God which is so dear and precious to
picky; we must not be so narrow-minded as to con-            us. And that means in particular, first of all, that you
sider the fact that there is only one knowledge, and         students who  are studying in the seminary must
one truth which is salvation.                                pursue that knowledge with excitement, with a spirit
   And so God's people perish because there is no            of adventure, with eagerness, with dedication, with
knowledge. Israel did. This does not refer only to the       zeal, with devotion. That is critical for your prepara-
captivity  - to that, too, of course. It would only be a     tion for the ministry of the gospel. And that means,
few years when Assyria would have reached that               in particular, in the second place, beloved colleagues,
point in the development of her might where she              that you and I have the awesome responsibility in the
would swoop down upon the  Nijrthern Kingdom and             seminary to receive in humble gratitude the heritage
lead the people away captive. But the destruction of         which is ours; to receive that in the acknowledgment
which God speaks here is a different kind of a               of the fact that that constitutes one of God's mighty
destruction. In a way, it is more terrible, although the     works which he has done for Israel; to give faithful
captivity stands connected with it. Israel would             instruction, faithful to that heritage, and to pursue
presently cease to be the church, the manifestation of       unrelentingly the knowledge of the truth. And that
the body of Christ. And so it is with any church, any        means, thirdly, and specifically, that this is an
church which despises knowledge; her place is taken          endeavor which occupies the church of Christ as a
out of the candlestick; she ceases to be church, the         whole. The seminary cannot exist without the
church of Christ, the manifestation of Christ's body.        churches. I do not mean financially, although that,
She becomes a tomb, a sepulchre in which are found           too. I do not mean as a reason for her existence,
                                                             although that, too. But I mean that the quest of the
rotting corpses and dead men's bones. And the end is
hell.                                                        knowledge of God, of the infinite riches of the Most
                                                             High as He revealed them in Christ is a quest that can
   And that is not just because of the fact that to          never occupy the attention of a couple of men, stuck
despise knowledge is one kind of sin which stands out        off in some classrooms or in the ivory towers of their
above many others. To despise knowledge, to turn             own studies, surrounded by their libraries and books.
one`s back on knowledge, is to turn one's back on God        It does not work that way. It never has, and it never
and Christ, Who alone is the Fountain of all life.  That     will. Only when God's people pursue that knowledge
is God's diagnosis.                                          of the truth constantly and faithfully, will that con-
                                                             tinue to be the  caSe also in the seminary. From our
   That implies, of course, very important and funda-        pulpits that truth  mvst sound  doctrirzally.  And from
mental truths. That truth is the cornerstone of the          our people there must arise anew the prayer, "Lord
church, the guarantee of her survival as church; and         teach us to know Thee, Whom to know is life
the promise of all of her future rests-in her knowl-         eternal.". Then we have a  .glorious  -future. May God
edge, her knowledge of doctrine, her knowledge of            grant it.                                                    ;



                                                                                                                          .I

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544                                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER



SPECIAL REPORT


                      Third General Assembly, PCA

                                                                          Pastor E.C. Case
                                                            First Church, Woodville, Mississippi
                                                                              .  -                    ~..  .~  ^

                      .,
                ;
   Those  v&&read   the report of the Second Assembly                                  cleared up with regard to the relation of our
of the  Presbyte@n  Cl&-ch in America, published in                                    secondary standards to our primary standards and
this  paper'Pas$  .Octpber,  will remember that the spirit                             how binding each of these are upon the conscience of
of that  reljort  wasvery critical. At that time, there                                those who must take ordination vows.
were  stroflg  .doubts  w.hether the PCA would amount                                     In connection with the debate on the Directory,
to anything  -&en remotely resembling a Reformed                                       there was an attempt to get official approval for the
and  PresbiXer:ian Church.  %Iappily, there is  cause for                              "invitation system.  " This was defeated. That it was
g u a r d e d   oetimi$m  i n   t h e   w a k e   o f   t h i s   y e a r 's           brought up, however, is indicative of one of the
Assembly..  C&air&, it is ndt yet time to be at ease in                                problems in the PCA. There are those whose
Zion, but -the  outlook  is generally brighter than some                               methodology is inconsistent with their professed
of us would have `dared to predict a year ago.                                         theology. The invitation system is based on an
   The  atmpsphere of  .this Assembly was much more                                    erroneous      interpretation     o f   s o m e   p a s s a g e s   o f
relaxed  thati- at `the last. There were a couple of                                   Scripture and a faulty understanding of man's
reasons for  ,fhis. One  ,was the fact that we were not                                depravity. Particularly distressing was the fact that
confronted with another name change, an issue which                                    one of the men who spoke in favor of it compared
took much.  time  and `generated much heat which                                       the office of the Minister of the Word to the job of a
spilled  overinto  -other areas. The other calming factor                              salesman, and our Lord Jesus Christ to the product
was the  :`geadeirship   df  .the Moderator, Leon F.                                   the salesman tries to get people to buy. That
Hendrick,  $udge  .O$ the  ,Hinds County, Mississippi                                  approaches, if it is not indeed, blasphemy.
Circuit  C.oqt,  &$l an  elder at First Church, Jackson,                                 Another high-priority item was the report of the
Mississippi.  I-lis  bgentletianly  manner, in the finest                              Ad-interim Committee on the Number of Offices in
Southern  ?radition,  easy humor, and ability aided                                    the Church. Southern Presbyterianism, in the
greatly  in+expedit&g   matters.                                                       tradition of J.H. Thornwell, has historically held the
   A major  p&t of `the time of the Assembly was                                       two-office (elder and deacon) view, recognizing the
taken with.  :issu&?  .pertaining  to our constitutional                               distinction in the two types of elders (teaching and
documents. There  -tiere a-number of minor changes in                                  ruling), but insisting that insofar as the courts of the
the Form of  .Government and Rules of Discipline.                                      church are concerned, all elders sit in parity as rulers,
The only change which caused much debate  was. the                                     and that no court can legally be constituted unless
a d d i t i o n   t o   t h e   s e c t i o n   g o v e r n i n g   A s s e m b l y    there are both ruling and teaching elders present. The
operations which limits the tenure of members on                                       report of the committee was a bit more radical than
Permanent Assembly Committees to one full term or                                      this. Had their report been approved, a ruling elder
two years of a partial term. This was done to prevent                                  who later was trained, examined, and approved as a
any one man, or group of men, from establishing a                                      teaching elder would not have to be re-ordained.
private power base. Anyone who has served the                                          There was also a proposal that ruling elders be
allotted time will have to step down for at least a year                               allowed to administer the sacraments in extraordinary
before he is eligible to serve on the same committee                                   circumstances,     b y   s p e c i a l   .dispensation  o f   t h e
again. These committees, the major ones dealing with                                   Presbytery.
Administration, Christian Education, Home Missions,                                      As it turned out, there was a good deal of
and World Missions, are charged with implementing                                      sentiment for a three-office view. And even among
the programs of the Assembly. They have only                                           those who hold the two-office position, there was
delegated, not discretionary powers.                                                   feeling that this report did not so much elevate the
   Work was also completed on the Directory for                                        office of ruling elder as it demeaned the status of
Worship, though there are still some issues to be                                      those elders who both teach and rule. There were also


                                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  545


conflicts in the report with the Confession and                               Great Commission Press for the development of a
Catechisms. Thus, the whole issue was re-committed                            comprehensive Sunday School Curriculum, this over
to a new committee for further study, general feeling                         the objections of some who would prefer the con-
being that this was far too important an issue to be                          tinued use of non-denominational, largely Arminian
decided in haste.                                                             literature from several religious publishing houses.
                                                                              The concept of extention seminaries, approved last
   The World Mission report, a center of lively, and at                       year, was rejected due to cost and the fact that there
times bitter debate last year was also of extreme                             is no pressing need for more ministers. Those of
importance. The passage, by the Second Assembly, of                           strongly Reformed convictions were glad to see the
a program of cooperation with interdenominational                             defeat of this because such schools, it was feared,
independent mission boards led many commissioners                             would be low in quality and not sufficiently Re-
to that Assembly to register their negative votes.                            formed. Mission to the United States reported several
   During the past year, a manual for world missions                          new churches being started and the formation of two
has been compiled, which, though not perfect, is                              new Presbyteries: Louisiana and Ascension (the latter
much closer to the historic Thornwellian position                             being in the Pennsylvania-Ohio area). An overall
which many of us hold. This manual has now been                               budget of $2.5 million was adopted for the church,
sent to the churches for study and comment before                             nearly three-quarters of a million more than the
final approval. Meanwhile, the Committee on                                   present year, a budget which has yet to be fully
Missions to the World is to follow the guidelines                             subscribed.
established in it. The Assembly adopted a program                               Certainly, the PCA has not reached perfection. The
directing that emphasis be placed on church-planting                          optimism among Reformed men is guarded. Prot-
ministries (which, of course, is the only function of                         estant Reformed readers will no doubt find some of
missions, Biblically) while allowing for cooperation                          the things mentioned less than thrilling (i.e.  NAPARC
with independent boards in areas of service or                                and the joint venture in Christian Education). Being
support, such as building schools, providing medical                          of similar views, this writer is not completely happy.
care, etc. (which are not properly the domain of the                          There are a couple of things that should be kept in
church as institute anyway). Obviously, this is not all                       mind, however. Some of us who were not sure after
it could be. But most of us felt we could at least                            the Second Assembly whether we could long remain
support this program, with some reservations,                                 in the PCA now feel we can stay. The advances the
whereas we could not have supported a continuation                            Reformed party made at this Assembly were as signif-
of the flagrantly un-presbyterian policies of the last                        icant as that. Pray God that we may continue this
Assembly. We cannot rest with this, however. The                              trend. Also, remember that those of us who hold
goal is a church which unashamedly confronts the                              views similar to your own are allowed to propagate
task committed to her by our Lord: to preach the                              those views unmolested. The situation is not the same
gospel to all those to whom He sends us. In doing                             as 1924. Maybe this optimism will be dashed in
this, we must maintain a program consistent with                              future months and years. For now, the task is to
THE Biblical form of church government which is                               build upon what we have, by God's grace, been able
Presbyterianism. As Thornwell put it: "These officers                         to attain and trust Him to preserve His glorious truth.
and these courts are treated in our constitution as
abundantly adequate to meet all exigencies of the
Church, and to do all that God requires her to do in
her ecclesiastical capacity. We profess to trace this
system to the Scriptures . . . we cannot question its
s u f f i c i e n c y   w i t h o u t   bringing.a   s e r i o u s   a n d
blasphemous           reproach        upon        the Spirit of
inspiration." (Collected Writings, Vol. 4, p. 149)

   In other matters before the Assembly, approval
was given to the concept of the North American Pres-
byterian and Reformed Council  (NAPARC). How-
ever, the Assembly also served notice that it was in no
mood for moving too close to other bodies, by
resoundingly defeating a proposal that the 1977
Assembly meet at a place outside of the South and in
conjunction with other churches (somewhat along the
lines of the OPC-RPCES-RPCNA meetings this year).
Approval was also given to the joint venture with


5     4    6                                   THE STANDARD BEARER



IN HIS FEAR


                                   Anxiety and Worry
                                                   Rev. M. Joostens




     We, as children of God, are called upon to live in         Let us further attend to the Savior's explanation.
the midst of an age and world that is permeated with          We turn to the visit of Jesus to the home of Martha.
the sin of anxiety. That such is the state of the world       Mary, the sister of Martha, sat at Jesus' feet and
is clearly manifest in the unrest which the world             attentively listened to the words of His mouth but
exhibits at every level of society. In the midst of wars      Martha was  cumbered about much serving. In fact,
and rumors thereof, peace efforts are headline news.          Martha was so engrossed in the problem of serving the
In the midst of crime and evident lack of justice we          guests that she said to Jesus,  " . . . dost thou not care
hear the cry for law and order so as to have safety in        that my sister hath left me to serve alone?" And what
the streets. `In the midst of the breakdown of the            does Christ answer? "Martha, Martha thou art careful
family unit, teenage rebellion against authority and          (anxious) and troubled about many things; But one
all its logical repercussions, parents throw up their         thing is needful and Mary hath chosen that . . .  " Or
hands in despair. And regarding all these the world is        again as Christ instructs His disciples in Luke 12.
full of worry and anxiety.                                    "And when they bring you (the disciples) unto the
     In the midst of such a world the people of God           synagogues, and unto the magistrates, and powers,
must not be swept along by the current of this sin.           take no thought (be not anxious) what ye shall
Yes, we do not hesitate to call anxiety a sin. And for        answer. . . For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in. the
God's children it is a very devastating sin that under-       same hour what ye ought to say."
mines a very essential characteristic of our lives.             But what is Jesus trying to say? This becomes quite
Anxiety and worry are to the detriment of faith! This         plain when we understand what constitutes anxiety.
will become eminently clear to us when we let the             Properly to be anxious means to be drawn in differ-
Scripture shine its light of instruction upon this sin.       ent directions or to be divided. That was exactly the
     We find this instructive light in the very words of      case with Martha. She was drawn away or distracted
the Savior Himself. First of all, He strongly admon-          from the one thing which was needful. Martha's con-
ishes against the sin of anxiety. This admonition is          cern about the unimportant thing of setting the table
found in the sixth chapter of Matthew. As Jesus               kept her from the necessity of listening to the words
instructs the multitude in His Sermon on the Mount,           of Christ. This is also the lesson in the instruction of
we find the recurring phrase,  " . . . take no thought.       Christ to His disciples. They were not to be distracted
for . . . " Now, the old English of the King James            or divided from a complete trust by worrying about
Version somewhat obscures the meaning here. But let           the speech to be made before the magistrates.
it be known that when the Authorized Version went
to press in 16 11, the words  " . . . take no thought           Has it become clear to us why Christ equates
for . . . " designated undue anxiety or worry. This is        anxiety and worry with littleness of faith? Perhaps an
illustrated very clearly in I. Sam.  9:5. You recall that     example will aid us. Let us call to mind the occasion
Saul was providentially brought into contact with the         of Peter's walking upon the water after Jesus bade
prophet Samuel while searching for his father's asses.        him  to. come. It was when that disciple saw the
And in this connection, when the asses were not               boisterous wind and was afraid that be began to sink,
found, we read these words of Saul to his servant,            beckoning the Savior for His help. And after Jesus
"Come and let us return; lest my father leave caring          had stretched forth his hand to grasp him He said, "0
for the asses and take thought for  us.".That  is, lest he    thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?"
worry about us. So the admonition of Christ is, do'           Peter was of a divided mind, he was torn in two
not worry or be not anxious, because that constitutes         directions. As long as he kept his eyes upon the
a littleness of faith.                                        Savior in faith, he was able to walk with Him. But


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  547



when he was distracted by the boisterous wind his           Christ beckons us to consider carefully the birds that
feet sank beneath the surface of the water. It was the      glide through the sky and to take them as exemplary.
distraction that caused his faith to falter. Worry and      He points out to us,  ". . . they sow not, neither do
anxiety denote a littleness of faith, while their           they reap, nor gather into barns." They are creatures
absence points to a strong faith.                           of instinct and have not the capacity to worry. Yet,
   It is no wonder that the world is earmarked by           our Heavenly Father feedeth them. God providen-
anxiety, for they have no God nor do they desire His        tially holds even the fowls of the air in His hands and
Christ. But the sad truth is that all too frequently        cares for them. If He so provides for these insignifi-
these earmarks of the world also become those of the        cant creatures, how much more will He take care of
child of God. All too often the words of Christ, "0         us, who are His children for Christ's sake!
ye of little faith," are apropos for the Christian. On         Or again, "Consider the lilies of the field." And the
the one hand we speak in boldness while standing on         Savior points out to us that they do not toil neither
the mountaintops of faith, saying that we are com-          do they spin fine yarns. Yet, God clothes the flowers
pletely confident in our God, trusting absolutely in        of the field majestically, so that their beauty is un-
His all-wise, providential care. We confess to have         surpassed. Even Solomon and all His glory was not
the comfort that we commit our entire life to Him.          arrayed like one of these. When Solomon sat arrayed
Yet on the other hand, we are often so carnally             in his royal garb amid all the riches with which God
minded. We are distracted by the mundane carnalities        had blessed him, he could not compare to the
of this earthly life. We are burdened and weighed           splendor of the flower of the field. If God so arrays
down with unnecessary anxiety and worry. Some-              the flowers of the field which today stand in all their
times this is true to such an extent that we attempt to     glory and tomorrow are used to fire the ovens to bake
run ahead of God by planning things in such a               bread, will He not much more give us, who have
manner so as to have carnal security apart from trust       eternal life, all things in Christ?
in Him.                                                       All too often, we are too much conformed to the
  Oh, we may become very concrete. We worry                 mind of the world as they are preoccupied with all
about our life. And when the Lord brings sickness we        manner of carnal worries and anxieties. And they are
become anxious about our health, about how long we          so preoccupied because they have no  .God in Whom
will live, whether we will have to suffer through the       to trust and no Savior in Whom to find comfort. But
agonies of a prolonged illness, or whether the Lord         it is quite different with us because we do have a God
will take us home suddenly. And, who will take care         Who is a strong tower, our refuge and strength. And
of my family in my absence? We even become                  we do have a Savior Who is the object of our faith.
anxious regarding the things with which God has               Then,, why do we worry? Why are we so often
blessed us. The trouble is that we often consider all       anxious? It is a lack of faith. It is sin, because we have
these things apart from God and His providing care!         a Father in Heaven. Who knows and supplies all our
All this ought not to be!                                   needs. We do well to consider the birds and the lilies
  Let us listen once again to the simple and clear, yet     of the field. If God so wonderfully takes care of them,
profound words of our Savior. We turn again to His          His hand will certainly never wax short unto us who
Sermon on the Mount. Here Christ brings forth  aline       are His children!
of argumentation against anxiety by pointing us to            Shall we put worry and anxiety behind us and walk
the realm of nature. "Behold the fowls of the air."        in the strength of faith? That is walking in His fear!


SIGNS OF THE TIMES

                                         Crime-Again

                                                Rev. G. Van Burcrl

  One would have to be blind and deaf not to be               It is of interest, therefore, to observe how often
aware of deep concern within this country about             the very signs of the end of this age, as mentioned in
crime. The concern grows with the increasing  inci-         Scripture, are of concern also to the men of this age.
dents of crime. Daily news reports speak of crime           Time  magazine, in recent months, has featured cover
almost matter-of-factly.                                    stories on "Earthquakes" and on another occasion,


548                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER



on "The Crime Wave". Obviously, the signs men-                            .  .  . Contemporary sociologists blame America's
tioned in Scripture are clearly apparent. Man refuses                 excessive stress on material gains which are, however,
to recognize the significance of these signs, but he is               often denied people or the bitterness of being a
well aware of their existence.                                        failure in a society that is supposed to offer equal
                                                                      chances to all . . . .
   The feature story in  Time  concerning the crime
wave contains several interesting presentations and                      . . . The rise of crime rates since the early '60s has
                                                                      paralleled the rise in teenage, and particularly black
observations. It points out the obvious  - but also                   teen-age unemployment . . . .
draws conclusions. The article begins with a quota-
tion from President Ford and comments on that:                            . . . America's post-World War II baby boom has
                                                                      swollen the traditional crime-prone age bracket
          "America has been far from successful in dealing            (14-24) as  never. before  -  and possibly never
       with the sort of crime that obsesses Americans day             again : . . .
       and night  - I mean street crime, crime that invades
       our neighborhoods and our homes  - murders,                       . . . Many psychologists and psychiatrists point an
       robberies, rapes, muggings, holdups,  breakins   - the         accusing finger at faulty parent-child relationships,
       kind of  brutal violence that makes us fearful of              particularly early in a child's life. Studies show that
       strangers and afraid to go out at night."                      overly lax, overly strict or erratic child rearing con-
                                                                      tributes to delinquency, while a generally "firm but
          . . . Ford's characterization of anticrime efforts as       kind" approach inhibits it . . . .
       being  "far from successful" is a major understate-
       ment. After all the past rhetoric and  all the past               . . . Children are more likely to turn to crime if
       campaigns against crime, conditions only got worse.            parents battle frequently, or if one parent is missing
                                                                      through death, divorce or abandonment . . . .
          . . . By any measurement, crime has become an
       ominous national problem. Since 1961 the rate for all             . . . The mayhem on TV probably has something
       serious crimes has more than doubled. From 1973 to             to do with teen-age violence as well. One study claims
       1974 it jumped 17%  - the largest increase in the 44           that the average American youth can be expected to
       years that national statistics have been collected.            watch 11,000 TV murders by the time he is 14. . . .

          Violent crime has had an even sharper increase. In         But most striking is `the fact that the world also
       the past 14 years, the rate of robberies has increased      recognizes  that a more fundamental cause of crime is
       255%, -forcible rape  143%,  aggravated assault 153%        the lack of any standard of morality. The wicked are
       and murder 106%. Preliminary reports to the FBI this        not concerned with morality except in-so-far-as this
       year show that the rate for violent crimes  as., well as
       property crimes like burglary is still sharply on the       will decrease crime and preserve order among the
       rise. Says a Chicago cop: "you just can't paint the         society of  men.  Time  writes:
       picture too bad."                                                 "Adults are confused and at a loss," says Psychi-
  Attempts are made to analyze the problems. Many                     atrist Bernard Yuddwitz. "They don't know what
                                                                      standards to set for their children or themselves. The
believe that they can detect reasons for crime  -                     bells that used to ring in your head to say no aren't
reasons which might also suggest possible solutions.                  ringing any more."
First of all, the suggestion is made that crime is a
matter of cycles. Inevitably there should be a turn for                  Urbapologist Edward  Banfield and others see a
the better. It is pointed out that immigration and the                slippery morality emerging from the 1960s: the idea
Civil War of the 19th century "produced several                       that disadvantaged groups "have a kind of quasi right
crime waves." The implication is that we are going                    to have their offenses against the law extenuated, or
through one more of these cycles of crime.                            even to have them regarded as political acts reflecting
                                                                      a morality `higher' than obedience to the lax."
  But the theories concerning the reasons for crime
are interesting. Several points are made  - some with a                  It seems that every group has caught the knack of
degree of validity.                                                   rationalizing away violations of the law, from Water-
                                                                      gate  conspirators to antiwar bombers and young
                                                                      black criminals who defme assaults as "political acts."
          Wolfgang believes that "subcultures of violence"            Says Frederick Hacker, a University of Southern
       are sometimes created by groups with values at odds            California professor of psychiatry and law: "There
       with those of the larger society.                              have been an increasing criminalization  of politics and
                                                                      a politicalization of criminals. It's reached the point
          . . . Many theorists believe that rapid economic            where there are no criminals in San Quentin any
       development breeds crime . . . .                               more. They're all freedom fighters."


                                                         THE STANDARD BEARER                                               549



            It seems clear that some of the old values and              Secondly, there is the question of that which must
         restraints have been battered by recent upheavals -          be done to improve the situation in the world.
         war, riots, assassinations, racial strife, situational
         ethics, the youth rebellion. As disillusionment sets in,     Basically, I am convinced, there will be no change.
         fewer and fewer Americans look to the churches,             Yet the child of God can point to the proper answers
         schools or Washington for moral leadership. Stern           to those who would want to know what our solution
         observers to today's widespread ethical torpor tend to      would be. Surely, the morality of the Word of God
         agree with the 19th century French criminologist            and the consequences of disobedience, as presented in
         Jean Lacassagne: "A society gets the criminals it           Scripture, must be observed. The "new" morality or
         deserves."                                                  "situation ethics" in which one does what is right in
                                                                     his own eyes, surely does destroy the very fabric of
   The article continues by elaborating on certain                   society. None who deliberately ignore the laws of
things which, it is believed, will help reduce crime.                God, none who refuse to punish the criminal
Even among the intellectuals of this earth there is                  according to God's Word can expect a society of
basic disagreement concerning solutions. "Liberals                   peace and tranquility. Man suffers the consequences
emphasize the unjust social conditions that are its                  of his dwn walk of disobedience. Or, as one of their
breeding ground: slums, unemployment, poor educa-                    own.  have said, "A  s&iety  gets the criminals it de-
tion, racism, poverty amid affluence . . . . Conserva-               serves."
tives are more apt to believe that deliberation, not                    But there is something more essential, more basic.
desperation, is the root of crime . . . . To conserva-               Outward obedience might improve outward appear-
tives, man has always been flawed by original sin  - or              ance of society. But the root problem has not been
simply human weakness  - but is in control of his                    touched. The problem is man's sin. It is not a ques-
own fate. To help him control it, the good society is                tion of being "flawed" by original sin, nor is it a
obliged to  emphdsize  a strong moral order, a respect               matter of "human weakness". Man `has rebelled
for law  +d a confidence in punishment as a deterrent                against God. He increases in  liis sin through the ages.
to crime."                                                           Continually he develops in his sinfulness. He is dead
                                                                     in trespasses and sins. All the attempts of man to
  Some suggestions for cures are: fewer and better                   "contain" crime and "improve" society represent
                                                                     only cosmetic changes. The physically dead are not
laws; improvement of the police forces; more effi-                   changed by the cosmetics which make them "look
cient courts; opportunity of "plea bargain"; a specific              nice" in the funeral home. So the spiritually dead are
and certain sentence; or proper rehabilitation.                      not changed by better education, racial harmony, etc.
                                                                     One ends up with a better educated sinner, a more
  Striking, it is, that mention is made of the moral                 refined criminal, but still the heart remains un-
problem of our age. Interesting also is the suggestion               changed.
that entertainment with its emphasis upon violence
seems to  have an effect upon society at large and                      The only hope is regeneration and conversion.
specifically upon the youth.                                         Except a man be born again, he can not see the king-
                                                                     dom of God. Except he be born again, he will not
                                                                     love God from the heart nor obey God's laws to
   But after all is said, the world has ignored the heart            God's glory. The Word must be preached: "Repent
or root of the trouble. Nor does it see the significance             and believe." Christ crucified must be set forth. The
of these things which take place about us.                           sinner must understand that there must be repentance
                                                                     and confession of sin. Only then will one's outward
  First, the child of God recognizes in the spread of                walk be properly affected.
crime a clear fulfillment of the prophecy of the Word
of God which speaks of the "lawlessness" of the last                   But many, most, will not'believe. Man turns from
age  .and of that "Lawless One" who shall come in the                God's Word and rejects His law. Man remains  self-
end. Though it is doubtlessly true that there have                   serving and self-seeking. He will try to  .change the
been cycles of crime, what is evident today is both a                course of man's mad rush to destruction  - but he can
world-wide problem and part of the many other signs                  not. But thanks be to God, a remnant shall be saved.
which also point to the end of time. One must recog-                 Of His own will, He begat us in order that we might
nize, then, that what takes place today more clearly                 love and serve Him now  - and to all eternity. These
than ever before points to the end of all things.                    will flee from every evil way and desire to walk in
Remember that  - lest we, too, become discouraged                    righteousness for Jesus' sake.  And these, seeing this
by all of these things about us. Our Lord comes  @a+                 $gp of  flawlessness,  rejodce. that.  .the coming of  `our
soon.                                                                Lord is at hand.          '


     550                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



                                                Book Reviews
                                                         Pro,f. H. Hanko


     LIFE IN THE SPIRIT, In Marriage, Home  h Work,                these passages of Scripture. But what is of particular
     by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones; Baker Book House, 1975;             value is the fact that the book is filled from beginning
     371 pp., $8.95. [Reviewed by Prof. H. Hanko]                  to end with all kinds of sound Scriptural teaching
        Baker has already printed one volume of  Lloyd-            concerning these important relationships of life in
     Jones' sermons on  .Ephesians. It was published under         which we- all are- called to live. -Especially in these
     the title, "God's Way of Reconciliation", and con-            days when these relationships are sadly corrupted,
     tained sermons on Chapter 2. This volume is a reprint         this book is an invaluable aid.
     which was first published in 1974. The fact that it is           There are some weaknesses. For one thing, because
     already being republished shows its popularity. And           these are sermons, the cross ought to be more explicit
     such popularity is well-deserved.                             when it is often only implicit. For another thing, the
        These sermons, originally preached by the author           chapter on child training suffers because, while it has
I    in Westminster Chapel during the morning service in           many good points, a lack of understanding of the
     1959 and 1960, deal with the exposition of Ephesians          doctrine of the covenant weakens its force. Here
     5 : 8 to 6  :9. We are told in the preface that the publi-    especially the emphasis of the author on making the
     cation of these sermons preceded the publication of           responsibility of the parents a more or less evangelical
     sermons on Chapter 3 because of "the urgency of the           enterprise in which the parents lead their children to
     problems with which they deal"; and that is the               Christ gives an entirely wrong emphasis to covenantal
     hope of the author that this volume "will eventually          instruction. Finally, rather strangely, and in flat con-
     take its place . . . as one volume in a series on this        tradiction to the text, the author supports unionism
     great Epistle."                                               and even the strike and revolution under certain
        Taking his starting-point with Ephesians 5 : 18-2  1,      circumstances. But these objections do not detract
     and especially with the admonition, "Be filled with           from the considerable value of the book. We recom-
     the Spirit", the author applies this to the relation-         mend it highly to all our readers.
     ships of husbands to wives, parents to children and
     servants to masters as the Scriptures deal with these         THE PERSON AND MINISTRY OF THE HOLY
     relationships in this passage.                                SPIRIT, The Traditional Calvinistic Perspective, by
                                                                   Edwin H. Palmer; Baker Book House, 1974; 196 pp.,
       There are many worthwhile features about this               $5.95. [Reviewed by Prof. H. Hanko]
     book, too many, in fact, to list in this brief review. It
     contains an excellent emphasis on the distinct                  There are a number of reasons why this is an
     character of the Christian life when the author               interesting and important book. Apart from the fact
     emphasizes that being filled with the Spirit is in-           that it deals with a subject which has been somewhat
     dispensable to godly living in all life's relationships.      neglected in the Church until the rise of  Neo-
     As he returns to this theme from time to time in the          Pentecostalism, it develops, in large measure, the
     book, he inveighs against the social gospel, raises           historic stand of the Reformed Churches concerning
     important and Scriptural objections to those who              the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. It also has some very
     seek to introduce in a worldly society an outward             good chapters; I found the chapters on "The Holy
     Christian morality, emphasizes again and again that           Spirit and Regeneration" (in which the truth of the
     the Christian is a pilgrim and a stranger in  the'earth,      sovereign grace of God in this work is clearly set
     and firmly roots the life of the Christian in sovereign       forth) and on "The Holy Spirit and His Symbols"
     grace. Furthermore, the book contains some very               especially interesting. It is because of these good
     interesting and original exegesis of the pertinent            features that the book is of considerable value to all
     passages, which, if the reader does not finally agree         who wish to make this subject the object of their
     with, nevertheless, furnishes food for thought. The           study.
     book is expository throughout, and deals very specifi-          There are, however, two very striking weaknesses
     cally and concretely with the text. Even though the           in the book. I do not want to call these weaknesses to
     homiletics is quite different from what we are                attention by way of criticism only, but rather to
     accustomed to in sermons we hear, the exposition is           point out areas in which this doctrine of the Holy
     clear, concise, Biblical and thoroughly enjoyable. It is      Spirit can be profitably developed along different
     an aid to ministers not only, but to. all who study           lines than in Palmer's work.


                                                         THE STANDARD BEARER                                                               551


   The first weakness is a failure to understand the                        spiritual nature, so that they have life, artistic ability,
important distinction which Scripture makes between                         aesthetic appreciation, and intellectual gifts. If man.
the Holy Spirit as the Third Person of the Trinity and                      rises to the *dramatic heights of a Shakespeare, the
the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Christ. It is also in                      philosophical thoughts of an Aristotle, the artistic
connection with this mistake that the author fails to                       accomplishments  of a Rubens, the musical genius of a
distinguish properly between the Second Person of                           Brahms, the statesmanship of a Churchill, or to the
the Trinity and Christ in our flesh. This weakness                          simple love of a mother for her child, the ability of a
                                                                            boy to study mathematics, or the skill of a girl in
repeatedly crops up in the book and leads to con-                           making a dress, then we must praise the Holy Spirit.
fusion not only, but leads also to statements which                         For these are evidences of the second type of  sonship
border on tritheism. The author forgets that all the                        and the Holy Spirit's work in establishing it. (p.
works of God which are performed  ad extra  are                             136ff.)
works of the triune God. These works are performed                        In this same connection he writes on p. 138:
through Christ and by means of the Holy Spirit as the
Spirit of Christ. The problem which the author faces                           According to the Bible the Christian is like God.
and fails to resolve comes out most clearly in Chapter                      We have  seen that this is So in the creative sense, so
                                                                            that the Christian, along with the natural man, may
11, "The Holy Spirit and Divine Sonship." The                               be called a son of God because he resembles God,
author finds that the Bible uses the title  Son  of  God                    being spiritual, rational, moral, and emotional. This
in four different ways. In writing about the "Trini-                        moral  agency of man is called the natural image of
tarian Sonship", the author writes:                                         God. It is one way in which all men, in distinction
       The Holy Spirit has nothing to do with this                          from animals, are like God.
    Sonship, except that he proceeds from the Son as                      It is even because of this general operation of the
    well as froni the Father, as we saw in chapter 1.                  Spirit that all men can pray.
This is a rather  obviqus, but  seiious mistake. And it is                     But what does it mean to pray "in the Holy
because of this error that the author often defines the                     Spirit" and to have the Spirit of prayer? First of all, it
relation between Christ and the Father as well as the                      means that without the Spirit prayer is impossible. It
relation between the believer and the Father as being                      is noteworthy that  &en the prayer of the  unre-
a relation  ,between Christ and the First Person of the                    generate is prompted by the Holy Spirit. _ . .
Trinity, or between the believer and the First Person                         But these prayers are not pleasing in God's sight.
of the trinity.                                                            They are nothing else than sinful expressions of the
  In the  second place, the author includes a chapter                      unregenerate heart.. . . .
on "The Holy Spirit and Common Grace." His                               The question which, of course, immediately arises
erroneous commitment to common grace also leads                       is: But how can they be anything else but pleasing in
him into trouble in more than one place in the book.                  God's sight if they are wrought by the Holy Spirit? Is
For example, without mentioning the term common                       God displeased with His own work?
grace, the author speaks of a relation of  sonship                       These questions are worthy of more extended and
between all men and God. He writes:                                   more Biblical exposition. It would have been well also
       For this  sonship, too, the Holy Spirit is necessary.          if the author had included a chapter on the Holy
    For, as  we have seen, it is the Holy Spirit who is               Spirit and the covenant  - the covenant life as God
    specifically responsible for the creation of man's soul.          lives it in Himself, and the covenant of grace which
    It is the third Person of the Trinity, and not the                He establishes with His people through Christ, and
    Father nor the Son, who endows all men with a                     the work of the Spirit as related to the covenant.


                                 News From Our Churches
                                                         Report of Classis West
                                                         Isabel, South Dakota
                                                         September 3-5, I9 75

   The Fall, 1975 meeting of  Classis West was  espe-                    Rev. W. Bekkering led the  Classis in opening  devo-
cially significant and lengthy. Included in the agenda                 tions. He addressed the  Classis from John 16: 13a:
of  Classis were a request for organization as, a Prot-
estant Reformed Church; two appeals concerning                         "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he
discipline; and an appeal concerning doctrine.  Classis               will guide you into all truth." Eleven ministers and
met from Wednesday morning, September 3, through                       ten  -elders  ..were.. present- to do the work of the  Classis.
Friday noon, September 5.                                              Rev. D. Engelsma served as president of the  Classis.

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





 552


   By way of its credentials, the consistory of Lynden        Classis granted the request of the saints in Edmonton
 requested  Classis to organize a group in Edmonton,          to be organized and appointed the consistory of
 Alberta, Canada as a Protestant Reformed Church.
                                                 _ .     -    Lynden ,an,d .Rev. _ Lanting to .carry. out. the. 0rganiz.a:
 This request was the fruit of the labor `of the Lynden       tion, sometime during the month of September,
 consistory and  Rev.`B. Woudenberg in Edmonton for           1975.
 the past two years. Two families from the group were
 present at  Classis and addressed the  Classis concerning       This was a joyful decision, not only for Lynden
 the request. Rev. Woudenberg also gave the  Classis          which, through its pastor, Rev. Woudenberg, did the
 information about the group requesting organization,         work that God blessed with such fruit, but also for all
 the work done there, and the situation in general.           the  Classis which rejoiced in God's building and pre-
                                                              serving of His Church by the gospel. The group con-
   A letter to  Classis, signed by those in Edmonton          sists, of 32 souls, 5 families, and 4 individuals, and
 who desire to be organized contained the following           includes 18 children.  Classis gave them classical
 information: "We, the members of the Protestant              appointments, beginning immediately according to
 Reformed Bible Class at Edmonton, Alberta, Canada,           the following schedule: Sept. 21  - Woudenberg;
 have been meeting for the last two years under pro-          Sept.  28; Oct. 5  & 12  - Lanting; Oct. 19, 26  & Nov.
visions of the Lynden Prot. Ref. Church and the in-           2  - Bekkering; Nov. 9, 16, 23  - Lubbers; Nov. 30,
struction of Rev. Woudenberg. During this time we             Dec. 7  & 14  - Slopsema; Jan. 11, 18, 25  - Kamps;
 have studied all of the basic `principles of Reformed        Feb. 1, 8, 15  - Kortering; Feb. 22 (open); Feb. 29  &
 doctrine, we have listened to many sermons by tape,          March 7  - Woudenberg. With regard to their need for
 and we have read extensively in the  Standard Bearer.        financial help,  Classis directed them to the  Synodical
Increasingly we have come to the conviction that the          Finance Committee, after they have organized and
churches to which we have belonged have departed              come to know the extent of their need.
 from the  ..way of Reformed truth and that our
greatest need is for a more pure form of worship and             In executive session,  Classis treated two appeals of
better catechism instruction for our children. Accord-        a consistorial decision regarding discipline.
ingly,, we have  ,met with a committee from the  consis-
tory of Lynden church (Rev. Woudenberg and elder                 Another appeal concerned the doctrine of the
Henry Vander Meulen), a representative of the                 fourth commandment of God's law.  Classis' decision
Mission  Coinmittee (Rev. C. Hanko), and the  Pro-            was "to declare that God in the fourth command-
`fessor of Missions of the Prot. Ref. seminary (Prof. R.      ment commands the New Testament Christian  not.
Decker), all of whom have labored with us in the past         only to enter into the rest of God all the days of his
and with whom we are familiar. They have directed             life, but also, by setting apart one day out of seven,
our attention to the Declaration of Principles of the         which is in the new dispensation the first day of the
Prot. Ref. Churches and to Article 38 of the Church           week, God's Sabbath or the Lord's Day, to cease
Order with its amending decisions. With the former            from work in order that he may totally consecrate
we can express our complete agreement, and it is our          the day to God in worship and service."
conviction that we are able to meet the requirements            Other, less weighty actions of  Classis included
of Article 38 to be organized into a congregation             granting  Doon permission to ask for collections in the
within the Prot. Ref. denomination." Then followed            churches for their new church building and raising the
the request for organization. Attached was a note             reimbursement of elder delegates to  Classis from $20
signed by Rev. Woudenberg, Elder H. Vander Meulen,            to $30 per day, in response to Randolph's request.
Rev. C. Hanko, and Professor R. Decker attesting that
"the people in Edmonton are well informed as to the             The cost of  Classis was  $2,343.49.
doctrines and practices of our churches and that there          Classis will meet next in Edgerton, Minnesota, on
is sufficient availability of office bearers in accord        March 3, 1976, the Lord willing.
with Article 38, note 2."
   In accordance with Article 38 of the Church Order,                              Rev. David Engelsma, Stated Clerk
including the provisions of the appended "decisions,"                                                       Classis West


